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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>My submission is early this month because I’m going out of town next week. Also, you’ve seen this before…I’m resending the prologue and first chapter of my book. It’s seen some heavy revision, and I’m back to the beginning in order to revise the sequence of chapters…thanks for taking a second look.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>2051 words<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Prologue <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Lights Out<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Why was she alone at work on a Saturday, stuck inside pounding the keys? The work could wait. Warm weather Memorial weekend promised the approach of summer in the small lakeside Michigan town. She couldn’t concentrate. She wasn’t accomplishing much. If she ducked out soon, she’d have time for an afternoon bike ride around Doe Lake with her best friend. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>She stood and locked her 1978 day timer in her desk. Already, the year embossed in gold was beginning to fade. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>She strode down the hallway. Three steps from the exit, she was grabbed from behind. Her neck was clamped in the crook of an elbow. She stared at a hunting knife inches in front of her face. The exit door beyond reach stood like an immovable boulder. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>She couldn’t move.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>She couldn’t breathe.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>She couldn’t scream.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>As if viewing a movie, she watched herself claw at the arm restraining her. Her relentless attacker pressed his weight on her, jarring her back to the harsh here and now. Frantic and forced off balance, she collapsed into the push bar. Brought down like a doe, could the young woman escape the grip of her hunter? A fierce battle for survival erupted.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The heel of a boot landed one, two, three, four kicks to her head. “Fuck you, fuck you” echoed like a jackhammer inside her skull. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The woman struggled to stand. Her heel caught on the top step. With a final shove from her assailant, she toppled. The back of her head struck the concrete staircase and cracked. The acrid smell of fresh blood mingled with the stench of her loosened bowels. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Before her vision dimmed, she recognized her hunter staring down in disgust. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'># # #<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.0pt;text-align:center;line-height:22.8pt;background:white'><a name="OLE_LINK3"></a><a name="OLE_LINK4"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#555555'>“As an outsider moving to a small town, your biggest problem will be that everyone knows who you are and why you are there right away, but it will take you some time to sort all of them out.” - </span></a><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#555555'>Allan and Rosemary Young</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#555555'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Claudia<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Nine Months Earlier<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Why was I driving a thousand mindless miles in my ’68 Chevy to a small Midwest town stuck in the middle of nowhere? The simple answer, I was desperate for a job. I was a liberated woman in the 70s fresh out of college with a journalism degree in hand. Despite investing in textured stationery and hand-addressing 100 matching envelopes to mail out my resume, I had received only a handful of standard rejection letters in reply. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Through an unlikely twist of fate, an unsolicited opportunity landed in my lap. My university advisor had met an editor at a newspaper convention who was looking to hire his first full-time reporter. The editor’s family owned a weekly in a rural town west of Grand Rapids. My advisor put in a plug for me. Thanks to him, I got the job, but I didn’t brag about it. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Most of my fellow graduates – guys with names like Mike, Tim, and Brandon - had landed assignments on big city dailies with names ending in Herald, Tribune, or Star, while I, Claudia Krump, would earn my first professional byline reporting for “The Doe Lake Messenger.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I wrestled with my conflicting emotions. I was abandoning the colorful Colorado Rockies for a dead-end town in the rolling hills of Michigan. At the same time, reporting for a weekly paper with a funky name like The Messenger was a thousand times better than moving back home with my suffocating parents. Twenty-two years of suffering through their antagonistic marriage had been enough for me. I never wanted to live under their roof again – not over my dead body. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Despite my reservations, I itched with anticipation as my destination approached. I squinted road-weary eyes at the exit sign ahead. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“Doe Lake, Michigan, population 7700.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The end of the road at last. I veered off the highway, gripping the steering wheel of my monstrous Chevy. Towering trees in full foliage blocked the sun. Lights out. I punched the brake pedal. The two-lane country road darkened like a theater curtain had dropped. The edge of the asphalt disappeared. I ripped off my sunglasses. My car drifted right. I gulped in gratitude; the gravel shoulder was wide enough to accommodate my full-size-purple-cow-of-a-car. My fingertips prickled with relief; I hadn’t driven off the edge of a cliff.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I gathered my wits at the roadside. If I dreaded one thing, it was darkness. Born with night blindness, I tried to avoid tunnels, caves, basements and secluded spaces that swallowed light. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I cranked down the window and sucked in a nose full of earthy air. The rustling leaves applauded my arrival. My eyes gradually adjusted to the dim light. A fuzzy sign came into focus. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“Doe Lake Park Entrance – 1 Mile.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I knew Doe Lake was a puddle by Michigan standards. Motorized boats and campers were prohibited. Anxious to explore, I’d have to postpone my visit to the park for another day. My priority was to hunt for a furnished apartment in town. I only had two days before reporting for my first day on the job. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Like the Oz lion, I screwed up my courage and edged my retreads back onto the pavement. The winding road curved away from the dense woods into welcome sunlight. The rolling hillsides were ablaze. Oak and hickory trees glowed in the sunshine. The glittering gold aspens I cherished in the Colorado Rockies couldn’t hold a candle to the wash of red, yellow, and orange shouting autumn in the Michigan hills. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The vibrant landscape resembled an iconic illustration on a child’s jigsaw puzzle. A picturesque village came into view. A church spire, a clock tower, and a statue of a deer stood tall among Victorian homes nestled in the valley.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I drove around the quaint community, Bug-eyed without direction. It was easy to spot the newspaper office on South Main Street. “Doe Lake Messenger” was emblazoned in two-foot tall lettering like a newspaper masthead across the façade of a two-story building painted barn red. Being a Saturday, the office was closed. The Michigan National Bank stood across the street. Convenient. I could open a checking account there after securing an address.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The storefronts along the six-block business district reminded me of the 1950s television show Mayberry RFD. A five and dime, a ladies dress shop, the stately post office with a pillared entry, a community library, the Doe Lake Diner, an upscale country inn, and antique shops and galleries flanked Main Street. Venturing north, I discovered a modern hospital, a traditional schoolhouse, and an unfamiliar grocery store called Wrigley’s. The Starz movie marquee on the outskirts of town advertised “Jaws,” last year’s blockbuster. I’d have to drive another hour into Grand Rapids to find a big shopping mall or Cineplex.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>At a corner gas station, I picked up a free PennySaver and scanned the ads for furnished apartments. The cute attendant behind the counter, about my age, had a fresh pack of cigarettes in his flannel shirt pocket. To be friendly, I asked for a pack of Marlboro Lights. Maybe he’d offer me a light? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“That all?” he asked, handing me change without a second glance.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Puffing defiantly alone in my car, I scoured the classifieds for rentals. Lightheaded, I drove aimlessly. I hadn’t smoked since my father caught me with cigarettes in high school and threatened to disown me. Well, what Dad didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, I coughed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>That fateful first day in Doe Lake, I assumed no one noticed me driving in circles, looking for “For Rent” signs. I wasn’t aware yet how conspicuous newcomers were in a small town. Later, I would learn, like hunters concealed in a deer blind stalking their prey, suspicious eyes behind curtains were watching me. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Despite my numb skull, I found most of the rentals advertised, but there were some addresses I couldn’t locate. I spotted a requisite flag pole and pulled into the parking lot. Perhaps I could ask for a local map inside the town hall. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I heaved my car door open and froze, one foot on the pavement, unable to believe my eyes. A dead deer was strapped to the trunk of a passing car. The poor creature’s head hung limp, its throat slit. Ruby ribbons of blood spilled onto the street. I clutched my own throat and gagged. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I was aware hunting was popular in rural Michigan, but I was shocked to see the grisly evidence displayed so brazenly in the middle of town. A child seeing beloved Bambi that way could be traumatized. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I clomped in my clogs into the municipal building, desperate to shake off the image. After entering the dim lobby from the bright outdoors, I stopped short, forced to allow time for my eyes to adjust. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“You must be Claudia, the new reporter.” A gruff voice emerged from the dark.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“Yes?” I asked the first compelling question of my career. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“You’re looking for a place to live.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>For real? How did this shadowy guy know my business? I hadn’t yet met anyone in town. The gas station guy didn’t count. I stuffed my hands deep into the pockets of my cargo shorts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“How do you know about me?” I spouted another brilliant inquiry.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> “Sue is my cousin. She works in the front office at The Messenger,” said the silhouette. “She told me you’d be moving to town this weekend to fill the reporter job at the paper. Thought I’d let you know, Betty Fox has a nice apartment for rent upstairs in her house on Chestnut Street.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“Okay, thanks for the tip,” I said. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>An office door down the hall opened, shedding light on the subject. A holstered gun on the man’s hip took shape. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“Oh, you’re a cop?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“You betcha,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“Okay, you already know my name. So, what’s yours?” I asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“Officer Braun, Hank Braun.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Hank Braun was a solid name for a country boy, I thought. Then again, who was I, Claudia Krump with a “K,” to judge a name? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>For sure, I had landed on the set of Mayberry RFD. Like Sheriff Andy Taylor, Officer Braun was on the job, acquainting himself with the newcomer in town, but I wasn’t comfortable with his small town familiarity. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Back in Colorado, I’d been accustomed to no one knowing my business. I had roamed around a college campus twice the size of Doe Lake like I was invisible. I had come and gone without anyone prying into my whereabouts. I had moved far away from the snooping eyes of my parents. I had escaped the grip of old friends who had betrayed me. I had envisioned anonymity a thousand miles from my painful past. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“All right then, Officer Braun,” I ventured, “since you seem to know so much, tell me, why is a guy driving around town with a bloody deer on display?” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“It’s hunting season,” Officer Braun replied.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“But couldn’t the poor thing be concealed inside the trunk so that visitors to your pretty village wouldn’t be traumatized?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Braun shifted his weight, assuming a characteristic cop stance. He fingered the revolver at his side and said, “You can’t conceal your kill.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I stiffened involuntarily. Did Officer Braun notice my knee-jerk reaction?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“Conceal your kill? Why, of course not.” Would I be more articulate as the town’s reporter?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>My murky friend explained, “The deer tag must be visible at all times to help the game warden prevent poaching. Ever eaten fresh venison?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>I swallowed the thought. I’d been toying with a vegetarian diet at college. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“No thanks, Officer, but could I get a map of the local streets here?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The cop ambled down the hall and I followed him into the Clerk’s office. My skimpy eyelashes fluttered under the bright fluorescent fixtures. Officer Braun’s rugged face emerged in stark contrast to the scruffy, long-haired college boys I’d been dating. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Hank’s dark curly hair was clipped short. A trim mustache capped a mischievous grin. His green eyes seemed to signal “go” like a green traffic light. My heart revved into third gear. The police officer’s clean cut country look tingled my fancy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Hank pointed to a street map taped to the countertop. “Chestnut Street is just down the road. See you around town,” he said with a wink and walked out. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'># # #<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>