The Cynic and the Wolf - Julie Steimle (best books to read in life TXT) 📗

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Author: Julie Steimle

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everything wet into the driers, Audry left her basket in front of the machines and walked back out to her apartment. Or tried to.

"Hello gorgeous," said the unwanted voice of the man she had no desire to see again. Harlin was standing on the stairs with an enormous bouquet of flowers in his hands.

Audry tried to get around him. "Go away Harlin. We broke up."

"It was just a fight," he said, following her, putting on his 'sweet puppy dog' face.

Halting, Audry turned around, glaring right at him. Her hands balled into fists. "No, Harlin. It wasn't just a fight. You made it clear that you thought marriage was archaic and that I was—in your words—an evangelical prude. Well, fine. Prude is an abbreviation of the word prudent, and it is prudent that I do not linger with a man who just wants to get into my pants."

He moaned, hanging his head back. "Why do you always do this?"

"Do what?" she snapped. "Tell the truth? Stick to my standards? Harlin, you are a scumbag player. I wanted a real adult relationship, and you just wanted to screw around—literally." She continued on her way.

"Making me out as the bad guy again, huh?" He followed after her. "I planned a romantic evening for us, and you go and ruin it."

She halted. "Harlin. I dumped you. Days ago. I haven't picked up your calls or answered any of your texts. Any man with a brain would understand that means rejection."

His gaze darkened. He shook his head, glaring at her. "No. You like playing games with people. You were just leading me on."

Audry's teeth clenched. She shook her head tightly. "Let me make this perfectly clear. Go away and never come back. We are not together anymore. Capisce?"

"You don't mean that," he said, breathless.

"I do," Audry replied, glaring at him.

He shook his head more. "No, you don't. You said you loved me."

"I don’t anymore," she said.

Harlin looked like someone had punched him in the gut.

"So, hit the road, Jack," she said.

He took a step back, looking entirely disgusted. "You total b—"

"And don't you come back—"

"What are you going to do, sing at me again?" he snapped, throwing the flowers at her. The bouquet hit her in the face. "I have waited for you! I have done everything for you!"

Audry knocked them away.

"Not the most important thing," Audry said, kicking the flowers away now.

Harlin huffed, shaking his head. He stepped closer to her, reaching out. Audry jerked back, groping her side for her tranquilizer gun, which was not there. It was still in her car with the rest of her equipment.

And he continued at her, reaching out. Harlin grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her close and hissing at her through his teeth. "You owe me."

He then put his hand on her chest and tried to kiss her.

Kneeing him in the groin, then slapping his throat with her hand—which made him gasp and paw his throat—Audry dashed straight to her apartment. Her roommates stared as she ran in, shut the door, and locked it.

Harlin came up to the door, grabbing the knob and yanking. When it didn’t budge, he pounded on it. "Audry! Let me in!"

Staring at the ceiling Audry leaned against the door. Her heart was racing. She needed a weapon.

"Should I call the police?" one of her roommates said, her eyes wide with worry.

Audry shouted out, "We’re calling the police!"

Her roommate started to dial, but Audry stopped her. She shook her head.

Harlin swore then left the apartment.

"Your ex?" one of them asked.

Audry nodded. "Yeah."

"You should get a court order," her roommate with bright red (dyed) hair said.

Audry thought about it, but she didn't want to ruin Harlin's life. She had seen it happen before to a friend of hers.

"You need mace," her other roommate said, a tall-brown haired girl with two French braids.

To that, Audry nodded. Maybe.

When she was sure Harlin was gone, Audry went to her bedroom. Her roommates watched her go to her bag and take out her laptop computer. But Audry had already put Harlin out of her mind. She went online to look up how to clean silver the quick way rather than looking for ways to get a court order, which is what they clearly thought she was doing. Her mind was still on that bullet.

"You need to clean jewelry?" one of her roommates asked, peering over Audry's shoulder at her search parameters.

Audry nodded, then shook her head. "No. Uh. This." She took out the bullet from her pocket. "I tried to clean it with hydrogen peroxide—"

"Hydrogen peroxide?" Her roommate gasped. "Are you crazy? Hydrogen peroxide reacts to lead like an explosive. It combusts and smokes."

Audry stared. "What?"

Her braided brown-haired roommate nodded. "Yeah. I'm a chemistry major. And hydrogen peroxide, depending on the concentration, reacts to lead violently."

Blinking at her, then the bullet, Audry asked, "How does it react to silver?"

Her roommate stared. "That bullet is made out of silver?"

Shrugging, Audry replied, "I think it might be. I dug it out of the leg of a wolf."

Her roommate stared more. "You're kidding."

Audry shook her head.

Sighing, her roommate held out her hand for the bullet. Audry gave it to her.

"The best way to clean silver, the quickest way," her roommate said heading straight into the kitchen, "Is to set the silver in an aluminum pan, cover it with baking soda, then pour boiling water over it."

Audry followed her. Automatically her roommate took out small disposable tin pan, set it on the counter and dropped in the bullet. She dug into her own cupboard and extracted a carton of baking soda, dumping a pile of the white powder onto the bullet, covering it. Audry watched as her roommate then went about making hot water with the automatic tea kettle on the counter. She then poured the boiled water onto the bullet.

"I'm Wendy Nixon," her roommate said as they watched the combination react. She nudged the bullet around the pan with a wooden spoon so the small tarnished thing touched the aluminum on all sides.

"Audry Bruchenhaus." Audry stared at the pan, wondering if perhaps she had been lucky the bullet had not been lead. She had just assumed that the hydrogen peroxide would just clean off the blood. It had never occurred to her that it might react to the metal.

"What's your major?" Wendy asked.

"I'm getting my Masters in Zoology and Animal Conservation," Audry murmured.

Wendy grinned. "Good. Another woman in a STEM field. We need more of us."

Audry tried to smile, but her eyes were on her bullet. It was cleaning up well.

"That's Tricia Davidson, she's a Women's Studies major." Wendy pointed to the woman with bright red (dyed) hair, then to a willowy peanut butter complected woman with long cornrows. "And that's Laura Franklin, she's a Dance major."

Audry nodded to them. "Hi."

But then her eyes went back to her bullet. It was no longer black.

Wendy picked it out with tongs.

It was definitely silver. And the name etched in the side was still black, making it stand out.

Audry got chills, especially as Wendy dropped it into her palm.

"Wow," Wendy murmured. "Silver bullet."

The other two roommates stepped nearer.

"You got that from where?" the girl named Laura asked.

Audry stared at it. "Out the leg of a wolf that got shot."

"What were you doing near a wolf?" Tricia said, her voice sounding raspy and light.

"Uh…" Audry felt dazed. "It sort of happened by accident. I was removing camera equipment from an animal den I was monitoring, and he came in to get away from hunters."

All three of them stared at her.

"I am a trained animal rescue worker," she said. "So it's no big deal."

"Wow," Laura murmured.

Wendy nodded. Tricia looked stunned.

Holding up the bullet, Audry stared at it.

"You know," Laura said. "That would make a cool necklace charm."

Looking to her, Audry nodded. It would. Something to remind her about the brutality towards animals in the world—and also a reminder not to be superstitious. A silver bullet indeed….

"Yeah…" She was starting to like these girls. "Do you know how to do that?"

Laura grinned, nodding. "Jewelry-making is a hobby of mine. We can wrap that in wire, or we can get a bullet casing and string a loop through it and stick the bullet back in. Or we can solder or glue on a cap with an O ring."

Smiling at her, Audry nodded. "Good idea."

Audry eventually went back to unpacking. Her roommates helped her carry in the camera equipment. And as they did, she got to tell them about her Master's project and all the things she got to see. They oo'ed at all the right parts, gasped at the other ones at the best times. And as they made dinner together, Audry showing them how to construct a really delicious vegan wrap, she got another text from Harlin telling her they were over. Apparently he had to get in the last word.

Deleting it without a response, she felt no regret at all.

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