Page 32 - GRANADA

30
“If he thinks it’s just another coyote or mountain lion, why is he so interested?” Javi asked, “especially twenty years later looking exactly the same? Something’s going on here, Connie, I’m telling you.”
His questions mirrored my own and I was left with more confusion than I had before I’d discovered the article. All questions pointed to the Snowbird, but I was at a loss for what to do next.
For the rest of the evening, business was slow. The monotony of a job in customer service hit hard in the wake of making such a strange discovery. I’d replenished the shelves, changed out the empty bladders for the soda fountain, and mopped the floors before the increasingly overwhelming sense of anxiety that festered within the shop felt like it had swallowed me whole.
“Javi, you good if I duck out early?” I asked, knowing full well he’d say yes. Being the shop owner’s daughter didn’t warrant me a coveted position within its ranks, but it did allow me more leeway than other employees. Without waiting for a response, I took off my highlighter-pink vest and tossed it over the counter, then exited the store.
Outside, Ali stood in front of the window to her shop, smoking a cigarette. Before I’d even made it to her, she’d took out her pack and tossed it to me. I caught it and pulled a cigarette out, placing it in the corner of my lips
while