Small Game Hunter

Ren continued, "No one steals from me, not ever. It is known in my community that I have the resources and will to seek retribution." He paused, eyeing Rick closely. "But in this case... It was not me. I was not even aware this was missing. It is a memento I keep by my bed in a drawer along with other less meaningful objects."

It was Rick's turn to be confused. "I don't understand. I, I was told that..."

Ren silenced him with a stern look. "Your friend has a greater problem than you know. Someone more motivated and violent than me has been deprived of something of value. If your friend is the thief, you need to determine who that is, and set it right."

---

Patricia Medeiros parked her car in the driveway and retrieved two bags of groceries from the passenger seat. She shoved the back door open and shouldered her way into the kitchen. Her partner, Isabella stood at the sink peeling potatoes and little Charlotte was at the table coloring.

"Hi, Mommy." called Charlotte, barely looking up from her drawing as Patty set the groceries on the counter. Isabella gave her a hug and a quick kiss and said, "Did you pick up zucchini? I've got a new recipe.""

"Izzy, I got your zucchini and a whole bunch of other stuff. It was crazy at the market," said Patty. As she put produce away in the refrigerator, she asked, "How was your day?"

"Oh, same-same. Nothing special, "said Izzy. Then she added, "Oh, hey! Did you order something? There was a box left at the front door for you. I brought it in."

"Really? Hmm." replied Patty. She went to the dining room, picked up the plain brown box and turned it over in her hands. It didn'tlook like a Fedex shipment. There was no return address, no bar-codes, no postage; just her name and address, hand printed in block letters. She slit the tape with her fingernail and opened the box.

"What is it?" called Izzy from the kitchen.

Patty put her hand to her mouth as she pushed apart the tissue paper inside. Tears came to her eyes as she carefully lifted the red dress from the box. "Who...?"

Patty might eventually figure out who sent her the dress, but she would never know how many others were receiving boxes, all from that same person. Some may have thought it was a gift from a secret admirer. A few more may have been scratching their heads over this obvious marketing gimmick. Others, more correctly, would have assumed it was atonement from a repentant thief.

Hopefully, there was at least one who no longer felt compelled to seek vengeance on a young woman named Jenny.

---

Rick closed 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra' and tossed the book on the floor next to his mattress. He laced his fingers behind his head and stared at the ceiling in thought for a few moments. He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, feeling his the air flow through his nostrils.

The toilet in his bathroom flushed. Jenny walked into the dim room nude and laid next to him on the mattress.

"Hey guess what?" asked Jenny whispered in his ear.

Rick opened his eyes and peeked over at the girl. "What's that?"

"The last of the jars are gone. It seems like, home-canning is a thing now." she said.

Rick curled up, leaned on his elbow and said genuinely, "I am so proud of you, babe."

Jenny rolled away, flat on her back, looking at the ceiling. "It's strange. I'm back to owning almost nothing and I feel like weight has been lifted from my chest. It's so... liberating." She laid her head to the side facing Rick and said, "Thank you helping me out and letting me stay here till I get resettled."

Rick reached across and cupped her breast. He kneaded it and gently pulled on the nipple. "Oh, I'm in no hurry to see you go." he said playfully.

"Oh, really? Why's that?" she asked, giggling.

Rick's hand drifted down over Jenny's stomach and rested below her navel for a moment. He kissed her and said, "Because, I think we have something special. Something worth keeping."

"Yes," said Jenny nodding. "We do." She reached over to stroke Rick's face as his hand began massaging between her legs. The girl reflexively arched her back and pulled his shoulder toward her.

Rick rolled onto her and spread her legs, lowering his body down till their chests pressed together. He held her arms apart, kissed her neck and canted his pelvis into hers.

"Oh!...Oh!...Yes, we do." said Jenny.