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Chapter 1

Jane always see cart with the wobbly wheel It veered to the right, and she had to keep pulling to the left to keep it straight She could have gone back and picked another Instead, she doggedly kept et herher, and her skirt, too large in the waist, kept slipping on her hips

At least her work day was over, her deadly dull shift at the hospital completed She would be home soon She would take a nice, hot bath and watch some TV

She grabbed things at randoh the store Food didn’t interest her She ate to stay alive Her choices reflected her lack of enthusiasm—microwavable ers, a jar of instant coffee, a box of cereal and a quart of milk

Plain food for a plain girl, as her mother would have said

Jane pushed her hair back from her forehead with one hand while she unloaded her cart onto the conveyor belt A pi bored, not bothering to make eye contact

Which was fine with Jane And par for the course No one ever noticed her

~~

“That’s the one, Robert Right over there” Brenda whispered She lifted her chin to indicate the target

The girl in the checkout line at the supermarket looked to be in her , noliht around a sullen face

“Her?” Robert replied, squinting in confusion He would have liked to take off the dark glasses he wore as part of his disguise to see her better, but Brenda had cautioned hi special Why her?”

“Shh, lower your voice You don’t want to attract attention,” Brenda whispered, her head down, her face obscured by a big, floppy hat She was leafing through a azine at a nearby closed checkout line

“Right,” Robertto choose a candy bar “Sorry” He reexalance

Without looking up, Brenda murmured, “Look at the way she dresses, her sluned scowl on her face Look in her cart She’s definitely buying for one There’s no one at ho Noshe’s got a nice little body under those hideous clothes She’s perfect”

A slow, htened with exciteine