Crying for the Moon by Sarah Madison Read Free Book Online Page B

Hell, he wasn’t above using his charm on the guy if it would get him back on the road any sooner. Give him a car from the 1960s or ’70s and he was confident he could repair or replace just about anything. Most of the newer models seemed to have little tricks to opening the simplest latch.
    The old man looked pained. “I’m so sorry, but they’ve changed the policy here. We can’t touch the customers’ cars. Guess they’re afraid we’ll break something. I can tell you, though: don’t touch the light bulb with your bare hands. The grease from your fingerprints will heat it up and make it bust. You have to use gloves.”
    Great . He thanked the clerk and took the little box out to the parking lot. In the light from the storefront, he reviewed the driver’s manual. The diagram seemed simple enough. Piece of cake. He popped the hood release and came around to the front of the car to lift it up, using the prop bar to hold it in place.
    Step one: Remove the electrical conductor.
    The electrical conductor proved to be a small rubber-covered bulb protruding from the back of the lighting assembly. Unfortunately, the lighting assembly was down in a very tight place between the battery and the front grill. The electrical conductor was hard to grip, even though Alex’s long fingers could reach down into the small space. Try as he might, he could not get the conductor to release from the back of the housing unit. Concerned that he might break it and certain there must be a simple way to perform the task, he went back to the book.
    Remove electrical conductor. That’s all it said. Even when he turned the page, there was no further indication of how to remove the conductor. He could just make out the word push in the center of the conductor, along with two large arrows that also pointed at the center of the bulb. Smiling, he gripped the conductor by the sides, pushing inward. When that failed to release the conductor, he pushed directly over the word itself with his thumb. Still nothing.
    He went back to the manual again. Remove the electrical conductor. The words hadn’t magically changed since the last time he’d read them. Annoyed, he moved on to step two. Remove the rubber cover. Maybe it would be easier to see what he was trying to unplug if he completed that action. The rubber ring came off easily, up to the point where it met the electrical conductor. There, it ceased to move. As he struggled with it, his hand slipped off the plug and connected sharply with the battery.
    “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He snarled as he went back to the glove compartment and pawed through the contents until he found a set of needle-nose pliers. He was able to manipulate the pieces together again with the help of the pliers. When he was done, he was back where he’d started. An examination of the other headlight assembly was of no use whatsoever; if anything, it was even harder to access.
    Another customer hesitated on seeing him at work over the grill of his car, but one look at the expression on his face and the young man decided to go into the store without offering assistance. Alex stared down at the light assembly again. It couldn’t be that hard. It only seemed hard because he didn’t know the trick; just like the time he was changing a tire and the wheel wouldn’t come off even after he’d removed the lug nuts. He’d had to call the dealer to find out that a kick to the wheel in the right place would cause it to pop off the hub. He was going to be Damned if he let this stupid thing defeat him tonight.
    He took hold of the electrical conductor again. Squeezing the sides firmly with his fingers, he pushed its center with his thumb. To his delight, the catch loosened, and he was able to remove the plug. The rubber cover and retaining ring were a snap after that. He pulled out his leather gloves from his coat pocket to handle the bulb. In no time at all, he had replaced the assembly. Closing the hood of the car, he looked up and saw the