51: The Series

51: The Storm Chapter 13 Part 3

As they continued to eat, they watched Cat working over on the floor of Lindsay’s office and what was going on out in the lobby. There had been a call about an alarm going off at a business just outside town. Big Bob took the call and was only gone for a short time before returning after finding nothing. They saw Max and Yuri come in for their night shift and looked at the clock, seeing it was only 11 p.m.

“They are here early,” Wren said.

“They always are. If anyone who works here is ever late and you haven’t heard anything, someone had better check on them because something is wrong,” Lindsay told him. “This is good because Max makes great night shift coffee. It is guaranteed to keep you awake, and if you do fall asleep while drinking it, you need to give up and sleep because nothing will keep you awake.”

“Hey, Max,” Lindsay called out to him.

He looked toward her office with surprise on his face. He walked in and looked around. First, he looked at her and Wren, then the stacks of files and supplies, then at Cat, still sitting on the floor.

“Have you two decided to give up and move in here, or is there another explanation?” Max asked.

“That is everything I could find about the weirdness that has been happening. I decided that after the poltergeist in this office twice today and the werewolf thing trying to kill Viktor, it was time to get some answers. I want everyone in this department to be aware of everything from now on,” Wren told him.

Max sighed, “Then I need to make a pot of coffee, don’t I?”

“Yes, please,” Lindsay said sweetly.

“What is our little family outcast doing over there? Hacking into government files for you two?” Max asked, motioning toward Cat.

“No, but keep it up, and you will have to sell your soul to pay off the IRS,” Cat said without looking up from the computer.

“I don’t owe the IRS anything,” Max told her, confused.

“Keep it up, and you will,” Cat told him, looking up and smiling at him.

“I will go make the coffee,” Max said before leaving Lindsay’s office.

Wren looked at Lindsay, shaking his head, “You are all crazy.”

“You should have figured that out years ago,” Lindsay told him. “Now, let’s go open that box.”

They got up and walked over to the boxes stacked against the wall. They found the one they were looking for and began to move boxes so they could get to it. They sat it on the floor and opened it. Inside were several files that were very old. Lindsay pulled one out and began to look at it. She slowly lowered herself to the floor as she read. She was stunned by what she was reading.

The report in her hand came from a United States soldier in 1837. A farmer and his family had told the soldier about a giant creature that had been taking their animals in the night. The soldier had spent the night at the home to see if what he had been told was true. In the middle of the night, the squealing of a hog had awakened him. He and the farmer went hurriedly outside to find a massive, bipedal, hairy animal standing between seven and eight feet tall. It was holding a young hog under its arm and was climbing out of the pen where hogs were held. The soldier fired a shot, and the creature screamed and ran into the dark, still carrying the pig. The next morning, the farmer and soldier had gone back out to investigate further, finding only hair and large footprints.

Lindsay sat silently and handed the file to Wren.

“Is it that good?” he asked as he took the file and began to read.

Lindsay did not answer. She just watched Wren as he read what was in the file. His eyes widened as he read, and he would look back at the date to confirm he was reading it correctly. He finished, closed the file, and looked at her.

“Are you sure you want to keep reading from this box?” Wren asked her, putting his hand on her leg.

“Oh yeah, but let me tell you, if I drank, I would be having one now,” Lindsay told him.

“That reminds me, I will be right back,” Wren said as he got up and jogged out of her office.

“Is the file that good or that bad?” Cat asked.

“I don’t know Cat. Do you want to read it?” Lindsay asked.

“Sure,” Cat said as she got up and took the file out of Lindsay’s hand. She began reading and had almost the same reaction that Wren had.

Wren came back into the room, carrying a backpack, and sat down beside Lindsay. He opened the backpack and pulled out a couple of bottles of her orange soda.

“I thought you might need one,” he said, opening one and handing it to her.

“Do you have anything stronger than that in there, handsome?” Cat asked as she handed the file back to Lindsay. “I think I am going to need it.”

“Sorry, soda and Max’s coffee are the strongest things around here,” Wren told her.

“I think I will take a break and get some coffee if that is the strongest thing we have. Then again, it has been known to strip paint, so that should be good enough,” Cat said as she left Lindsay’s office.

Lindsay looked at her watch; it was almost 1 a.m. She was exhausted, but there was no way that she would be able to sleep. Lindsay took a drink of her soda and pulled another file out of the box. It was also before the Civil War and was almost the same, but instead of a pig, it had taken a goat. One after another, as she kept reading the files, they were all describing the same thing. At least this confirmed what she already knew. Her large friends had nothing to do with the incident on the base; they had been here for a long time.

It was after 3 a.m. when she and Wren finished going through everything in the box. They sat quietly for a while, trying to grasp what they had read. They both finished their sodas, and Wren stood up.

“I'm going to grab a couple of sleeping bags for us. Is there anything else you want me to get for you?” Wren asked.

“Only if you have about a pound of chocolate somewhere,” Lindsay answered, stretching.

“Look in the backpack,” Wren told her, then walked out of her office.

Inside, she found not only chocolate bars but also a box of chocolate cupcakes. She just closed her eyes and laughed as she sat for a moment. No matter what had happened in the last twenty-four hours, this small gesture proved Wren still loved her.

Wren returned to Lindsay's office and looked around, trying to find the best spot for them to sleep. He went to where Cat had been working and unrolled the sleeping bags. He walked back toward the door, pushed the door mostly closed, and shut off the overhead lights. He turned on the lamp on her desk and looked at her.

“Did you find them?” he asked.

“Yes, thank you for taking care of me,” she said with more emotion than she wanted.

Wren helped her stand up and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. It has just been a really long day. We fought, and I’m tired. Then reading those files that show that those things have killed people, then you brought me cupcakes, and I just need to sleep because I have been awake for way too long,” Lindsay said. “And now, to top it off, I sound like Annie.”

Wren hugged her, “I know you need sleep. That is why I brought our sleeping bags and have them ready for us to use.”

“What about Cat?” Lindsay asked, looking around.

“She is asleep on her air mattress in the storeroom, so no one will bother us unless it is an emergency,” Wren told her, still hugging her.

Wren let her go, and they crawled into the sleeping bags, hoping to get a little sleep. Lindsay had put her duty belt near her head along with her phone to make sure that she would hear it if it rang. If it rang, it would be Dillon, and there would be a problem. Almost as soon as she lay down, she was asleep.

Lindsay awoke with a start to the sound of glass breaking. She jumped out of her sleeping bag and ran to her office door. Lindsay looked out to find that Max had dropped his coffee cup. She let out a sigh of relief.

“Sorry, boss, I didn’t mean to wake you up. Try to get some more sleep, and if anything happens that Yuri and I cannot handle, we will wake up your other half. If Wren can’t handle it, we will make him wake you up,” Max told her as he picked up the larger pieces of the broken cup on the floor.

Lindsay turned and went back into her office. She walked over and lay back down, hoping to go back to sleep. Wren rolled over and put his arm around her.

“Is everything OK?” he asked, still half asleep.

“Everything is fine except having a clumsy deputy working for me. Remind me to buy foam coffee cups from now on,” Lindsay said. She closed her eyes and began to doze off again.