51: The Series

51: The Storm Chapter 5 Part 1

Sheriff Lindsay Gold sat at her desk, reading the reports from the night before. She was not too worried about the reports from Max, but she was concerned about what Big Bob, Annie, and Andy had encountered and the missing time they had experienced.

Max had two calls for the night. One was a report of strange lights in an open field. His report said that he could see the lights when he arrived, but they went out almost as soon as he arrived. When he checked the field, he found an intricate crop circle and no sign that anyone had been there. He had returned after the sun had come up and taken pictures of it. Lindsay had to admit that the photos of the geometric pattern were stunning.

The second call was a little disturbing to Lindsay because it was the only thing that had ever frightened her, even as a child. It had not caused any damage. It had, however, frightened the cattle of a local farmer and the farmer for a good reason.

Lindsay wrote down all the information for the calls to put them on the map. As she finished it and walked over to where the map hung on the wall, she looked carefully at it. It was full of the pins and tags they had been using to mark the reports of the weirdness that had been going on for the past few months. She was looking for a pattern or something. Lindsay was desperate for anything to help predict and, with luck, prevent some of the activity. As she put the pins in place on the map, she concluded it was not going to tell her anything. She knew that her husband could not tell her anything, so she would use what she considered her secret weapon.

“Cat, do you have a moment to come in here and help me with something?” she called out as she continued staring at the map.

“Of course. What do you need help with?” Cat asked as she walked into Lindsay’s office.

“I am trying to find some pattern or logic behind what is happening and the different reports we are getting. I’m not going to lie. I think I have been working too many hours on too little sleep for my brain to be working well enough to do it myself. Do you think you can help with that?” Lindsay asked her.

“That shouldn’t be too hard. I should be able to come up with a program to do all the mapping and possible future projections. It would be easier if I had a little help from Max. Would that be OK? If not, I can do it myself, but it might take longer,” Cat told Lindsay.

“Max is the night supervisor and already knows about all the calls, so that is fine if he wants to. However, it does need to be done here in the department. No outside computers,” Lindsay told her.

“That won’t be a problem. There is a spare laptop in the storeroom that we can use if that is alright with you, Sheriff,” Cat said.

“That sounds great. Honestly, the faster that this can be done, the better. Just make sure that neither of you neglects your regular duties,” Lindsay instructed.

“I will get started on it now. By the way, both of my brothers will be here today if you have time to meet with them. They are interested in working here and getting out of the city,” Cat told Lindsay as she started to back toward the door and begin work on the new project.

Lindsay told her, “I will be here as far as I know, and if I am out of the office when they get here, make sure they know not to leave. I will get back here as fast as I can.”

“Will do, boss lady. I will get started on the mapping program now,” Cat said as she left Lindsay’s office and went straight to the storeroom to get the computer she would be using.

Lindsay let out a sigh of relief. Knowing the program would be started was a weight off her shoulders. She would not know what caused her deputies to lose time and may not know even after she talked to her husband. This could be a case in which he would not be able to tell her anything.

She returned to her desk and sat down to begin dealing with another pressing issue. The local weather forecast was calling for severe storms and flooding for the next week, so she needed to start working on having things in place to deal with whatever the weather brought. She opened the most recent weather forecast and looked at it. It was even worse than what she had heard that morning. In two days, the storms were going to start and last for a week. It included thunderstorms with the risk of high wind, hail, and even tornadoes. The rainfall for the week was estimated from six to twelve inches. As if that were not bad enough, it was late enough in the year that temperatures could be below freezing to add ice and possibly snow to the mix. She only hoped it did not turn into a full-on ice storm.

She opened her desk drawer and pulled out her bottle of aspirin. She had a headache when she woke up that morning, which had worsened since she had been at work. Unfortunately, that was something she had fought with since she had been hurt by whatever it was that had attacked her almost a year before. She took two of them with her coffee and leaned back in her chair. She began formulating a plan of what needed to be done to prepare for the weather. She needed to contact some of the local churches that could be used as shelters in case they were needed. She knew one of the first people she needed to call was Abigail Jones.

Abigail was a very religious woman, so much so that many people tried to avoid her because of her strict beliefs. Lindsay did occasionally become frustrated with her, but she admired her conviction. Abigail truly believed she was put on earth to help others and ensured her children felt the same. If anyone in the county needed help of any sort, Lindsay knew that all she had to do was call the Jones Family, and they would all be there to help no matter what was needed.

She had known the family for many years, and their children had grown up together. They had been there for her when she had been hurt. Abigail, her husband Joe, and their children brought food to her family daily for over a week and cleaned her home. She had always felt that saying thank you was never enough, but they had always refused to take anything from her to repay them. They did it because they thought it was the right thing to do.

As Lindsay continued to form the list of everything that needed to be done and everyone she needed to contact, Little Bob walked into her office.

“Lindsay, do you have a minute?” Little Bob asked her.

“Of course, Bob. Come on in and shut the door if you want to,” Lindsay said.

“No, that’s OK. I just saw the weather forecast this morning and was wondering what you had in mind,” Little Bob told her.

“I just looked at the latest forecast, and it is worse now than it was this morning. There will be serious flooding all over the county, not counting the storm damage from wind and everything else that will come with it. I will call Abigail Jones and have her help with organizing some of the churches across the county to be ready as emergency shelters. Besides that, make sure that all the other police and fire departments are ready for the evacuations and rescues as they come,” Lindsay explained.

“To me, it sounds like you have everything planned out. That is about all we can do besides cross our fingers and say a few prayers that this isn’t as bad as they’re forecasting,” Little Bob said with a smile.

“What are you smiling about?” Lindsay asked him.

“Nothing, I’m just glad that you have this planned out already. To tell you the truth, there were a lot of people who doubted your ability to do this job, and you have no idea how happy I am to see you prove them wrong. I’m proud of you,” Little Bob told her, still smiling.

“Don’t get all sentimental on me. You know we have been through a lot together,” she said, tipping her head slightly.

“We have, and I love working with you, but I would be happy if we don’t go through some of that stuff ever again.”

“I agree with you there. Back to business, do you want to call Abigail, or do you want me to?”

“Tell you what, you call Abigail, and I will call the other departments that need to be called,” Little Bob answered.

“Sounds good to me,” Lindsay said. She pulled out her cell phone and looked up the phone number.

“Cheater, I forgot that you’ve known Abigail for years. Isn’t your son about the same age as one of her kids?”

“Dillon and her daughter Rebecca are in the same grade. They were in the same class in elementary school, and now they still have a couple of classes together. In fact, Dillon has been asked if he wants to go on a family camping trip with all the kids next weekend. I told him it depends on how this weather turns out.”

“Girls and boys all camping together? I’m not sure that I would let my girls go on that,” Little Bob said.

“Two separate tents, and it is all the kids, even the oldest son and his wife, so that doesn’t worry me too much,” Lindsay said. “I know all of them. If it was any other family, I’m not sure if I would even consider it, but I know I can trust them.”

Before they could continue, the door chimed, and Wren Gold walked in. He waved to Lindsay when he saw Little Bob in her office, and she motioned for him to come and join them.

“Have you seen the forecast?” Wren asked them when he walked into Lindsay’s office.

“We both have, and we have a plan. It might not matter because we are talking about Missouri weather, but we have one anyway,” Lindsay told him.

“OK, that’s good, and I’m glad you’re here, Bob. I wanted to let you know that with this weather coming in, there might be an increase in unusual activity,” Wren told them.

“More?” Little Bob asked nervously.

“Unfortunately, it will probably be like all animals before a large storm. There is almost always an increase in activity right before and after,” Wren explained.

“OK, that is all well and good, but can you tell me if I need to worry about my deputies responding to a noise complaint, then when they arrive, they hear a strange sound and lose two hours of time?” Lindsay asked Wren.

“Lost time? Who lost time? When did this happen?” Wren asked, seeming rather concerned.

“Before I hear anything else, I will go make those calls,” Little Bob said, excusing himself and closing the office door behind him when he left.

“Last night, Big Bob, Annie, and Andy went out on a noise complaint, which was thought to be at one of the clubs. When they got there, the place was empty and shut down for the night. They got out of their cars to listen, and they each began hearing a strange sound that they each described differently in their reports. They all thought they had been there for about fifteen minutes, but when they got back in their cars to come back here, they realized they had each lost around two hours. Madison was working dispatch when they were on the call. She tried to reach them on the radio and their cell phones, but no one answered. There is just a big void where that time should have been,” Lindsay explained to Wren.

“That isn’t good,” Wren told her.

“Really? You think?”

“No, I mean, I don’t have an answer for you on that one right off. Let me go back to the office and do a little research. Have you heard from them today? Are all of them alright?” Wren asked.

“I haven’t heard from them, but they are on the second shift, so that isn’t unusual. I need to call Big Bob and Max anyway about the weather situation, so I will call Annie and Andy while I am at it. I will let you know how they are as soon as I find out,” Lindsay said.

“Thank you, babe. Do you have the list from...?” Wren said as Lindsay handed him the list of calls from the previous night. “This is Proof that you are perfect for me; you can read my mind,” Wren said, smiling.

“You give me too much credit. I can’t read your mind, and I’m pretty sure I should be thankful I can’t,” Lindsay said. “Remind me to tell you tonight about the camping trip Dillon wants to go on with the Jones kids.”

“OK, that sounds like he would have fun,” Wren walked over and kissed her on the head. “I will see you later, and don’t worry about supper. I’ll take care of it.”

Lindsay smiled as Wren walked out of her office and out of the building. The first thing she did when he left was to call Abigail Jones. It took little time to explain the situation and what was needed. Abigail had set up shelters like this before at her church, and she would ensure other churches in the county were doing the same. No one wanted to endure the wrath of that woman when she was on a mission. As soon as she was done talking with Abigail, she called Big Bob.

Big Bob answered the phone and sounded a little groggy. He was never good when someone woke him up with a phone call.

“Hey Bob, I just read your report and passed it on to Wren. He wanted me to call everyone who lost time last night and make sure you are all feeling OK,” Lindsay told him.

“I think I’m alright. I do feel a little hungover or something, but I don’t feel sick if that is what Wren wants to know,” Big Bob said.

“He only asked me to call and make sure you guys feel alright. Now that I have called you and woke you up, I’m sure you haven’t seen the weather forecast. It is going to get very bad in a couple of days, so Little Bob and I are making calls to get things ready. I will fill you in when you come in this afternoon. Go back to sleep, and I’ll see you later,” Lindsay said.

“See you later,” Big Bob replied, then hung up the phone.

Lindsay quickly called Andy and Annie. Andy said he felt a little off but could not determine precisely what was wrong. Annie, on the other hand, had become very sick after she had gotten home. Annie described it as somewhere between the flu and a migraine headache. However, she was feeling better by the time Lindsay had called her. Lindsay sent Wren a quick text message letting him know how the deputies were feeling.