51: The Series

51: The Storm Chapter 13 Part 2

They went back to where the deputies were sitting and joined them. To their relief, so far, much of the bad weather was going around them, so they weren’t flooded with calls as expected. Most of them were still planning to stay in the department to make sure there was extra help if it was needed.

“Sheriff, would you like me to set up the printer and hard drive on your computer for you while you and Agent Gold get something to eat?” Cat asked just after they had sat down.

Lindsay looked at Wren, and he just shrugged his shoulders.

“Sure, Cat, go ahead,” Lindsay told her and watched Cat bounce into her office.

Lindsay smiled at Wren and said, “She is like a kid in a candy store with everything you brought me today.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Wren laughed.

“Little Bob, Viktor, why don’t the two of you go home? We have been OK with our normal shifts. If you stay, it will be as volunteers because the overtime budget is shot,” Lindsay told them.

Little Bob replied, “Nope. I have got eleven women in my house, and I am the only man there. Just so you know, I will be living in a box under my desk for the next two weeks, and I will be using the hose out back for showers.”

Viktor answered, looking at his sister, “Yuri and I are staying at Ekaterina’s house right now, so I am more than happy to be here. Her house is very girly and strange because of her other pastimes.”

“Did you get the extra sleeping bags and stuff from the house?” Lindsay asked Wren.

“I did, and I will go get it. It’s in the back of my car. I also have some more files in the front seat,” he said and began to stand.

“You sit down,” Little Bob told him as he stood. “Give me your keys and Viktor, and I can do it. You need to eat, Wren, and you both need to take a few deep breaths after today,” he said, looking at Wren and Lindsay.

Wren handed Little Bob the car keys as he and Viktor grabbed their coats and headed to the parking lot to unload his car. Wren and Lindsay sat listening to Annie chatter at Big Bob for a few moments more.

“Why don’t we grab our food and head to my office?” Lindsay asked Wren.

“Sounds good,” he said as he began to reach for a paper plate on the table.

“Here, the two of you grab a couple of spoons, and I will take this stew in there so you can eat it. I have been trying to keep it warm for you and threatening people with great bodily harm every time someone got close to it,” Big Bob said as he picked up the small pot and began to take it to Lindsay’s office.

Wren and Lindsay did as Big Bob told them and followed him to her office. He placed the pot on her desk and moved another chair around for Wren to use. They watched him as he got everything ready for them. They looked over at Cat, who was sitting on the floor near the map with Lindsay’s laptop, the hard drive, and the printer. She seemed oblivious to them, even being in the room.

“Enjoy you two,” Big Bob said and then walked out of her office.

“That stew does smell good,” Wren said.

“It is good. Big Bob made me eat a bowl earlier,” Lindsay said as she sat down.

“How did he make you eat?” Wren laughed as he sat.

“He gave me a bowl of it and a spoon. Then he sat down in that chair in front of me and refused to move until I ate everything in the bowl,” Lindsay explained.

Wren began laughing, “Yeah, I would eat too.”

“How are you doing over there, Cat?” Lindsay called out.

“Oh…uh…fine. I have the printer set up and ready to go. The hard drive does not want to cooperate, but I will get it,” Cat told her. “I forgot to tell you earlier that I have finished the program for the mapping system. Do you mind if I start putting some of the information from the map into it to make sure that it is working the way that it should?”

“Go for it if it will help. Did Max help you with it?” Lindsay asked.

“No, I didn’t need his help. It is pretty basic. Would you like me to explain it to you?” Cat asked.

“No, I will take your word for it, but thanks for the offer,” Lindsay answered.

Wren looked at Lindsay, raised an eyebrow, and asked, “Mapping program?”

“That was my idea. The program is designed to track and hopefully predict the weirdness and movement of it if there is any,” Lindsay told him.

“How long ago did you have her start on it?” he asked.

“A few days. Cat started just before we began the prep for the weather. Why?”

“So you have people here who can write a program like that in just a few days and work full-time,” Wren said.

“I do, and she is just one of them,” Lindsay told him with a smile. “Is it a problem?”

“No, not at all. It’s great, actually,” Wren said.

Lindsay reached into her desk, pulled out a few personnel files, and handed them to Wren.

“You know Max and the Bobs, but you haven’t had a chance to get to know the rest of the lunatics that run this asylum,” she told him, smiling.

The file on top was Cat’s. He began to read, and Lindsay could see his expression change as he read. He finished reading it, glanced at Cat sitting on the floor on the other side of the office, and turned back at Lindsay.

“Just keep reading. It gets better,” Lindsay told him as she took another bite of the stew.

Wren then picked up Andy’s and had an almost identical reaction as he did with Cat’s file. He continued through the files for Annie, Viktor, and Yuri. When Wren had finished, he turned and looked at Lindsay. He just looked at her, smiled, and shook his head.

“You have had these skills here, and you didn’t share that with me?” Wren asked.

“You said you wanted them to have as little as possible to do with all of this weirdness, so that is what I have tried to do. Cat takes the calls, so she knows what is coming in. The Bobs and Max are shift supervisors, so they need to know what is going on to keep everyone else safe who is working. My standard order has been for them to fill out this form, which Cat created, put it in a file folder, and put it on my desk,” she said, pulling one out of her desk.

“I think your entire department needs to know what is going on now. After the poltergeist in here this morning, it isn’t even safe for them here where it should be,” Wren told her.

“Are you going home tonight?” Lindsay asked him.

“No, if I do, it will just be to check on the kids and then come back,” Wren told her. “Knowing all these files are here would just keep me awake anyway.”

“I will call now to make sure the kids are alright. I don’t like leaving them there, but I know they will be safe,” Lindsay said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed her son’s number.

“Hello,” Dillon answered.

“How are you guys doing?” Lindsay asked.

“We’re good. We made some frozen pizza and are watching movies right now. Is everything OK with you?” Dillon asked.

“Of course, I’m in mom mode because of the storms, and you don’t have an adult there,” Lindsay told him.

“If we need anything, we will call you and call Nim and Rebecca’s mom and dad. They are at the church a few minutes away. They told Nim they have a few people there but not very many,” Dillon said.

“OK, that’s good to know. I will try to call you later. If I don’t call, please text me every so often so I know you guys are still OK,” Lindsay told him.

“I will, Mom. I'll talk to you later. Bye,” Dillon said, then hung up.

“Bye,” she said, not knowing if he had heard her.

“How are they?” Wren asked.

“They’re good, and if they have any problems, they will call Nim and Rebecca’s parents and us to make sure everyone knows,” Lindsay told them.

“When we finish eating, where do you want to start with those files?” Wren asked her.

“I want to start at the beginning with that box with all of the question marks and 1931 as the date range. It might be empty, but that is before the base was here, so that could be interesting,” Lindsay told him.

“That sounds good to me. Do you think Cat would have time to help us?” Wren asked, looking over at her, still sitting on the floor.

“She isn’t even on the clock right now; Madison is. She is staying because most of our part-time dispatchers either cannot get here or chose not to show up. This way, if things get busy because of the weather, we have an extra person,” Lindsay told him.