51: The Series

51: The Beginning Chapter 15

In the past few days, the number of strange calls had continued to increase. Lindsay had been taking calls during the day, along with the deputies who were on duty. The calls she had taken included another poltergeist, a cattle mutilation, a strange humming noise that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere simultaneously, and, most recently, a gremlin. There had to be some way to make this chaos stop. All the strange calls were on top of the regular calls that generally come to the sheriff’s department. Lindsay had just walked into her office and sat down after the gremlin call when she saw Cat walking toward her door.

“While you were out, Agent Gold called and asked that you please call him when you got back,” Cat said as she handed Lindsay the note. The note read:

“Your husband called. Call him back.”

Lindsay smiled and asked, “Thanks, Cat. Did he say anything besides asking me to call him?”

“No, ma’am. Your husband just asked me to have you call him when you got back,” Cat answered.

“OK. Hang on, and I will give you another thing to stick in that map over there,” Lindsay said.

She quickly typed the info and printed it. She cut it out and hoped it would be small enough to fit where it was going. She handed the paper to Cat, who read it as she walked across the room toward the map.

“A gremlin? Are you serious?” Cat asked Lindsay as she put it in place.

“I am completely serious. I have never seen anything like it before in my life, and I hope I never will again. I will now call Wren, and I need to fill him in. I hate to chase you out, but will you close the door as you leave?” Lindsay asked.

“No problem. I don’t take it personally. It also doesn’t matter because I have bugged your office,” Cat said with a big smile as she left and closed the door.

Lindsay laughed. She knew the sad part was Cat had the ability to bug the office if she wanted to. Lindsay pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed Wren. She just hoped he would answer. She had no idea what kind of voicemail to leave after the call she just had.

“Hi, babe. How has your day been so far?” Wren asked.

“I’m not sure that I want to tell you over the phone. What are the chances you could come over to my office? I need to fill you in on some things, and there is also something you need to see,” she told him.

“Give me ten minutes. Fifteen if you want me to pick up lunch,” Wren answered.

“That’s the best thing I have heard today. Just pick up whatever you are in the mood for. After my morning, it just doesn’t matter to me,” Lindsay said.

“I’ll be there soon, and in case you have forgotten. I love you,” Wren said.

“I love you too,” she said, then hung up her phone.

While she waited for Wren, Lindsay began to write her report on her gremlin incident. The best way she could describe it was a two-foot-high, lizard-like thing that walked upright if it was moving slowly. On all fours, it moved fast and was very fast when it wanted to be.

When she arrived at the residence, the farm owner had met her outside and told her that there was some kind of thing in his barn. She entered the barn and opened the door to find the creature standing upright and walking across the hay-covered floor. It paused, looked at her, then dropped onto all fours and ran out the door past her and into the woods behind the house. She walked to the woods and could hear it moving. It was not until it threw a pine cone at her that she located it on a low branch approximately twenty feet in front of her. As soon as she saw it, they briefly locked eyes. It then climbed the tree and began leaping from tree to tree until it was out of sight. She had told the farmer that it was probably just a native animal that had mange, which is why it looked that way. Lindsay hoped he had believed her but had her doubts about it.

Lindsay leaned back in her chair, again reading what she had written in her report. She was so focused that she had not even noticed Wren had walked into the building.

“You are pretty focused. Did something interesting happen?” Wren asked from her doorway as he entered her office.

“You could say that. I met my first gremlin today,” Lindsay answered.

Wren had sat in the chair across from her and had begun taking their lunch out of the bag, setting it on her desk as she said that. He stopped in mid-action. He turned and looked at her with a worried expression on his face.

“You met a what?” he asked.

“A gremlin. You know, one of those little lizard-like creatures that are about two feet high and likes to cause destruction and mayhem wherever it goes,” Lindsay answered.

Wren stood up and looked at her without saying a word. He turned, closed her door, and began closing all the blinds around her office. After he was done, he came back and sat down in a chair across from her again.

“Are you absolutely positive about what you saw?” Wren asked her.

“What do you mean by am I positive? Of course, I’m sure. I will be sure about what I saw until the day I die,” Lindsay said with a surprising amount of anger and annoyance. “Oh, and before you ask me anything else, please go over and look at the giant map that has been added to my wall.”

Wren did not say anything. He just stood and walked to the map that continued to have more pins added daily. Wren stood looking at it, a little confused at first, before his eyes widened. As he continued to read the tags for each pin, he began to seem unnerved by the sheer number of reports.

“Are you serious about this? I mean, these are actual calls that this department has taken?” he asked.

“I am completely serious. We have so many of these calls on top of our regular calls that we can barely keep up with them. I don’t know what to do if this keeps up. This job is hard enough without dealing with all the paranormal, supernatural stuff that should not even exist except in either your dreams or nightmares,” Lindsay told him.

“I told you that you might have some strange calls, but I had no idea this would happen. Honestly, if I had known, I would have warned you,” Wren said. “I am truly sorry about this. I will see what I can do, but I can’t tell you anything more than that.”

“I know you can’t tell me anything, and thank you for the help that you can give us. I mean that. Thank you,” Lindsay said.

“You’re welcome. Now, let’s eat before another call comes in. I’m hungry,” Wren said.

They ate without talking much. Wren was still trying to wrap his head around the number of calls and the variety of them. Lindsay was still thinking about the little creature she had seen and wondered how much of a danger it might pose to people in the county. As they were eating, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Lindsay called out.

Deputy Keith Abernathy opened the door, stepped into the office, and closed it behind him.

“What can I do for you, Keith?” Lindsay asked.

“Nothing, ma’am. I quit effective immediately. I just saw something, and after the call that I had with you and Little Bob, and now this one, I’m done. I quite,” Keith said as his voice trembled.

“Deputy Abernathy, what exactly did you see?” Wren asked him before Lindsay could.

“Agent Gold, I know you fix things around here, but this was like nothing I have ever seen before. It shouldn’t exist. It just shouldn’t,” Keith stammered.

“What did you see?” Wren asked more forcefully than before.

“It was walking among the trees near where a farmer had lost a cow to some kind of animal attack. I don’t know what it was. It was tall and skinny, and it was as if it could camouflage itself. It just blended in with the trees and brush. It was like I could see through it, but I could still tell something was there, like it was distorted. I don’t know what it was, but I quit. I cannot do this anymore. I’m done,” Keith said.

“Keith, if you want to quit, I will not try to talk you into staying. Right now, there are things going on that are not easily explainable. If you do resign, I will not hold it against you, and if you want to come back, you will be welcome. Let me make a recommendation. Quit working full-time and continue to be a reserve officer. If you do that, it will make it easier to come back when things have gone back to normal. You can come in and do your eight hours on a day shift in the office. How does that sound to you?” Lindsay said to him.

“OK. I will think about doing that, but I am not going back out there. I am going to go out to my desk, finish the reports that I have, and clean out my desk. I won’t be back tomorrow. Would you mind if Little Bob gives me a ride home today?” Keith asked.

“That is fine,” she answered.

Keith just nodded and left her office, closing the door behind him. Wren and Lindsay sat and looked at each other briefly before either spoke.

“Was he in danger from what he saw?” Lindsay asked.

“No. He wasn’t, and it would not have killed the cow. So that means something else was out there with them,” Wren answered.

“Like what?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Do you think there is a chance he took pictures of the cow? Every animal attacks and kills differently and has its own signature,” he answered.

“You are welcome to ask him. That is probably one of the reports he is doing now. You might be better off to get the address from Cat and go out there yourself. You know what you are looking for. If you do go out, do you want someone to go with you to watch your back?” Lindsay asked.

“Getting that address, I think, is the best idea. Keith seems like a nice guy, but I am not exactly sure how stable he is right now. That report could be completely off. I will take someone if you are volunteering to go with me.”

“I’ll go with you. I don’t have anything scheduled, and if there is something that is a risk, I need to know about it. I don’t need or really want to know what it is, but I do need to know how to keep everyone safe,” Lindsay said.

As they continued eating their lunch, they talked about some of the calls the department had received. Wren was not concerned about some of the reports, but others worried him. He began making a list of the incidents, and if they occurred again, he asked that he be called. Just as they finished eating, there was another knock on the door.

“Come in,” Lindsay said.

Cat opened the door and asked, “Is Keith really quitting this time?”

“It seems that way,” Lindsay answered.

“Would you like me to pull the files for potential replacements again?” Cat asked.

“Yes, please. And can you also get Wren the address for the call Keith was just on?” Lindsay said.

“Of course. I will be right back,” Cat answered.

Cat returned moments later with the address from the call as they were throwing away the trash from lunch and cleaning.

“Here you go, handsome,” Cat said with a smile as she handed a piece of paper to Wren.

“Um…a...thanks,” Wren stammered to Cat.

In return, Cat just laughed and walked back to her desk. He turned and looked at Lindsay, who was smiling at him.

“It is good to see that the unflappable Agent Gold can be at a loss for words once in a while,” she said to him.

“Gee, thanks, she just caught me off guard, is all. You want to help me mark this on your map?” Wren answered.

“Sure, then let’s go out there and see what he was so scared of,” Lindsay said.

They went to the map on the wall and found the correct spot to be marked. They just stepped back and looked at the whole map for a moment. The first call that they were counting as the weirdness was the call that was at Rita Johnson’s home. Then, the next had been the kids at the Sycamore River. Both locations were within just a few miles of the military base. After that, the frequency of the calls began to increase significantly, and they began to spread throughout the county.

“I think we should go on out there. Do you want to follow me or ride with me?” Lindsay asked Wren.

“Let me grab a couple of things from my car, and I will ride with you,” Wren answered.

“Cat, we are heading out to check the scene Keith went to earlier. If anyone needs anything, we should be available by radio and cell phone,” Lindsay told Cat as they were walking toward the main door of the building.

“Sure thing. Have fun, you two,” Cat answered and winked.

Lindsay laughed and rolled her eyes. She walked out of the building and unlocked her patrol car as Wren was taking things from the trunk of his car. He had set out three large black cases and was now pulling a black duffle bag out as well.

“Will all of this fit in your car, Linz?” Wren asked.

“Sure. We can put it in the backseat,” Lindsay answered.

They put everything in the back of her car and began the drive out to the farm where the cow had been killed. Wren called the owner of the farm and let him know they were coming back out to have another look. Wren explained they needed to identify what had killed the cow. After that, they were mostly silent as Lindsay drove. All the strange events were beginning to weigh on both of them. It only took a few minutes to reach the field where the cow was still lying. The first thing Lindsay noticed was there were no other animals around.

As they walked to where the cow lay, they realized how unusual things were. First, there was nothing but the cow. Typically, there would have been buzzards and crows nearby, but none were to be seen. There were not even any flies or beetles. Why was there nothing else here? The cow itself looked as if it had been hit by a speeding truck.

“Wren, what could have done this?” she asked with concern in her voice.

“I can honestly say I don’t know,” Wren answered.

They heard footsteps among the trees not far away. The steps were hesitant and soft, as if something were trying to move and stay hidden simultaneously. Lindsay began to focus on the sound with every step. Then she saw the leaves compress as she heard one of the steps. Then Lindsay saw it again. As she focused on it more, she began to see the distortion that Keith had mentioned. She could almost see the silhouette of something moving, but the outer edge of it was blurred.

“Wren?” she whispered, “Do you see that?”

“I do. That, at the moment, is not what is worrying me. That won’t bother anything, but what did this to this cow concerns me greatly,” Wren answered.

“Do you need any of the stuff from the car?” Lindsay asked.

“No, not after seeing this,” he answered. “What did this isn’t even supposed to be here. I will call for a training exercise to take place in this area. We will have roads blocked in certain areas, but I will make sure that if any emergency vehicles need to get through, they can. This area has enough people; we need to fix this.”

“Do whatever you need to do. You alone have more knowledge and experience than everyone in my department combined,” Lindsay told him.

They turned and walked back toward Lindsay’s patrol car. As they walked, Wren pulled out his phone and called for the exercise to take place, giving the location of the field as the setup point. They got in the car to wait for the arrival of the team. As they waited, they continued to see the distortion walk among the trees. It was fascinating to watch. It was almost like a blur that walked. As they watched, they saw it begin to run like it was playing among the trees.

Within fifteen minutes of Wren’s call, the team arrived to begin what he called a training exercise. They opened the gate to the field so the vehicles could pull in and park. Wren watched for a moment to make sure things were going correctly.

“I will be just a couple of minutes. I need to give them some quick instructions, and then we can go back to the department,” Wren said.

He exited Lindsay’s patrol car and walked over to where things were being set up. He got the same instant recognition and respect he had received the night at Sycamore River when they had to retrieve Dillon and his friend. She knew that she would probably never know the full extent of her husband’s job, but for some reason, that did not bother her. She found it a little funny that people were afraid of Agent Wren Gold. She had been with him long enough to know that he was one of the kindest people she had ever met. She watched Wren speak briefly with a couple of soldiers and then turn and walk back toward her car. He got in and sat in the seat next to her and smiled.

“We can go whenever you are ready, dear,” he told her.

“I am ready now. Do you need to do anything before we get back to the department?” Lindsay asked Wren as she pulled onto the road and headed toward town.

“Nope. I am ready to get my car and go home.”

“That sounds like a plan to me, but I need to wrap up some things at the department. I also need to pick up the files that Cat has pulled so I can find a replacement for Keith,” Lindsay said.

“Then I guess I am in charge of dinner tonight. How does pizza sound?” Wren asked.

“It sounds good to me. I mean pizza, TV, and personnel files. What an exciting night?” Lindsay replied sarcastically.

They drove back to the sheriff’s department and put all of Wren’s equipment back in his car. He went inside to ensure that Lindsay did not stay too long. Shifts had already changed. Cat had left for the day and had left everything Lindsay needed on her desk. Little Bob had left for the day, and Keith had left his letter of resignation on top of the files Cat had put on Lindsay’s desk.

“Do you want me to grab those files for you?” Wren asked Lindsay as she shut down her computer.

“Thank you. That would be great,” Lindsay answered.

As Wren and Lindsay were leaving her office, they were met by Big Bob and Andy just outside her office door.

“What’s up, guys?” she asked them as she locked her office.

“Did Keith really quit today?” Big Bob asked.

“He did. I will be going through those tonight to find his replacement,” Lindsay said, pointing to the stack of files Wren was holding. “I may need you to come in a little early tomorrow so you can give me your opinion on some of the candidates. Is that OK with you?”

“Sure, whatever you need help with, sweetheart, I will help you with it if I can,” Big Bob answered.

“I thought Little Bob was your sweetheart,” she said, smiling.

“A guy can have more than one sweetheart, can’t he?” Big Bob asked with a grin.

“You are terrible. I can’t believe I put you in charge of this shift,” Lindsay laughed. “Both of you have a good night. We’re going home. If you need anything, call.”

“Goodnight, beautiful. You too, sheriff,” Big Bob said as they started to walk away.

They both turned around and looked at him.

“I need to come here more often. Cat called me handsome, and you called me beautiful. I feel pretty good now,” Wren said, looking at Big Bob.

“Agent Gold, you are always welcome here as far as I’m concerned. As a matter of fact, I would like to talk to you about a couple of people who I would like to have disappear,” Big Bob said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Contrary to popular belief, that is not my department,” Wren told him.

“Darn. Well, it was worth a try. Have a good night, you two,” Big Bob said.

Lindsay and Wren left the department laughing. Big Bob always had something to say, and usually, his goal was to get a laugh. They each got in their cars and headed for home. Lindsay had a lot of work to do that night.

Back at the office, Andy was a little taken aback. He had met Wren before but did not know that he was the infamous Agent Gold. He was expecting someone bigger and meaner for some reason.

“Bob, is the sheriff’s husband the same Agent Gold who I have heard about?” Andy asked Big Bob.

“Yes, he is. Why do you ask, my young friend?” Big Bob asked.

“He isn’t what I was expecting. I mean, I met him before, and he was nice to me. I would never have guessed that he was Agent Gold,” Andy said.

“Wren is a very nice guy. A lot of the things you have heard and will hear are all just made-up rumors, because the truth is no one really knows the truth about what he does. He handles things that don’t fit anywhere else. All of these crazy calls we have been getting, he will handle those. If anyone asks, he will say he works in public relations, which might be true in a way,” Big Bob explained. “I can tell you that when he walks into any room where there are military personnel present, he is always one of the highest ranking people in the room, no matter the rank of anyone else there. It is just plain bizarre.”

“I think I will just try to think of him as the sheriff’s husband,” Andy said. “I also hope things are quiet tonight. I am not prepared for all these alien and ghost calls.”

“Now you’ve done it. You used the ‘Q’ word. I thought I taught you better than that,” Big Bob said with a smile. “If it hits the fan tonight, it’s your fault.”