51: The Series

51: The Storm Chapter 12

When Wren left his house, Dillon, Nim, and Rebecca were sitting on the couch watching a movie. Rebecca was on one end, holding Crook on his back in her arms like a baby while he slept. Dillon was on the other end, and Rebecca’s big brother Nim was sitting between them. Wren had loaded the extra things into his car, which he thought might be needed at the sheriff’s department before he left the house to go to the military base where he worked.

On his way to the base, the storm picked up. The lightning lit up the sky, and the thunder became one continuous sound. He thought back to what had happened so far that day. He blamed Lindsay for what had happened, even though he knew that was impossible. He remembered the look of horror on Viktor’s face as the creature had hit him. Lindsay had been the only one to react fast enough to keep them all alive. That was going to haunt him for a while.

He reached the military base's gate and showed his ID, which led to an immediate salute by the soldier at the gate. He left the gate and began the drive to his building. It was on the backside of the base, set away from everything else, very close to the perimeter and the national forest. He pulled into what looked like a garage and exited his car. He had called Randy on his way there, so he was waiting inside.

“Randy, I need to let you know that what I’m going to do probably isn’t going to be looked too highly upon if anyone finds out,” Wren told him.

“Agent Gold, I trust you, and if you say this needs to be done, then I will do it,” Randy replied.

“OK, good. I need every paper and electronic file that has ever been kept here in the history of this base and is related to the agency and the program,” Wren told him. “I have been working off the list and know there is much more. Today, almost everyone in the county sheriff’s department was put in danger in some way, including my wife, and I have had enough of them not knowing everything,” Wren told him before they went inside what looked like it should be a closet but instead was a room with an elevator.

“I heard about what the Sheriff did today. Was it that amazing? Did she really react that fast and shoot that thing that was picked up?” Randy asked as they took the elevator down.

“It was, and she did. I can tell you now that I would want her there with me if I were ever in a tight spot. Not because she is my wife, but because of what she can do,” Wren told him.

“Like when she talked to Bow, that was amazing. She is an amazing woman,” Randy asked.

Wren looked at Randy and said, “Yes, that, among other things. I have seen her work before, but after today, I do not doubt that she is on a different level than most of us.”

Randy looked down and blushed. The elevator stopped, and they stepped into an office. The office was empty except for two bare desks. They walked through a door behind one of the desks into a room that looked much like a laboratory. Two people were working in it; both looked up and seemed surprised to see Agent Gold.

Without a word, Wren walked over to an elevator across the room. He swiped his security badge across the panel next to it, and the doors opened. He stepped in, closely followed by Randy, and hit the button to go down. Moments later, the doors opened, and they entered a long hallway. They walked to an unmarked door, and again, Wren used his security badge to open it. He opened the door, and they stepped into a room lined with shelves and boxes. Wren walked over to a row of shelves and looked at the boxes on each one.

“Randy, I will need you to load these into a van and bring them to Sheriff Gold’s office. I also need every electronic file that you have, even if it is research, put onto a hard drive. If we have an extra printer, ink, paper, and folders, bring those too,” Wren instructed.

“Yes, sir. When do you need it done by?” Randy asked.

“Yesterday. I need all of this in Lindsay’s office ASAP. After what I saw today, I need to know what is in these, and I mean all of them,” Wren told him.

“I will do that now,” Randy told him.

Randy nodded and quickly left the room. Wren began to look at box upon box of files. Looking at the dates, he could see that some of the boxes had gone back long before the base had been established. Wren cut the tape on a box, looked inside it, and saw close to a hundred files in it. Wren realized that if each box contained a hundred files and dozens of boxes, this was much worse than he thought. He felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him when he thought of how many things could be loose, and nobody knew.

Randy was back in just a few minutes with several men in uniform. He knocked on the door so Wren could open it again. Wren saw the men in uniform and looked back at Randy.

“Sir, they are waiting to load your boxes into the truck. I didn’t think they would all fit in the van, so I am using the box truck. If you would like, we can locate the other things you need while they start loading,” Randy told him.

“Thank you, Randy, that’s great. Let’s go get the other stuff.”

They left the file room and walked down the hall a little further. They came to a door labeled supplies, opened the unlocked door, and began to look for what they would need. They began to set the office supplies out in the hallway so they could be more easily loaded. Wren looked around the room a little before they left. In a corner, he saw a couple of large bulletin boards on stands.

“Lindsay might need those,” Wren said as he began to move things from in front of them.

Randy helped him move them into the hallway, and they continued to look for anything else that could have been useful. They found several extra packages of file boxes that they would need after they printed the electronic files, as well as county maps and pins to mark them. They heard a knock at the door as they continued to look for supplies. When they looked, they saw a soldier standing there.

“Agent Gold, sir, we have almost finished with the boxes. What else would you like us to load?” he asked.

“Everything that we have moved into the hallway so far, I think we are almost done here,” Wren answered.

“Yes, sir,” the soldier answered.

“Randy, I'm going back to my car to wait for you to be ready. I want you to bring the truck to the sheriff’s office,” Wren said to Randy.

“Of course, Agent Gold, I will make sure that everything is loaded, and I will call you as soon as I get in the truck,” Randy said.

“Good. Will you make sure that they put the dollies in the truck so it is easier to unload everything?” Wren asked.

“Yes, Sir,” Randy answered.

Wren left Randy and the soldiers to finish loading everything. He took the elevator back to the lab, walked in, and then went through the door to his office. Wren walked to a locked file cabinet, opened it, and removed the files that were inside. He then left the building, went out to his car, and got in. Wren was hoping that somewhere in those mountains of paper, he would be able to find an answer. He picked up his cell phone and dialed it. Wren called the sheriff’s department phone instead of Lindsay’s cell phone. He wanted to let her know that he had everything he could find and would be heading to her office with it soon.

“Sheriff’s department, how may I help you?” Cat answered.

“It’s Agent Gold. Can you let the sheriff know I have everything and will be headed to the department soon? There is a lot, so if possible, we will need to use the loading dock in the back,” Wren told her.

“Let me transfer you so you can tell her,” Cat said before Wren could object.

“Sheriff Gold,” Lindsay answered her phone almost immediately.

“Lindsay, I am on the base, and the truck is almost loaded. There is a lot, and it goes back a long time,” Wren told her.

“How much more are you talking about?”

“Linz, there are dozens of boxes of files, and each box has a hundred or more files. Those are just the paper files. That does not count all the electronic files that Randy is transferring to a hard drive right now. I am also bringing extra boxes and supplies to print and store additional paper copies. Can we use the loading dock in the back of the department?”

“Sure, that’s no problem,” Lindsay told him.

“OK, then we will see you soon,” Wren told her, then hung up his phone.

He sat in his car for a few more minutes, waiting for the call from Randy. He could not get the thought of what he had said to his wife earlier in the day out of his mind. He knew there was no way she had anything to do with what was happening, but he had still blamed her that morning. When he saw that the poltergeist activity had listened to her in the office, it frightened him. He could tell that it was intelligent and it could be reasoned with. She had acted out of instinct the first time she responded to the call in the county, and this time, she just did what had worked before. He smiled because Randy was right. Lindsay was a remarkable woman. His phone rang, and he answered.

“Sir, I am ready to leave and go to the sheriff’s department if you are,” Randy said.

“I am leaving the garage now. I will need you to pull into the back of the department. There is a loading dock there, so it will be easier to unload when you get there,” Wren instructed.

“Yes, sir,” Randy answered, then hung up.

Wren dialed Lindsay’s cell phone, hoping she would answer when she saw he was calling.

“Hello,” she answered.

“We are heading your way. It will still be a little while before we get there. Can you have the door on the dock open for us?” Wren asked her.

“I will go open it now to make sure it is ready just in case something big happens and we get distracted,” Lindsay told him.

“Thank you,” Wren told her.

“You’re welcome. Maybe we will get lucky and find the answer to all of our questions,” Lindsay said, then hung up.

Wren hung up his phone and began to think about the conversation he had just had with his wife. She was still upset, and he knew why. Wren just hoped he would be able to fix whatever was wrong. After all, as Lindsay had put it, he was a fixer, and this was something that he was going to fix.