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51: The Beginning Chapter 1 Part 1
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2025-09-06 12:00:38Lindsay got into her car and thought about what she was doing. She was not even close to being ready to return to that department after what had happened, much less to be in charge of it. As Lindsay started to drive, she thought about the many things she wanted to do that first day. One of the first things was to look through the personnel files so she knew who was working there. She had heard that several had been fired after voicing their disapproval of her termination.
The first thing was to talk to Esther. Esther had been the receptionist and day dispatcher for so long that no one could remember her not being there. She was the one who truly ran that sheriff’s department. Ester knew everyone there and everything that happened, no matter what time of the day or night. It did not matter what the question was; if you needed answers, Esther was the woman to ask. Lindsay found herself smiling and looking forward to seeing Esther today. She would have coffee made and a smile on her face.
Lindsay turned at the street corner to go to the department. As she parked her car, she took a deep breath to prepare herself to walk through the door. She knew Esther would be there to tell her the truth about what was going on. When Lindsay walked in, she saw someone she did not recognize in Esther’s place behind the counter. The young woman in dispatch was nothing like Esther. This woman was tall and thin, with long, dark hair shaved on the sides of her head and numerous tattoos. What made her even more noticeable was the fact that, despite being very tall, she also wore six-inch heels.
“Hi, I’m Lindsay Gold. I am taking over as interim sheriff,” Lindsay said, then waited to see what the reply would be. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
“It is so nice to meet you. My name is Cat,” the tall brunette replied. “I hope that you can fix a few things around here.”
“Fix things? That didn’t take long,” Lindsay said. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you here instead of Esther? She always works the day shift.”
Cat got a strange look on her face before laughing. “First, don’t worry about saying anything to bother or offend me because I doubt that is even possible. Second, Esther sort of doesn’t work here anymore. She started falling asleep at work a lot, and the last time the old sheriff walked in, and she was asleep, he decided it was probably best she retired.”
Lindsay replied, “I can understand that. She had been here, what, sixty-plus years? I only wish I had known. I was looking forward to her smiling face this morning.”
Cat instantly put a huge smile on her face. “Does this help? I know it isn’t the same, but you should at least get a smile from someone.”
“Thanks. That actually does help.” Lindsay looked around for a second and realized that many of the offices had been moved and that there had been some remodeling. “Would you mind giving me a quick tour? Things have changed since the last time I was here.”
“I would love to,” Cat said as she continued to smile.
The tour was quick. One significant change was the removal of some storage space and the addition of more desks in the area where the deputies did their reports and paperwork. The office the sheriff used had had the most work done. It had been completely remodeled. One wall was now glass. It had new, dark red paint and taxidermied animals on the walls.
“Those animals have to go,” Lindsay said.
Cat replied with one question. “Would you like them in the dumpster or the closet?”
With that, Lindsay no longer had any doubt that Cat was going to be a very important person to her in this department. They had just met, and Cat did not question her decision; she simply asked for clarification.
“Let’s just put them in the closet for now. We don’t know who those things belong to yet. Someone might want them back.”
Cat immediately walked over to one large deer head on the wall and began to lift it off.
“Cat, before you start that, would you do me a huge favor? I want to look through the personnel files of the current department employees so that I know who works here. Is that something you can help me with?”
Lindsay watched Cat’s reaction carefully.
“I can get those for you right now. I’m guessing that you also want mine,” Cat answered.
“Yes, please.”
Lindsay sat down at the sheriff’s desk and watched Cat walk out of the room. She was both in awe and completely terrified by Cat. On her heels, Cat was well over six feet tall. Lindsay was not short, but she felt it next to Cat. She also had a feeling that there was a lot more to Cat than what she saw. Cat came back in moments later with a stack of files.
“If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to ask,” Cat said with that same big smile.
Lindsay looked at her and said, “I do have one. Do Big Bob and Little Bob still work here?”
Cat laughed, “They still work here. They are some of the few that the old sheriff didn’t fire after he fired you. Why did the sheriff fire you, anyway? I have heard all kinds of rumors.”
“That is a story for another day,” Lindsay replied. “Thank you for the files and the info on Big Bob and Little Bob.”
“You’re welcome, and just yell if you need anything. God knows the old sheriff did,” Cat turned and walked to the counter at the front of the office.
Lindsay decided to start with Cat’s file. She had a feeling it would be interesting and full of surprises.
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51: The Series 51: The Storm Chapter 2 Part 2
The drive back to the sheriff’s department was quiet. Little Bob and Annie sat in the back seat. Lindsay looked in the rearview mirror and checked on them. She could not understand what he was saying, but she could see that Little Bob was softly talking to Annie and holding her hand as if she were one of his daughters. Lindsay thought back to when she had started at the department years earlier. He had known her for many years and treated her the same way, even though she had worked for another department. Little Bob always tried to take care of everyone and make them feel better. That was part of why he was so good at his job. That was part of why she had given him the position of Chief Deputy. When they pulled up in front of the sheriff’s department, Lindsay and Wren exited the car and opened the back doors for Annie and Little Bob. “I got her,” Little Bob said as he began to help Annie out of the car and into the building. “Wren, why don’t you have Bob help you get Annie back t
51: The Series 51: The Storm Chapter 2 Part 1
Lindsay and Wren arrived at the scene where Little Bob and Annie had hit something. When they pulled up, Little Bob was staring at the car before he began to walk toward them. Annie was at the side of the road, bouncing up and down. As she did, her ponytail bounced up and down, making her look even younger than she was. “When you said she was young, you weren’t kidding,” Wren said, watching Annie. Lindsay replied, “I told you she’s barely legal to carry a gun. Did you think I was joking about that?” “No, but good grief, she looks like she’s twelve,” Wren said. “I know. Annie makes me feel old, and no comments from you about my age. Remember, you are older than I am,” Lindsay said. They got out of the car just as Little Bob reached them. He just stood shaking his head. Wren reached into the backseat of Lindsay’s car and retrieved a black case. “I hit something, and it is still there on the road, but for the life of me, there is nothing there,” Little Bob said, shaking his head.
51: The Series 51: The Storm Chapter 1 Part 2
Lindsay did not even finish reading the report; she closed it and pushed it across the desk toward Wren. She looked at him and could see in his eyes that what she and the department were dealing with bothered him. “Sweetheart, I know you can’t tell me about all of this,” she said as she motioned to her desk and the map on her office wall. “But do you have any idea as to how long this is going to go on? I can barely find deputies to replace those who quit because of this stuff. The only deputies whom I know are not going anywhere are the Bobs, Andy, and Max. I hired Annie, and so far so good, but she is fresh out of training and barely old enough to carry a gun.” “I wish I knew, but I have to say what you and this department are doing is a huge help. I don’t have the resources to track and locate everything, and your idea of this map has been more helpful than you know,” Wren said. “I promise I will tell you everything I can as soon as possible.” “I know you will. Do you want to cal
51: The Series 51: The Storm Chapter 1 Part 1
Lindsay Gold was pulling her patrol car up in front of the sheriff’s department and parking when Little Bob began to walk toward her. Little Bob said, shaking his head, “I can’t believe that you hired that girl. She is going to drive us all crazy.”“Let’s go inside and talk about it,” Lindsay said. As they went inside, Cat was waiting for them, and Annie was sitting in a chair beside the desk that Little Bob used. Cat looked at Lindsay and raised an eyebrow as if she was questioning her. Lindsay looked at Cat and then back at Annie, who was still sitting in the chair. The only thing she thought was that it was too early in the day for this. She motioned for Cat to follow them into her office and closed the door behind them. “OK, yes, I know she is young and inexperienced, and she talks nonstop, but she is also here and wants the job. It has been weeks, and she is the only one who wanted it. What else was I supposed to do?” Lindsay asked, looking at Cat and Little Bob. “Anyway, B
51: The Series 51: The Storm Prologue
Sheriff Lindsay Gold sat in her office, looking at the file of the one person who wanted to work for her. Losing Deputy Keith Abernathy had been a blow to her and everyone who worked for the sheriff’s department. When he had quit, others quickly followed suit. She read what she had in her hands, and she agreed with the decision that Big Bob and Little Bob had made about who to hire. Over the past few weeks, she and the Bobs had called at least two dozen people who had applied to work there in the past, and all of them refused the job. A few who had been working as reserve or volunteer deputies had even said they wanted to quit doing that. Lindsay hoped this person would want to work there for a while, even with all the weirdness that had been going on in the county. Lindsay heard the door chime on the department’s main door. She looked up to see a very short young woman standing at the counter, speaking with Cat, the day dispatcher. She saw Cat turn and walk toward her open office doo
51: The Series 51: The Beginning Chapter 16 Part 4
When they reached where Lindsay was sitting, the little creature looked up at them and waved as if it had been trained. They could see that it had blue eyes, almost the color of the ocean. It slowly walked upright to Wren, touched him on the leg with one hand, and held up the other, almost as if it were a greeting. It then moved on to each of the other men and then back to Lindsay, sitting on her leg and lifting her hand back to its head.“I think you have a pet,” Wren told Lindsay.“She will never be a pet. She’s just lonely,” Lindsay said. Randy asked, “How do you know it is a she?” “I will sound crazy, but I just feel it,” Lindsay told him.“Well, it is an almost rainbow-colored flying monkey, so I would say that crazy is the new normal around here,” Randy grinned.Wren asked Lindsay, “Would you be willing to help put this little girl in the van for the trip?” “Of course,” she told Wren. “Let me get up, little girl. You need to go with these men to your new home. I will carry you
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