51: The Beginning Chapter 2 Part 2

Wren and Lindsay looked at each other, and Lindsay shook her head. Wren went to the door and opened it. 

“May I help you?” Wren asked.

“I was told that the new sheriff wanted to speak with me. My name is Andy Baxter,” he said quietly.

Lindsay was taking a drink of her soda and almost choked when she heard Andy. Who had told Andy to come to her house? Was he even going to be able to look at her? This could either be great because Wren was there, or it could go downhill quickly if Andy panicked.

“Andy, please come in. Have you had a chance to eat this shift? We have pizza if you are hungry,” Lindsay said.

“I…I…I’m fine, ma’am,” Andy stammered as he stared at her.

“Wren, Deputy Baxter is probably the most highly trained deputy the department has,” Lindsay said. “Andy, this is my husband, Wren.” Lindsay could see the look of panic on Andy’s face when she asked him, “What can I do for you?”

Andy had briefly looked up when he and Wren were introduced. Now, he was once again looking at the floor.

“Bob told me that if I didn’t talk to you, I would get fired,” Andy said quietly.

“Which Bob told you that?” Lindsay asked with surprise.

“Big Bob,” he answered.

Lindsay let out an audible sigh. “I was planning on staying at the office later tomorrow to talk to you. You do a great job. I am glad you like your job enough to come here and do this tonight,” Lindsay reassured him. “As for Big Bob telling you that I was going to fire you, I will deal with that tomorrow. He is just messing with you.”

Andy glanced up and looked Lindsay in the face. “You aren’t going to fire me?” he asked.

“Not unless you do something really, really bad, and from what I read in your file today, that will most likely never happen. You seem to be the most by-the-book person in the entire county,” Lindsay said to him with a smile. “Now that we have all that taken care of, would you like to sit and take your meal break here?” she asked him.

“Oh, thank you, ma’am, but I ate earlier. I’m sorry. If I had known, I wouldn’t have eaten,” Andy quickly said, obviously still very nervous.

“Don’t be sorry. You should eat when you can. Would you like to sit for a minute? Maybe you can explain why you can’t look at women or talk to them,” she said.

Andy just stood there and blushed. Then his radio crackled. Dispatch was asking him to respond to a call of an unknown disturbance at a house in a very remote part of the county.

Lindsay asked, “Do you know where that address is?”

“Isn’t that on the backside of the military base?” Andy answered.

“It is. Have you been in that area before?” Lindsay asked Andy.

“No, ma’am,” he answered.

“Let me change, and I will go with you. That is in the middle of nowhere, and you shouldn’t go alone to a call like that, especially if you don’t know the area,” Lindsay said.

As Andy radioed dispatch, Lindsay ran to her bedroom to throw on her uniform. It had been a while since she had needed to respond to anything, and the last time she had, it was an almost identical call to this one. She had been alone with no backup when things went wrong, and she did not want that to happen to anyone who worked for her.

Wren followed her and walked in as she put on her ballistic vest. It always made him nervous to see everything she wore and carried to be safe and do her job. Hearing this call, he is even more anxious. He knew what had happened. He was the only one she had told everything that she remembered. He realized how fast his heart was beating as he approached her. She had just sat down on the bed and was zipping up her boots. He knew she was ready to walk out that door and deal with whatever that was.

“Linz,” Wren said as she stood up. “Please be careful. This call is not a good one.”

“Wren, I love you. I promise you that I’ll be OK. I’m not going alone, and I won’t let my deputy go alone either. Not on something like this,” Lindsay said.

Wren gave her a quick hug and kiss before she left the bedroom.

“Andy, you ready?” she yelled as she walked out of the bedroom.

“Yes, ma’am,” Andy replied.

“Do you want me to drive?” Lindsay asked Andy.

“What?” Andy asked.

“Do you want me to drive? Do you know where we are going? You don’t know that area well, and I will drive if you like,” Lindsay responded as she opened the door and motioned for Andy to exit.

“Oh, uh…sure, OK,” Andy said, handing Lindsay the keys as they walked to the car. 

“Andy, this is going to be a very long drive unless you can calm down. We are on the north side of the county, and we have to go to the south side. It will take a while for us to get there,”  Lindsay said as they got in the car and she started it.

She quickly backed out of her driveway, turned on the lights, and activated the siren. It was now dark, with a slight rain and patches of fog. It was not a good night for a call about an unknown disturbance in an area where it would take a long time for backup to reach them.

Lindsay sighed, “Andy, keep trying to get more information about the call from dispatch, including a phone number, so you can call the reporting party while I drive.”