LOGINLindsay was sitting in her office, staring at the box now sealed with evidence tape. She should have been happy. Wren had hired someone to take his mother to the airport and ensure Margaret got on the plane. Lindsay might also have answers to questions that had haunted her for years, but for some reason, she could not shake the feeling of dread that she had. “So, are you going to tell me what’s in that box?” Little Bob asked as he sat down across from her desk. “No.” “Is there evidence of a criminal case in it?” “Maybe.” “Is it a case that I am a part of?” “Maybe indirectly.” Little Bob got up, closed her office door, and sat back down. “Lindsay, look at me,” he said. “Are you alright?” Lindsay looked at him. “Yes,” she said, then turned back toward the box. She took a knife from a pouch on her belt and handed it to him. “Open it,” she told him. He raised an eyebrow as he took the knife out of her hand. He moved the box to her desk, cut the tape seal, and lifted the lid off.
Wren sat beside the box on the floor that Max had begun to look through. He started by opening one of the files in his hand. Wren immediately saw a picture he recognized as Lindsay’s first husband, James. He paused, looked up, and took a few deep breaths. Just as he lowered his head, Max returned and locked the door behind him. “You alright, man?” Max asked as he set everything that he was carrying down on Lindsay’s desk. “Yeah, I uh…this is just a little harder than I thought it would be. I wasn’t expecting that.” “If you didn’t notice when I called you, I was not exactly calm when I discovered what was in that box,” Max told him as he started the coffee pot. “Now that this is going, I will try to locate any other boxes that might fit in with that one. When I’m done, I will help you read them. Why should you be the only one of us who is uncomfortable?” “Uncomfortable isn’t the right word. I feel like I am completely betraying my wife and invading a part of her life that I know sh
Wren walked back into the bedroom to find Lindsay sitting on the side of the bed.“Why are you getting up? This time, I am the only one who needs to go to work,” Wren told her.“Is there anything that I need to worry about?” Lindsay asked.“No, not a thing. I just have to take care of something. I don’t know how long it will take, but I know it will take a while. When I’m done, instead of coming back here, I will go over to your department, hang out until you get there, and fill you in on anything you need to know. Try to get some more sleep,” Wren told her as he dressed. “OK, call me if you need me,” Lindsay told him. She looked at him and asked, “Is something wrong?” She could not tell if something was wrong, but she could tell that something was not right, and he was not telling her everything. “Nothing is wrong, and I’m sure that I will not need to call you. If I need help, I will wake up Randy, and I always have Max and Yuri from your department as backup. I am in good hands,”
Max was sitting at his desk, playing with a pencil. He looked over at Yuri, who was seated at his desk, reading something on the computer. Hanna was at the dispatch desk reading a book. He was bored. There had been no calls for the last two hours, and he was looking for something to do. “Hanna, has anything come in at all that needs to be done? I need something to do,” Max said to her as he picked up a rubber band and shot it at Yuri. “Yes, Hanna, please find something for him to do. Hopefully, on the other side of the county and by himself,” Yuri told her, not looking away from his computer screen. “There hasn’t been anything since right after the two of you came on shift. Why don’t you go patrol somewhere?” Hanna asked. “I would, but all of the clubs have already closed, and it is minus five degrees outside, so nothing is going on. There isn’t even any weirdness going on. That leaves me with either finding something to do or staying here with the two of you all night,” Max told
Andy took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he spoke, “Mrs. Gold, I don’t know what you think is taking place, but I can assure you that the sheriff has never done anything inappropriate with anyone. She is the kindest person I have ever known, and you are wrong about her. You are also wrong to treat her the way you do. She is worth a hundred of you, a thousand even. She has always taken care of everyone who works for her before herself and takes care of Agent Gold before us. I have seen how much they love and take care of each other. You should be happy they are together. Stop treating her the way you do!” “Well! I have never been talked to like that by anyone in my life. I am going to my room,” Margaret said as she stood. “Well, maybe if someone had before now, you wouldn’t be the witch you are,” Andy almost yelled at Margaret. Margaret turned around, stormed into the guest room she had been staying in, and slammed the door behind her. Lindsay and Wren looked at Andy in
“You do not move or say another word,” Wren told his mother as he walked to the door and opened it to see Andy on the porch. “Hey, Andy. Come on in and join the party,” Wren said sarcastically. “Um…OK. Yeah, Big Bob asked me to bring this up to you and the sheriff. If you like, I can come back,” Andy said, sounding confused by the situation. “No, Andy, it’s fine,” Lindsay said. As she got up and walked to him, she could see he was shivering and his teeth chattering. “Were you working a call outside before you came here? You look like you are completely frozen,” Lindsay said as she took the file folder from him. “No, ma’am, the heater in my car went out a couple of minutes after I left the department to come here,” he answered, sounding embarrassed. “Go get whatever you need out of your car and take mine for the night. I will take your car to work in the morning and get the heater fixed. It is supposed to be below zero tonight, so you need a car with a heater. We can switch back
“Cat, do you have time to help me with something?” she called out.“Sure, what do you need help with?” Cat asked.“Can you help me go through all the weirdness files? You can transfer the phones to ring in here if you like. It just goes a lot faster with your help,” Lindsay said.“I would love to.
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
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
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 t