LOGINLittle Bob and Cat sat down in the back of the room as the class continued until the next break. To their surprise, five cadets spoke with them and asked to meet with the sheriff on Saturday. When they talked about what the duties would include, they had to be careful not to mention the weirdness caused by the base. When they finished at the academy, they walked out to Little Bob’s patrol car and got in.“Should I call the sheriff and give her the good news, or should I let it be a surprise and tell her when we get back?” Little Bob asked.“I think you should call her. If her day is going the same as they have been, she could probably use some good news,” Cat answered.“I think you’re right,” Little Bob said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed.Sheriff Lindsay Gold’s desk phone rang. “Sheriff Gold,” she answered.“How are you today, sheriff?” Little Bob asked Lindsay.“I am up to my eyeballs in paperwork and reports. Please tell me you are calling to let me know you ha
Little Bob and Cat were on their way to visit the first police academy, where they had been able to schedule a time for them to recruit. It was a two-hour drive one-way, so they both hoped to find at least a couple of people who wanted to work at the sheriff’s department. “Cat, I have to say you look nice today,” Little Bob said to break the silence of the drive. “Thank you, Bob. I thought I should try to be a little professional and wear something more business-related. This is one of the few suits I have with pants that are long enough that I can still wear my favorite heels,” Cat said. “I always feel short when you wear those shoes.” “Don’t worry. You’re not short. I mean, you are shorter than Big Bob, Viktor, and Yuri, and a little shorter than I am, and Max. You know what? Maybe you are short.” “Wow, you know how to make a guy feel good,” Little Bob laughed. “I’m sorry, Bob. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.” “You didn’t make me feel bad, and you never apologize for thin
“Any idea what he is doing?” Lindsay asked while he was out of the room. Big Bob smiled at her and answered, “I might, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise.” “Linz, you might be in trouble if these two are working together on something,” Wren said as he began to laugh. Little Bob returned, handed her a file folder, and sat down across from her again. “Go ahead and look. You might be pleasantly surprised by what you find,” Little Bob said, smiling. “You scare me,” Lindsay said as she opened the folder. “Seriously, a personnel file for Isabella Dyatlov. After what I just told you about what the commissioner said?” “Just read it. I am not thinking about full-time. What I am thinking is she could do part-time, fill in when someone is gone, or maybe just reserve,” Little Bob said. “She also has some additional skills that would come in pretty handy around here.” “You’re right, and not only for this department,” she said as she handed Wren the folder. “Take a look, dear. She might b
Wren pulled into the parking lot at the sheriff’s department. When he did, he saw Little Bob standing outside on his phone with his ever-present cup of coffee sitting on top of the trash can beside him. Little Bob saw Wren getting out of his car and hung up his phone, dropping it into his pocket. “Do I want to know why you are out here?” Wren asked him. “No, but one way or another, you’ll find out. Lindsay met with the county commissioners this morning,” Little Bob said. “Why is that so bad? She meets with them regularly,” Wren said, a little confused. “Because this time, Bill Marks and Roy James followed her back over here, and they have been in her office with the door closed for the last, oh…, almost three hours,” Little Bob said as he looked at his watch. Wren raised his eyebrow and replied, “That can’t be good.” “That’s what I figured. That is why I was on the phone with Big Bob. I wanted to give him a heads up that something might be happening,” Little Bob told Wren as he
“What do you mean they aren’t real?” Max asked. “Names, addresses, contact information, everything she had was fake. It was done well, very well, but none of it was real,” Wren told him. “Lindsay does not know that, and I hope she doesn’t find out.” Little Bob warned Wren, “You are playing with fire by not telling her. We all know she’ll find out.” “I know she will, but she can’t find out about things right now. Not until I have more information and can give her some answers,” Wren told him. “Do some of those things include your not-so-savory past? I have noticed that your hands look like you have been beating answers out of people,” Max said to Wren. “There are a lot of things I have not told her. Some of what I have done in the past is part of it. I didn’t think I could tell Lindsay and keep her safe,” Wren told him. “She knows that you do things that you should not. She told me today that you have a different set of rules and to stay out of it,” Little Bob told him. “Whatever
“Come on in,” Max said when he opened the door for Wren. “What is this big emergency? You are cutting into my before-work nap.” “I want to explain things once so you can wait until everyone gets here,” Wren said as he dropped onto Max’s couch. “Sure, I mean, it’s only my house, so why should I know why you want everyone to meet here and who everyone includes?” Max said, dripping with sarcasm. He became serious and asked, “I can tell from the look on your face that this is bad, isn’t it?” “It could be. I don’t know for sure.” “Just the fact that you don’t know is bad.” “Yes, it is. Both Bobs should be here any minute. All three of you need to know what is going on because you may get dragged into this just because you work for her and know me.” “I’m taking a guess here and saying that you mean our magnificent sheriff, Lindsay Gold,” Max said. He saw two patrol cars pull into his driveway and walked over to the door, opening it before the Bobs reached it. “Come on in, gentlemen,
Lindsay quickly leafed through the stack until she found the pages that contained the results for the cultures and toxicology reports. As she started reading, she discovered that the cultures had come back with small traces of common bacteria, just as one would expect from any cut received in the S
The door chime rang, and Warden Sims entered the sheriff’s department. Cat was already standing and had turned toward the door before the chime stopped. She sat back down as soon as she saw who it was. He walked straight toward Lindsay’s office and shut the door behind him as soon as he walked in.
Lindsay walked him back to the rest of the group. When she reached the counter, she turned to Cat.“Cat, can you get the game warden on the phone? He needs to know about this if he doesn’t already know,” she said.“Doing it now,” Cat answered. “Do you want to talk to him out here, or would you like
The next few days were uneventful. There was a lot more paperwork and many more discrepancies with it. Lindsay had created reports and spreadsheets that showed everything. She had called the county commissioners and advised them of the issues she had found so far. She had also been trying to reach t







