All Chapters of 51: The Series: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

207 Chapters

51: The Beginning Prologue

Lindsay Gold was at home when she heard a knock on the door. Standing at her door were two men she knew well. She did not like them, but she knew them. They were Bill Marks and Roy James, members of the county commission, and they rarely had anything nice to say to her. “What can I help you, gentlemen, with today?” she asked with irritation in her voice.“May we come in? We need to speak with you about something,” answered Commissioner Marks.Lindsay politely stepped to the side and motioned for them to enter. That was where the politeness ended.Lindsay looked at the two commissioners and asked, “What do you want?”Roy was looking at the floor as if he were trying to memorize the design in the rug when Bill looked at him, so, as usual, Bill did all the talking.“First, let me say I’m sorry the sheriff fired you. Recently, some things have come to light and have made us realize those reports of yours were right. I read them, and I know what they said. And I think you were telling the

51: The Beginning Chapter 1 Part 1

Lindsay 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

51: The Beginning Chapter 1 Part 2

Lindsay was not disappointed. It turned out Cat’s full name was Ekaterina Dyatlov. She was born in Russia and became a citizen of the United States at the age of two after her family immigrated there. She had been an honor student throughout high school as well as a star athlete. She held bachelor’s degrees in biology, criminal justice, and forensic science, as well as a master’s degree in forensics. Lindsay was thrilled. The woman was intelligent and willing to learn.She paused to look out at the counter where Cat was going through paperwork and realized this woman was working there because she wanted to, not because she had to. That was just the kind of person she liked. She went back to Cat’s personnel file and continued reading. Cat was also trained in martial arts and had been a competitive gymnast. That was impressive. That showed commitment and dedication. Lindsay then reached the line that listed her hobbies and other interests. Those included being an alternative model and

51: The Beginning Chapter 1 Part 3

Lindsay sat for a moment as the laughter from Big Bob and Little Bob died down.“Thank you, Cat. I’m sorry to bother you again,” Lindsay said.Cat replied with a smile, “No problem. I’m here whenever you need me.”“All right, you two,” Lindsay said, looking at both Bobs, “What do we do about this? I mean, it is a little funny, but this could be a real problem for everyone. Has this ever caused a problem as far as his ability to do his job? If he can’t talk to women, that takes out about half the county he can work with. That isn’t counting the fact that he may not even be able to speak to me. Can he talk to Cat?”Big Bob put his hand up and explained, “So far, this hasn’t caused any problems. As far as we can tell, he only has that problem when he is face-to-face with a woman. If possible, he takes the report over the phone, and he does fine with Cat on the radio. When he does have to talk to Cat or any other woman face-to-face, he looks down at the notebook he always has with him. Wh

51: The Beginning Chapter 2 Part 1

Lindsay Gold finally made it home and was hoping to have a quiet evening and night after her first day as county sheriff. Thankfully, the day was largely uneventful. All the personnel files were reviewed, notes were taken, and a list of employees she wanted to meet was compiled. So far, it had not been a bad day, and hopefully it would stay that way.As soon as she walked into her house, she could smell pizza. That meant her husband, Wren, made it home first and decided to make dinner. She walked into the kitchen to find him standing in an apron, with an oven mitt on each hand, facing the oven, looking as if he were ready to battle it.“Hi, babe. How was your first day back at the department?” he asked without turning around.“It was good. I read all the employee files. I may need your help with one of my deputies,” she answered.Wren took the pizzas from the oven and set them on the counter to cool. He walked over to Lindsay and gave her a quick hug and kiss.“If you need my help, th

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 f

51: The Beginning Chapter 2 Part 3

Lindsay’s heart was racing. She had not realized how completely terrified she was. She was thinking about that last call and, at the same time, trying to push it out of her head so she could focus on this one. She still had times when things would flood back about that night and almost overwhelm her. It took weeks, even months, before she could block out what she could remember of it. Now, here she was, right back in the same area where it had happened before, with the same type of call as before.Truthfully, Lindsay was not only dreading this call but also the drive with Deputy Andy Baxter. It would take well over half an hour just to reach the area. That did not account for the additional time required to find the address of the call. It was going to feel like hours. That was not going to help with anything. She hoped and prayed that he would at least be able to answer her when she spoke to him.“Andy, do we have any more information about the call?” she asked.“No, ma’am, not yet,”

51: The Beginning Chapter 2 Part 4

As soon as they got in the car, Andy started it, and Lindsay called the sheriff’s department to let them know they were leaving the area. She asked them to call the phone company for Rita and ensure they knew it was an emergency, and to please repair her phone as soon as possible. That was more than Lindsay needed to do, but she also felt it was the right thing to do. She also gave instructions that she was to be called if Rita called again.The drive back was pleasant and peaceful. It turned out that Andy was a good driver, so she was not nervous riding with him. She had ridden with some who made her want to kiss the ground when the car came to a stop. Lindsay surprisingly found herself enjoying the ride and gazing out the window at the stars. She could not remember the last time she had done either of those things. She was startled when Andy spoke.“Sheriff, you know more about that call we were on than you are saying, don’t you?”Lindsay took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She w

51: The Beginning Chapter 3 Part 1

Lindsay had started her second day at the department early. She had begun by reviewing all the reports required to be sent to the state every month. As soon as Lindsay started, she realized that the sheriff’s department was behind by several months. She even found a letter from the state informing the previous sheriff of the oversight. Lindsay was now up to her elbows in paperwork, trying to fix the mess. She had also spent a considerable amount of time on the phone, trying to find out how bad things were. They were bad. Far worse than she had anticipated. All of this was making her wonder about the real reason the old sheriff had resigned. That was only a brief thought because, just then, Little Bob walked into her office.He sat in a chair in front of her desk and asked, “Why haven’t you redecorated yet?” He was looking at all of the taxidermies on the walls that no one had had a chance to remove yet.She just looked at him. The look on her face made it clear as to what kind of day

51: The Beginning Chapter 3 Part 2

“How did that call to Ms. Johnson’s house go last night? I heard it was you and Andy. Why were you with Andy, anyway?” Little Bob fired off without pausing in his work.“How did you know about that call?” Lindsay asked.“I could tell you that it's because I take my job seriously and keep informed about everything so that I can pass it on to you. However, the real reason is that my mother called me this morning. She and Ms. Johnson go to church together. You seem to have made quite the impression on her, and she is hard to impress,” Little Bob answered.“Well, thankfully, she was fine, but something damaged her phone box at the back of her house. As far as why I was with Andy, it was because Andy came to my house yesterday evening. It seems as though Big Bob had told him that if he did not come to talk to me, I would fire him. The call came in while Andy was still at my house. He wasn’t familiar with that area, so I went with him and drove,” Lindsay said. “Is there anything else you wa

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