“Chief Grady, we have a serious
problem here,” Mayor Farmington announced as he stormed through the front door
of the station. “I think we need to call
a town meeting immediately!”
“I couldn’t agree more, Mr. Mayor.
That’s why we organized one for this evening. Francine cleared it with the
principal over at the high school and got the Board of Education’s approval. Kline’s
been personally calling every single year-round resident in town to personally
invite them.”
“”I don’t appreciate being lied to,
Chief. I never got a call and I’m at the beginning of the alphabet.”
“I spoke with your wife earlier, Mr.
Mayor,” Deputy Kline interrupted. “She said you’d both be there and she even
volunteered to bring some refreshments.”
Believing he
was calling their bluff, Mayor Farmington pulled out his cell phone and dialed
his wife. He was disappointed to learn
that Chief Grady and his deputies were one step ahead of him, again. Their
personal phone calls were sure to give the chief the upper hand, undoing
Farmington’s plans to hand out some pink slips. Someone needed to be held
accountable for the rampant, horrific deaths plaguing their community and the
mayor’s office had conspired to dump that blame on their chief of police.
“Yes, well, very good… I’m glad to
see you’re on top of things. I suppose I will see you this evening then.”
Frustrated, the Mayor and his entourage
departed. They would need to go back to the drawing board and find another
scapegoat. Realtor listings had gone through the roof and their tight-knit
community was in danger of being overrun with the wrong element. If they could lay blame on the right fall-guy
then there was still a chance of retaining many of their residents, as well as
sweep the recent ugliness under the rug long before the summer season. Summer dollars kept their community afloat
during the winter months so the bottom line had to be protected at all
costs.
“Hey, Chief, do you know what you’re
gonna say to everyone tonight?” Kline asked after the Mayor was gone.
“Not exactly, but I’m working on it.
Just keep making those calls for me, okay?”
“Sure thing, Chief.”
As Grady
headed out the door he placed a call to Hooper and one to Barker. He had to
stop over at the hospital first and then he’d meet them at the beach. Counting
on Poole’s ability to give him any insight was a gamble but Grady knew he was
running out of time.
Deputy Poole had been moved to the psych
ward and was under constant surveillance, as a danger not only to himself but
to others. His drab room was stripped of anything that could potentially be
used as a weapon or to inflict bodily harm. There were no curtains on the
windows, and no sheets or pillowcases on the bed. Instead of artwork hanging on
the walls, someone with very little artistic talent had painted a mural to give
the room a touch of color. Not that Poole could see it anyway; the damage he’d
done to his eyes was most likely permanent. Grandma Rose met up with Grady in
the hallway and relayed the latest information from the doctor.
“It took quite a while to get Doug
settled once they moved him up here to the ninth floor. He started screaming again and they loaded
him up with sedatives. I forget what all they said they were pushing through
his IV. They say he might never be able to see again and his mind is so far
gone they aren’t sure he’ll ever really come back to us.”
“Have they tried asking him about
what he saw? Has he said anything…anything at all about what attacked Josh?”
“Most of what comes out of his mouth
is pure gibberish. The only thing that sounded remotely like a real word was
‘eyes’. He keeps muttering about eyes. You mentioned Josh…I assume that means
you found him then.”
“Well, we found a body on the beach
but it will be up to the Coroner to determine if it’s actually Josh.”
“Oh, that’s right. You’ve never met
him. Here, I have a picture of him in my wallet.”
“Ma’am, that won’t be necessary,”
Grady replied, trying to soften the blow.
“Oh yes it is! I need to know if my
grandson is dead. Bob is a good coroner but he moves slower than molasses in
January!”
“You don’t understand. A picture
won’t help. What we found on the beach is unrecognizable as a person. Just
pieces, really.”
Rose’s face
paled and she reached out, clutching at the wall for support. Grady gathered
her in his arms and held her until she steadied. He had to give her credit; she
held it together and didn’t cry. Rose had always been a strong woman, proud in
the best way; she would save her tears for the privacy of her bedroom.
“Is there any way I can question
Doug?”
“I think you should try. If he knows
something; it could save lives, right?
Grady nodded.
He needed to know what Poole saw but there was no guarantee they’d be able to
penetrate through the madness to get any answers. Still, it was imperative that he try.
“Should I ask the nurse first?”
“No,” Rose whispered back. “I think
we’ll have a better chance without strangers in the room. Besides, they’d most
likely say no. After all, it only makes
more work for them if Doug gets upset again.”
Finding solid
truth in her words, Grady and Poole’s grandmother slipped back into room 908
without drawing much attention. To help
ease the trauma, Grandma Rose took her grandson’s hand and spoke softly to him.
“You’re looking much better today,
Doug.” She offered, then air-kissed above his head to avoid touching his sore,
blistered skin. “Guess what! Chief Grady
came to visit. He’s been worried sick about you. In fact, he was here all
night, sitting with you and me, watching out for us.”
“That’s right, Poole. The guys at
the station send their regards, too. They’re real concerned about you. We all
miss you and can’t wait for you to come back to work. It’s just not the same
without you, buddy.”
Doug Poole
shifted slightly and groaned from the pain. A strand of drool dribbled from his
mouth onto his hospital gown. Grady threw Rose a nervous glace but she nodded
her encouragement.
“Listen, buddy, the video equipment
you had has been burned beyond repair. We called in an IT specialist and he
said there was no way we’d be able to pull off anything you recorded. I need
your help. Please, people’s lives are depending on you. I need you tell me what
you saw.”
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