Convict by Michael Cole

Author:Michael Cole [Cole, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2023-08-23T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

“Oh, you cheating bastard.”

Eddie Wingard watched the digital rook take down his queen, cornering his king in the process. The words YOU LOSE flashed on the screen, as though the computer was rubbing it in. He refreshed the game, eager to try again.

It was what a typical Saturday afternoon looked like for the Sheriff. The early morning hours consisted of drinking coffee and doing some paperwork. Depending on the weather, he would follow that up with some vehicle patrol. Often, the fieldwork was left to the deputies, but Eddie didn’t care to be couped up. Neither in an office nor at home.

Eddie’s wife frequently complained about his tendency to work the weekends. His response was “why would I not?” The other option would be to work on the never-ending honey-do list and listen to her news programs. Eddie would rather deal with a block full of crackheads. Fortunately, out here, the worst he usually had to deal with were drunks, underage teenagers, and the occasional meth user. Such events were few and far between.

His patrol resulted in the consumption of two donuts and a hundred extra miles on his SUV. Back in the office, he committed to his sworn duty… to beat this damn computer at chess.

“Still here, Sheriff?”

He looked at his door at Deputy Ford.

“Not leaving until I beat this sucker.”

“That’s what you said last Saturday.”

“And I didn’t leave until ten that night.”

Ford snickered. “And you still didn’t win.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Eddie leaned back and put his feet up on the desk. “So, I rage-quit like some basement-dwelling man-baby. Won’t happen this time. I’ve brought my A-game.”

“Evidenced by your colorful use of the words ‘cheating bastard’,” Ford said.

“Ah, shut up.” Eddie pointed at the white cup in Ford’s hand. “And bring me one of those.”

Before Ford could step away, the dispatcher’s voice streamed through their radios. “Sheriff. You still in?”

Eddie stood up and leaned out the door to shout down the hall. “Mandy, you could’ve just walked back here and seen the open door.”

“Can’t!” she shouted back. “Got someone on the line. Stating there’s an emergency over by Lake Fairview.”

Eddie’s grin disappeared. He and Ford raced down the hall before arriving at the dispatch office.

Mandy was on the phone, jotting down notes on a spiral pad. “Uh-huh… uh-huh… Hello?... I can’t hear—oh, there you are. Start from the beginning, please. Five people in an RV… Where on the lake is this?... I didn’t quite catch that… Hmm… You there? Hello? Hello?” She looked at the phone, shrugged, then redialed. “Hmm. Weird. No signal.”

“The hell’s going on?” Eddie said. “Who was that on the line?”

The dispatcher turned in her seat to look at him. She did not have the look of a concerned dispatcher sending people to a potentially violent situation. Instead, she looked skeptical. Borderline amused, even.

“That was Diego Tritton,” she said. “The damn line kept breaking up. Could only get a few words at a time, so I’m not fully sure what he was trying to explain. Something about people in an RV.

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