An Empty Tree (Blue Eyes Book 1) by Glenn Trust

Author:Glenn Trust [Trust, Glenn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sweat Equity Publishing
Published: 2013-12-17T05:00:00+00:00

21. A Trail of Dust

The Iowa State Patrol car sat alone in the gravel parking lot of an old church just off of I-29. Listening to the police radio, scanning the Iowa Patrol and local county frequencies, Paul Sorensen tried to put thoughts of the night before and the boy, the hump in the ditch, out of his mind. Sunlight poured in through the windshield warming the interior while the cool morning air chilled his left arm resting on the open window frame. It was a pleasant contrast and he focused on that and nothing else.

Another car pulled off the road into the church lot, rolling up beside Paul’s in a cloud of dust. Paul turned his head for a second to let it settle then looked back towards the car that had parked close so that the two driver’s windows were facing each other. A grinning Stan Knudsen was holding a cup of coffee out across the twelve-inch space between the two cars.

“How ya doing, Sarge?”

Stan Knudsen’s academy class was three years behind Paul’s. He was big, solid reliable and everyone’s friend, but especially Paul’s friend. Reaching out, he took the coffee and grinned back.

“Doing okay, Stan. How about yourself.”

“Oh yah, just great, you betcha,” he said in his best Minnesota accent.

Paul chuckled and sipped the hot coffee. Just hearing the big Swede’s voice and seeing his smile made things better.

The meeting in the parking lot was their ritual. Most cops did something similar. The location might be a shopping center, a back alley or a shady tree on a country road. It didn’t much matter. They might talk about work, cases, department gossip, but mostly it was a time to reaffirm the bond between officers.

“So, how’d it go last night?” Stan asked.

“Rough.”

“Yeah,” Stan said nodding and sipping the hot coffee.

There wasn’t anything else to say.

Changing the subject Paul asked, “Where you gonna be working today?”

As a sergeant, he could have given Stan direction and told him where to patrol, but he wouldn’t. Stan was a seasoned trooper. He would be in the right place.

“Work north up I-29 towards Sioux City,” he replied.

“Sounds good. We still have the BOLO on the car from Kansas…the old Toyota.”

“Yep. Got it right here, but I don’t think there’s much chance of running across it.”

Paul grunted in agreement.

They sipped their coffee for a few more minutes, enjoying the morning and the quiet. Finally, Paul put his car in gear and said, “Well, guess I’ll get back out on the road. Gonna stay around here most of the day.”

Stan took the cue, poured the rest of his coffee out the window and said, “Yeah, sounds good. Take care, Sarge. Catch you later.”

They pulled away from each other and circled, racing each other back to the entrance to the church lot. When they had gone, a trail of dust hung in the air, settling slowly back to the earth.

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