Small Town Problems Chapter 1
I’ve looked around and involuntarily sighed because I really did not want to end up in a dump like this. Some weird county in a middle of nowhere and this small town looked like it would not have any of the luxuries I have been used to. It was not ugly or dirty per se, just really out of the way of everything modern. Just few hundred people and their houses in the middle of wilderness. At least the hotel looked clean and somewhat stylish, but I did not expect to go clubbing tonight or do anything fun for that matter. I should have expected that from my work assignment, but girl should have at least some fun while working right?
Speaking of which I checked my phone again and brought up two files. One was about a man that got arrested in this town and was currently rotting in one of two jail cells they had available here. The other one was apparently chief of local police force—and boy was he anything else than I expected to find here. Thirty years old, with chiseled jaw and grey eyes with hair that had ruggedly handsome quality. Maybe there will be some fun to have here after all.
“Mike, Mike, have you heard about the new girl?”
“What about the new girl?” I said calmly while still reading my morning newspaper.
“She checked in to a hotel wearing stunning dress, pair of high heels and sunglasses like some kind of a movie star. Or maybe a model.”
“Please calm down Bob. We are not so far out of civilization that you never see a cute girl here. Please tell me that you did not bother her,” I eyed him over the newspaper page. My deputy could be pretty awkward obnoxious at times, but he was a good guy and a good friend.
“I did not!” he puffed his chest. “I only greeted her and told her she was welcome to check out our town. But she did not look that impressed by me. She did, however, asked about where she could find you,” he winked at me.
“Me, that is weird? Did she say what was it about?”
“No, not really, but I told her you would be at the station later today if she needs to sort out anything important.”
“Well, she might as well, I will be stuck doing all the paperwork since you guys suck at it so much.”
“You know, she is really hot.”
“I have girlfriend Bob, do you remember?” I replied disapprovingly.
“Yeah? And how often does she return back from her travels? I swear she does not deserve you.”
I was well in the second half of the giant stack of forms when the mysterious girl wandered into the station. She crossed the entrance hallway very slowly, so there was plenty of time to check her out and in the back of my mind I had to apologize to Bob. She really was stunning—long blond hair and piercing blue eyes, maybe 5′2″ looking very slim and petite, almost innocent at first glance. Elegant tight black dress and high heels were clear signal, that she knew very well how good she looked at the moment. I had to stop myself from staring at her hips too intently, because she swayed them lightly with each slow step.
Instead, my eyes shifted to her face and I had to admit that she really could have been a model or an actress. Beautiful symmetrical features, full lips and of course those deep blue eyes that were simply enchanting. Perfectly applied make up only accented her features without being too vulgar and her lipstick was a dark red shade with slight gloss that kept catching my eye. I have never been one to be easily swayed by pretty girls but right now I had to gather all my professionalism and tried to pretend that girls like that were everyday business here.
I almost pulled it off when she finally stepped close to security glass that separated front desk from visitors. It was far from air-tight and I suddenly breathed in something lovely and there was no question in my mind, that it is her fragrance, she smelled so exquisitely. I wanted to lean in closer, but at the same time some small alarm bell went off back in my mind. There was something wrong here, but I was not sure what it was precisely. I managed to pick up my coffee mug and get a big sip in me in the hopes it will clean up my head and the strong smell of cheap coffee helped somehow.
“Good afternoon miss, can I help you?” my question went out in a firm tone, so I was proud of myself.
“Just Linda will be fine, sir. And what should I call you?” she had a lovely voice also.
“I am Mike Henderson, chief of the police force here. But you already know that, since you have been asking about me in town.”
“I am sorry sheriff, I just wanted to know where to find you,” she shrugged apologetically and leaned closer to the window and I again got a hit with more of her perfume.
The fragrance was still beautiful, but it was somehow muted by the awful smell of coffee that I still held in my hand. And the alarm bells in my head started ringing even more. Instincts always served me well so I stepped back and looked at a paper from the stack while pretending to read it. It felt like she wanted to flirt with me but I was not going to give her a chance. She may have looked like a girl from any guy’s dream, but I was pretty sure that she was trouble.
“Well now you have found me,” I replied matter-of-factly looking back at her through the glass. “How can I help you?”
“Have I offended you somehow sheriff? Wouldn’t you rather come out here to talk with me than stay hidden behind your glass?” she threw a dazzling smile my way.
“I am not a sheriff and no, not really. I have a ton of work to do and no time to spare. If you do not have anything to report, I will have to ask you to leave my station.”
Her smile was replaced by confusion—she looked really surprised that I denied her and was clearly processing what to do next. But only few seconds after that her face changed into hurt expression and she almost managed to get tears in her eyes. She was good, I was pretty sure she could play most guys with that, but I already saw through her. She was dangerous in a more than one way and I was going to keep eye on her until she leaves my town, but from a distance. But then, she pressed her face closer to the window in glass and whispered.
“Please sir, I did not want to be disrespectful. I really need your help,” she started pleading and looked so apologetically, that I almost believed her.
“Okay,” I sighed and came a little closer because I could not hear her properly. “Let me know what you want, but be quick about it.”
“Thank you, sir. I apologize again for my previous behavior.”
Her fragrance was very intense this close and as I was looking at her sad face, I suddenly started to feel ashamed and my hands were a little shaky. I was irritated with her a second ago, but now I was not sure why precisely. She had not committed any crimes and she apologized to me. Her eyes looked so beautiful up close and so inviting.
“It is okay, miss. No harm done, please let me know what can I do for you?”
“I told you to call me Linda, didn’t I?” she asked quietly.
“Yes, you did, I am sorry.”
“Ask me again, properly this time.”
“What can I do for you, Linda?” this time words came out smoothly.
“That’s much better, your really should be more friendly,” her dazzling smile was back and my eyes were just glued to her face now.
“It’s the job, I can’t be friendly with everyone.”
“I do not care about anyone else, just keep looking at me and think to yourself that should be more friendly with me,” her voice sounded so compelling right now.
“I should be more friendly with you?” the thought was going through my head. She was so friendly to me and so pretty to look at, so it seemed like a good idea.
But at the same time, my instincts were screaming at me, telling me that something is wrong. I just could not put my finger on what it was. Alarm bells were again going off in a back of my mind, but this time I just could not bring myself to hear them. There was just this beautiful fragrance surrounding me and I was concentrating on those glossy lips.
She was saying something important, but I could not concentrate on what her words were. I was leaning in real close to her right now and my hands were shaking with an effort, like I was having some kind of a seizure. Then my fingers came loose, I dropped my cup and the coffee splashed everywhere—on me, on the table, on the glass. Suddenly its terrible smell was everywhere in the air.
My head hurt like hell and my instincts kicked back in stronger than ever before. I still wasn’t sure what was wrong with me, but I knew there is something wrong with this damn girl right now. She looked really unsettled and I tried to recall what she was talking about, but just could not remember anything.
“What were you asking me again?” I asked suspiciously and this time she did look genuinely worried.
“I am so sorry, sir,” she apologized and took a step back.
“I’ve had it with you,” I started, wanting to throw her in a cell immediately, but realized I cannot really charge her with anything. “You better not cause any more problems here, If I see you in my station one more time, I am locking you up and shipping you upstate,” threat would have to suffice.
“I am sorry, I won’t bother you again,” she mumbled and backed out from a station as quickly as possible.
Sigh of relief escaped my lips and only then I admitted to myself how tense I still was. Even when I threw her out, I somehow felt guilty about being unfriendly to her. What was wrong with me? And what about my memory of her words? I could only remember her piercing blue eyes and those sparkling lips, that beautiful smell. I sighed again and started to clean up the mess. It was obvious that girl is trouble, but I really did not expect her to ruin my coffee break like this.
So admittedly my plan did not go very well. Bob had already told me Mike is long time with a girl that is away most of the time, so I was pretty sure he would bite when I threw him a bone, but no such luck. Additionally, he was pretty sharp, much sharper than his file gave him credit. I would suspect he got some special forces training or something like that, but there was no record of it. Some people were just more immune to my charms then others. And it was just my luck to run into one of those right here in the middle of nowhere. There really was no option for screwing up this job, but at the same time I could not risk delaying too much. While our guy was still in the cell, everything was more or less under control, but once the word got out or he got transferred elsewhere, suddenly there would be more problems pointing my way. So obviously time for improvisation.
I stopped two young boys (maybe twelve or thirteen years old) on the street and started talking to them. I like kids. Well, that is no true, I mostly hate kids. But I like that they are not jaded by the world, still have their illusions, optimism and are not bothered by too much suspicion. So, it is very easy for me to impress them. Five minutes of talking and they were already eating from my hand, telling me everything I needed to know and supplying me with additional information. Damn those were some nosy kids and told me much more than I hoped for, but I have found use for them and formulated a plan. A pretty bad one though.
“Sir! Sir! She is drowning!”
I was just on my way back home from the station when those voices started shouting at me. I looked in the direction they were coming from and my body started moving before I processed what is going on. It was Thompson’s boys and they were running straight from the water reservoir. Damn really? Someone went for a swim in this weather?
“Who, where?” I shouted at them.
“Some girl, she went on pier, then slipped and went in. We could not get to her, so we ran for help.”
“Go get a doctor! He should be in a bar at this hour,” I went by them not even slowing down.
It was dusk already, but I could still see surface of the reservoir and even from afar there was visible splashing. Good, then there was still time. I kicked my run into overdrive because a human life depended on it. I threw jacket on the ground before running on the pier, kicked my shoes off in last second and then jumped straight in water. It looked like splashing is slowing down and I did not have time to get out of my clothes. Water was not glacial yet, but autumn was not a best season for swimming here. Luckily for me I used to be swimming champ back in my day and reached the girl in few short strokes. It really was not far from the pier, so she really had to be shitty swimmer if she was not able to get back to shore.
She tried to help me, but was merely an hinderance most of the time. I still managed to get her to the shore in the end, but was exhausted all the same. I do not know how long it took, but there were already voices coming from the town. I turned my head to see doctor limping with Thompson’s boys and was relieved that my part is over. Only in that moment it came to me that the girl I have just saved was the same one that jumped me this afternoon. Her blonde hair was all wet now, she was coughing and violently shaking, so most of her appeal was gone and I was not worried about her anymore. Doctor gave me a quick thumbs up and I was sure he will be playing me up as a hero for a few months before he will let this story die down, but after that he quickly checked up on Linda, asked her few questions and then he looked back at me.
“Okay Mike, you saved her life and she looks good, just cold. I will run for my things, get thermal blanket and be right back. Until then, you keep her warm with body heat. It should be just a few minutes. Let’s go boys, you will help me,” he moved the girl closer to me, put a jacket over us and then they ran back to the town before I could squeeze any protests from my throat.
I wondered about the strange situation I just got in and thought for a second, I heard a faint hissing noise, but it went away as soon as I tried to concentrate on it. Instead, air was suddenly filled with a beautiful fragrance I knew very well. My head started to spin and I felt like I was a little drunk. At the same time, I realized that there is a warm female body very close to me. I looked at Linda and she was staring back at me with those enchanting eyes and suddenly there was confident smile on her face.
“You looked like you really did not want to be near me earlier today,” she jiggled a little and moved even closer to me.
“Yeah, I didn’t,” came my response but for some reason I was unable to remember why.
“But you do not mind me being this close now, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t.”
“In fact, I am sure you actually feel very pleasant being this close to me, right? You can admit it.”
“Yeah, this feels really nice,” her body felt warm against mine and her eyes were somehow bigger and I could not look away from her face.
“And you saved my life, so you can’t feel that bad about me.”
“You were in danger; I had to save you.”
“My hero, I need to be nice to you now. How do you feel about that?”
“I’m not sure, there was something…” my thoughts kept trailing off.
“Do not worry about it, I will help you. Look into my eyes, breathe deeply and try to remember.”
“Remember,” I took a deep breath and her fragrance filled my lungs.
“That’s a good boy. Remember the station, remember what I said, how you should behave?”
“I should be more friendly with you?” the thought returned to my mind as I remembered her words.
“Very good, but say it like you believe it. Try to remember it as your own thought.”
“I should be more friendly with you,” this thought felt better somehow now when I was this close to her.
“Focus on that thought and repeat it again, want it to happen,” she touched my hand and I felt jolt of excitement.
“I should be more friendly with you,” I kept looking into her eyes and really wanted to be her friend. She looked so vulnerable right now and I just wanted to be there to protect her.
“That is much better, I want to be your friend too, you know?” she looked at me expectantly.
“You do?” smile crawled on my face and my heart skipped a beat.
“Yes, but they will come back soon and separate us. I will go to a hotel and you will go home. But if you want to be my friend, you should check up on me.”
“Check up on you?” I was getting more and more confused. Her perfume suddenly smelled even stronger and she was supporting me in my dizzy state.
“Of course, that is what friends do. If someone you care about gets hurt, you take care of them, right?” she patted my arm reassuringly.
“Yeah, take care of my friends.”
“So, you should visit me tomorrow, check how I am doing.”
“I should visit you tomorrow, of course,” I nodded and almost toppled over, but her warm hand steadied me and then she guided my face so I was again looking into her eyes.
“Concentrate and remember, why do you want to see me?”
“Because I want to be more friendly with you.”
“Oh really? Do you?” she smiled and I got a feeling that she was teasing me, but I really could not guess why.
“Yes, I really want to,” I tried to convince her.
“Perfect, you should think about that more. Because friends do favors for each other.”
“Yes, they do,” it felt only reasonable.
I was looking into her beautiful eyes and kept listening to words coming from her red lips, but then everything started to move when doctor returned, they split us apart, loaded me into a van and then I lost sight of her.
Dr. Murray said I was sluggish, but that was mostly due to hypothermia and everything else looked fine. I was a damn hero. He even drove me home and made sure I am warm and tucked in. I felt a little confused about the events of today, but was too tired to find out, what is wrong with me. My last thought before sleep went to Linda. I was really worried about her and hoped that she was recovering well. I had no doubts about our good doctor, but maybe I should check up on her soon. That is what friends do for each other.