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As Nathan passed, he stated, “I’m on lunch for the next hour, sheriff. Then I’ll be back to take over the phones from you.”
“Sounds good,” Sheriff Anthony replied, relaxing in the chair. The man opened his mouth, then closed it again just as quickly.
Hesitating, Nathan wondered if the man needed something. When the sheriff turned his attention back to the computer, he decided he must have been mistaken. Nathan headed to the breakroom and the sandwich and fruit salad he’d left there for himself that morning.
After eating, Nathan took over the phones. He knew the two hours he would be manning them would finish out his shift. Personally, he appreciated it when that happened as it gave him plenty of time to write up any needed reports.
The afternoon was predictably quiet, with only one call about someone returning home to find their front door open to break up the monotony. Nathan had radioed for Deputy Nereo to driver over there. The newly hired male had been the one on patrol, and he’d called back that the door had been left open by the woman’s son, who had shown up unexpectedly. Everything had been fine.
Better safe than sorry.
Just as Markus arrived to take over for the next stint on the phones, Sheriff Anthony walked out of his office. He stopped beside the desk and greeted Markus. Then Anthony turned and focused on Nathan.
“I have a favor to ask,” Anthony stated, surprising Nathan. “I need you to run out to this address and do a wellness check on the occupant.” He glanced at the piece of paper he held in his hand before focusing on Nathan again. “A Misses Clair Waldorf. I guess she lives out there alone, and her daughter, who lives in Denver, hasn’t been able to reach her the last few days.”
“Clair Waldorf?” Nathan took the paper, looking at it to confirm the information. He couldn’t think of anyone with that last name living near Stone Ridge, but he supposed he didn’t know everyone, regardless of the fact that he’d lived there all his life. “Uh, shouldn’t Deputy Goliath go?” Nathan hated to second-guess the sheriff, but perhaps he’d forgotten that Nathan was off shift and the other deputy was currently the one out on patrol. “I’m just about to go off shift.”
“I know you are, deputy.” Sheriff Anthony’s smile appeared a little strained. “But that address is in your neck of the woods, isn’t it?” As Nathan glanced at it again to read it—yep, it sure is, so why don’t I know this woman—Anthony added, “And I need Deputy Goliath to head in another direction.”
Markus glanced up from where he’d taken over the chair, a look of surprised disbelief on his face. He even opened his mouth as if to question Anthony. When the sheriff narrowed his eyes just a smidge, Markus snapped his mouth shut and returned his attention to the computer.
Yep. Oddities.
Still, Nathan couldn’t refuse his boss, no matter how strange he thought the request was. “Yes, sheriff,” he responded dutifully. “I’ll take a look.”
“Thanks.” Sheriff Anthony clapped him on the upper back once before turning and heading back toward his office. “Enjoy your day off tomorrow, Nathan.”
Nathan chuckled as he started toward the break room and his jacket. “Yeah, I’ll really love all the cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping I need to do.”
Sheriff Anthony chuckled. “Yep, it adds up.”
After getting his things, Nathan headed back out the front, noticing Markus now stood in the doorway to the sheriff’s office. He was speaking to the man in low tones, but Nathan could still make out the dark-haired deputy’s murmured question of, “Why are you sending Nathan out there?”
As much as Nathan would have liked to have heard the answer, whatever Anthony said caused the other deputy to enter the office and close the door behind him.
Huh.
Nathan zipped his jacket against the weather and headed outside. Inhaling deeply, he enjoyed the crisp fall air. Halloween was fast approaching, and he admired the festive decorations springing up in all the shop windows as he headed to the side lot where he’d parked his pick-up.
After climbing behind the wheel, Nathan clipped the note with the address to his dash. His older model vehicle didn’t have GPS. Nathan had been asked by his older sister’s husband on a couple of occasions why he hadn’t replaced it, yet, but to Nathan’s way of thinking, if it wasn’t broke, why fix it. His old truck still got him from point A to point B safely, so why change?
The engine fired right up, and Nathan started on his way. Truth be told, the address was a ways past his turn-off for his own road. A light smattering of snow decorated the sides of the road, and he wondered if the motorcycle riders were actually going to stick around. Winter in Colorado really wasn’t conducive to their mode of transportation.
Winding a bit further up the mountain, Nathan finally found the address. The gravel road was nicely graded, and the trees had obviously been trimmed recently. He pulled up to a large farmhouse tucked in a large clearing. There was a large detached shop to the left with its doors closed.
Nathan stopped and panned his gaze over the place. Everything appeared quiet. He did see smoke coming from both of the farmhouse’s chimneys, so he knew someone was inside.
Maybe Clair’s phone died or something.
Ready to have his task taken care of, Nathan quickly texted Markus that he was at the house and was heading up to knock on the door. It was always a good policy to let another officer know where he was. Especially when on police business.
Markus quickly texted back with athumbs upemoji.
Nathan snorted under his breath.
Definitelynotthe standard police response.
Climbing the couple of stairs leading to the large front porch, Nathan took in the number of rockers on it. Some were singles and some were doubles. In all, he saw eight chairs with a couple of old cable spools turned on their ends to be used as tables. One even had a large checker board drawn on it, and the checkers themselves were stacked around the base.
