Chapter 2
Cal groaned. He had heard the next door neighbor’s rooster “cock-a-doodle-do” for more mornings than he cared to
remember. He opened his eyes and saw the
sunlight starting to light the room; despite his best efforts to block out the
sun coming through the window. Cal sat
up and looked at the clock. The red
numbers glared back at him. It was
already past 6:30. Cal knew he had to
get moving. He began his morning
procedures. After he had finished his
morning rituals and was dressed, he poured his morning energy drink from the
big pitcher he kept in his fridge. He
looked around the old house. He had
bought the place from his parents when they decided the winters were just too
cold and the summers were just too hot in Kentucky. His parents were now living in San Diego,
where the temperature seemed to never change, regardless of the season.
Cal had spent his entire life
in LaCompt County. He graduated from
LaCompt County High School and took some classes at the local community
college. The county was small, and the
main town, Queen’s Landing was even
smaller. It was located next to a lake,
and tourism helped keep the county afloat.
After Chris was elected Sheriff, he had approached Cal about being his
deputy. Cal had quickly agreed. That had been 10 years ago, and little had
changed for Cal. He checked on his folks
in California about once a week, checked on his best friend Terrance, or T as
he was known, every couple of days, and had breakfast with his sisters a couple
of times a week.
This morning was one of those
mornings. He was supposed to me Ann and
Carol in town for breakfast in the next five minutes. He was going to be late, unless he turned on
the sirens and did 90 all the way there.
He knew his sisters wouldn’t
approve of that, but there was a lot Cal did that he was quite sure they wouldn’t approve of.
He didn’t get to see Ann near as much as Carol. Ann was a school teacher, and had three
children. She had married one of the
local boys, Craig, and was happy as could be.
Cal was happy for them. Carol, on
the other hand, was still single, but working as an EMT. Cal saw her constantly on the job. Usually if one of them got a call, so did the
other.
Carol had been inspired by
their aunt Charlotte to go into medicine. Charlotte had been one of the best nurses in
the state. They had lost her a few years
earlier. Cal found it interesting that
was about the time started to change in his life.
“Changes for the better,” he thought to himself. Cal smiled and looked out at his black
SUV. He was quite proud of himself. He had been by himself ever since high school
and he was proud of his “investments.” He
chuckled at his conversation with one of the local bankers yesterday. The banker had wanted to know Cal’s secret in investing. Cal had his line ready.
“Buy low, sell high,” Cal had said to the banker. The banker gave a friendly laugh, but Cal
knew it wasn’t the answer the banker wanted. Cal knew he had to get going or he was going
to be really late. He walked outside,
and had just locked the door, when an ambulance pulled up in the driveway. Carol was driving, and looked mad. Cal reached in his pocket, and pulled out his
cellphone. It was off. Cal chuckled.
The only way to get service where he lived was to put the phone on a
windowsill, put the phone on speaker, and yell at it. Cal normally just turned it off. What could happen it this little town that
would be so bad someone needed him 24/7?
He was about to find out.
No comments:
Post a Comment