When they had disappeared through the door at the back, Dee opened the door to the entry again and Chief McCall guided the woman into the station. Her curly brown hair hung in her face. She limped and held her right arm folded tight against her stomach.

  He led her through the front room to the office where Jaden sat. He nodded and smiled at her.

  “Sit here, Miss Thomas,” Chief McCall said.

  When Jaden heard the name, she whipped her head toward the woman. “Aunt Jenny?” she asked.

  The woman raised her head. “Jaden? What are you doing here?”

  “My dad went to help at Walmart so I stayed to help here. What happened?”

  Jenny held her bent arm in the air. “I fell in the parking lot and scraped my elbow.” She looked down at her leg. “And my knee.”

  Jaden scrunched up her face. “Eww! I can see gravel sticking out. Want to go to the bathroom and I’ll help you wash them out?”

  Chief McCall looked up at Dee. “Want to show them to the washroom and help them find the supplies? Make sure you put some antibiotic on it after you get it cleaned out.”

  He looked toward the door to the back. “I’m going to go check on our prisoners and then head back to Walmart. I’ll leave one of the patrolmen here to help Miss Thomas once she’s feeling better.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Jenny protested. “I only live a mile outside of town. I just wish my car would start. I’ve seen other cars running. I don’t know why mine quit.”

  “Did you put it in ‘park’?” Jaden asked.

  Jenny looked at her and frowned.

  “Dad and I helped a lot of people get their cars started because they kept trying to start them, but forgot that they were still in ‘drive’. When we reminded them to put the gearshift in ‘park’, they started right up.”

  Jenny furrowed her eyebrows and looked up. “You know,” she said. “I don’t remember if I did put it in ‘park.”

  Chief McCall said, “Give your keys to the patrolmen. I’ll send them to your car and, if that’s the only problem, one of them can bring your car here and you can go straight home. But promise to stay inside and lock your doors. Don’t answer to anyone. We will send people around in a day or two when we’ve got a better handle on what’s going on.”

  “Thanks.” She smiled weakly. “You know, you spend your life putting your ducks in a row. You take care of everything you need to. And then something like this just comes out of nowhere and shows you just how unprepared you are.”

  Chapter Four

  Jenny’s gearshift was, in fact, still in the “drive” position. As soon as the police officer moved it to “park”, the car fired up. He parked it close to the door of the station before coming back inside.

  Jenny limped to the door. “Thank you so much! I’ll be home in five minutes and will wait there until I hear from you.”

  “Do you have enough food?” Dee asked.

  “The trunk of my car is full. I was on my way home from grocery shopping.” She grinned showing white teeth.

  “Make it last,” Dee suggested. “We don’t know if this will last a few hours or a few days or even longer. Make sure you make it last long enough for us to determine what the problem is and how we are going to handle it.” She paused and then held a finger in the air.

  “Uhm… do you have a gun at home?”

  “No, I used to, but my roommate was moving to the city and wanted to buy it for protection. She needed it more than I did around here. I sold it to her.”

  “Well, you might need one. Who knows what kind of people are running around out there off their rockers now. We’ve had several incidents just like this in the last couple of hours. This is one of the safest towns in the country. It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better.”

  She walked to the desk. “This is the gun that guy had. I’ll look it over and make sure it’s in good condition, then I want you to take it with you.”

  Jenny wrinkled her nose. “Just the thought of carrying that gun that could have killed me doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy.”

  “It couldn’t have killed you.” Dee chuckled. “It didn’t have any bullets. I’ll dig some up.”

  She walked to the desk and skillfully took apart the handgun. She opened the side drawer of the desk and pulled out a towel and a metal box. Opening the box, she dripped a bit of oily liquid on a cloth. She inspected the handgun and wiped it with the cloth. When she was satisfied that the necessary parts were in good shape and clean, she put her cleaning supplies back in the drawer.

  She walked to a safe in the far corner of the room and twirled the dial back and forth. Clasping the handle, she turned it and the door popped open. She pulled a box of cartridges from a shelf. After setting the box next to the handgun, she looked at Jenny.

  “I assume you know how to shoot this?”

  “Of course. Our whole family was into target practice. My brother had this very same handgun. I’ve shot it quite a bit over the years.”

  “Great!” Dee said. “The Chief will send someone out to your house as soon as we know what’s going on and have a plan. In the meantime, stay safe.”

  “Thanks so much!” Jenny turned and stepped to Jaden. “I’m glad I got to see you today. Tell my nephew, Chris, that I’m sorry I missed him today. I’ll see him soon.”

  Jaden hugged her. “I’m glad nothing bad happened. I’m sorry you got hurt. I hope I see you again soon. I love playing cards with Chris’s family, especially when you come.”

  “We’ll do it again soon.” Jenny smiled and picked up the gun and box of ammo.

  Jaden watched her pull away from the station. “Will she be safe all by herself?” she asked Dee.

  “I think so. She’s a pretty smart lady. I do worry about her being alone. I wish she had someone living with her so that someone could sleep while the other kept watch.”

  “She’s got two big dogs,” Jaden said. “They’d wake her up.”

  “Well, that’s even better than another human - almost. I’d still rather see another human with her, but I think she’ll be fine. If I didn’t, I would have asked her to stay with me.”

  Dee slumped into the chair next to the desk. “Whew! What a day!”

  “What are you going to do with those two guys in the jail back there?” Jaden backed up to the desk and hopped up to sit on the wooden top.

  “I don’t know,” Dee said. “We don’t use those cells much. We have an agreement with LaSalle. They house our prisoners for us. But I doubt they have time for our prisoners. They are going to need all their cells if they are experiencing what we are.”

  She shook her head. “It will all work out,” she said with a smile. “Now, want to do some busy work with me? Time goes much faster when we keep busy.”

  “Sure!” Jaden jumped off the desk and turned to face Dee. “Tell me what you want me to do.”

  Dee led her back to the office. Against the back wall sat another door. She unlocked that door and swung it wide. To her left, she punched some numbers into a keypad. When the pad turned green, she stepped into the room. Six rows of shelves greeted them. White banker boxes filled most of the shelves. Two windows with bars let light filter into the room.

  “How come your radios still work and this push-button lock still works when the power is out?” Jaden asked.

  “We’ve got a small Honda generator in a shed behind this wall,” Dee explained. “If we have to, we have a larger generator out back in a cage. But the Honda is fine for running a few things. It’s quiet and doesn’t attract attention.”

  She pointed to the shelves.

  “This is evidence on open cases,” Dee said. “I’ve been meaning to get this organized all year. Today will be a good day to start. The first thing I have to tell you is do not remove the tape from the box. Make sure the tape stays secure. Got that?”

  “Yep.”

  “Great. Let’s look at all the boxes and pull out any box that has a date of December 31, 2008 or earlier. Those we will stack over by the door and I’ll have the officers move them to another locked location when they have a minute.”

  It didn’t take long to pull the boxes dated prior to the end of 2008. There were only eight. They stacked those boxes near the door.

  “Now, let’s work on arranging these in order. We’ll start with January 2009. They will go down here at this end. We want to keep the boxes in order so that we end up with the most current at the other end.”

  Two hours later, a little more dusty than when they entered the room, Dee smiled. “Thank you, Jaden. This was so much easier than doing it by myself. The only thing I have left to do is inventory and that task can wait.”

  “I can help,” Jaden said. “I like helping.”

  “I know you do,” Dee said. “Let’s see if we can find a snack first.”

  She ushered Jaden out of the evidence room and pulled the heavy door closed behind them. After checking to make sure it had latched, she headed toward the door at the back of the office.

  “Come on, the kitchen is back here.”

  Jaden hesitated. “Aren’t the bad guys back there too?”

  “The cells are down a hall and the hall has a locked door before you get to the cells. We’ll be fine.”

  The door opened to a wide hallway. Two doors were on the right and there was a heavy steel door at the far end. The kitchen was the first room on the right and the door was open.

  The officer who had stayed behind to keep an eye on the prisoners sat at a table with chrome legs and a red marble top. He had a stack of papers in front of him. He used his left hand to sift through the pile. In his right hand was a sandwich.

  “What’ve we got to eat?” Dee asked.

  “I got ham and swiss. There’s also some roast beef in there.”

  He looked at Jaden. “Are you Bill Gordon’s girl?”

  “Yes.”

  “I saw your dad helping out at the parking lot. I didn’t know that he worked for Rolly at the lumber yard.”

  “Yeah,” Jaden said. “He had to sell his construction business when that drunk crashed into his car and hurt him so bad. He likes working for Rolly and he’s starting to get more people hiring him for construction jobs. Someday he’ll have his own business again. I know it.”

  Dee held up two packages of sliced meat. “Roast beef or ham?”

  “Ham, please. Do we have mustard?”

  “We do.”

  “Lots of mustard, please.”

  Dee opened a drawer and pulled out a knife. “You got it.”

  They were just finishing their sandwiches, Jaden licking the mustard off her fingers, when the buzzer sounded. Dee jumped up and hurried to the front.

  “She’s back there. First door on the right,” Jaden heard Dee say just before her father stepped into the room.

  “Ready to call it a day?” Bill asked.

  “If you are,” Jaden replied. “But I have more work to do in the evidence room.”

  Bill raised his eyebrows.

  “She’s doing inventory,” Dee explained walking up behind him. “She’s amazing.”

  “I know.” He grinned. “I’d like to get her home and settled in. I’m going to be back with Chief McCall tomorrow. I was thinking I would ask the neighbor to keep her, but she could come here and help if you wanted.”

  “Well, she’s a deputy now so she probably should come to work.” Dee chuckled. “I’d love to have her here.”

  “Yay! I’ll see you in the morning,” Jaden said. She picked up her napkin and tossed it in the garbage.

  Chapter Five

  Jaden buckled her seatbelt as her dad started the truck and backed out of the parking spot.

  “Dad,” she said. “Chris Thomas’s Aunt Jenny got chased by some men today. She was running to the police station but she tripped and they caught her. One of them had a gun.”

  Bill slammed on the brakes. “Did you see this happen?”

  “I was watching out the window. Dee went outside. Then Chief McCall called on the police radio and I told him what was happening. Chief McCall and two other policemen came and got them and put them in the jail.”

  “What happened to Jenny?”

  “I helped clean her scrapes and then she went home.”

  “By herself? She lives alone.”

  “I know, Daddy. She said she wanted to go home. Dee gave her a gun and some bullets and told her to stay in the house.”

  Bill approached the street in front of the police station, but instead of turning right to go home, he turned left which would take them out of town.

  “Where are we going, Dad?”

  “We’re going to pick Aunt Jenny up and bring her to town. If Chris’s parents aren’t home or don’t have room, she can stay with us. I’m not comfortable with leaving her all alone with everything that’s going on. Her house is only a half mile from the interstate. They aren’t letting people exit at Princeton so there are a lot of strangers wandering around out there.”

  He pulled into the driveway between two huge pine trees. The driveway made a slight curve before the house and he parked just past the curve, honking before stepping out of the truck.

  Jenny Thomas flung the front door open. “Bill Gordon, come on up.”

  He got back in the truck and moved it closer to the house. He parked next to the front steps and Jaden joined them on the porch.

  “I’ll be fine out here,” Jenny said. “I’ve got a gun if anyone tries to break in. I don’t want to be a bother.”

  “No, Jenny,” Bill said. “It’s just not safe. I’ll help you pack up what you think is most important, but you can’t stay here alone. If the Thomas’s aren’t home, you can stay with us.”

  “Well,” she looked toward the interstate. “I’d probably be okay here, but I’d certainly feel safer in town.”

  Bill nodded. “Chief McCall isn’t letting anyone off the Interstate and he’s got patrols to keep strangers out of town unless they have business in town. Being in town is the safest place to be. A group of FEMA guys showed up late this afternoon and took over the Day’s Inn. Word is that they will transport anyone who wants to go to a camp down south.”

  Jenny wrinkled her nose. “No thank you.”

  Bill grinned. “I figured that would be your reaction.”

  Jenny followed Bill and Jaden into town, her dogs riding in the back seat.

  The Thomas’s were home and did want Jenny to stay with them. Mr. Thomas thanked them for bringing her to town safely.

  “How have you been getting along?” he asked Bill.

  “Helping out where I can,” Bill said.

  “Well, I’m on the committee for long term plans. I’d like to get your input if you have a few minutes.”

  Bill leaned against his truck. “What are we looking at?”

  “Town security is good. We will build as we see fit, but we’ve got plenty of volunteers and great leaders. Many townspeople are choosing to take the FEMA busses south to camps that have electricity - at least for the winter. The remaining ones need to band together to live, eat and survive together. We can’t do it in individual homes.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “So, my question to you is, what do you think of moving all the families into one building - like the high school. It would be easier to keep one building heated. The high school has a big cafeteria and kitchen. And, the gymnasium is big enough that it could serve as a community center.”

  “What do you think?”

  “I think that’s as good a plan as any. I shiver at the thought of all those people in one small space trying to get along. I know they are all good people, but people tend to get on each other’s nerves. It will be hard.”

  “I know. I know. Smaller groups would be easier to keep the peace.” He shook his head. “And when I think of all those hormonal kids locked in a building all winter, my eyes water.”

  Bill shook his head. “We will figure it out. We’ve got plenty of time.”

  “Thanks for bringing Jenny to town,” Mr. Thomas said holding out his hand to shake.

  “She’ll be safe here in town,” Bill told Jaden once they were home. “Chief McCall seems to have a good handle on things. The information that he got today doesn’t sound promising. We might not get power back for a long time. Tomorrow we’ll be organizing dedicated security teams and start planning for the long term.”