Page 5 of Blue Norther
Sure, each promotion was nice. But I hated dealing with bureaucracy. Put me in the field. Let me investigate. Let me break up bar fights. Hell, let me write speeding tickets. Just get me out of the damn office.
“You look like I’m about to put you in front of a firing squad,” Hank laughed.
“Nah. Just a long shift. I’m looking forward to sleep.”
“Aright, let’s get this briefing underway so you can get outta here as fast as possible.”
Two hours later, my mid-shift was finally over. I’d have a few hours to flip my body back to day shift mode, instead of the weird hours I’d been working over the last week. Because in the morning, I’d be expected to report back to the department to attend to everything Hank normally took care of.
I groaned, my feet pounding against the pavement as I walked towards my truck. My phone buzzed in my pocket.Hank couldn’t have something to fill me in on already, could he?
No. It wasn’t Hank. Pete Murphy was calling me. Weird, because it was the middle of the month. My stomach soured for a second, thinking something bad might have happened to Violet. Her dad and I still talk to each other about once a month when I go check on his old place right down the road from my family’s ranch, but there was no reason he should be calling me today.
“Pete. Everything okay?” I asked as I answered the call.
“Colt! I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time?”
“No, not at all. I’m just heading home from work.”
“Oh good. Good. Look, I was hoping maybe you could swing by the cabin today. You know, the Logans called me last week and said there had been some break-ins recently on our road. I’ve got someone who wants to use the place for a while and just want to make sure they’ll be safe there.”
“Someone?” My heart rate doubled as I hopped into the cab of my truck.Please tell me she’s coming home. Tell me she’s finally coming back to me.
“Yeah, you know how it is. I barely ever get down there anymore. Figured someone else might as well get some use out of it. Let me know if there’s any damage, okay, son?”
I loved that he still called me that, even as I crossed over into my forties and hadn’t technically been a part of his family in years.
“Of course, I’ll let you know what I find. There is a great security firm here in Silver Springs that I can recommend if you are looking for a security system. Could remotely monitor things from your favorite golf course in Arizona.”
He laughed. “That sounds awesome. I’ll have to look them up when I figure out how to use my tablet. Got that damn thing for Christmas last year, and I still can’t work it. Anyway, thanks, Colt.”
“Any time, Pete.”
Damn. It wasn’t Violet.I shook my head, trying to clear away a lifetime of memories as I headed out to her parents’ place. She hadn’t grown up in Silver Springs like I did. My whole life was spent out on the Silver Ridge Ranch. As the eldest son of the town’s founding family, I think everyone was shocked when I went into law enforcement. My family knew I loved living on the ranch, but I wouldn’t be happy ranching my days away.
No. That was something my brother Beau enjoyed. And sometimes my sister Jessie—the baby of our family—would help out, too, with all the misfit animals she collected over the years.
I drove past my mom’s diner. Yes, Dolly’s was the best place to eat at in Silver Springs, and no, I wasn’t biased because she’s my mom. And nine out of ten people in town would agree with me. My family’s legacy was all over this town. Hell, it wasn’t just the diner—the main street through Silver Springs was named Ford Avenue after my family: the Fords. My brother, Lachlan, owned an auto body shop, though it had been closed for years since his accident. My other brother Hayes was a firefighter. Our grandparents had once run the mercantile in town, and they’d be rolling in their graves if they knew it was now a shared office space.
Even with the reminders of my family all throughout this town, every time I drove through, I still saw the reminders ofher.
Reminders of her at the middle school, where we met the first day after she transferred into my seventh grade class—also known as the best day of my life—until our first kiss later in high school that happened in the hay loft of my family’s barn.
Christ.Vi wasn’t back. I didn’t need this goddamn trip down memory lane. I turned the radio up, but completely tuned it out the closer I got to the cabin.
We were lucky; being best friends who lived only two miles down the road from each other had its perks. It really became fun when we were teens and could sneak out to meet up at the springs my family kept just for swimming in. They were separate from the spring that everyone came to get drinking water from, and Vi and I would go skinny dipping under the moonlight.
Yes. The very springs the town of Silver Springs were named after were on the Silver Ridge Ranch. Most people in town stopped into the well house that was down the road, across the street from the twenty or so acres all our houses were spread across.
The springs fed cold, crystal clear water to the well house, and the water had been a nickel a gallon for almost a hundred years. My great-great grandpa had sworn that the water was healing. And I’d believed the legend myself.
Right up until the water hadn’t helped Vi. I hadn’t had a drop of the stuff since.
My fingers gripped the steering wheel so tightly I felt the ache in my teeth. Christ. Why the hell was I getting myself so worked up on memories?
I flipped on the turn signal, jostling down the driveway faster than I probably should have. Pete was right. There were a stringof break-ins recently, and I should have come and checked out here myself before he had to call me.
Parking my truck next to the line of trees surrounding the driveway, I hopped down. A quick walk around the cabin showed everything still secured from when I was here two weeks before. The wind picked up, cold enough that I tightened my jacket around myself.
