Dead Woman Crossing by J.R. Adler (books on motivation .txt) 📗

eyes, bringing them back to the present and to her reflection in the mirror. For the final touch, she secured her new badge to her shirt just above her heart. She pressed her lips firmly together, taking her whole image in one final time before closing the wardrobe closet door.

11

Kimberley walked through the doors into the desk pit of the sheriff’s office. Her chief deputy uniform was perfectly pressed and clean, like her old blues used to be, and her hair was pulled back in a low ponytail. Deputy Bearfield and Deputy Burns were seated at their desks, typing away at their computers.

“Good morning,” Kimberley said.

Burns looked up first, stopping his work immediately. “Morning, Chief Deputy King.”

Bearfield finished up his typing and then looked up, greeting Kimberley.

“Whatcha guys got?” Kimberley stopped in the middle of the room, just before Burns’s desk.

“Some paperwork from the night shift. DUI, traffic violation and a couple of assault charges from a fight that happened over at The Trophy Room late last night,” Burns said, reading them off several sheets of paper.

Kimberley nodded and looked over at Bearfield.

“I’m taking care of some quarterly reporting for Walker,” he said, slightly raising his chin.

Before Kimberley could ask about the reporting, the doors behind her opened and closed. Immediately, Burns pulled out his phone and clicked a few buttons. The song “Footloose” played loudly.

“Goddamnit! It’s been four months. When are you two going to let that go?” Deputy Todd Hill whined.

Kimberley hadn’t met him yet as he had been out on vacation the past few days. She turned around to find a tall, lanky man with a long face and a pointy nose. He was clean-shaven with a well-quaffed haircut, mid-to-late thirties, she presumed. He walked with a slight limp that was almost unnoticeable.

Bearfield and Burns let out belly laughs. “You’re never living that down,” Bear said.

Kimberley couldn’t help the slight smile that creeped onto her face. She loved the banter. It was necessary for a job like this.

Deputy Hill walked slowly to his desk, trying to show no signs of his self-inflicted foot injury. “It was an accident. It could have happened to anyone,” he groaned, but he didn’t actually seem all that annoyed.

“Deputy Todd Hill,” Kimberley greeted. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Chief Deputy Kimberley King.”

Hill walked the extra few steps to Kimberley and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you. The boys filled me in. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“Yeah, we didn’t want him to get off on the wrong foot,” Burns howled.

Bearfield slapped his knee as he erupted into a fit of laughter that was deep and controlled.

Hill rolled his eyes. “You’ll have to get used to them.” He looked at Burns and then Bearfield with a smirk. “Well, glad to have you on the force,” he added with a nod.

“Likewise.” Kimberley nodded. “Carry on,” she added as she walked toward her office.

Kimberley took a sip of her coffee. The mixture of heat and acidity biting at her tongue and throat helped to keep her alert and focused while sorting through papers at her desk. The rest of the deputies had taken off to patrol, while Kimberley sat finishing up some paperwork before heading out to join them.

“How’s it going?” Sam entered her office with a cup of coffee in his hand. His walk was slow, but his presence made it clear that this was his domain. His permanent five-o’clock shadow and buzz cut made him look rugged and authoritative. The past few days she had worked with Sam, Kimberley had found him hard to read. He was kind, but any hint of a smile was few and far between, only appearing when he was truly amused.

Kimberley looked up and tilted her head to the side. “Same old, same old.”

“You’ve been here four days and you’re already at ‘same old, same old.’” Sam chuckled, half amused by her blasé response.

Kimberley leaned back in her chair and smiled while shrugging her shoulders.

“You met the crew?”

“All of them, except night shift and Lodge.”

Sam nodded.

“How have the first few days been?” Sam half sat on her desk, one leg on the ground, one cheek on the table.

“Exactly as you said it’d be. Quiet with a sprinkling of paperwork and a dollop of DUI.” Kimberley tilted her head.

Sam nodded, set his coffee down on her desk, and folded his arms across his chest. “Look I know this job isn’t going to be the—” He stopped abruptly as his phone began to ring, and he quickly pulled it from his utility belt. “Sam.”

Kimberley watched him carefully as he pressed the phone to his ear and stood up straight. He nodded several times.

“I’m on my way,” he said into the phone, ending the call. Sam looked at Kimberley. “Let’s go. A fisherman found a body near Big Deer Creek.”

“A body?” Kimberley rose from her seat immediately, excitement swelling up inside her. Now, this was more like home, she thought.

In the car, Sam immediately flicked on his sirens and sped off toward the outskirts of the town. The tires of the squad car spit up gravel, leaving a trail of dust behind it. Kimberley buckled up and held the handlebar on the passenger’s door to brace herself.

“Wait, you said Big Deer Creek?” Kimberley confirmed.

Sheriff Sam nodded. She looked at him and then back at the road.

“Like where Katie DeWitt James was found?”

“You know the story.” Sam cocked his head.

Kimberley nodded. She had learned about Dead Woman Crossing’s gruesome history well before she applied for the position at the sheriff’s station.

“A Google search told me all I needed to know. Young local woman by the name of Katie DeWitt James was murdered back in 1905 down by Big Deer Creek. Shot in the head. Decapitated. Young daughter found alive in a stroller nearby.” Kimberley recited it as if she were reading it verbatim. She’d read the short Wikipedia page over a dozen times.

“Yep. That’s the story,” Sam said, keeping his eyes on the road.

“It’s strange the town