Chapter 5
Of Strange Moon Rising
Greg Logan held the station’s door open. “Hi, Red. Red’s okay, right? If not, it’s Andy’s fault.”
Riley snorted, ducking under his massive arm into the office. “Everyone calls me Red.”
“Oh, good.” He swatted the end of her ponytail. “Some first day, huh?”
She deposited a bin of evidence on her desk and swung her chair around. “You could say that.”
Greg settled into his own desk opposite Brand’s. “Regretting the move?”
“Chief Ross told me it wouldn’t be as exciting as the city, but—”
“Just Ross,” the chief chided on the way to his office. He raised his cell phone to his ear and said, “Just had to prove me wrong,” before he shut the door.
“Ross’s already got a new favorite,” Brand muttered. “Wonder wh—”
Riley opened her mouth to head off what was sure to be an insulting quip, but the Logans’ beat her to it.
Andy’s, “Screw off, Kellen,” harmonized with Greg’s, “Shut your face.”
Warmth bloomed in her chest as they rallied to her defense. Kellen Brand wasn’t the first asshole coworker she’d dealt with, probably wouldn’t be the last. As the rookie, she expected to catch something of the ‘friendly hazing’ sort, but Brand’s chirps felt less teasing-the-newbie and more I’m-going-to-make-this-bitch’s-life-hell-for-insert-personal-hang-up-here.
Brand ignored the lot of them while they logged and boxed evidence for transport. He ducked out during lunch to ship everything to their regional forensics lab, leaving Greg to explain the wonders of rural policing.
“Speeding tickets on Enlayer are frequent, since it’s a school zone. You’ll have to watch out for the knitting circle. Those ladies do not mess around. Someone’s been wheeled out with a big-ass knitting needle sticking out of their leg. You know how thick those needles are?”
“That was an accident. No one pressed charges,” Andy added.
“Sure, pressing charges against Sheriff Walton’s mother would’ve gone over real well.”
“Still an accident,” Andy argued.
Riley pulled her instant noodles from the microwave and sat across from them in the tiny kitchen. “How does that work, the turf sharing? The Sheriff shows up to scenes regularly?”
Greg bobbed his head in wishy-washy agreement. “The city of Woodrun is our sole jurisdiction. The Sheriff has to worry about the entire county, which means he and his deputies are spread out and on the road frequently to the outlying areas. I mean, if something happened right in front of him, he’d obviously respond, and we’ve routed calls to him and his deputies if we’re tied up, but dispatch rolls us for the calls in the city proper. The Sheriff will want updates, of course, since it’s a murder investigation and he’s voted into his position. Don’t want the locals up in arms about crime rates during an election year. Rossie will keep him in the loop.”
“Ross is our cousin,” Andy told her, polishing off a sub sandwich before starting a second. To Greg, he said, “And we’re lucky he’s out of ear-shot—that childhood nickname would get you fired.”
Greg waved his brother off. “Our mom’s brother is his dad, but he doesn’t give us special treatment or anything. Hey, you’ll have to come out to the Logan Animal Sanctuary. Our parents run it, and I technically work there part time, too, when I’m not here or at the firehouse. We’ve got wolves, mountain lions, raccoons, bears. Gimme your phone.”
Riley handed it over. They all had the same hazel eyes, she granted, but the Logan brothers’ darker hair and broad features must have been a paternal trait. Ross would have to rock a beard before she’d suspect they were related.
“The Sanctuary address is in your maps app. Ross, Andy, and my number are in your contacts.” He gave her phone back and leaned forward. “So, how’d you end up here? Ross seemed surprised you wanted to leave Cincinnati when you were so close to a promotion.”
She looked away from his open and honest expression. When you over-medicate to tone down a wacky psychic ability and land yourself in the hospital, certain things get put in perspective. Yeah, Riley doubted that’d go over well, so she said, “My grandmother, Old Mooney. She knew I needed a break from the city, worked her magic beyond the grave, and here I am.” The scar on her calf throbbed in time with her heartbeat. She stretched her leg out and sighed. “I could’ve sold her house and stayed in the city, but—”
“Dying wishes and all that.”
“Yeah.”
“I only met her a handful of times, but she was a special woman. I’m happy you’re here, but so sorry for the circumstances that lead to it.”
“I appreciate it. Glad you happened to have an opening.”
Greg scrubbed a hand over his head. “Yeah, we’d been dragging our feet looking for a replacement for Rasmussen. You said you wanted a break from the city—sounds like you plan on going back at some point.”
She suppressed a wince. “It’s too early for any decisions like that.” Her first day, and Riley implies to her coworkers she’s not long term. Great. Why invest time in someone with a expiration date?
Andy propped his chin on his folded hands. “I’ve got a good feeling Woodrun will grow on you. You’ll never leave once you get used to the place, get to know the community.”
“Sounds like I’ll be a fungus-covered hostage.” She squinted against the brilliance of the Logan brothers’ answering grins. They were indistinguishable from one another like that, faces scrunched up.
“Yeah, you’ll fit in just fine, fungus or no.”
“I notice you didn’t mention the hostage situation. This a “Hotel California” type of town?”
“You’re allowed to leave whenever you want,” Andy promised, “but we hope you’ll stay.”
“Give it a week.”
Greg snorted. “We should be saying that to you given the homicide.”
“So I shouldn’t expect any more surprises?”
“Nope, just your normal, everyday stuff. You’ll be bored after we crack this new case.”
She frowned when Greg’s nonchalant answer echoed with the warbled notes of a half-truth. Which part held the lie? That Woodrun was normal, that she’d soon be bored? She could dig at it, ask pointed questions to get a better sense of what Greg thought verses what he’d said. She shoved forkfuls of noodles in her mouth instead. They’d only known her a handful of hours. She still had a lot to learn, and more to prove.
Andy tossed his trash and her empty bowl away. “Judging by your expression, boredom isn’t an incentive.”
“I don’t want this Doe case to drag on—”
“But you want to feel useful?” Greg finished for her.
Surprisingly insightful for the Logan brother Riley had figured the goofier of the two. “Yeah.”
“Woodrun may not be a hotbed of crime, but the townsfolk will keep you busy. There’s always property line disagreements, drunken bar fights—”
“We don’t want her to leave, remember?” Andy, hovering between the kitchen and bullpen, pointed a finger at Greg. “Stop giving her reasons.”
“We’re reason enough to stay. We’re incredible.” He flashed another high-wattage grin over his shoulder and followed his brother back to their desks.
Riley washed her fork in the sink, muttering, “It’s a feat for someone the size of a small country to be so cute.”
In the bullpen, Greg threw his head back in laughter at something Andy must’ve said, earning a wadded up paper ball to the forehead.
Would a couple great coworkers be enough to keep Riley in a town where she’d be lucky if she got to utilize her abilities once a month? No, but it would hurt more when she left.
Obligatory Legal Stuff:
This chapter is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, and incidences are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, locals, and events are coincidental.
No generative AI used. No AI training or scraping allowed.
All rights reserved.
Chapter Title Image created in Canva. Canva Pro image used in background.