The Speerings
by Cheryl N. Warner
One
Sheriff Nagle stood out among the legion of restless police officers like a stately oak, unmoved amid mighty gale force winds. He stared calmly into the dense woods common to southeastern Tennessee, no sign of urgency or annoyance on his perpetually stoic face. As his men awaited the go ahead to continue their search for the escapee, he casually glanced at his watch. The moment Deputy Brandon’s voice announced over the radio that the perpetrator had been spotted from the helicopter, Sheriff Nagle quickly interrupted. "Is the lowlife still on the move?"
"That’s an affirmative. But his pace has definitely slowed."
"Good. Keep following him, and let me know when he’s on the ground," Sheriff Nagle instructed quietly.
"On the ground, sir?"
"You heard me!"
"Uh… Do I understand that to mean you want us to fire on him, sir?"
"Of course not! Just keep an eye on him. He’s got to be plum tuckered out as long as he’s been running. Until he lies down to rest, don’t bug me with any more useless details!"
"Yes, sir," Deputy Brandon said uncertainly.
Sheriff Nagle threw the radio mike on the front seat of his squad car then picked up the brown paper sack to see what his wife had prepared for lunch. "Baloney, again," he muttered disappointedly, biting into the sandwich then unscrewing his thermos lid.
Deputy Sheriff Handley cautiously approached his superior, speaking in his usual fidgety manner. "Saul, didn’t I just hear Brandon say they had Northcutt in their sights? Everyone’s just waiting for the word to go in after him. What do I tell them?"Sheriff Nagle continued to smack loudly on his sandwich as he answered. "First, get them blasted reporters out of here. Tell them they’re too close to the action and send them up the road packin’. Put a couple of deputies up there to hold them off. Tell the rest of the men to take a quick break then we’ll see what happens."
"Yes, sir," Deputy Handley said with a nod, turning and trotting toward the throng of reporters lined up along the edge of the woods.
Carly Wright, lead journalist for the student newspaper at Doral College, was among the crowd. "Just look at him sitting there eating his lunch like he’s at a Fourth of July picnic. He makes me sick," she said to the cameraman from Channel Eight news.
"Yeah, but you can’t deny, he’s a good sheriff. We live in the safest county in the state of Tennessee. I’ll sure vote for him again."
Carly rolled her eyes. "It’s not what he does. It’s how he does it. He’s as crooked as they come."
"Who cares how he does it? As long as me and my family’s safe, I’m sure not going to complain. Besides, I think all those stories you hear are just tall tales made up by bored housewives. Nobody’s been able to prove any of it."
"Nobody’s tried to prove it. They’re all too scared of him. Well, I’m sure not scared. I’m going to be the fire ant and the thunderstorm that ruins his little picnic and there’s not a thing he can do about it!"
As the cameraman scoffed at Carly’s self-assured enthusiasm, Deputy Handley appeared in front of the mob of reporters, a bullhorn in hand. "Your attention, please. Sheriff Nagle has ordered all reporters out of the area. Kindly move along up the hill to the end of Trammel road. There’s nothing here to see anyway, folks. We’ll let y’all know just as soon as we’ve apprehended the perpetrator. It shouldn’t be too long now."
Carly waved her arm wildly. "Excuse me, deputy, but can you tell me how your men are going to apprehend Mr. Northcutt, when they’re all standing around here with their thumbs up their—"
"No comment. Now, you run along home, Carly. Your daddy will have all our heads if something happens to his little girl.""Can you tell me how Mr. Northcutt escaped from jail in the first place? Just how does a man get through steel bars and over a barbed wire fence without being seen?" Carly yelled over the sound of the helicopter flying above them.
As the retreating reporters turned toward Deputy Handley, awaiting his answer, the wail of ambulance sirens drawing closer caused the crowd to fall silent and look at one another with anticipation. The deputy quickly turned toward Sheriff Nagle’s patrol car and received a slight nod from his superior. Turning back to the reporters, he raised the bullhorn to his lips again. "Okay, folks, hurry it up. Get yourselves up the road and leave us to do our business."
As the eerie cry of the siren grew louder and louder, the reporters and cameramen froze in their places, ignoring the high-pitched commands of Deputy Handley. When an ambulance and fire truck topped the hill, all cameras clicked on, and the reporters raced for the best filming spot along the edge of the police-lined wooded area. Sheriff Nagle watched the chaotic scene from over the roof of his car. A slight smile formed on his lips at the sight of the reporters practically scratching and clawing one another to be the first to capture the action as it unfolded.
Feeling the heaviness of someone’s attention pressing upon him, he turned his head toward the lone, wannabe journalist standing calmly by her car, her dark brown eyes intently studying him. Mayor Wright’s daughter had grown into a very attractive young woman, and the sheriff took the opportunity to thoroughly ogle every inch of the petite, slightly freckled brunette before turning away from her antagonistic glare.
"Dirty ol’ man," Carly muttered, before turning toward the emergency medical technicians that were jumping from the ambulance and running into the woods.
While the reporters bombarded Sheriff Handley with questions concerning the need for medical personnel, Carly hoisted herself onto the hood of her car and waited. Soon a large group of police officers joined Sheriff Handley and, struggling to contain them, forced the
clamorous reporters back to their parked vehicles as two paramedics removed a stretcher from the ambulance and pushed it into the woods.When the twenty-five-year-old rookie named Rob Coad spotted Carly waiting patiently with her chin in her hands, he slipped away from his post. "Hey there, beautiful. Still looking for that Pulitzer Prize winning story, I see," he said playfully, leaning against the hood next to her.
"Nah… I’m just looking for the truth, Robby. I don’t suppose you’d want to tell me what’s really going on, now would you?"
"Well, I just might… if you’ll dump that computer geek and go out with me."
"Hey, he may be a geek, but at least I don’t have to worry about his computer shooting at him!"
Deputy Coad smiled and scooted closer. "So, you worry about me, huh? That’s really sweet."
"You’re twisting my words around again, Deputy. I’ve already told you I don’t date anybody on the government payroll, especially one of Sheriff Nagle’s little disciples."
Even if he is the most muscular, best looking guy in town with those haunting blue eyes, that perfectly spiked hair the color of milk chocolate, and those stout lips that are just screaming to be— "Aw, come on, Carly. Just think of the interesting inside scoop you could get if you dated a cop.""Yeah, but I’ll bet you still wouldn’t tell me what your almighty boss is really up to, would you? Did he have the so-called escapee shot or something? I didn’t hear any gunfire. Am I going to have to wait for them to come back with a body before I get the full story?"
Rob discreetly glanced at his fellow officers, who were still busy containing the rambunctious reporters. Leaning toward Carly, he spoke in a whisper. "Okay, but you didn’t hear this from me. We didn’t have to shoot him. He just fell over in the woods with some sort of medical condition."
"What? Like a heart attack?" she asked, quickly grabbing her pen and notepad.
"No, I don’t think it was his heart. All I know is the deputy in the chopper spotted him lying on the ground and an ambulance was called. But like I said, you didn’t hear it from me.""And just why would that be a big secret, Robby?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
"Well, you know… There’s already crazy talk floating around about Sheriff Nagle. Anytime anything unusual happens, the tongues start wagging and the rumors start flying."
"Yeah, ’cause when he’s around, something unusual always happens!"
"Aw, Carly. You’ve been listening to too many urban legends. I thought a good reporter stuck to the facts. You need to forget about trying to expose some sort of scandal involving Sheriff Nagle. You’re wasting your time if that’s what you’re after. Sure, he’s tough on criminals, but that’s what keeps our streets so safe. Plus, I’m sure your daddy wouldn’t appreciate you going after one of his cohorts."
"Yeah, and I’m sure my daddy wouldn’t appreciate the way you talk to my chest instead of my face, either. But that hasn’t stopped you!"
Rob lifted his gaze to Carly’s eyes and smiled sheepishly. "You do call it like you see it, don’t you? Look, Carly, I’m just trying to help you out. You’re going to get yourself in trouble if you keep sticking your nose in police business."
"Well, thanks for the advice, but it’s my duty as a concerned citizen and a journalist to dig for the truth."
He shook his head and frowned. "Well, you just be careful. It’s not a good idea to cross certain folks."
"If your boss is the fine, upstanding man you claim he is, what could I possibly have to worry about?" She slid off the hood of her car. "See ya, Robby."
Before the rookie could stop her, Carly dashed to meet the emerging paramedics while the other police officers were occupied with restraining the throng of riotous reporters. Clicking the pen in her hand and posturing for an interview, she stood directly in the paramedic’s path. "For what medical condition did Mr. Northcutt require attention and what is his prognosis?"
The technical snickered. "The medical condition was diabetes. Mr. Northcutt went into an insulin coma, and his prognosis ain’t too good. He’s already dead. Wanna see?"Carly shook her head vigorously and tucked in her lips while staring at the sheet encased body. Mesmerized by the implications swirling around in her head, she found it impossible to move from her spot or continue her questioning. A loud shriek of startlement escaped her lips when Rob suddenly grabbed her around the waist from behind and pulled her toward the other reporters.
"Sorry, Carly. I didn’t mean to scare you, but you need to get out of the way. This is official police business, not your own personal career opportunity. Now stay put, before I have to handcuff you!"
"Yeah, I’ll bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?" Carly asked automatically, staring at the still figure being loaded into the ambulance.
"Well, now that you mention it…" he replied playfully, twirling the handcuffs around his index finger.
Carly turned her attention to Sheriff Nagle, who wore an eerily content smirk upon his face while watching the ambulance pull away. "He let him die," she stated in a soft, distant voice. "He let him roam around in the woods without his medication ’til he died…"
Rob shook his head and laughed. "You’re imagination’s running away with you again, Carly. It ain’t our fault the dude escaped and hid in the woods without his medicine. He brought this on himself."
Carly continued to watch Sheriff Nagle as he heartily congratulated his men on a job well done. "Don’t you see, Robby? That’s the sickening brilliance of his plan. He’s killed a man and nobody can prove a thing."
"Oh, brother! You’ve been reading too many crime novels or something, girl. This ain’t nothing but a classic case of a criminal’s stupid actions getting him killed. It happens all the time."
"Yeah, I’m sure it does," she said with unmasked hostility, her squinted eyes watching Sheriff Nagle casually munch on a chocolate chip cookie from his sack lunch.
