North County Paranormal Unit Chapter 22
It was several hours later when the van finally pulled into the driveway at headquarters. Once the police had arrived on the scene, they’d questioned everybody about what had happened. The interrogation was a bit of a blur to Gabriella even before it was over, with one disbelieving officer asking if she was really sure the victim was trying to murder her. Could she maybe have misunderstood the situation?
At one point, she’d seen Bradley step aside with one of the cops. From then on, the investigation had taken a different tone, with the two officers losing a bit of their swagger. The fear on the younger one’s face made Gabriella wonder how entrenched the Foundation was with local communities. But the implications of that made her want to lie down and never get up.
But eventually, it was over. The paramedics treated the truck driver for shock. James, despite his own haunted expression and shaking limbs, had made sure they checked Gabriella too. She was worried they’d make her go to the hospital, but the paramedic had listened to her with kind eyes and agreed that she could go get some rest.
Now they staggered up to the front door of Headquarters. Amelia unlocked it and the group stepped inside, silently kicking off their shoes and making their way to the living room. Nobody had planned to meet there. But Gabriella realized they were all going there anyway.
James sat down on the couch and ran his hands down his face. “What…the…fuck,” he mumbled.
Bradley had his own face buried in his hands as he sat on a chair along the wall. “I need to call the Foundation.”
“Do they even have someone on this late?” Amelia asked.
“They better.”
Bradley stood up and fished in his pocket, coming up empty-handed. “I think I lost my phone.”
Gabriella felt her gaze pulled toward the darkness behind Robin’s open office door. The others were clearly looking there too. Was there another official business phone in the building? The idea of ever going into Robin’s office made her nauseous and she imagined the others felt similarly.
Amelia took out her phone and handed it to Bradley. “Use mine,” she said, then leaned her head back against the back of the couch and closed her eyes.
Bradley disappeared down the hall as he waited for the Foundation to pick up his call. Gabriella looked at the others. Amelia seemed to already be asleep. James was staring at the floor. Only Madelyn made eye contact.
“How are you?” Gabriella asked.
“Sore.”
“Do you need anything?”
Madelyn shook her head. “I’m fine,” she said. “How are you doing?”
Gabriella paused, a little unsure how to answer that. “Alive,” she finally said.
Madelyn laughed and Gabriella joined in, but she knew they both sounded frayed and shaky. Their laughter trailed off into silence. Then she looked over at James, who didn’t seem to be aware of anything that was happening around him at that moment. He was just looking blankly at the floor in front of him.
“How are you?” Gabriella asked hesitantly.
This seemed to jerk him out of his daze. “Wha-I’m okay.” He said. “You okay, Gabs?”
She wanted to pour it all out right then, how sorry she was for not believing him, for falling for Robin’s manipulations. For thinking he’d hurt her. But before she could say anything, Bradley walked back into the room. He nudged Amelia, who opened her eyes and looked up at him.
“They’re going to send someone out tomorrow morning,” he said, handing back her phone. “Apparently our captain getting himself killed in a murderous plot isn’t urgent enough to get someone here tonight.”
“Are we sure he’s gone?”
Gabriella wasn’t aware she had that fear until the words were out of her mouth. Her eyes went back to the darkened office and her stomach churned in newly sparked fear. “What if he comes back?” she asked.
“He won’t.”
James’s voice was muffled by his hand over his face. They all turned to look at him, but he didn’t look at anyone.
“Trust me,” he said. “Robin’s dead.”
Amelia slid her hand into his and he gripped it tightly. Gabriella wanted to stuff the words back in her mouth and judging by the look he gave her, Bradley would have been willing to help her do so.
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s fine,” James said.
The room fell silent again. Amelia closed her eyes while Bradley stood by the window, staring outside into the night. James continued to sit motionless in his chair and Madelyn gave Gabriella a sympathetic look. She smiled and Gabriella smiled back, feeling a little less alone.
Then she yawned and leaned her head against the chair, closing her eyes for just a moment…
“Hey, Gabriella.”
Amelia’s voice and the sensation of someone gently shaking her pulled Gabriella back to consciousness. She opened her eyes.
“We’re all heading to bed,” Amelia said. “I didn’t want to leave you out here alone. Are you coming?”
“Is there a bed left?” Gabriella asked, rubbing her eyes.
“The grey room has one,” Amelia replied.
“I’ll be in in a sec.”
Amelia walked away and Gabriella took a deep breath. She let it out slowly, trying to send away the images of tonight that were slowly seeping into her mind.
Robin had tried to murder her. He’d hunted her in the woods. But now she was alive and he was dead. She’d won.
And she might never be able to reconcile the image of the tearful killer with the kind smile he’d given her that first day. She’d probably never know how much of his warmth was manipulation and how much of it was genuine.
Gabriella stood up and stretched before she could go further down that train of thought. She needed to get some sleep. Tomorrow they’d all start processing what happened tonight.
She made her way over to the gray bedroom and stepped inside. It was dark, but she could see James was asleep in the far bed.
“Goodnight,” she said softly as she quickly pulled on her shorts and tee-shirt and climbed into the other bed.
“Goodnight,” he mumbled.
Gabriella pulled the covers up and hoped that the nightmares wouldn’t come just yet.
***
The Foundation representative that showed up at Headquarters the next morning was friendly enough, but something about him put Gabriella’s teeth on edge. He was a little too calm and polished about the situation. As if team leaders regularly tried to murder their new hires and then killed themselves by driving headlong into a tractor-trailer. There seemed to be a procedure in place for this as well, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
But for now, they were all sitting in the living room as he sat in an upholstered chair and explained what was going to happen next.
“So we will get you a new captain, don’t you worry,” he said, taking a sip from the coffee Bradley had offered him.
He winced, then tried to hide the fact that he’d winced and set the coffee aside. “But it might take a while to get everything organized,” he continued. “And to be honest, we’re a little short-staffed right now. So in the meantime, James, you’ll be in charge. You’ve got seniority here.”
James kept his face neutral, but Gabriella had known him long enough to know that look. He would rather chew glass than be in charge. But he nodded. “I accept that,” he said.
Bradley rolled his eyes and Amelia quirked a slight smile. Madelyn made eye contact with Gabriella and the corner of her mouth turned up just a little. Gabriella smiled back, then turned back to the rep.
“So James, we’ll be in touch later in the week to get you oriented. There are some extra training modules you’ll need to do as well. I know it’s a very sudden promotion, so we’ll be flexible about the time frame in which they need to get done.”
James nodded, face still politely neutral. “Appreciated.”
“Do you have any other questions for me?” the rep asked.
James shrugged, then glanced around at the others. Nobody spoke. “No, I think we’re good,” he said.
“Alright then,” the rep said, standing up and leaving the coffee behind. “I won’t take any more of your time. Good luck, and let us know if you need anything. We’ll be in touch, both about the training and Robin’s permanent replacement.”
He walked out with James a minute later. When James returned, he looked at the group gathered in the living room.
“I don’t think it’s a secret that I don’t want this job,” he said. “But I’ll do my best with it. And I promise to keep you all safe. And not murder anybody.”
He turned to Bradley. “You interact with the Foundation all the time,” James said. “There’s not a chance they’re getting back to us with any of those things, is there?”
“Absolutely not,” Bradley responded. “We’ll hear from them again sometime in June when it’s time to balance the budget.”
“I’ll look forward to it. Amelia, obviously you’re second in command.”
Gabriella saw the smile light up Amelia’s face before it settled into something more professional. She nodded and James smiled and nodded back.
He fell onto the couch beside Gabriella and smiled. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said to her. “Not just that you weren’t murdered, but that you want to be on the team.”
“I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you,” she said.
The guilt had been eating at her all morning, ever since she woke up to the slanting light coming into the bedroom. When the reality of everything had crashed down on her. She should have known. She’d always trusted James, so why was she so quick to dismiss him when everything pointed to him being right? Everything except Robin’s story.
James slung an arm over her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. “It’s okay,” he said. “I know how it is. And I get it. Hopefully you can trust me from here on out.”
Now there were tears in her eyes. “I do trust you,” she said, trying to keep her voice even.
He squeezed her, then let her go. “Alright,” he said. “Who wants breakfast? My treat.”
“Not saying no to that,” Amelia said.
As they stood up, there was the sound of a bell ringing from the computer. Bradley went over and opened the message.
“Report of some creature out on the edge of town,” he said, reading the screen as he spoke. “Someone saw it leaving Walmart this morning and there’s been enough sightings in the past hour that the Foundation wants us out there investigating.”
“What, like right now?” James said.
“The voice of a leader,” Bradley snarked.
“Yeah, well, this leader wants breakfast.”
Bradley glanced at the screen again. “Yeah, right now.”
James sighed dramatically. “Alright. Here’s the plan. First, we check out the Walmart cryptid. Then we go to Denny’s. Come on, let’s go.”
He headed for the door as the others got up to follow. Gabriella stood a little slower, looking around the room for a second. She’d nearly died last night. And now she was right back here. And she couldn’t help the excitement that was bubbling up inside her at the thought of what this creature they were heading out to check on might be.
She nodded softly to herself, then stood up and joined the rest of the team as they walked out the door.
END OF BOOK 1
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