The Caring Sheriff

By Michael O'Gara

Millie’s Life Lesson #7 - If you care enough you may get the very best.

Sheriff Millie’s county is facing an invasion of binge drinking riotous college students. As bad as this is, what comes next is much worse. The naked body of a young woman is found beside a rural road. Millie’s team soon finds the crime is one of a string of serial murders reaching outside her jurisdiction.

Millie’s team is the first to connect the murders and the investigation points to a widespread evil. It’s a case that puts Millie and her deputies’ lives in peril. To add to Millie’s burden, this case comes at a time when events in her personal life make this case “hit home”. She comes to understand this is a case only her team will solve because she is the one who cares the most. Innocent lives are at stake and time is not their friend.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael O'Gara
• Release date: Oct 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301458950

Michael O'Gara

-story-telling multi-genre author selling internationally -MFA, MBA -author of 40+ novels -husband, father, grandfather, disciple -Content and joyful (mostly). Giving life my best shot. -Very happily married for decades.

Book preview

The Caring Sheriff

By Michael O’Gara

Copyright 2012 Michael O’Gara

Registered with the U.S. Copyright Office

Smashwords Edition

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a fictional work coming from the author’s imagination including the persons, events, places, organizations and companies. Any similarity to actual persons, events, places, organizations and companies, is purely coincidental.

This is a fictional work coming from the author’s imagination. Any similarity to actual persons, events, places, organizations and companies, is purely coincidental.

Heartland Indie Publishing LLC

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1 - A STRONG HAND

CHAPTER 2 – TROUBLE IN PARADISE

CHAPTER 3 - THE ALLIANCE

CHAPTER 4 - NEW ADDITION

CHAPTER 5 – CALL FOR HELP

CHAPTER 6 - CHALLENGES

CHAPTER 7 – SLOW PROGRESS

CHAPTER 8 - UNDERCOVER

CHAPTER 9 - BACKFIRE

CHAPTER 10 – THE UNEXPECTED

CHAPTER 11 - UNFOLDING

CHAPTER 12 – STEADY PROGRESS

CHAPTER 13 – A WIDENING NET

CHAPTER 14 – A LUCKY BREAK

CHAPTER 15 – PERSISTANCE REWARDED

CHAPTER 16 – CLEANING UP LOOSE ENDS

CHAPTER 1 - A STRONG HAND

Sheriff Millie O’Keefe strode from her vehicle with a bullhorn in her hand knowing this was going to be an active Friday night because the moon was full, the tourist season had just started, and for the first time the quiet lakefront City of Safe Haven Harbor had been invaded by binge drinking college kids. It was the drunken students that were causing ninety five percent of this night’s problems.

This was not the first drunk and disorderly call her department had responded to this evening but it was the worst and apparently spiraling further out of control. Everyone in the sheriff’s department was working because this was a bad night. The City of Safe Haven Harbor marshal’s office had been overwhelmed and called for mutual aid from the county sheriff.

Sheriff Millie figured the college kids had come into Safe Haven thinking the small town was ripe for them and they had gotten very rowdy very fast. Now they were finding out Mountain County was not easy pickings. This group here had not heard about the other arrests this evening. As Millie marched toward the bar her deputies fell into step beside her.

The deputies towered over their petite boss who in spite of her size carried herself with a well earned air of authority. Sheriff Millie wore jeans held up by a wide brown leather belt from which hung her various holsters and to which her badge was clipped. She wore cowboy boots with a walking heel, and a plaid shirt over which was a bullet resistant vest. Tonight instead of her usual cowboy hat, she wore a ball cap on which was emblazoned Sheriff. Her deputies were similarly dressed except they all wore tan shirts under their vests which simply had POLICE emblazoned on the front and back.

Millie knew the bar owner had tried to evict the students and close down but he had been beaten and his inventory of spirits was now being looted. He was now locked in a room seeking refuge from a further beating and on his cell phone talking to a 9-1-1 dispatcher.

Millie said, Jamie and Mike take the left, Todd and Ross take the back, Kyle and Melissa you come with me through the front door. Block the doors so they can’t get away.

The deputies had been in worse situations and were ready to go head to head with the trouble makers. They all spread out in line. More sheriff’s deputies and city marshal’s deputies were arriving as the sheriff approached the building.

Millie could tell that there was now a riot in progress and it had to be stopped and hard. The heavily armed deputies took up positions. Millie knew she would have to damage the property but it couldn’t be helped.

She turned to Kyle, When we go in the door fire a round into the ceiling.

Kyle nodded.

Once everyone was in place Millie walked in the door with Kyle and Melissa. Kyle fired his twelve gauge shotgun into the ceiling and the crowd went silent. Millie said on the bullhorn, Sheriff. Get down on the floor. Everyone on the floor NOW! Lie down face to the floor! You are all under arrest.

A young man jumped up and with a beer bottle raised above his head rushed Jamie who was blocking the side door on the left with Mike. He swung the bottle but didn’t get to finish the swing for his face met the butt of Jamie’s shotgun and he crumpled to the ground. Everyone remained silent.

Other heavily armed officers started coming into the building intimidating the crowd by tracking their weapons over the crowd who were all now sitting on the floor quietly. A few young women started sobbing.

Millie announced again and loudly, You are all under arrest!

There were over fifty people in the bar and they were read their rights in mass and then deputies went about tying the wrists of the young people with plastic ties and reading them their rights individually. The deputies were then taking them outside to sit on the pavement to await transportation.

The bartender and the young man who had charged Jamie were taken away by ambulance. Deputies found a young woman in the storage room who had been violently sexually assaulted. She was also transported by ambulance.

Soon all six of the sheriff’s department investigators were taking people aside and questioning them. Two young men who bore scratch marks were segregated and put in the back of two separate police cars.

Two school buses were brought in to transport the prisoners to the county jail which became very crowded that night. The reality of what they had done hit a few of the young women who sobbed in their cells. Some of them were not twenty one and faced underage drinking charges in addition to other charges.

Millie thought this was a real mess and it was.

By seven in the morning the investigators had sorted through the mess and examined the surveillance recording discs that no one in the drunken crowd had thought to look for or remove. Two of the men were held on suspicion of aggravated sexual assault and Judge Murphy had issued warrants for their DNA to be tested based on surveillance tapes. The five men who had beaten the owner were charged with that crime. The ringleaders who had gotten behind the bar and distributed the liquor and beer were charged with theft over two hundred dollars.

Millie did not get any sleep and was still at the office at nine in the morning when Tabatha her clerk told her the parents of one of the young men arrested were here with their lawyer.

Millie said, Send Jason in and then I will meet with them.

Sergeant Evers came in and Millie said, It never seems to end Jason.

Jason nodded agreement.

The parents came in with their attorney who said, I am George Cross representing Mr. and Mrs. Young and their son. He is in the hospital. We understand one of your deputies hit him in the face with a rifle butt.

Millie corrected him, It was a shotgun butt. Please have a seat.

The lawyer sat down with the parents in front of Millie’s desk while Jason stood by the door. The lawyer said with what Millie thought was a holier than thou attitude, We were hoping to work something out because Mr. and Mrs. Young really don’t want to sue your department.

Millie said, Sue for what?

The lawyer said, I don’t think I really have to tell you sheriff the force used on my client’s son was excessive.

Millie didn’t respond but simply turned her computer monitor around and played a copy of the surveillance tape which showed the young man going wild before the deputies arrived. The parents sat horrified watching the tape of the riot. The tape clearly showed their son charging the female deputy with the bottle raised and swinging it. They watched him go down.

Millie said, Counselor you now know that the Young’s son faces serious charges and indeed the prosecuting attorney has not decided on that yet. The Young’s son had been told he was under arrest. He tried to assault my deputy so he was resisting arrest or trying to escape or both. The prosecuting attorney will have to decide. As for any civil case, I don’t think any jury after seeing this surveillance tape is going to think we used excessive force.

The lawyer got up and said, Well thank you Sheriff. Mr. and Mrs. Young I think we should leave now. The couple left and Millie could tell they were in shock from what they had seen on the tape.

Jason looked at Millie, That’s why so many young people are so screwed up. Their parents are totally unwilling to see their kids as they really are and rush to defend them before hearing all the facts.

Millie nodded and said, How about breakfast?

Jason said, No thanks. I’m going to get some shut eye.

Millie said, I understand. Millie called her husband.

Mitch answered, Good morning love.

Millie answered, Hi sweetheart. How about buying me a late breakfast at the Eatery?

Mitch responded, I can be there in ten minutes.

Millie said, See you there.

Millie left her office and said, I’m outta here Tabatha.

Tabatha said, See you later Sheriff.

Millie got to her friend Doris’s dining establishment on Main Street called The Sheriff’s Eatery and Jail before her husband. Millie was something of a folk hero. Her friend Doris was a successful business woman and had cashed in on Millie’s reputation as a lawman using it as a marketing gimmick that had worked out well.

Millie went into the eatery and started greeting the customers. She received a lot of congratulations because word had spread quickly about last night’s events. There seemed to be a very active grapevine in Mountain County and everybody knew what was happening almost before it happened. Millie said she would pass the encouragement on to her team.

When Millie finally got seated her husband showed up and had to go through the same process. He was after all the presiding commissioner of the Mountain County council. While Millie was waiting for him Jenny came to serve her.

Hi Sheriff. Jenny turned over a cup and poured Millie a cup of coffee. Jenny added, I hear you had a busy night.

Millie smiled, Yes we did. I haven’t been to bed yet.

Jenny said, Do you want me to take your order or wait until your hunk joins you.

Millie smiled and said, I’ll order now and he can fend for himself. I’m hungry.

Jenny took her order and Mitch finally came to Millie and kissed her gently, Hi. I heard you had a long night.

Millie said, You betcha.

Jenny came and took Mitch’s order.

Mitch said, Where were all these college kids staying? Everything here is booked solid for the Memorial Day weekend.

Millie said, Mostly they camped at the Army Corps site across the lake. A few were staying at their parent’s places. We had to move off some who tried to camp in the county park.

Mitch said, Maybe Congresswoman Anna can help us get the Corps to do something about that unauthorized camping.

Millie nodded agreement.

After lunch Millie went back to the hotel to sleep. She and her husband Mitch had sold their condo penthouse and were waiting for their new house to be finished. Millie thought she’d be happy when they got moved in but in the meantime they were staying in a suite in Mitch’s hotel in Safe Haven. Millie undressed and showered then set the alarm. She crawled into bed and immediately went to sleep. Four hours later the alarm went off. She did not want to sleep too long for then she wouldn’t be able to get back on her normal sleep cycle.

Millie got up and showered. Today she would not get her regular exercise but that sometimes happened. She brushed her hair and teeth then dressed and headed for her part time job.

Millie arrived at the offices of Mountain County Developments Inc. before four in the afternoon. She walked in and Marley the Office Manager greeted her, Hi boss. I heard you had a busy night.

Millie smiled, Yeah it was crazy, as she walked to Julia’s office. Millie greeted Julia, How’s my Senior VP?

Julia said, I’m good. You should be able to move in to your new house by the end of the week. We will be moving your furniture in Thursday.

Millie responded, It was worth the wait to have the crews finish the houses we presold at River Lakes.

Julia said, Yes they were very profitable and we were able to finish the bank building ahead of schedule.

Millie said, The financials are looking very good.

Millie’s development company was very successful thanks to her Senior VP Julia, her VP of Construction George and her talented Architect Ted not to mention Millie’s foresight in buying properties others did not see the potential of. Millie had started with twenty acres on which her and her deceased first husband’s cottage had sat on. She had parlayed that property into a multi-million dollar development business at which she had only worked part time. She had bought property before the big boom. The business was not her true passion; being Sheriff was.

Julia said, We’ve started digging for the marina at the mouth of the stream where it enters the river. The excavated material is being used to build up some of the depressions as you suggested and it’s working well.

Millie said, Good, you know where I am if you need me, and went to her office to do some work. She stayed for a couple of hours reviewing reports and answering emails. When she was done she left her office and announced, I’m going to look at our new home.

Millie drove to Lakeshore Park Estates to see her new home. The front gates were open and Millie drove up the drive to the front door. She got out and put on her hard hat. She stood admiring the outside of the new waterfront home. The building was a modern two floor home and in the center of the north and south wings was a large oval room from which the wings extended.

Millie walked to the front entry way which curved out from the rest of the house. The double doors were all glass and stainless steel and though large, they swung open easily. Millie walked into the large circular front hall. Directly in front of her was another set of doors. Curved sofas would soon be against the walls to the left and right with art work hanging above them and coffee tables in front of them.

Millie walked through the second set of doors into the great room. Two workmen were installing large ceiling fans while standing in lift baskets. The workmen greeted Millie and she waved to them.

The great room was thirty feet tall and the side facing the lake was all glass with doors on either side. The room was about sixty feet wide and forty feet from front to back. The windows were all very large and gave the perception that the room was part of the outdoors. To either side of Mille were winding staircases that wound around the walls of the circular entrance hall on the great room side. They led to the second story. There was a circular balcony above the entrance hall from which the second story of each of the wings was accessed by a hallway on the street side. The hallway had doors that opened onto terraced balconies.

Millie went to the right where the kitchen and formal dining areas were. They were open concept and very large. Millie inspected everything and was very pleased. Behind the north wall of the kitchen was a housekeeper’s room and bath. There was a doorway that opened from the kitchen onto a circular stairway that went down to a storm shelter. Millie looked in and saw that everything there was finished.

Millie turned around and went back through the great room to the first floor south wing. A hall ran down the center of the wing and on the left were the media room and a games room. On the right were two large home offices. The home offices had double doors that opened onto small patios. At the end of the hall was the doorway into the three vehicle garage.

Millie inspected everything and was very pleased. She went upstairs. The view from the circular balcony was stunning looking both east and west. To the east was the lake which was visible through the large glass windows of the great room. To the west Millie could see through large windows the acreage that went with her house and some of the grand homes her company had built in its subdivision.

Millie walked down the hall toward the north and the master bedroom. The north wing was slightly wider than the south wing which made the balconies off both sides of the home look more interesting. The design of the house was such that the balconies were to some extent covered because part of the house structure was cantilevered to varying degrees over the balconies. Each room seemed to move into the outdoors.

The north wing hallway ran next to the landward side of the house and there were two balconies off of it. On the second story lakeside over the kitchen and dining rooms were a spiral staircase to the rooftop garden and patio above the great room, an exercise room and then the master bedroom suite.

The master bedroom consisted of a huge space with two walk in closets on the south wall and a large balcony facing the lake. The north of the bedroom had doors that opened into his and hers bathrooms and there was a cozy reading nook next to the balcony cantilevered out from the house about ten feet reaching out toward the lake. The hers bathroom had a large two person Jacuzzi tub and the his bathroom had a closet containing a washer and dryer.

Everything was finished and Millie sighed at the beauty of the place. She walked to the south wing and inspected the four bedrooms there and walked out onto each of the balconies. Each room seemed different because the balcony of each room was of different width and each one was covered to varying degrees by the home’s roof. Each room had its own bath.

Millie went back down the stairs and sat on the bottom step. She put her elbows on her knees and her chin on her fists. The view to the lake was stunning and she just sat there enjoying it oblivious to the men working above.

She could hardly believe that the poor country girl of barely over a decade ago was going to live here. She almost felt guilty for the money she and Mitch were spending on the house even though they were very generous in their giving to the church and various local and other good causes. They also employed a lot of people in their businesses. She thought they were truly blessed.

Millie got up and went out the doors to the lake facing giant patio surrounding the swimming pool. A workman was finishing the stone work on the grill and bar and another was filling the pool. Millie greeted the men. She could hardly believe this would soon be home. She turned and looked at the house. It was absolutely beautiful and the offset balconies were terraced and this was accentuated by the fact the privacy walls around each balcony were of different heights and depth from the home’s exterior walls. Millie sighed and smiled.

The sod had taken root and Millie took her boots and socks off and walked in the soft grass down to the double boat slip. There was also room for four boats to dock so guests could moor here when visiting. Millie sat down and dangled her feet in the water. She thought that at heart she was still a country girl though she had learned to move in higher social circles when necessary.

Millie sensed someone coming and looked up to see her husband coming. Mitch sat down beside her.

Hi love.

Hello husband, Millie responded and kissed him.

Mitch smiled and put his arm around her shoulder.

He said, We’ll have to have an open house for friends and family when we get moved in.

Millie nodded agreement, Yes my love.

Mitch said, You’ve been working a lot of hours lately. What do you say we take some time off? We’ll go fishing in the morning and maybe take a run up the river to Miller’s Dam and have lunch.

Millie said, You are on. Let me call the office.

Millie took out her cell and called the Safe Haven station and Tabatha answered.

Hi Sheriff. What’s up?

I’m going to take some time off so pass it along. You know how to reach me if there is an emergency.

Tabatha said, Enjoy your time off Sheriff. Bye.

Millie turned to Mitch, Julia is having our furniture moved in on Friday. The new furniture James made for the two additional bedrooms will be delivered Friday. Marge said she’d come with the delivery guys as she wants to see the new house. Apparently it is the talk of the county.

Mitch said, I’m not surprised. To change gears, Stan called me this afternoon.

Millie said, I suppose he wants us at the convention.

Of course he wants us there. No one won enough delegates in the primaries to wrap up the nomination so it will be a brokered convention. He’s only a few delegates shy of a majority so it’s really a foregone conclusion.

Millie sighed, Ok but let’s not suffer through the whole thing and just go for the nomination vote.

I can live with that and I imagine Stan can as well. The platform stuff is pretty boring anyway.

Millie moved her feet out of the water, It’s getting cold. Do you think Stan will win?

Yes. He has more delegates than his two major remaining opponents put together but it is definitely a close thing especially if they combine against him. He has already arranged for the endorsement of two other candidates and their delegates will put him over the top. He has a good war chest and the super PACs supporting Stan have raised a fortune. Some say it’s in the hundreds of millions. If he loses at convention the party may be in a world of hurt.

Millie said, Well money doesn’t hurt.

No it doesn’t but advertising by itself isn’t enough. Let’s go have something to eat.

Millie said, Let’s.

Millie put on her socks and boots and the couple walked hand in hand to their vehicles.

The Eatery was busy when Millie and Mitch went in. They stopped on their way to Millie’s reserved table and greeted the folks they knew and some they didn’t. It was one of the things Millie liked about coming here; the informal greetings with her long time friends and neighbors and meeting the newcomers.

The Sheriff’s Eatery and Jail was now as well known as the OK Corral Diner on the highway. Millie’s best friend owned them both. They were the down home places to eat. The restaurants at Mitch’s hotel in Safe Haven and the Harbor View Resort and Convention Center across the lake were the more upscale places to eat. Millie and Mitch ate at all of them and sometimes boated up the lake to Longview for dinner at one of the restaurants there. This evening it was down home fare.

Millie and Mitch went to their table and Millie took her cowboy hat off and hung it on the peg on the wall that was specifically there for that purpose. People were used to Millie wearing four things regularly; her gun and badge, cowboy boots, jeans, and a western hat. Occasionally she would wear runners and a Sheriff’s baseball cap but that was usually on a tactical operation or on boat patrol. Her tops ranged from Tee Shirts to cowgirl shirts depending on the season and occasion.

A waitress came to serve them and said, Hi Sheriff, Hi handsome.

Millie smiled and teased, Jenny you have a husband of your own so quit flirting with mine.

Jenny looked at Mitch and winked smiling broadly, What can I get you handsome? She added, How about coffee?

Millie said, I’ll have a chicken Caesar salad and a glass of lemonade.

Jenny continued to tease Millie, I’ll be with you in a moment ma’am just as soon as I get this hunk’s order.

Mitch said, Jenny you are going to get me in trouble with the Sheriff and she’s got a gun and handcuffs.

Jenny replied, Kinky.

Millie feigned being offended, Jenny Kristen I’m shocked!

Jenny looked at Millie and said, No you’re not, and grinned.

Millie shook her head in mock disbelief and Mitch said, I’ll have a ham and cheese on rye, light on the mayo.

Jenny asked, Coffee?

Mitch said, Please, and turned the cup on the table over.

Jenny filled it and said, I’ll get your order in.

As Jenny left Mitch said, You two go way back.

Yup.

The couple had an enjoyable light meal and went back to their hotel suite. Millie went to bed a little early to catch up on her sleep. She woke early cuddled against her husband. She smiled and rolled out of bed. She brushed her teeth and hair, put on her workout clothes and went down to the exercise room and worked out. She was almost finished when a middle aged man walked in.

He smiled, Well hello there cutie!

Millie picked up her towel and wiped her face. She was covered in perspiration.

She said, Good morning. Goodbye, and got up on the opposite side of the machines to walk to the door.

The man moved to block the door.

Now that’s not nice to be so unsociable.

Millie said, Please move.

The man said with a smile, What if I don’t want to?

Millie shrugged, Look this is going nowhere so how about just moving over there and letting me by.

Just then another man came into the room causing Millie’s tormentor to move and Millie slipped out. She went to the front desk.

The clerk said, Good morning Sheriff.

Good morning Marilyn. I’ll need a copy of the surveillance disc for the exercise room for the last cycle. There are two men in there now and I’d like the registration information on the first to come in while I was there.

"Something