Page 116 of Family Bonds- Kelsey & Van

CALMING STRONG VOICE

“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?” Van asked three weeks later at one minute past the start of his shift. It was the end of October and he’d told his employers that he was going to resign but would hold off until they filled his slot.

That was two weeks ago. He could be done by now, but as he’d told Kyle, he couldn’t leave the island short-staffed.

At least they were interviewing for his position so that was better than nothing.

“Hi. I think someone is breaking into my neighbor’s house?”

First call of the morning. Someone breaking in this early was crazy, but it wasn’t light out yet either.

He knew because he had to do his morning runs in the house now on a treadmill.

He hated it, but it was better than nothing.

“Can you give me the address?” he asked.

“My address or my neighbor’s?” the woman asked.

“Your neighbor’s,” he said. “Then yours.”

He listened to the address being said and frowned. It sounded familiar to him, but he heard addresses all the time.

“My name is Liz Greenspan.”

“Hi, Liz,” he said. “Tell me what is going on and why you think someone is breaking into the neighbor’s house.”

“My neighbors are on vacation this week. They always tell me when they will be gone. But there is a cleaning van in the driveway.”

“Are you sure they didn’t hire a cleaning service while they were gone?” he asked. He figured this might be a false alarm. The woman was elderly, he could tell by the voice. She was probably confused.

“They never would,” Liz said. “I know Thomas and Sarah. They don’t have the money for a cleaning service. They both work hard and rent that house. They’ve been saving for this vacation for a year. It doesn’t make sense.”

He was typing into the computer. “I’m going to dispatch an officer to the location to check it out. Can you stay on the line with me while I do that?”

“Yes,” Liz said.

He put her on hold and called Amore Island Police. They had no one available to get there for at least twenty minutes. His next call was to the State Police who had someone in the area who would respond and be there in less than ten.

“I’m back, Liz. State Police are on the way. ETA is less than ten minutes.”

“ETA?” Liz asked.

“Estimated time of arrival,” he said. “Can you see the house without being noticed?” he asked.

“I can go upstairs and look out my hallway window. I’ve got blinds.”

“If you can do that without detection, let me know what you see, if anything.”

“I see a light flashing in the house. If they were cleaning, wouldn’t they turn the lights on? It’s still kind of dark out. I’ve got my lights on.”

She made a good point. “Flashing in one spot or moving around?”

“Moving around. Like a flashlight,” Liz said.

“Keep holding, Liz. I’m going to update the State Police.” He put her on hold and went back to the dispatch for State Police to talk to the officer en route. “Yes, this is Van Harlowe with nine-one-one. The neighbor reports a flashing light like a flashlight in the house.”

“Sounds suspicious to me,” he heard. “I’ll keep the sirens off. I’m in an unmarked car. ETA is four minutes out.”

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