Page 1 of First Surrender

Chapter One

Jackson

The soft lull of a romantic tune slips through the windows surrounding the courtyard I’m hiding in. The newlyweds are making the rounds to greet each guest while I avoid socializing by checking my email. I have too much on my mind to make small talk.

Kidnapping, assaults, bombs, and drugs. Our home is suffering.

I’ve been the Sheriff of Rollins County for a year now and the workload has fallen heavy on my shoulders. I’m outnumbered and overworked. Overwhelmed.

We’re low-staffed and low on funds with an uptick in dangerous crime in the area.

Dangerous crimes are not normal for a place as rural as Rollins County. I grew up here, went to school here, and formerly worked the roads here as a State Trooper. This is a quiet county with more mountain roads than highways. More mom-and-pop shops than nationwide chains. Many of the families in this community span generations.

I know the local business owners and am familiar with the county board members and other representatives. Where some places might’ve seen me as too young to hold the position, the people here know I’m more than qualified. The years of lawenforcement experience I have far outweighed any of the other potential candidates. Egomaniacs more interested in the status and power the title of Sheriff came with instead of helping the people here.

Securing the office was a lot of work but relatively easy. I vetted the deputies and ensured that Sheriff Donahue was the only dirty cop and made the moves to get the Department back up and running the right way.

Unfortunately, more missing person cases have come to light since my time in office began. Rollins doesn’t have enough of a population to be able to overlook disappearances. We’re up to a dozen unsolved. All ages, genders, races. There isn’t a pattern and it’s keeping me up at night.

I want people in the county to be safe. I want kids to be able to walk to school without fear of being plucked off the street and into the back of a van. I want criminals behind bars.

Between that and the bombing this past fall, I’ve barely slept. I made it my job to fix things and I am not making progress.

“Hey, do you want a piece of cake?” Whitney asks from the doorway. Over her shoulder people are dancing in the library’s interior under rows of string lights. The music is louder and more upbeat than before.

“No, thanks. I’m fine.”

She nods and turns to leave, and I can’t contain my sigh of relief. Whitney is a casual acquaintance but nothing more. A few nights spent together throughout the past few years is as far as it’s gone. Every once in a while she gives off the impression that she would like me to give her more. A sly comment here or there, and more than obvious flirting that I let fly over my head under the guise of not noticing. It’s not going to happen with her.

She’s a nice girl, a pretty woman, but I’m not interested in wedding bells. Hell, I’m starting to wonder if I’m interested in anything other than this damn job.

The music’s volume increases and even though my back is turned, I know that someone’s invaded my hideaway once again.

“You know you can’t leave until my sister sees you having fun, right?” I don’t need to see him to recognize Nathan’s voice. He and the groom are pretty much the only two people I would consider friends.

Callie is one less person on my missing person board because of him. Nathan is Army, ex-Special Forces, and I knew after he recovered her not to ask many questions. It was a safe enough assumption to tag it as a murder-suicide. Luckily, as a trooper, I was discouraged from looking into the case anyway. The state didn’t want that type of “backwoods” crime to be their problem.

It motivated me to take the leap and run for Sheriff. I wanted to know more about the trafficking scheme that the late Sheriff Donahue was involved in and just how corrupt he was. I wanted to make sure that the person who proceeded with the position wouldn’t be worse for the community here.

“I’m still trying to solve Callie’s case you know,” I state, ignoring his comment about the wedding. The people responsible for plucking Callie off the side of the road that day are dead but the person who was pulling their strings is still out there. They’re most likely responsible for my other missing people and my sleepless nights.

“I know, man.”

After he took some time off, he got into Army Criminal Investigations. We’ve talked shop on more than one occasion.

“I think I have a lead, but I’m not sure where it will take me. I can’t stomach that it’s taken me this long. The bombing at the 5k has been at the top of my plate.”

“It’s strange what’s happened within a year of Callie’s abduction. Any chance that it’s all connected? Kidnappings, bombings?” He asks, voicing the thoughts that I’ve already had. We’re more alike than either of us would ever admit out loud.

“Yeah, and now I’m looking into a drug dealer. The web of activity has to stem from one point. Everything happening is too prominent to be a coincidence. I just can’t figure out which scenario would be better. Random violent crimes or a criminal mastermind.” We stand in thoughtful silence until another person joins us.

“You lame asses going to stand out here all night?” Jesse, the groom, asks.

“Probably,” Nathan responds, earning a punch to the arm from Jesse.

“Congratulations,” I tell him, lamely. He did get married after all.

“Malec, smile, it’s a wedding. You’re supposed to be having fun,” Jesse berates me. I don’t feel like smiling. I never do.

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