Page 5 of Special Agent Raven
Cane finally spoke up, “Josh, we’ll get hold of the town’s sheriff. No doubt, he’ll be able to help.”
“Daddy was the town Sherriff.”
“Okay, then the deputy. There is a deputy, isn’t there?” Cane tried again.
“Kind of. But he’s old, and my daddy says he just sounds ornery cause he stutters. But us kids figure he’s just crabbier than a skinned cat.”
Raven laughed to herself. Both descriptions of Palmer Dickens were dead on.
Obviously wanting to change the subject, Cane said, “Look, you both must be starving. Why don’t we get you something to eat while I make enquiries. Then find you guys a place to sleep.”
“I’m hungry.” Amelia’s small voice lifted to be heard.
“Good. It won’t be long now.”
Minutes later, they pulled into the main street filled with cars.
Lights from all the small businesses lit up both sides of the road, and frantic, worried folks were milling everywhere. The disaster had brought the townspeople out in droves.
Chapter Four
Listening to Josh’s story about his folks made Raven sick to her stomach. Losing one’s family is a child’s worst nightmare, one she had a close relationship with since her own mom had brought her to her hometown and dumped her on her mother’s doorstep when she was ten.
Praying, crying, begging God to bring the woman back didn’t work. Cissy never did return for the child she’d so callously tossed away. Prickly, furious at the disgusting neglect even when they lived together, Raven soon found it unforgivable to be abandoned like so much trash.
Until she let her grandmother Winona inside her world of pain. That woman sure knew how to love, and she’d showered Raven with so much that she soon healed. After a year, her own addictive, needy mother couldn’t have dragged her from that old house… not without one hell of a battle from both Winona and Raven.
Over those months, Raven had come to adore Winona and loved to listen to the stories she told about her mother and her father, Clint, growing up. How he’d moved in with their family as a foster child and soon began to call Winona mom. And from the time he’d first laid eyes on Cissy, she’d become his angel. He’d loved her dearly. And because of his huge heart, Winona had been proud to call Clint son well before he’d become her son-in-law.
The man radiated honor and kindness. He’d felt strongly that it was his duty to protect his fellow man and so joining the police academy had been right for him. As soon as they could, Cissy had married him, and it had been her father who’d given Raven her name and bragged about his cherished daughter throughout every phone call he’d made back home to Winona.
Sadly, as she’d explained to Raven, she’d never had the same close relationship with Cissy that she now had with Raven. Cissy had been a kid with a chip on her shoulder and the only person who got through that heavy wall of defense was Clint. From what Winona could make out through the few vacations they’d shared, and the telephone calls each week, Cissy and Clint had been happy. That is until the day he died by a stray bullet while he’d been out on police patrol. That’s when the chip became a boulder and Cissy gave up.
Raven held Clint’s career choice responsible for her own growing determination to be in law enforcement and work with the underprivileged. Her main job working with the Child Exploitation Notification Program (CENP) of addressing child abductions, sexual abuse, and the distribution of child sexual abuse material, had taken her total concentration for far too long. She’d needed a break from the heartache those crimes instilled into the lives of so many needy kids; innocents she worked with daily to try to help them get their lives back.
Therefore, when the hospital contacted her to say that Winona had suffered a TIA the day before, it had been enough for Raven to get a leave of absence. Expecting to spend the next few weeks taking care of her grandmother, her mood had lightened with each mile she drove closer to her childhood home.
Though last night on the phone Winona had belittled the “small stroke” as she’d called it, Raven had done her research and knew it could be dangerous and a warning sign of a larger one possibly following. Not willing to be put off, her soft voice took on a commanding tone. “I’m coming home, Nana. No arguments.”
“Then the angels have answered my prayers because seeing you is all I need to make me strong again. They’re letting me leave the hospital today, so I’ll meet you at home. Oh, and if you happen to pass a McDs, can you pick up a double order of fries and bring them with you? I’ve had a taste for them lately.”
Laughing, Raven jested, “Cheeky brat. You really are better. You know I won’t buy you greasy junk food like that. I’ll cook you some fries when I get there. In the air fryer I bought you that you never use.”
Shaking off her memories, Raven parked in front of the police station. Glancing around, she wondered if Winona had made her way into town because of the flood. Scanning the faces, she didn’t see her and breathed more easily. In her weakened condition, her grandmother didn’t need to deal with the stress she saw that these folks were suffering. Not that it would stop the big-hearted woman. If she thought she could help anyone, she’d be there in a flash and to hell with her own problems.
Glad to see that the rain had settled to a drizzle and the wind had died down, it didn’t surprise her that the town’s people appeared anxious. Most of them were out, talking together and forming groups to search for survivors. One of the men she recognized was the middle-aged man in uniform.
Raven looked at Cane. “The deputy is over there, talking with that group. I know him. If you want to stay here with the kids, I can get his attention.”
“Good. I’ll wait here.”
Raven stepped out of the jeep and pushed her way through the crowd, stopping to hug those who recognized her and greeting others who weren’t close enough to reach. Once she stood in front of Palmer Dickens, the skinny deputy who tended to stutter when stressed, she waited till he turned her way. Then she gave him a huge hug that showed more love than friendship. “Hey Palmer, I have two children in my jeep that we fished out of the river a while ago.”
Palmer’s face lit up from her news. “Hey, Raven. Are they fr-from around here? D-do ya know their names?”
“The boy is seven, name of Josh Williams. His sister is four, name of Amelia.”
“Oh m-my God. They’re the new Sheriff’s kids. Earlier, his w-wife c-called and said that the river was rising, and he went out to their house to rescue them. T-they never returned. Henry saw their house f-f-float past with people in sight and f-figured they must all be gone.”