He's Out,-You're In...
After a half hour or so the phone rang again. Ann answered it. The fire chief asked when Billy would be there. Ann told him that Billy had left a half hour ago and should have been there already.


“He isn’t here and hasn’t been here,” replied the fire chief. “ He needs to see what’s left of his house.” Ann hung up the phone.


“Christ! What the hell is going on,” Ann muttered. She stood up from her desk and went into the chiefs’ office.

“Chief, I think I need to go look for Billy. He didn’t go to his house. I think something’s wrong. What

do you think?”


“I don’t know what to think. He’s been acting pretty damn strange. Maybe he needs some time off. What started this business with him this morning, anyway? I’ve never seen him act so damn goofy, like he’s scared or something.”


“I don’t know,” said Ann. Of course she knew what Billy’s problem was; she just couldn’t tell the chief. She couldn’t tell him that she, too, was scared and wondering what the hell would happen next, maybe to her! She couldn’t tell anyone.

Ann left the station and drove to where the firemen were putting out the last of the fire. As she approached the house, a fireman stepped in front of her car with his hand held high. Ann pressed the button that rolled her car window down and flashed her badge. The fireman lowered his hand and then waved her ahead. She pulled within fifty feet of the fire truck and stopped. She walked toward the house until she saw the fire chief. He recognized her and waved her over.

“How you doin’ detective?’ he asked. “Better’n you, chief,” she answered as she walked to his side.


“Where’s officer Thompson?” asked the chief.


“That’s a good question,” answered Ann. “I thought he would be here by now. He left the station quite a while ago, supposedly coming here.”


“Well, he hasn’t been here yet. One of the boys said he thought he saw Thompson’s car down at the end of the block earlier but he didn’t show. Maybe he saw enough from there and decided to wait awhile. There’s not much left to look at anyhow.”


“Yeah, not much,” answered Ann.

Billy drove as if his car was on autopilot. He was staring straight ahead, not knowing where he was going, not caring where he was going, just going. The road was a blur and the countryside flashed by in one continuous stream. He wasn’t aware of thinking, his mind seemed to have stopped, as if some protective mechanism inside had taken over and was controlling his thoughts. He glimpsed a sign as he sped along. It said,’ Fowler 3 miles.’

Then it began to come back to him. He started remembering the events of the last few days. He recalled them as if it were about someone else, like in a dream or in a near death experience where the spirit in detached from the body; an out-of-body experience. He looked at the cars’ gas gauge. It indicated half full; or was it half empty.

It was still early when he rolled into Fowler. There was a Fast Gas service station and mini-mart on the right side of the highway that was just opening. He pulled in and stopped in front of a gas pump. He slid his credit card into the slot of the number three pump and, when the card had been accepted, removed the hose from its’ receptacle and pressed the 87 octane regular-unleaded button, removed the gas cap and inserted the nozzle into the filler pipe and depressed the pump handle and, when the gas started pumping, locked the handle in the open position. He left it running and found a squeegee in a bucket of soapy water and washed his windshield. It looked so clean he did all the windows. The pump clicked off just as he finished cleaning the windows and he removed it from the gas tank and replaced it in its’ slot in the pump.

Soon Billy was again driving along the highway. It had taken only a few minutes to drive through Fowler and now he was at cruising speed, leaving Fowler and Tulla City far behind. After another half hour, Billy began to realize he was leaving what had been his home and his future for the last year. He was awakening to the realization that a tremendous change was taking place and, as yet, he didn’t know just what it was. And he had no idea where he was headed.

Then a name popped into his head; ‘Helena.’ Helena was in Montana. Helena was the capitol of Montana. ‘That’s where I’m going,’ thought Billy, Helena, Montana! ‘Will I be a ‘Helenian’ or a Montanian,’ he thought. Billy immediately felt better. He laughed aloud. ‘This is great,’ he chuckled, ‘ I’m going to Helena, Montana and be a Big Skies cowboy!’

Back at the sheriffs’ office Billy Thompson was discussed for a time. Everyone wondered to each other why Billy left. Each person in his turn gave a theory as to what happened to cause a good police officer to leave his job with absolutely no reason or excuse. The chief remembered the strange way Billy acted the last day he was there; the day his house burned down.

Tom Shelton reasoned it could have had something to do with Billy’s finding the murdered body of the mayor. Both Charlie Ford and Mel Vernon remembered Billy’s sad song from the barbecue earlier and reasoned he might have been harboring a deep loneliness from earlier times of his life and decided to revisit those times and places. Mel said he would probably not mention it aloud because, to show what he could conceive as a weakness such as loneliness might diminish him in the eyes of his fellow officers. Everyone agreed that could be the reason he left; it was as good as any other theory. Everyone except Detective Barton. Detective Ann Barton declined to voice an opinion.


The clean up of Billy Thompson’s burned down house took about two weeks. During that time Billy’s name came up and he was discussed briefly but, after the clean up was finished, he was rarely ever mentioned.

Ann was sitting at her desk when the phone rang. Tom Shelton who was also at his desk, reached for it just as Ann did the same. They both answered at the same time with the usual greeting, stating their rank then name, e.g., “Detective Barton,” and,” Detective Shelton.” There was no response and Tom Shelton motioned to Ann that he would answer. He repeated, “Detective Shelton,” and added, “May I help you?” Then there was an audible click and the line went dead.

He mused aloud, “I wonder what that was all about?”

Ann responded, “Who knows. I hope it is something, though. It’s getting pretty dull around here.”


Then she asked, “Tom, do you have any new ideas about the mayor’s death?” He said he didn’t and she admitted that she didn’t either.

Then an unexplained shiver ran over her body, goose bumps and all. It was very noticeable and Shelton asked, “What’s the matter, did a possum run over your grave?”


Frown lines creased her forehead and she replied, “I sure hope not. This has been a weird year already and I sure don’t want to add to it!”

But a thought was taking form in her mind and she began to feel more and more uncomfortable each passing moment. The weird feeling was becoming more pronounced every second. She tried to stop her thoughts and push the feeling aside but could not. It began to envelope her like a thick fog. Then, gradually she realized what it was about.


“I have to do something to stop this,” Ann thought.

“Tom,” she said, “I’m going for a cappuccino. Do you want one?”


Tom stood up. “Sure,” he said, “I’ll go with you,” and he rose and walked toward the door. Ann lead Tom through the door to the sidewalk outside then she turned toward the coffee shop and dropped back to walk beside him. She mildly regretted telling him where she was going; she had really wanted to be alone with her thoughts. It was too late now so she adjusted.

For a time they walked quietly, saying nothing, lost in their own thoughts. Ann ached to tell of the mystery man whom she was certain had somehow caused the trouble with Billy, not to mention the damaging of her car by the pickup truck from Fowler. She couldn’t decide what to think of the events surrounding the strange happenings caused by the mystery voice. She wondered how the owner of the voice could know about things that were not known by anyone else except her and Billy. It was as if their words and thoughts were carried across space and time to an unexplainable consciousness; an entity of some sort that was everywhere and nowhere, that was aware of everything being thought and said without even trying to hear or see anything.


Ann knew she could never mention the mystery voice again to anyone and she consciously accepted this fact. Accepting this realization now somehow calmed her fears. A decision had just been made and she relaxed with an audible sigh.

“What was that big old sigh for?” asked Tom. “Sounds like you just made up your mind about something.”

Ann started slightly. She hadn’t realized she had sighed aloud.


“I just got in touch with myself,” she answered. “Now where is that coffee?”


They had reached the coffee shop and Tom stepped aside and opened the door for Ann.


“Thank you, detective,” she said as she entered the café.

“You’re welcome, detective,” Tom replied with a bow and a flourish. “Anytime!”

They took a table and ordered two cappuccinos. They didn’t speak while they waited for their orders. In a moment the waitress brought the coffees and laid the ticket on the table. Tom reached for it but was too slow and Ann took the ticket and said,” My treat.”


“All right,” said Tom “Thanks. I’ll get the next one.”

After a few moments of silence, Tom asked,” Ann, is there something you know that no one else does? I mean, is there something going on that nobody else knows about that will affect the department?”


“Why do you ask such a question? Why would you think something is going on that you don’t know about?”


“Well, it seems like just about everything that’s happened since the Abbot killing has in some way included you, including the Abbot killing itself, at least your solving the case. Nobody knows just how you did that one. And your car got trashed for some reason nobody knows. That was right after you and Billy had your little falling out. Then Billy’s being in the hospital. That was right after you and Billy made up. Then Billy getting hurt and spending the night in the hospital. That was after you and Billy drank together at the pizza parlor bar. Then Billy’s house blowing up. As I recall, everyone in the department had an opinion about that; that is, everyone except you. What’s going on?”


Ann reddened slightly. “Looks like you notice everything that goes on. At least everything that has to do with me. Are you wondering what the other guys are up to or are you only interested in me?”


“Hey, everyone has noticed all this. It’s just I’m the only one who’ll say anything about it. And maybe I hit a nerve. How about it? What’s going on?”

Ann was quiet for a while. She appeared to be in deep thought, maybe trying to figure what to say next. The small muscles of her jaws tightened and relaxed. She stuck her finger into her coffee cup and withdrew it slowly, examining it closely as it came out of the coffee. She held it up in front of her eyes and said,” Coffee’s cold.” Then she put her finger into her mouth and gently sucked it. She withdrew the finger and dried it with a napkin.


“Guess I’ll go,” she said, “Got work to do,” and she slowly stood up. She was looking across the table at Tom as he, too, arose.


“Tom,” she said, “Do you know what the duties of a police detective are? I mean, do you know what a detective is supposed to do, to think about, what a detective’s job is?”

Puzzled, Tom replied,” Yes, I think I do. A detective is supposed to investigate crimes and solve them if he can and make arrests whenever it becomes evident a crime has been committed. That’s what we get paid for. That’s our job”

“Well, since you know what your job is, how about you just mind your own business and do it.” Then Ann walked out the door and headed toward her house.

Ann knew she should go back to the station house instead of home but she desperately wanted complete privacy right now and her house was the only place where she knew she could get it. When she arrived she slowly opened the door and listened for a moment. The inside was quiet and she entered the living room and walked to the sofa and sat down. She heard no sound except for the very faint hum of the refrigerator motor running. She thought it odd that the refrigerator motor would be running right now.

Ann sat quietly, trying to relax her mind, trying to push all thoughts away from her consciousness. She felt strangely detached from her consciousness, spaced out, ‘like an out of body experience’, she mused. She sat very still for several minutes, breathing shallowly and slowly like a sleeping person.

Then she heard a sound. It was very faint; maybe not a sound at all but only her imagination. She willed her mind and body to reject the suggestion of a sound and to not respond. Then it was quiet, deathly quiet. Maybe she was the only person still alive. Maybe time had come to an end and there was no past and no future and only she remained in the present in a cocoon of time and space.


No, it wasn’t her imagination; there was the sound again, this time more compound, more insistent. It was a strange sound, as if made up of many parts, many different kinds of sounds together.

Then, in an instant, Ann came out of the trance like state she had been in and realized that there were indeed two different sounds. The phone was ringing and someone was knocking on her door. She knew the phone had been ringing insistently for some time. Whoever was calling knew she was there and would not give up until she answered.


Now she heard a voice mingled with the knock at the door. It was the chief calling her name.


She shouted, “Hold on! I’ll be right there,” and the knocking stopped. Then she picked up the phone and said, “Call back in half an hour,” and hung up.


She opened the door and saw the chief, red-faced and anxious, peering in at her.


“Come in, boss,” she said.


The chief came in and looked around as if he expected to see someone else there.


“Ann,” he asked, “Are you all right?”


“Sure,” she said, “I’m just fine. Why do you ask?”


“I just spoke to Tom Shelton and he said you were acting strange so when you didn’t come back to the station, I thought I’d better check up on you.”


“Tom is a worry-wart,” said Ann, “and he is also sometimes a little too nosy. I’m ok. This thing with Billy just has me a little on edge. And I’m beginning to wonder if being made a detective was such a good idea. Now I feel like I should always be solving something. Maybe the responsibility is too much for me.”

“You know, I kind of wondered if that could be bothering you. If it makes you feel any better though, in a small town like Tulla City, the biggest difference in being a detective and a regular cop is not having to wear a uniform. Maybe we razed you too much about being detective grade. Maybe you need to relax a little. And, now that Billy’s gone things will get a little easier for you. I don’t know what, if anything, you two had going between you, and I don’t want to know, but whatever it was sure wasn’t good for you. Or him either, I reckon. Maybe whatever it was, was just a problem neither of you needed.”

Ann’s face reddened and she opened her mouth to protest the chief’s remark but immediately thought better of it. How could she object to what he was thinking if she couldn’t explain why she was objecting? Then it occurred to her that she could use this as her out.

“Well, maybe so,” was all she said.


The chief looked at her intently. Then he realized she had said all she intended to say. He, also, realized that she hadn’t asked him to sit down or offered coffee or done any of the other things that would indicate she wanted him to stay awhile so he decided to take his leave.


“All right, detective, if you’re ok, I’ll leave you alone. Come on back to the station house whenever you feel like it,” and he turned and walked out the door.

“Thanks, Chief,” Ann said, “I’ll be along in a while,” and she closed the door behind him.



This is the End of Chapter Seven. I Hope You enjoyed it. Chapter Eight is coming soon!

Chapter Eight...