Chapter Text
The important thing to remember, at a time like this, was to remain calm. Nothing would be accomplished by succumbing to panic right now, Beau Arlen told himself. Sure, the silence from the radio in response to his repeated calls was unsettling in the wake of watching the target of his search go barreling out of the parking lot. It wasn’t like he had started this day with the intention of stumbling across an attempted larceny turned felony assault and battery.
“Pop, what’s your 20?” He called again into the radio forcing the rising panic out of his voice. Where are you?
Silence continued to be the only response.
Beau recalled the first day, not even three months ago, when he walked into the Lewis & Clark Sheriff Department. He remembered how eager Deputy Mo Poppernak had been to ingratiate himself. At first, Beau had thought the young deputy was just trying to suck up as Beau had been trying to take in the energy of the room and various body language from the gathered staff. He had been amused to watch the interaction with Jenny Hoyt when she had finally joined the gathering and ultimately he had decided that Poppernak wasn’t sucking up out of self-interest and just out of eagerness to prove himself to “the new boss”.
“Come on,” Beau said to himself out loud. He glanced from the ominously silent radio to the empty place where he had last seen the cargo box truck the two had been looking for. Maybe Pop’s radio had a faulty battery, Beau reasoned as he pulled out his cell phone and quickly punched up Poppernak’s number.
In the few weeks that had passed since that first day, Beau had begun to enjoy the deputy’s seemingly never ending good mood. He always seemed excited about some such eccentric trivia. Beau learned he was an avid birdwatcher, a keen investigative researcher and just an all around nice person. People like that were rare and Beau had started reviewing Mo’s service record. Tubb had him riding a desk mostly until Hoyt joined the department less than a year ago but there hadn’t been much out of the ordinary. Beau had wondered why Tubb had put Hoyt and Pop together. Was it to have Pop reign in Jenny or was it to expand Mo’s investigative abilities? Beau had, himself, still been trying to figure out if Hoyt viewed him as a partner or as a side-kick. It wasn’t as if their personalities screamed compatibility on the surface.
The cell phone continued to buzz without an answer and Beau hung up before Pop’s voicemail finished its automated request to leave a message. He huffed in frustration and tried the number again. Deputy Poppernak would have responded, if he was able. That, at least, was the one thing Beau was absolutely certain of.
Two months. Beau had made it two months on the job before losing a deputy.
Sweat beaded on his forehead as his throat tightened and his stomach clenched. Why on earth did he think he was ready for this? Why would Tubb place his team in Beau’s hands?
He pressed his phone to his ear, closing his eyes against the rising panic. “Pick up pick up pick up,” he murmured until the sound of the call clicked over once more to voicemail and the recorded message once again dutifully informed that Mo wasn’t available right now and to please leave a message.
Beau ended the call and dialed dispatch. Stay calm, don’t panic. They’re all counting on you. Poppernak is counting on you. He took a deep, slow breath. Held it and counted, exhaling when he got to three. Stay calm, don’t panic.
The exercise was meant to help his anger management. He had not lied about that to Jenny the other day. It was helping now as he tried to push the anxiety and guilt down and back to deal with later. He needed to stay professional.
When Madge answered his call, her gravely matter-of-fact voice actually grounded him even though he was pretty sure she merely tolerated his presence. She had been around longer than anyone could remember and seen sheriffs come and go.
He told her the situation and laid out a litany of orders. She didn’t argue, she didn’t reprimand and her hums of assent held no resentment or recrimination. She just listened and when he finished simply asked, “Do you want me to call Deputy Hoyt?”
Beau’s voice suddenly caught in his throat. He wasn’t supposed to be working today. He was supposed to be resting. The minor wound on his shoulder itched suddenly as if to remind him that he wasn’t even supposed to be out today. This wouldn’t be happening if he would have just not let his insecurities push him out the door this morning.
“No,” he choked out. “No, I’ll call her. Just get anyone who’s off-duty back into the office as fast as possible and get everyone on that truck.”
He hung up without another word and stared briefly at Jenny’s number before starting the call. Twenty-four hours ago they had been working a case seamlessly until it had taken a turn for, well, Beau wasn’t sure. The night had ended at the hospital with a rescued teenager, a dead suspect and a willfully unlabeled shift in their working relationship. Shopping for a motorcycle for Emily had been easier than trying to process whatever that was that had happened last night.
When she answered, he could almost hear a soft smile in her voice. “Hey,”
He barely got the words out before her voice clipped, “I’ll be right there,” and ended the call. His heart sank as he looked helplessly around him at the empty lot and nothing left to do until Jenny arrived.
As the seconds passed, the doubts returned. Why did he call in Pops in the first place? Why did he let Pops go off alone? Why did he … Beau shook his head to stop his thoughts from spiraling out of control.
Beau continued to try Pops’ phone just to keep himself focused even though he knew it was futile until Jenny pulled into the lot. He was not sure what he had been expecting, but he couldn’t help the wave of relief when she did not immediately blame him as soon as she exited her truck.
Beau tried to mask the defensive tone in his voice as he explained what happened before Jenny had even said a word. He felt like a teenager trying to explain to his parents that the accident with the car wasn’t really his fault. She matched his stride as they started towards the lot office.
“Where were you when it happened?” She asked, her voice full of concern.
Beau had yet to regain his balance and he needed to reign in his emotions. His self-doubt and guilt refused to pack away so he could deal with them later.
Finding the missing deputy’s phone followed quickly by his radio, Beau was hit by a sudden wave of deja vu. The motorcycle paddock and the realization that there was something larger going on than just a random attempted theft caused an icy tightening in Beau’s chest. The facade of control that had been building since Jenny had arrived on scene quickly shattered when her own mask of professionalism dropped.
“No, but we gotta figure this out fast. We’re talking about my partner here.”
Maybe she did blame him after all.
This couldn’t be happening… again.
continued.