SHIFT EXCHANGE

Chapter 25

Kara's leg bounced with impatience. The silence was unnerving. Her screen told her every on-duty law enforcement officer in the county was currently either at Hazel and 12th Ave. tending to officer Baker or creating a perimeter to keep the suspect contained in the wooded area off of Euclid that Jake had just disappeared into.

For the 10th time in the last 4.5 minutes she removed her index finger from her mouth where she had begun to worry at the rough edge of her nail.

Finally, the timer on her screen gave her the green light to status him. Her foot jammed down onto the radio control pedal as if she were applying the brakes to avoid an accident. "5823, unit status?"

"Code 4." He sounded tense, but not in any immediate distress. It eased her a bit.

"Breath honey." Anita advised quietly and patted Kara's hand. Anita's back was to the other 2 dispatchers in the room so her actions went unobserved by anyone but Kara.

Kara mustered a tight smile. She'd not breathed a word to Anita, but somehow, the other woman knew. She was ashamed that she'd let her feelings leak out. She hoped her other employees hadn't noticed her overly concerned state.

Kara turned back to her screen and focused on the map in front of her. Each little car icon represented an officer, deputy, or trooper in the perimeter they had so carefully set. He wouldn't be sneaking out under so many watchful eyes.

The seconds ticked by as she focused on slowing her breathing and trying to relax her nerves. She reminded herself again that Jake was a well trained man. Between his years in the Army and those with the sheriff's office, he was more than prepared to protect himself.

Deputy Brixton too had just gotten out of the Army a year before. She was a good, competent, and reliable deputy. It didn't bother Kara one iota to have a female like Brixton covering Jakes back.

It bothered her in general that he was tip toeing through the woods hunting a man who had shot another officer.

Baker had been transported by EMS to the hospital as fast as the ambulance could go. Last report she'd gotten was that he'd been taken into surgery just a minute after his wife's arrival in the company of one of the city's captains who'd been sent to break the news and drive her.

Poor woman. Kara couldn't imagine what she was going through. She had a pretty good idea of how she'd act if Jake got shot. She'd lose it.

Just the thought of him lying on the cold pavement bleeding out took her breath away and made her blood pressure spike. Imagining life without him in it, without that heart stopping smile, created a bubble of pressure inside her chest that choked her. Somehow or other, in a very short amount of time, he'd embedded himself in her life. He was no longer a want; more like a necessity. She stopped herself. Thinking about this type of thing was not helping her relax.

Kara studied the map harder. On the screen it looked rather small, but in real life it was approximately 20 acres of unmaintained park land. They'd had trouble with transients camping in it last summer. All the transients had eventually moved closer to town as soon as the weather had taken its downward turn.

The western edge butted up against the backyards of several homes in an older housing development. It would be hardest to keep track of that side with all the fences and spaces between houses. The northern most side ran along the highway. The troopers had stationed themselves in line of sight along there. The eastern edge was jagged. Part of it merged into a u-pick farmer's field. The other portion followed a stream bed and County Road 209. Several deputies flanked that edge.

The K9 had just arrived at Jake's point of entry and they were preparing to follow hus trail with a team of city officers to help in the search.

Her team made her proud. All the dispatchers had put on their game faces and pushed through the fear and uncertainty of the moments that ensued after Baker's high pitched voice had announced shots fired and then gone silent.