Hallow Springs

Four

"Yes sir, I grew up in Hallow Springs." I normally would deflect immediately, but it was the Chief of Police on the phone.

"I received a call from the Sheriff there."

"Irwin Rogers..." I recalled aloud.

"That's right... he said that he has a case up there that he needs help with. A missing person."

"He called for help?" Rogers wasn't the kind to admit he needed help with anything. I wondered if it was laziness creeping into his old age or if it was that difficult of a situation.

"Yes..." Why the hell didn't he call for help five years ago when my daughter went missing? I caught myself tightening my hand into a fist. I released it, reminding myself that I had to maintain professional tone.

"I asked around and low and behold the rumor is that you are originally from Hallow Springs. I'd like to send you up there to assist in the investigation. I don't have to tell you that crimes in small towns are seldom performed by outsiders."

"Don't you think that may cloud my judgment? Wouldn't I be biased towards suspects?"

"I see it as an advantage, you have been with us for five years – you will add a fresh perspective to their investigation... Unless..." I thought to myself here it comes. "... you don't think you can handle it."

He was the Chief of Police he knew how to spin things to his advantage and he had just put me back on the defensive. For one brief moment, he made me believe that this was a great opportunity to prove my worth to him directly and not just some depressing homecoming, but you didn't climb the ladder all the way to Chief of Police without the mastering the artform of spin. He knew I was gunning for a promotion – he was appealing to my ambition.

"No! No! I can handle it, sir."

"Well good... because I need you up there by lunch today."

"Today?" I lost track of my heartbeat. I wasn't emotionally prepared and it seemed so rushed, but of course he didn't know what happened five years ago that brought me to the city. I wasn't about to tell him either. No one knew that my daughter died. No one knew that I was battling depression and no one knew that I spotted my daughter from time to time in my apartment. A certain amount of anonymity was a blessing. It was kind of like my own self-induced witness protection program.

"Yes today!" he was growing impatient and wasn't used to any push back on an assignment. "It's a missing person, Detective, I don't have to tell you that time is of the essence."

"Yes sir..." I kind of froze up, not knowing what to say or how to form words. I didn't want to tell him that I was terrified of going back there. I didn't want to tell him that I saw my daughter dead in that town and that I was unhinged. I didn't want to tell him that there was no way I could remain objective through the case.

"I just need to know one thing...can you handle it?" The question hung over the line. I wasn't sure if I could. I'd have to go back and be in the town where broken memories lived. I'd have to look into the eyes of so many locals that still pitied me to this day. I'd have to face my past life and what it could have been. I'd have to try to treat this case, like any other – but I didn't know if I could.

"Yes sir, I'll leave within the hour. But I got to know... why me?"

"Because Sheriff Rogers asked for you specifically..."

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