Operator's Call

Part 1

"Thanks for getting coffee Beth!" I said, knowing that I got up early, I would need some caffeine in my system to be able to stay awake.

"No problem Lynne, I know that we all need some, with what is going on these days."

I knew, just about everyone in this city knew. There had been a string of kidnappings going on around the city, and according to operator gossip, there was no leads, as the kidnappings were scattered across the city. The town seemed pretty shooken up about it, some parents refusing to let their children go to school.

I walked to my computer, surrounded by hundreds more, and smile at Beth, who was already on a call. These days, you barley have time to go to the bathroom. Everyone was on edge, I did'nt blame them though, so was I.

I looked around before I sat down. Nearly every dispatcher was on a call. I signed, knowing it would be a busy day and prayed for no serious calls.

I turned my swivel chair back to my monitor and tuned it on, and opened a new document to
record the future calls that will bombard me. I put on my headset, popped off the lid to my coffee, and signed in. A call went in almost immediately.

 "911, whats your emergency?" I said in a almost monotone voice.  I get in the habbit of talking like that, after you answer thousands of calls a day you would too.

"Hi!" Said a girl, probably around the age of five,  judging by her voice 

"Hello, do you have an emergency?" I said in a questioning voice.

"I just wanted to say hi!" Said the girl, laughing and what sounds like running around.

"Lilly? Lilly are you on the phone? Who are you talking to?" A female, probably around her thirties asked. Probably the mother.

At this point, I had stopped typing on the document and sent it in as "non-emergency" to the department. I waited paciently, I was not allowed to hang up until they did, unless it was a prank caller. Ruffles and the sound of the phone dropping was heard before the woman answered.

"Hey, sorry about that, she's really young" the woman said, sounding embarrassed. "It's ok, have a nice day Ma'am" I said smiling to myself.

"You too, bye" the woman hung up and I opened a new email, hoping to get an accidental call again. Thats all I looked forward to, my only relief in this job. I've heard too much in my life. And, I never get to see how it all ends. I have to ask around, it's extremely stressful. But, I chose this job to help save lives, not to wallow in self-pitty.

Much time has passed when it was almost time for me to go home. Brian texted me earlier and said he was ordering pizzas and had gotten a movie for us to watch tonight. He's still at work, ironically enough, he is a police officer. We understand each other when we get in bad moods. I usually ask him about the cases I had that he or one of his buddies went to.

 I had already wrapped up more than a hundred calls, nothing too serious, the worst one being shots fired, but it was just some teenagers target practicing in an open field. I just sent a nearby officer to teach the boys the proper place to shoot.

I looked around, the department was busier than usual, I had heard through operators that there was a new kidnapper. Apparently, he snuck into houses and kidnapped teenagers who's parents went out. The department had yet to release it to the public, as there are not a lot facts to follow, the investigators where still piecing together an unsub. They think it is related to the string of kidnappings that have been happening lately.

Only fifteen minutes left before I can go to and watch a movie with Brian.

Fourteen, thirteen, twelve, the minutes go by, barely any calls to the operators. Things settle down as night aproaches.

A call comes in through my headset.

Immediately, I picked up the line. "911, whats your em-"

"Help me!" A girl silently screamed. She sounds eleven, maybe twelve, no thirteen, defiantly in her teens. She sounded panicky, her voice wavered on those words.

"Help you from what? Explain to me, ok?" I said, concerned for the young girl. I could'nt stop myself from thinking that my calm day was about to end.

"My-my-my parents went on a date, just the two of them." She cried, "they went away about an hour ago and they aren't home yet. I heard a voice downstairs and heard things breaking, so I ran up in my room, and i'm hiding under my bed." She said, "I can still hear him downstairs."

"What is your name, hun?" "Tracy, Tracy Wind. I live on 3823, Daylight Avenue." Tracy sniffled. "Ok, i'm sending some help, just sit real tight and stay still." I said, calling over two cruisers to investigate.

I knew this wasn't a prank call, the tone of her voice made it impossible to believe otherwise. All squads have trackers on them, so I could see that they were thirty minutes away, not nearly enough time to save Tracy.

"They're on the way, Tracy." I said, while marking her address as a priority.

"Oh god" I heard Tracy say.

"What is it? Explain it to me." I said, I was starting to get anxious about this case, I had a bad feeling about it. "I-I-I think I hear him coming up here, what do I do?!?" Tracy said, it sounded like her whole body was trembling. "I'm really scared" she whispered, her voice shaking. I thought about the subject, What could I so that would lead him away from her. I instantly thought of it, I saw it in a movie one time. Hopefully the man had not seen it.

"Okay, do you have shoes on?" I said "Yeah, I-I do" Tracy said, sounding like she was trying to control herself. "Okay, do you have a window in your room?" "Yeah" "I want you to open your window, throw your shoes out of it, then leave it open and come back to talk to me." "Okay" I heard the sound of a window opening, followed by what sounded like shoes being tossed out the window. I heard a strong breeze, and remembered that there was a eight o'clock rainstorm happening tonight, and that was only ten minutes away. If she throws her shoes out the window, it will look like she jumped out it and tripped over her shoes, so she ditched them, I thought. Its a long shot, but it has to work. Its the only thing I can think of that would help Tracy.

"Okay, I d-" 

The line disconnected.

My thoughts ran wild and out of pure, pure instinct I Redialed.

As soon as I did, I regretted it instantly. She had to have hung up for a reason right? She must have seen the man.

No one picked up.

I gave away where she was hiding. I tried again, and again, and again.

Tracy didn't answer.

Authors note: 

What do you guys think? I think its moving along nicely, I might add a bit to my next part. I kinda feel like I'm rushing the story but oh well.

~M.D.