Faith was tired. She'd been away from home all week, demonstrating a new laboratory analyzer to potential clients and was finally headed home, the big crate secured in the back of her SUV. To treat herself, Faith had made a one night reservation at Canyon Hot Springs, a nice campground along the Transcanada highway, about three hours from her home. They had small log cabins and larger ones for families. However, it was the hot pool that Faith was most looking forward to.
She got to the office just after 3:30 pm and after filling out the paperwork, was given the key to her little cabin. Her cabin was in a secluded area with one other cabin and nobody else was there when she made her way to the one that was hers for the night. Once she'd taken her suitcase in, Faith changed into her bathing suit and grabbing a change of clothes and toiletries for later, headed towards the pool.
There were two pools: one hot, at around 104 F and the other, a cooler one at around 80 F. Faith relaxed in the hot pool for about 15 minutes and then went to the cooler pool and swan around. It was so nice that there were very few people there on this Friday night. Normally, Faith would have talked to others but on this day, she felt the need for some quiet time alone so she kept to herself, looking at the mountains around instead of at the people. She altered between swimming in the cool pool and relaxing in the hot one.
After a few hours, Faith felt the beginning of hunger creep up within her so she left the pool and headed for the change rooms where she showered before getting dressed. Then, she stopped by the small cafe and had a quick dinner. Fully intending to read and turn in early, she made her way back to her cabin on foot, using a different path she'd taken to get to the pools.
When she got near the cabins, she saw someone looking into her vehicle. Was it a thief trying to see if there was anything valuable? While that analyzer was pricey, it certainly wasn't a gold find for thieves. Yet Faith hesitated. What if she surprised them and they got angry and hurt her?
The fight or flight decision was taken out of her hands when a second person came out from the other side of her SUV and saw her. He asked "Is this yours?" Somehow, his face didn't look like that of a thief or a "bad guy". This guy looked so honest that Faith felt compelled to answer honestly so she nodded. What happened next surprised her, shocked her really. Both men drew weapons and yelled at her to put her hands up! They called out that they were police yet neither of them was in uniform and if this new vehicle parked nearby was theirs, it sure wasn't a police car!
They yelled again for her to put her hands up and the tone was clear: she had to comply.
"Police! Keep your hands up and lean up against that blue car. Now!"
"What's going on? You sure don't look like officers!" Faith refused to move.
"We're off duty. Now do as your told. Put your hands up against the roof of the car and do NOT turn around."
While Faith proceeded to the car and put her hands on the roof, she asked "What's going on? What are you suspecting me of?"
"You don't get to ask questions! You get to answer ours."
"Well, show me your badges then. And I have the right to know what you're accusing me of!"
They pulled out their badges and flashed them.
"That's way too fast and too far. Come on now.... there's two of you with guns and just one of me. I am not going to harm you! Just come closer, show me your badges long enough that I can read them and I'll answer all your questions! There is no need for all this macho show of force!"
One of them got close enough and put his hand on her back, pushing her against the car while the other kept his gun trained on her, getting closer also. They showed her their badges, still not close enough for her to read them, and then asked "Is that a bomb in your vehicle?"
Faith whipped around in shock "a bomb?"
The officer closer to her grabbed her and pushed her back against the car, pinning her there with his body. He then tensely said "You do NOT move, you do NOT turn around, you answer the questions calmly and slowly and nobody's going to get hurt, understood?"
Faith nodded, suddenly afraid that their own fear would cause them to shoot her before she could explain.
"Guys, please relax. It's not a bomb, I swear. If you just give me a chance to explain, I will."
The officer holding the gun said "Maybe you should make sure she's not packing a remote on her or something."
And the officer holding her against the car told her "Spread your legs and do NOT move."
"Knock yourself out. I don't have a remote or any weapon, I swear. In my right pocket are some keys and in the left is my angel. That's it."
The man took his time feeling her arms and torso and legs. He pulled out her car keys and the cabin key from her right pocket.
"What did you say this was?" he asked as he felt a lump in her left pocket.
"It's an angel in an acrylic oval. It's my dad. Have a look but please don't lose it, it's very precious to me."
He reached in, looked at the angel and then slid it back in, almost tenderly.
"She's clean."
The other lowered his weapon and Faith, thinking it was a sign that she could straighten up, let go of the car and took one step back. She was pushed back quickly. "We didn't say you could move. You have a lot of questions to answer."
"Well, go ahead and ask!"
"What's in your car?"
"The big crate is a laboratory instrument. It's a mini x-ray. Not for taking pictures of bones, but for chemical analysis. The blue plastic box is a car emergency kit with first aid kits, flares, spare wipers, tools and such. The bag has my work laptop and work documents. There is also a multi-head screwdriver in there that I could use to open up the crate if you want to see the anlyzer. Do you want to see it?"
"So it's not a bomb but it's radioactive?"
"No, it's not."
"But you said it was an x-ray."
"Yes but the x-rays aren't produced by a radioactive source, they are produced by a tube. And without power, the tube is off and no x-rays are generated. Trust me, it's very safe. Otherwise, I would not have it in my car!"
"How come it's not identified on the outside as having x-rays in there?"
"Because it can't generate any x-rays while in the box, unplugged, so it's not a requirement. The machine itself has two warning lights that would come on as the tube would power up."
"I think she's telling the truth, dad." The one behind her said.
Faith thought "They're father and son?"