Copyright
©
2019 - This is an original work by Zeb Carter and is protected under copyright by U.S. copyright law. It is only submitted at Literotica.Com and any submission to any other site has not been authorized by the Author.
Author's Note:
There is no sex in this story, only adventure, suspense and romance. This is also the last in a series of related stories. I may or may not publish the related stories in the future, here at Lit. Each story can stand on its own and is complete. This story is 52,000 words long. You have been warned.
Order of the John Abernathy Adventures...
1. Aftermath
2. Time and Again
3. The Kings Undoing
4. The Lives of John Abernathy
5. Rerun
6. Winds of Change
Winds of Change
A John Abernathy Adventure
Chapter 1
John Abernathy sat behind his desk reading the reports from the night shift. Being Sheriff of Barnes County North Dakota, John finds himself, as always, busy with nuisance meetings, useless politicians and boring reports. He preferred to be out solving crimes. The biggest problem in the county was the Valley City State University. Even though it was within the city limits of Valley City, there are sometimes things that happen there that the city police force cannot handle. And there was always spill over out into the rest of the county.
Another problem was the interstate. Interstate 95 ran right through the middle of the county. The county commissioners wanted John to patrol the section that ran through Barnes County and wanted the Sheriff's Department to use the interstate as a revenue stream by issuing tickets. John, on the other hand, could hardly patrol the county with the manpower he had. Every time the commissioners brought it up, John asked for more manpower to patrol the highway. The commissioners always turned down his request for more deputies and funds. The interstate was left to the Highway Patrol to patrol.
Then, of late, there was the Valley City Chief of Police. For some reason, that John couldn't verbalize, he didn't like the man holding that position. It was only a feeling, but John sensed, somewhere deep down in his gut, there was something wrong. The Chief always rubbed John the wrong way. John can feel, call it his cop intuition, the police chief was up to something, something he shouldn't be up to. John just didn't know what, but he's sure he's was. The man, Harvey Muller, was hired by the city council three months ago, was a mystery. The last chief, Bill Ryerson, retired. Bill had been a good man and was now a Reserve Deputy. This guy, Harvey, was a pain in the ass and from what John had observed, a lousy cop.
For the past fifteen years, John has been Sheriff. That's three elections in which he had been picked by the voters to be the top law enforcement officer in the county. The last election, his fourth, he ran unopposed. He now had five years until the next election. John really liked the people of Barnes County he liked living here and he liked being their Sheriff. Well, except for the boring things he was required to do, like the deal with politicians.
Besides the Sheriff, the county had six full-time deputies and one part-time deputy. They are all good deputies and know their jobs. Jimmy Conner was second in command. Jimmy grew up in Valley City and after graduating high school, attended the state police academy. Jimmy was street smart, having worked for Fargo PD for five years before coming back to Barnes County just as John took over as Sheriff fifteen years ago.
Bobbie Shelton was the most experienced officer he had, having come from Atlanta PD where she spent, ten years on the street and five years as a detective. Her reasons for moving to North Dakota vary depending on how much she has had to drink. She was a good deputy, but sometimes, she didn't know when to bend the rules. John took her under his wing when she first started.
The rest of them are as good as Jimmy and could fill John's shoes if the need should arise. All in all, John was in good company and his deputies are loyal to him and the residents of Barnes County, without question, as John was to them. Over the years, John had tried to teach them everything he knew about being a good cop. John was sure they were all honest, dependable people who just wanted to serve the people of Barnes County.
John's background in law enforcement started when he was in the military. He spent twenty years as a law enforcement specialist in the Air Force. He attained the rank of E9, the highest enlisted rank in the service. Then, two years prior to his retirement, his commander sent him to OCS, Officers Candidate School, where he passed to become a second lieutenant. John found himself posted back to his old outfit as the assistant squadron commander. At thirty-eight, he retired and moved to North Dakota where he bought a small ranch, raising horses. John quickly became bored with his life of leisure. When next election for Sheriff came up, he ran and was surprised to find himself elected.
The department also had an office assistant, John called her his secretary, but Bobbie insisted she was the office assistant. Carol Littledove was also the department's dispatcher. Carol answered the phones and dispatched Deputies accordingly. Carol was a middle-aged widow. Her husband, a Deputy at the time, died in the line of duty ten years ago during John's first term as Sheriff. Dispatched to a domestic disturbance, Ben was trying to calm the situation, when the wife stabbed him in the back. Soon after the funeral, Carol applied for the open position of office secretary/dispatcher.
Carol was full blood Dakota Sioux. She took her maiden name back when she applied for the position in the Sheriff's office. She grew up on the Spirit Lake Reservation and met Ben while he was with the Highway Patrol. The two of them fell in love and married. Ben applied for an open position as deputy in Barnes County. Two years later Ben died. Carol was indispensable to the office. She also doesn't take any guff from anyone, which pleased John.
Sitting at his desk, listening to the rain pound at the window, John was finishing his reading of the overnight reports when Carol came into his office. John looked up at her questioningly.
"A woman's body has been found out on Burnsen Road, you're the only free unit and I know you'll want to be involved this one."
"Where on Burnsen Road?" asked John as he stood up, pulling on his coat.
"Two miles north of 95," Carol answered.
"That's Valley City jurisdiction."
"She's on the west side of the road."
"Ah, okay. Call Doc Bajek and have Bobby meet me there."
"Doc is on her way, but Bobby is tied up on that missing cattle call up north. Jimmy said he will meet you there."
"Damn, all right I'll go it alone until Jimmy gets there."
"Here's your dispatch ticket," Carol said handing John a piece of paper as he passed her on his way out. "Don't forget to call in when you get there."
"I won't," yelled John pushing the door open, as he puts his hat on, stepping out into the rain.
Chapter 2
Squinting through the windshield as the wipers try to keep it clear of the rain pounding down, John slowed when the lights of the Valley City squad car loomed into sight. Pulling to the side of the road, John saw one of Valley City's finest standing, shoulders hunched against the downpour, looking down into the ditch on the East side of the road.
John could hear shouting over the patter of rain on the top of his car from down in the ditch. It sounded like Doc Bajek was doing most of the yelling. Walking to the top of the ditch, shoulders hunched against the chill of the rainfall, John nodded to the police officer standing there, as he pulls the collar of his coat up against the dampness. Down in the ditch, John saw Susan, gesticulating wildly while yelling at another Valley City officer. Both of them stood over the body of a young woman.
"What's going on here," John asked the officer next to him adjusting his hat to keep the rain out of his eyes.
"She's upset because whoever called this in was wrong about which side of the road the body was on," the cop answered.
"Susan!" John yelled trying to make sure he was heard over the pounding rain.
Susan stopped her tirade, looked up at John and shouted. "They moved the fucking body! When we pulled up they were dragging her across the road."
John looked at the shoulder of the road. He saw the drag marks in the gravel and mud. The two paramedics standing by the ambulance, trying to stay dry, nodded when he looked their way.
"So you two not only contaminated the crime scene but tampered with evidence?"
"No, the body was in the ditch," the cop snapped back.
John was trying to calm himself before taking the next step, he knew he had to when Jimmy pulled up. Waiting for Jimmy, John placed his hand on his weapon casually. Nodding at Jimmy, John turns back to the officer.
"You are under arrest for obstruction and tampering with evidence and anything else I can think of when we get back to the office," John told the cop.
The cop just laughed. "Good one Sheriff, good one."
He stopped laughing when Jimmy grabbed one of his wrists, pulling it behind his back.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing," the cop yelled attempting to pull away from Jimmy while taking a swing at him.
