ArcherA Year And A Half LaterNerves make circles in my stomach as I stand outside of Laurel Springs Medical waiting for Alisa to come out. She doesn't know I'm here and, the truth is, I didn't know I was going to be either. I've been carrying this ring around in my pocket for the last year and a half of the two years we've been together. Waiting. For what, I'm not sure. The right time? The perfect moment? We live together. I could've done it a million times, but there's something different about these stars against the inky blackness of the sky. They aren't crazy bright, but they aren't muted either. They're sparkling. The perfect backdrop to the plan I have. Tonight, as I helped a woman leave a dangerous domestic violence situation, I realized I'm wasting precious and valuable time. Even after dealing with Calvert County, it didn't hit me that seconds are to be treated with the same reverence as the big events in life. Lo
MenacePresent TimeIt's been a hell of a day. One where I got here late in the afternoon because I had meetings. Something I've learned since taking this position a few months ago is that it's mostly meetings. It's keeping people happy and kissing a lot of ass. My legs ache to get back out on the street, to do a couple laps around downtown, or to drive a car fast. To chase a speeder with the lights bright and the siren blaring. I miss it more than I thought I would. It's close to midnight and I know Rina will be wondering where the hell I am, but I wanted to get a look at what went on today by reading the reports of the officers. This is something I do everyday so I can try to gauge how my officers are doing. It's important for me to know if there's an issue in town. If someone is a nuisance, do we need to step up patrols in certain areas? Community policing is the name of my game and I take it seriously. Reading the last report, submitted by Caleb
VOLUME ONE: RANSOMFROM THE TEXT MESSAGES OF RANSOM THOMPSON & NICK KEPLERN: Can you make it any more obvious?R: Can I make what any more obvious?N: You were checking out Stella hard core today at The Café.R: Yeah? I think maybe she was checking me out too.N: Ummm, negative ghostrider, I know my sister. She wasn't checking you out.R: One day, my friend, one day. I haven't put on twenty pounds of muscle since I started working with Rambo for nothing.N: I'm glad to see your dreaming big.R: Go big or go home, isn't that what everybody says?N: Yeah, if they're giving like a mother fucking TED talk, Ransom.R: Don't talk down to me, Nickolas.N: I just see you missing out on all the chicks who look at you like they'd blow you before they even knew your name.R: Not missing out, Nick. I'm focused. Focused on what I really want.N: You sure about that? What if she never sees it?R: She will. One day she'll need a hero, and I'll be right there. I know my
RansomMy ears perk up as I hear a call coming over the radio. Dispatch is speaking quickly, precisely, and with an urgency I haven't heard in a long time."I've got a report of a man with a gun at the Laurel Springs Urgent Clinic. It has been spotted and verified. Kelsea Harrison called it in, saying Stella Kepler's in the room with the man. At this time, he's not brandished it, but they've requested an officer respond. Apparently, there's a woman who came in with him, whose safety they're worried about."I'm quick to key the radio. As one of the only members on the Moonshine Task Force not related to these two, I can respond while they can't. I've had SWAT training, and besides my dad, I'm the most qualified to take the call. "Show me as responding, I'll be there in less than two minutes.""Got it, Ransom. State Troopers are responding with you. One unit has acknowledged response.""Ransom, you know those two, they wouldn't have called something in if they weren't worried,"
StellaAs I get into my car, I sigh as I turn on the aerated seats. It's hot as fuck in Laurel Springs right now, and this has been a shit-tastic day. I got puked on, felt up by a man old enough to be my father, and then the doctor I work for asked me out. Not for the first time, I might add, but he's so not my type. He's not rugged, he's not manly, and I'll never forget the way he ran out of the clinic when I was in the room with a guy packing a gun.I don't want to be with the man who runs away from danger. No, I want to be with the one running to it. Like Ransom Thompson. A little smile plays across my face as I think about him saving me that day. He and I, we've known each other since we were babies, and he's always flirted with me, from the time we were old enough to know what flirting was up until now. The issue is, I never took it seriously. Until about eight months ago, when I started noticing that Ransom had grown up. Maybe it was the fact we'd both gotten to the "other si
StellaParking at the grocery store, I realize I have less time than I thought, but I know I can make this work. Grabbing my phone out of my purse, I walk in quickly, grabbing a cart."Hey Belle, what's up?"My aunt Blaze is the person I go to for advice when I don't want the motherly type. When I want someone who sees me as a woman, realizes I have relationships, and I'm an adult, she's the very first person I call. Luckily for me, my mom respects that about us and never seems to have an issue. For that, I'm completely grateful."Hey, if I want to cook dinner for a guy, what should I get?""Do I know this guy?"I can't help but smile. "You might, you might not, I'm pleading the fifth right now. I'm not sure what's going to happen with it. It could just be dinner tonight, or it could turn into something else, I don't know.""If you're worried about cooking him something good, I'm betting it's more than dinner tonight. You forget I know you."She does know me, but right
Ransom"He pulls hard." Stella digs her bare heels into the yard, trying to stop her body from moving as Rambo growls playfully tugging on the toy in her hand. She finally gets it away from him, throwing it farther than I expect her to. She's breathing heavily as she comes back up on the deck, grabbing the beer I brought out for her."Yeah, he doesn't fuck around with his tug toys." I laugh as he picks it up, shakes it, tosses it in the air, and then completely rips it apart. "Which is why they don't last long."Setting my beer down, I go over to the side of the deck, where I have a tennis ball and launcher. Those last longer. Using it, I rear back grunting with the force it takes to get it all the way to where my fence is. It hits the wood with a thud, before Rambo runs after it. "There." I watch as he lays down in the shade of a tree. "Looks like he's tired himself out.""How's he doing? Didn't you say he got shots?""Good." I take a drink of my beer, watching her as she si
StellaTo my disappointment, after I kinda issued the challenge, Ransom hasn't made a move. Not that I thought he would, it was a little more direct than even I'm used to. If there's one thing I do know about him, it's that he's a gentleman, because that's what his parents raised.Yawning, I flip my phone over from where it sits beside me. At some point we moved to the outside couch, Rambo laying in the middle of us, surprising me by putting his head in my lap. When I see the time, I almost have to do a double take. "I didn't realize it was so late." I show him the screen, already having flipped to midnight. "I have to work tomorrow.""Shit, I'm sorry," he apologizes as he slightly nudges Rambo off the couch. "I didn't even think about it. I don't go in until a mid-shift.""Don't be," I stick my feet in my shoes, standing up to stretch. "I had a really good time, thanks for letting me come over."As the night has progressed, his slight beard has grown in more, his eyes have g