Pietrofalls

Chapter 3

Lucy

Lucy Baez was up early for her morning jog around the park. The sun was already rising as Lucy finished her third lap around the park. She was making her way out of the park and home when she noticed a police cruiser speeding down the street.

Lucy stopped as she watched the police cruiser. She looked at her watch and it was five minutes before 5am. "What could be the hurry this early in the morning?"

Lucy heard the cracking of sticks from behind and turned around to find Sheriff Lawrence climbing out of the woods. His clothes were in tatters and he was barefoot. She noted he had a worried look on his face. "Larry," she called. "Are you alright?"

Sheriff Lawrence was clearly caught by surprise when he saw her. "Lucy," he said in a somber voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," she said as she approached him. "You look like you got into a fight."

Sheriff Lawrence looked down at his clothes. "Yeah, I promise it's nothing like that. Just had a bit of a rough fall." He couldn't hide his concerned look as he tried to look away from Lucy.

"What were you doing in the woods anyways?" asked Lucy.

"I was meditating," answered Lawrence as he began to regain his composure. "It's something I do every once in a while. As you can see, it didn't go very well."

"I have to say, that's not a good look for you," she said with a slight laugh.

"Why are you up at this time of day?"

"Morning jog," answered Lucy. "I do this at least three times a week."

Sheriff Lawrence looked into the distance. "Was it my imagination or did I hear a police siren pass by?"

"No, you did hear right. I think it was your deputy. You think everything is alright?"

"I hope so," said Lawrence as he made to walk away. "But I have a bad feeling. We'll catch up later. I promise."

"Take care, Larry. I hope everything is alright." Lucy stayed behind as Lawrence made his way to his house and she watched.

****

Lucy got home and took a quick shower. She got dressed and went to the kitchen to make a quick breakfast. She could hear her daughter walking upstairs. Lucy put a plate of scrambled eggs on the table as she held a piece of toast in her mouth.

She pulled the toast out of her mouth. "Dori," she called. "Your food is on the table. I'm going out early today. I'll see you after school."

"Where are you going?" yelled Doramis from the bathroom.

"Going to see the sheriff," yelled back Lucy as she made her way to the door and grabbed her keys.

"Is it about work?"

"Just going to see how he's doing."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"No sweety. Just checking on a friend. I'll see you later. Have a good day at school. Bye."

"Bye mom," yelled Doramis as Lucy closed the door.

Lucy used her key to open the car while taking a bite of her toast from her other hand. She drove off and went to Sheriff Lawrence's house. She saw that his vehicle wasn't in his driveway and she continued down the street.

Lucy drove in the direction the police cruiser had gone earlier that morning. She was beginning to have a bad feeling as she searched for the police. The town was small so it only took her about five minutes to find the police vehicles.