Nothing To Fear ....

Caught On Camera

       Jenny, Diana, and Faith left the bedroom and started for the stairs, meeting Andy and Crane at the head of the staircase. As they descended, Jenny glanced at Crane and asked, "So, how were your accommodations?"

       "More than adequate, I assure you, Miss Jenny," he replied. "The property owner has taken great care to ensure the comfort of his guests. As of now, all that remains is to ascertain why my bed seems to require a remote-control device."

       "Dude, it's a Sleep-Number bed!" Andy informed him. "You can make the mattress harder, or softer, whichever is more comfortable for you. Haven't you seen one before?"

       "Unfortunately, no. It seems that I have been sadly uninformed in regards to this marvel of technology."

       "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that," Faith said. "Your remotes are in the top drawer of your nightstand."

       They reached the foot of the stairs, with Alex and Jake following behind them. As they rounded the corner, they saw a tall black woman, clad in black slacks and a tan sweater, accompanied by a uniformed police officer.

       "That's Chief Potter and Sergeant Gibbs," Andy informed the newcomers. "I wonder if they found out something."

        "Well, I guess we're gonna find out," Faith responded, as they all moved to join the others in the living room.

       As they approached, the two police officers looked their way, observing the new arrivals, then Chief Potter stepped over to meet them, saying, "Good afternoon, folks. I'm Chief Charlene Potter, and this is Sergeant Roy Gibbs. I received a call from DC telling us to expect you folks. Who's in charge here?" 

        By unspoken agreement, the rest of the group allowed Diana to handle the situation, and she extended her hand to the chief, saying, "I'm Agent Diana Thomas, with Homeland Security, this is my partner, Ichabod Crane, and the rest of our team; Jenny Mills, Alex Norwood, and Jake Wells."

       Potter shook Diana's hand, and inquired, "If I might ask, why is the President interested enough in a local murder, and some vandalism, to send a group of Federal agents out here?"

        "Why don't we all grab a seat while you hash this out?" Jon suggested, and they walked the rest of the way into the living room, putting the conversation on hold until everyone was seated.

       Once they were all settled, Diana turned to look at Potter, and clarified, "To answer your question, the original call was made by Ms. Scanlon's brother to Ms. Mills, who is a family friend. But since we all work together, I reported the situation to the President, and she made the decision to dispatch our entire team, to provide your people with any assistance you might need."

       "So it doesn't have anything to do with the rumors that are going around that the President has put together her own team of..., well, 'paranormal investigators', for lack of a better term?" Gibbs asked bluntly.

        The question seemed to take them all off guard for a few seconds, causing all of the team members to quickly glance at each other.

        Observing this, Chief Potter leaned forward in her chair and said, "And when there's not an immediate answer forthcoming to that type of question, that usually means that it's struck a nerve. So I'm going to take that as a yes."

       Before anyone can respond, she continued, saying, "Don't worry, I'm not sitting here thinking that you're a bunch of crackpots or anything like that, because I know better. I remember seeing your partner here mentioned in some articles out of New York State a couple of years ago, dealing with some weird shit they had going on up there. Plus, I know firsthand that people don't take this stuff as seriously as they should, since I grew up with it."