Monarch: Chapter Six

To begin with the Prologue of this serial novel, Monarch, please start here. 

Chapter Six

A loud burst of static erupted from the radio on Lettie’s desk, as well as the radio clipped to Jim’s shirt, interrupting their conversation about him and Cindy. Both jumped a little, startled. Lettie reached over to turn the volume down. Jim held his radio close to his mouth and spoke, “Mark? That you?” Mark, a young, single kid and his only deputy, had left Mapleton to attend a university, and then decided that the small town life suited him better. He’d been working with the small police force for almost five years now.

Through the radio, Mark answered back, “No, boss, I thought that was you. Must have been a cloud o’ static floatin-” Another explosion of white noise, even louder and more prolonged, sounded through the speakers, cutting Mark off in mid-sentence. The static sounded different from the normal, occasional static they sometimes heard on the radio, it had a deeper, more metallic ring to it—as if someone was rubbing a microphone against steel wool. Jim listened carefully and thought he heard people talking within the noise and then, suddenly, the static disappeared to nothing. No one spoke, all of them waiting for another burst of static to pour through the speakers.

“What was that?” Lettie asked nervously. Jim guessed that she probably heard the same voices within the sound that he had. Jim shrugged and held the radio to his lips again. He said, “Hello? Is there anyone on this frequency? Be advised that this is a police frequency, for emergencies only.”

They heard something very quiet in response to Jim’s statement: a woman crying softly. Lettie turned up the volume so the woman’s sobs could be heard clearly throughout the office. She whispered, “Do we know who that is?”

Jim shook his head, squinting his eyes in concentration. The crying grew louder and then stopped, leaving them listening hard for any other sounds, but none came. It must be a prank, Jim thought, these things just don’t happen in these parts. It had sounded like a woman hiding, crying despite her efforts to remain silent. The sounds were genuine but these things simply did not happen in these parts.

“Ma’am, this is Sheriff Halloway. What’s going on?” he asked into the radio. They all held their breath, waiting for a response. The woman spoke, fear choked in her throat. “I don’t want to be alone. Please come back…”

Lettie started to cry herself, “the poor thing,” she whispered. Jim spoke again into the radio, “Where are you, Ma’am? We don’t want to leave you alone, but we need to know where you are.”

Silence.

Then: “Please wake up, Tim. Tim, please. I don’t want to be alone.” The woman continued to cry. Lettie looked up, startled. She said quickly, “That’s Jamie Hacom. Tim’s her husband.” She reached over and pressed the ‘speak’ button on her larger radio system.

“Jamie,” Lettie said loudly, willing her voice to carry through the radio, “Jamie, can you hear me? Where are you? We can help. Jamie! You need to answer so we can send someone to help you; the sheriff is here and can be where ever- Jamie!” Lettie was slipping down a slope of panic quickly. Jim felt his stomach twist and turn, not knowing why this situation affected him this way. He struggled to accept the possibility that this may not be a prank, but he told himself that it had to be. This simply surpassed the norm in Mapleton—it was unbelievable. He felt a slight tinge of what Lettie must be going through, a nagging denial that they were experiencing reality. He walked over and put his hand on Lettie’s shoulder, trying his best to comfort her. He spoke again, “Jamie Hacom, what’s going on?

Static again spurted through the speakers, startling both him and Lettie. The voices he swore he could hear before were now completely gone: it sounded more like normal, electric white noise. They jumped again and where completely surprised to hear Jamie laughing into the radio.

“Tim! Stop Tim! That tickles!” She giggled as if he were wresting and tickling her at the same time. They couldn’t hear Tim through the speakers, but Jamie spoke to him as if he was right there, playing with her. The radio abruptly cut out and fell silent.

Lettie wiped her eyes and looked up at him, confused. She asked, “What just happened here, Jim?” He shook his head, his mind reeling and bewildered, then said, “You know, I don’t know. Maybe they were on a cell phone or it dialed on accident or something, I guess that could happen. Or maybe they were just playing a game with each other and we picked it up. Obviously we picked it up, so something must have been transmitting.”

But Jamie Hacom’s sobs rang in his ears and memory. She cried like she was scared, and she stopped as if whatever she was hiding from- He just couldn’t figure it out. Strange for sure, and they probably should send someone over to check on them.

Through the radio, Mark spoke, “Did you guys hear what I just heard? That a joke or something?”

“We don’t know,” Lettie responded, still looking up at Jim for answers. To Mark, Jim said, “Hey, why don’t you come on in. We can talk about it here.”

“Are you sure they’re okay?” Mark asked.

“No,” Jim said back, “I really don’t know what just happened, but I think it was probably a mistake or something. I don’t want to talk about it over the radio though, so come on in to the office.”

“Be there in a few.” After that, nothing but silence on the radio, Jim nodded at Lettie and went back to his office.

To be continued next Friday, August 21, 2015, the full novel to be revealed in parts by Halloween.  

You also can pre-order the full novel here.

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© 2008, Derrick Hibbard. All Rights Reserved.