The Beautiful People

39. Bill

     The weekend had been relatively quiet, and while I'm not one for superstition, I knocked on wood every time that word had crossed my mind. The last thing that I wanted to do was tempt fate and end up having the busiest weekend ever. With one of my deputies already out taking care of a call, I was all by my lonesome at the station and having a cup of tea. I was tempted to break open a candy bar, but the phone suddenly rang. Clearly I had tempted fate too much this evening and was about to pay the price.

     "Sheriff's desk," I said, answering the phone.

     "Bill, it's George," The voice on the other end said. George was the manager of the campsites by the lake.

     "Good evening, George," I said to my caller, "What can I help you with."

     "I need you to come down here and check on something," George answered, "I'm getting reports of gunshots coming from one of my campsites."

     "Gunshots?" I repeated, as that was the last thing I expected to hear. "Are you sure about that?"

     "Not really," George honestly replied, "I never heard them myself so I can't confirm. For all we know they could have been firecrackers but multiple sites are saying it was a gun. Can you send someone down to look into it?"

     "Dave's out on a call right now," I informed him as I thought about it. "But last thing I want is to get more calls about this so I'll come down and look into it."

     "You will?" George said, rather surprised. "Thank you very much, Bill."

     "I'm leaving in a few minutes," I continued, "Meet me at the front gate."

     Just as I was walking out of the station to get to my far, Deputy Dave was just pulling back in from his call. He looked rather surprised to see me outside.

     "Sheriff," Dave said as he stepped out of the car, "Where are you heading?"

     "I'm heading down to George's campsites," I answered him, "We got reports of possible gunfire, so I'm going to check it out to ease everyone's nerves."

     "Gunfire?" Dave repeated, "You want me to come out too?"

     "No need," I said, as I didn't think it was necessary. "This could just be firecrackers, or if it is a gun some jerk off shooting up into the night sky. I will call for help if I need it."

     "Alright, Sheriff." Dave said, "I'll be here if you need me."

     "Damn right you'll be," I said, "That is what I pay you to do. I shouldn't be long. I'll grab some coffee on the way back."

     "Thanks," Dave said, before entering the station.

     I pulled the car out of the lot and slowly made my way down to the campground. George was at the main gates, waiting for me to arrive. I rolled down the window as I pulled up beside him.

     "Thanks for coming, Sheriff." George said.

     "Any more shots since we talked?" I asked him.

     "No, Sir." George answered, "None since the initial incident. But based on the people I talked to, it was coming from the north side by the lake."

     "How many spots are used over there?" I asked him.

     "Just one," George replied, "The Parsons have a small group up there for the night."

     "Alright, I'll talk to them first." I said, since that seemed to be the best way to go. "I'll update you if I find anything."

     "Thanks again, Sheriff." George said as he stepped back and watched as I pulled away.

It took me only a few moments to drive over to the Parsons campsite, and as I approached the area, I flipped the lights on to let them know I was a member of law enforcement. Upon seeing my lights, I could see Parsons walk up to meet me as I parked the car and turned the lights off. I stepped out of the car and met Parsons half way and shook the man's hand. I knew David for over twenty years, so I didn't expect anything less than the truth from him and his wife.

     "What's going on, Bill?" Mr. Parsons asked.

     "We got reports from several campers about gunfire in the area," Bill replied, "Would you guys know anything about that?"

     "As a matter of fact, I do." Parsons answered, "We had an incident, and one of my guests was forced to defend himself."

     "He was attacked?" I said, surprised to hear that wasn't reported. "By whom?"

     "More like a what," Parsons answered, "Come on, I'll show you."

     I was both intrigued and curious, so I eagerly followed David as he led me back to his camp and he walked over to a table, and moved a blanket that was covering it, and there was the body of a cougar that was stone cold dead. I counted as many as five bullet holes in it, and the shots were close to each other in a tight pattern. The person who shot it was a marksman.

     "Who did this?" I asked David.

     "I did," A man said as he walked up.

     "What's your name?" I asked the man who walked up to us.

     "I'm James," The man answered, "But people call me Jimbo."

     "What happened here, Jimbo?" I asked him, "Why did you shoot this animal?"

     "I was taking a piss in the woods," Jimbo answered, "And this bitch tried to sneak up on me while I was draining my main vein."

     "And that's when you shot it?" I asked.

     "No," Jimbo replied, "I fired a warning shot hoping that it might scare it away. All it did was anger it, and that's when it attacked. I had no choice but to defend myself so I put it down."

     "Damn, these creatures usually don't act that way." I said, examining the body. "I'm just glad to hear no one was injured beside the cat."

     "I hope we didn't scare anyone," David said, looking genuinely worried.

     "I think everyone will be fine," I replied, "George was a bit worried, but he should be fine."

     "Is there anything else I can do for you?" Jimbo asked.

     "I'm afraid so," I said, sighing deeply. "Put your hands behind your back, son. You're under arrest."