This Is My Town

Chapter 2

The hospital seemed almost completely empty this late at night. Lucas paced at one end of the hall keeping his eyes on the police at the other end. They stood huddled closely together and whispering. After almost an hour of waiting for the police to talk to him, to share anything with him, Lucas was growing frustrated. He was confused. He couldn't wrap his mind around the events of tonight. Who were the people in that room? Why did they want to hurt Joey? What where they after? Would they be back?

Lucas had shared his account of the night with the officers but they seemed as baffled as he was. They had searched the building and the neighborhood after getting Joey onto the ambulance. Everyone seemed to agree on the theory that Joey had interrupted a burglary attempt and the thieves were startled away by Lucas's voice.

Joey has no enemies and Lucas could not imagine someone doing this with the intent to just hurt him. The collectibles in the store were valuable. Most of the small town would know how the store is laid out and that there is no real security to speak of. The process of narrowing down any suspects seems almost impossible. Lucas's main concern is for Joey's recovery but after this it will be to make the shop more secure.

Hours later, a doctor came into the waiting room. She had a big smile on her face and seemed to be in a great mood. Lucas felt it was almost inappropriate to be so happy at a time like this but assumed it was her job to keep people optimistic.

"Hello, my name it Dr. Cope." She said still smiling

"Joey is doing fine. He has a mild concussion and a laceration on the back of his head. We will keep him for observation but he should be released in a day or two."

The group of friends and police that had gathered around the waiting room let out a sigh of relief and murmured expressions of thanks. Lucas thanked the doctor and then turned to the police.

    "I would really like to get the shop back in order and keep it open until Joey gets back. Am I allowed to start cleaning up the area." He asked.

The officer In charge turned to Joey and said,

    "To be honest kid, there was no evidence left behind. There really isn't much else we can do except keep an eye out for any stolen merchandise that may pop up. You are free to do what you want at                 the scene but please call us if you find anything else out of the ordinary".

    Lucas peeked into the hospital room before leaving. Joey was asleep but Dr. Cope had assured him that he was simply resting and he would be ready for visitors tomorrow. Lucas was going to head home for the night. He knew what tomorrow would be like with school and getting the shop back in order. He began to head towards the main entrance that led to the parking lot. Along the way he heard the police officers voice again. He was at the nursing station and asked that a record of all visitors to Joeys room be kept and given to the police.

    "Do you think these people will come back to finish the job or something?" The younger officer asked.

    The officer in charge shook his head, "No its just a precaution. I think this is probably a petty theft attempt. Possibly the same guys from the Moore            place last night.".

      Lucas had forgotten about Mr. Moore's break in. He certainly had not thought the two could be related. Was there a serial thief loose in McLeansboro?            

       The younger officer looked concerned. "I don't know whats going on but if we don't get a handle it soon we are going to have an angry town on our hands".

      The officer in charge had no answer. He stood there with his hand on his forehead, looking as though he was trying to recover from a bad headache. Lucas went on past the officer's hallway, wanting to get to the door before he was busted for eavesdropping.