Mirror in the Forest: Book One (7 page)

“Well, I guess I’m out of luck then,” she said, getting ready to leave.

The spirit looked at her in confusion. “Why do you say that Jessica?”

“I don’t have any money. All of I have is a small trust fund my grandparents are leaving for me, and the rest I have for school next winter,” she said. “And, I am not spending that. My parents give me an allowance when I’m not working a summer job, but that is pennies.”

The spirit looked at her clearly amused. “Do you think that I would need monetary compensation? I have no use for human currency.”

Jessica was taken aback. She couldn’t think of anything else that the spirit would need from her.

Seeing her confusion the spirit explained further.

“You mentioned that you would like to fix your hair. I would be pleased to do that for you. However, if you want to make further changes then the gifts will get larger, and more of a challenge to obtain.”

Jessica twisted her hair around her finger.  She always wanted it smoother, easily manageable, and a little lighter. Her mother always told Jessica she could start getting it colored anytime, so now Jessica had an opportunity without using any kind of chemicals that could make her frizzy hair worse.

“So, if you give me the hair I want, what would I have to give you?” She asked.

She couldn’t help herself, she knew deep down that she was interested in this spirits’ offers, but still had her doubts. She was fighting an inner battle to just run away and never come back here again or to improve her looks, and maybe other things.

Things like her social life that her parents had always wanted for her.

The spirit smiled at her. “All I want from you is a single red rose.”

Jessica was taken aback by his answer. Was he pulling her leg?

“A rose?” She asked, doubtfully.

“A single red rose,” he answered.

“Just a red rose?” She asked again, still trying to believe what she understood from the spirit.

The spirit nodded. “That is all. A single red rose. Can you find one for me Jessica?”

She considered the offer for a moment, and knew she could easily get one from a florist or the grocery store.

“A single red rose?” Jessica couldn’t help it. She still could not trust what she was hearing. Usually if an offer like this was too good to be true, it usually was. Even though, she thought, she was talking to a ghost of sorts.

“That’s all,” the spirit said patiently.

“I give you the rose, and you give me better hair.”

“Yes.”

He was so patient with her questions, and Jessica appreciated that. He did not show any signs of annoyance or aggravation towards her. He just answered her constant questions, and waited as the information he provided beginning to process in her brain.   

“Just one thing Jessica before you bring me the rose,” the spirit said.

“What?”

“If you decide to make these changes they must be subtle. We would not want to put a shock on friends and family would we?”

Jessica hadn’t thought of that, but she could easily explain away her hair to anyone. He was right, and knew if she was going to do this, then it had to be small.

“I agree,” she answered with an affirming nod.  

The spirit smiled at her again, and said, “Then bring me the rose, and we will make the change you need from there.”

The next night Sheriff Mark McKenzie sat with his deputies for their weekly meeting of the happenings around the town and the county.

He almost laughed as Marge sat there taking notes, but knew she was eager to go home. She despised the meetings being later in the day.

Mark had three other deputies who were old enough to be his fathers.

The first one was Paul Smith, who was also the part time dispatcher.  A nervous man who had five kids and a huge wife who Mark always thought was an abuser, but Paul never talked about it, and worked a lot to get away from her.

The second was William “Bill” Brown, the oldest of the group, and a black man who had been a deputy here for almost forty years despite racial tensions in the town at one time.

The recent widower who lost his wife after a heart attack, and was still not himself. He probably would never fully recover, and began talking about retiring to spend more time with his grandkids. He worked a lot so he wouldn’t have to spend time alone at home.

Then there was Hal Larson, who was Mark’s other uncle, his mother’s brother with the family name. Hal’s wife was named Ginny, and the couple still had school age children.

After going over reports that Mark had to approve he sat back and listened to complaints about the department, pay, overtime, and the usual. There was never enough coffee, and the department was getting cheap with freebies. The State Police always got everything they wanted, new cars, equipment, guns, but the state always forgot about them in the budget.  He hoped when he got to Seattle this would all go away, and never had any of these kinds of headaches again.

Finally, after a little while Hal turned to his nephew and asked, “Did you hear the news?”

“What?” Mark asked looking for patience from the usual complaints. They would never understand that his hands were tied when it came to budgeting.

“The Coopers’ kid is having her big homecoming party in two weeks,” Hal answered.

Mark looked up to the ceiling again, which was leaking- again. “I heard, and expect it to be her biggest, because it’s her senior year right?”

Hal nodded. “Yeah, and she is inviting rival schools to attend.”

Mark looked at his uncle. “Well, get ready to put your boxing gloves on gentleman.”

Hal shrugged. “Do you think her parents care? They will clean up the mess, and pay everyone off like they always do.”

Mandy Cooper’s father was the County Prosecutor, and when Mandy got into any trouble he would bribe anyone who was willing to listen, or he would pull the strings he needed to pull to get her out of trouble.

“Well, no payments here, right?” Mark asked, his eyes darting to each of his deputies.  

No one answered, and Mark could feel his anger rise at the reactions. He knew Dale Cooper had paid them all at one time or another, and he was trying to stop that.

“Right?” He asked, again, getting angry at their silence. He was left with a huge mess after he was elected, and these guys weren’t the most helpful sometimes.

“Sure Sheriff,” Paul finally answered, his eyes wide in fear of being yelled at by Mark.

“Good. I will notify the other counties, and the state police in case we need back up that night,” Mark said, calming a little after a moment.

Dale and Mark had butt heads many times over other cases besides his daughter. He did not like Dale Cooper; the man threw his power around whenever he needed to.

Dale would call him a wet behind the ears redneck cop whenever he had a chance. While his wife was half-decent to speak to, Mandy was turning more and more into her father.

“The kids just want to have fun. What are we going to get them on?” Paul asked after a few minutes.

“Nothing. We just patrol the area until they get rowdy, then get them on underage drinking….disturbing the peace…..”

“Maybe some drug paraphernalia,” Bill offered.

Bill was one of the ones who also hated Dale, and stopped taking bribes from him years ago, after Dale had pulled the rug out from under him a few times.

“That’s right,” Mark said.

“Any follow up on that fire, Mark?” Marge finally asked, pushing her glasses up her nose.

Mark let out a breath suddenly thinking of Jessica Winters.

He tried to push her out of his head, and said, “Nothing. The girl I picked up said she saw a bear not the fire.”

Hal frowned. “What girl?”

“When I was investigating the fire a girl came running out of the woods claiming she spotted a bear, but didn’t see the fire,” he answered knowing they wouldn’t believe it either.

Hal had his suspicions, and asked, “She didn’t see anything?”

“That’s what she said. Since nothing happened, I just dropped it,” Mark answered.

“She had to be lying,” Hal insisted. “The smoke was spotted, and smelled around the area.”

“Yeah, well the fire department couldn’t find anything, so what do you want me to do?” Mark asked, more annoyed that she was on his mind again.

“Sorry….” Hal muttered.

“Is that it?” Mark asked, looking around ignoring his uncle.

“That’s it Sheriff,” Marge answered, mumbling over her notes.  

All of them got up, and Mark was patrolling that night. Another long and boring night, he thought.

“Paul, are you dispatching tonight or do I need to call the state?” Mark asked.

“I’m staying,” he replied.

Mark shook his head, and wondered when he would find the guy dead in a chair.

Paul walked past him mumbling something about dishes being thrown the night before, but Mark ignored it for now.

He just wanted to get out and get on patrol. He hated the bureaucracy of his job, and sometimes wished he hadn’t run for election.

Hal walked up to him as Mark was holstering his gun, and said, “Ginny wanted to know if you wanted to come have dinner with us tomorrow night before you patrol.”

Mark scrunched his eyebrows, but smiled. “You off tomorrow or something?”

“Funny, I should whip your ass, but since you’re my superior and all,” Hal answered, laughing.  

Mark chuckled. “That would be great.”

“Great! She says you look like you need a home cooked meal,” Hal said.

“The diner is getting old,” Mark answered.

Hal looked down for a moment, and said, “Damn, I miss your Mom.”

Mark sighed and tried not think about it. “There are days…..”

“I know, but she is looking down on you, and proud of you. She always was,” Hal said, putting his hand on Mark’s shoulder.

Mark smiled sadly. “Thanks.”

Hal turned to leave, and then thought of something else.

“Ginny wanted to know if you were bringing a date, if you said yes, so she can cook extra,” Hal said with a smirk.

Mark chuckled. “Negative, and tell her not to try to set me up neither.”

“I will, but don’t be surprised if she gets on ya about it,” Hal said smiling.

Mark scoffed, and walked out of the door telling Paul he was leaving for the night.

The Sheriff’s station right smack in the middle of town now. It used to be an old factory, and the old Sheriff’s station was located in a small business office building right down the street. After Mark was elected, he was able to win over the powers that be to move them to a bigger location, and have cells installed, along with many renovations.

Mark looked around and spotted the usual people out shopping, or dining.

He adjusted his belt and put on his hat of his uniform. He never thought beige and brown were his colors, but what could he do? It was going to rain tonight, so he had his rain gear ready just in case.

He opened the cruiser door, and looked up, spotting the one and only Jessica Winters.

He shook his head wondering why he kept bumping into this girl.

She had left the local florist with a half dozen roses in her hand.

Mark stood there with his hands on the door as she made her way to the pickup truck parked on the street.

He breathed in slowly, and despite his better judgment, he began walking towards her.

“Miss Winters!” He called.

She looked up to see who was calling her name, and he saw she was stunned when she spotted him.

As he got closer she looked around, and he had to smile to himself, because she was considering getting into the truck and driving off. The color drained from her face, but she didn’t move, thankfully.

He kept a safe distance for a moment as he stopped on the sidewalk.  

She was beet red, but she lifted her chin defiantly, which surprised him, because the first time he met her, she kept putting her head down trying to hide her emotions on her face.

“ Hi Sheriff,” she said in greeting.

“Good evening, Miss Winters,” he replied with a smile.  

For once her hair was down, and fell to her shoulders. She looked so much better with it down. He noticed she did not wear the typical style of the eighties; lots of hairspray and teased to death.

She’s just a kid, he thought trying to suppress the thoughts that kept nagging at him regarding how pretty she was, even though he guessed she didn’t think of herself as a pretty girl.

“Can I help you with something?” She asked hesitantly.

She seemed to be in a hurry, but he wanted to talk to her for a moment.

“Is everything alright?” He asked, eyeing the roses.

“Huh?” She was confused and then realized he noticed the roses.

She laughed uncomfortably, and said, “Oh yes. My Mom wanted some for the dining room table, we’re having guests.”

Mark nodded and said, “As long as everything is fine.”

“Yes it is,” she said, finally deciding to get into the truck.

Mark walked closer, and Jessica sat there staring at the steering wheel. He knew he was making her nervous, and thought this would be the last time he bothered her.

He coaxed her to roll her window down, and she did, but did not look happy about it.

“Jessica, you didn’t have to lie to me about the fire…..”

Jessica looked at him sharply and asked, “Am I under arrest? I know my rights.”

Mark chuckled amused by her sudden outburst. “No, I just want the truth from you. Did you and some friends do something that night that you couldn’t tell me?”

To his surprise Jessica snorted. “I don’t have those kinds of friends, Sheriff.”

“Mark,” he corrected.

“What?”

“Call me Mark,” he responded, not knowing why he wanted her to call him by his first name so badly.

He also didn’t know why he kept asking Jessica about the fire, but knew it gave him an excuse to keep talking to her. He knew he should just let it go, but he wanted the truth from her.