“Hey there, Sally,” she said. “You must be the new sheriff. I’m Precious.” She stuck out her free hand and I took hers, smiling, noting how well-groomed her pink fingernails were. She’d painted them with some sort of sparkle polish that gleamed in the sunlight.
“It’s nice to meet you, Precious. I’m Rome Harmon,” I said.
Her eyes lit with excitement as I let go of her hand. “I thought it was Romeo.” She sighed. “I always wanted to meet a man named Romeo.”
“Well, it is but please, call me Rome or just sheriff. No one calls me Romeo but my mom and an occasional librarian.”
She grinned, leaning toward me, inhaling deeply. “Well, I think it’s so romantic. Prosper Woods has no romance at all.”
“Precious, you should get back,” Sally said. “There’s no one at the station.”
Precious glanced at Sally and stuck out her lower lip. I noticed her mouth was also painted a bright pink that complemented the peach undertones of her cheeks just perfectly. If I’d been younger and into women, I might have given the slender young woman more than a cursory glance. As it was, long-legged blondes didn’t do much for me when accompanied by a bustline as perfect as our dispatcher’s.
Precious gave me a long-fingered wave and a smile as Sally and I walked to our separate vehicles. I climbed into my truck to make the ten-minute drive to my cabin, feeling very satisfied with my new job so far. Hopefully, the rest of my day would pass in much the same way.
I followed Sally’s green Chevy Blazer out of town. As we drove down the two-lane highway, I glanced at the redwoods that were part of the sequoia forest on either side of the road. The trees were glorious. Most were typical redwoods but every so often one of the magnificent sequoias would appear like a reminder of primeval forests and dinosaurs. Sequoia trees were among the oldest living things on earth. They stood out from other redwoods because they were not only ten times the girth of the average tree, but taller than most skyscrapers. Some of these trees were three thousand years old. I was awed by their majesty and felt small and insignificant around them.
The cabin the Prosper Woods town council reserved for me was not what I’d expected at all. I’d figured they’d most likely tuck me away in the forest in a small one- or two-room cabin. A two-story home built solidly of logs with chinking in between the sturdy trees was more than I could have asked for. There was a paved drive lined with flower beds and set just far enough back from the main road to give the place privacy. As I stepped out of my truck and closed the door, I heard nothing but the whisper of the leaves in the trees and the babbling of a nearby brook. Birds trilled and the sun shined. I was amazed by the sense of home I felt as Sally unlocked the front door and handed me the key.
I stepped through the doorway and smiled. A huge, oval braided rug in shades of rust and brown covered most of the hardwood floor in the living room. A small kitchen table made of maple was surrounded by chairs with spoked backs. An orange glass bowl with silicone fruit sat in the middle of the table on a fat yellow doily that someone had painstakingly crocheted. The walls were paneled in golden planks and the sloping roof of the living room was repeated in the kitchen which was open to the small dining area where the table sat. A staircase was visible on the wall facing the front door and off to the side was a floor-to-ceiling rock fireplace with a hearth stacked with wood.
I was charmed beyond belief.
“Nice, huh?” Sally asked, turning to look at me for my response.
“Wow,” I replied. “It’s more than I expected.”
She looked at her watch before looking back at me. “I’m gonna head out then, Sheriff. Someone has to man the battleship.” She smiled, sticking out her hand. “There’s no rush at the office so I guess I’ll expect you tomorrow?”
I nodded, shaking her hand. “That’ll be perfect, Sally. I don’t need longer than a few hours to get the truck unloaded and unpacked. Thanks for everything you did today.”
“My pleasure. You have my cell. Call me if you need me.” She walked out the door and waved.
I followed her and strolled to the truck, dropping the tailgate as she drove away. I waited until she was out of sight before hopping into the truck to begin dragging boxes into the cabin. I couldn’t get the silly smile off my face.
Vincent
I arrived at the small town of Prosper Woods, California, in the middle of the night, driving my late model Honda Civic. It was painted all black and decked out with all the features I’d ordered. Black leather seats, wood dash made on spec with a special hideaway built underneath the glove box to store my favorite weapon at the moment, a Desert Eagle handgun. Of course, it wasn’t the only weapon I had at my disposal. Other, more lethal weapons than the firearm, were a part of my anatomy and had been for the last seven hundred years.
I parked on the street in front of the empty store I’d leased in preparation of the arrival of my belongings the following day, listening to the hum of the motor. As I shut off the engine, I glanced into the rearview mirror and smiled, dropping my fangs and examining the sharp points before retracting them quickly. I glanced around the dark street which was absent of even the tittering of nocturnal animals and exited the car.
I withdrew the key to the store and inserted it into the front door lock, listening
