Chapter 4: "I Solemnly Swear…"

Rye Aviation
The Next Morning

As he had promised, Nick Rye called Troy Harrison early the next morning to tell him that the Cessna passenger plane carrying his three friends and soon-to-be new colleagues had touched down at his airstrip. Harrison hurried there, dressed in his dark green Hope County Sheriff's dress uniform with white gloves on his hands and dark green campaign hat on his head. In his hands, he held three zippered suit carriers containing Asher, Xander, and Michaels' new uniforms, and a box of three campaign hats sat by his feet. Today was the official swearing-in ceremony for newly appointed Sheriff Troy Harrison and his three new deputies.

The Cessna plane's exit hatch came open and a set of retractable metal steps extended outward. Harrison was elated to see Sergeant Abigail "Abby" Asher exit the plane first. 27-year-old Asher stood with a petite five-foot-three stature and lean frame with blondish dark brown hair tied in a neat ponytail. Her bookish appearance was rounded out by a pair of black Cat's-eye glasses. Harrison felt refreshed at the sight of Asher wearing her favorite Miranda Lambert concert t-shirt and a pair of well-worn jeans with holes in the knees and brown work boots. She smiled widely as he came toward Harrison.

"I heard there was a new Sheriff in town!" Asher said gleefully as she wrapped Harrison in a warm hug.

Harrison gave Asher a heartfelt, friendly peck on the cheek. "Yes", he replied, "And he needs a new Sergeant. How are you, Abby?"

Asher broke the embrace and briefly kissed Harrison's forehead before replying. "Well I can't complain anymore", Asher replied, "Thanks so much for giving me this chance, Troy, I've been waiting so long to be able to make a change."

"I hope we're able to make it work for you, kiddo", Harrison said, "So were you able to break the ice with the fellas on the plane ride?"

Asher nodded. "Yeah", she said, "They're pretty cool. You worked with them for a while when you were out West right?"

Harrison nodded affirmatively as he looked past Asher to see Adam Xander disembarking from the plane. 30-year-old Xander matched Harrison's height of five-foot-six with an athletic frame. He was dressed in a black Nirvana t-shirt with black and white Adidas wind pants with white running shoes. His light brown hair was neatly shaved in an almost military-style buzzcut. He came toward Harrison with his hand extended, ready for a handshake.

"Adam!" Harrison called out with delight as he extended his own hand, "How you been bro?"

Xander firmly shook his new boss' hand and smiled. "Pretty good buddy", he said, "How does it feel to be the boss again, Sheriff?"

Harrison chuckled at that. "I guess we'll know in just a little bit", he replied.

Dakota Michaels was the last to get off the Cessna. The 29-year-old was about the same height as Harrison and Xander with a somewhat bulkier frame and black hair buzzed into a haircut almost identical to Xander's. He wore a black novelty American flag t-shirt that bared a large image of a Bald Eagle and the large-print slogan: "These Colors Don't Run" with what looked like a brand-new pair of jeans and black hiking boots.

"Hey Dakota!" Harrison called out, "How goes it man?"

Dakota jaunted over to Harrison and greeted him with a high-five and a momentary, friendly hug. "I'm good bud", he replied as he broke the embrace, "The uniform looks great on you, dude!"

Harrison smiled at that. "I appreciate that man", he said, "Hopefully they'll look just as good on all you guys." He then handed them their suit carriers which held their respective uniforms, then handed over the box of hats. Identifying labels on both the hats and uniform carriers each bared the name of the proper recipient.

Just then, Nick and Kim Rye emerged out the back door of their home and curiously eyed the new deputies from their back porch. A half-asleep Baby Carmina was being contently swaddled in a bright pink sling across her mother's chest. "This the new crew, Sheriff?" Nick called out to Harrison and the others.

Harrison turned and smiled at the Rye Family. "Yes sir", he replied, "Come on over, y'all!"

The Ryes came over and shook everyone's hand respectfully as Harrison made the formal introductions. He motioned to Asher first.

"This is Sergeant Abigail Asher", he said, "She's a childhood friend of mine from our hometown in Vermont and we also worked together at the Chicago PD for a while. She'll be the new Corrections Supervisor at the jail. She's as good a friend as she is a cop."

"Nice to meet you Sergeant!" Kim said warmly.

"Likewise," Asher replied, "Please call me 'Abby'. It's Kim, right?"

Kim nodded. "Yes", she said. She then motioned to her chest sling with her eyes. "This little one is Carmina."

Asher smiled as she looked at the tired baby. "Aww", she said softly, "it's nice to meet you too there, cutie."

Harrison continued on with the introductions as he motioned to Xander. "This is Deputy Adam Xander", he said, "We worked Patrol and Homicide together in a police department on the West Coast for a few years. He's a good man and one heck of a cop."

Nick shook Adam's hand firmly. "It's a pleasure, Deputy", he said, "Welcome to Hope County!"

Xander smiled. "The pleasure's all mine, Nick", he replied, "and thank you."

Harrison then rounded out the introductions by motioning to Michaels. "And last but sure as heck not least", he said, "This is Deputy Dakota Michaels. He worked with Adam and I out West. He's a great guy, a skilled paramedic, and one of the most knowledgeable SWAT guys I've ever had the pleasure of working with."

Michaels smiled and shook both the Ryes' hands firmly. "Nice to meet you both!" he said. He then took a look at Baby Carmina. "She's beautiful", he told Kim.

"Thank you", Kim replied warmly, "without the hard work and driving ability of our new sheriff here, I doubt it would've been as easy to bring her into this world."

"That's great", Michaels told her, "I have a three-year-old of my own. Her name's Emma."

Knowing they were dealing with a bit of a time constraint; Harrison abruptly changed the subject. "Do you mind if we use your bathroom to change into our dress uniforms for the ceremony?" he asked Nick.

"No problem dude", Nick replied, "Our house is your house!"

Harrison and the new officers then went inside the Ryes' house. As each of them took a turn in the bathroom to change into their respective uniforms, Nick changed into a suit and tie to attend the ceremony himself.

"Sorry I can't go with you guys to the ceremony", Kim told Harrison.

"No worries dear", he replied with a kindly smile, "my beautiful goddaughter needs her mama after all!"

Kim chuckled before sighing. "I'm very proud of you, Troy", she continued, "I'm sure you'll do us and the rest of Hope County very proud as well."

Touched by her warm sentiment, Harrison gave her a peck on the cheek. "Thank you, Kim," he said, "You and your husband have been so wonderful to me, even before I helped you with Carmina."

The now uniform-clad new officers soon filed into the Ryes' living room, stood at full attention in the direction of the new sheriff, and promptly saluted him. Harrison proudly saluted back to them.

"I think we're ready!" Harrison said.

Lamb of God Church
Just outside Fall's End
One Hour Later

It seemed as if the entire population of Hope County, Montana had chosen to attend the swearing-in ceremony. Apparently, during the time between Harrison's short-term departure from the county and his return, a lot had changed for the better. Those who had initially been so severely affected by the Bliss attacks that the cult had orchestrated had received both medical and psychological help from the medical teams that had been implemented by way of Governor Albertson's Martial Law order, and thankfully, they had all made a full recovery.

Hope County's school system had made a very obvious comeback as well. For instance, Holland Valley's long-abandoned Saint Isidore School was vastly renovated and turned into the brand-new Holland Valley Elementary School, accommodating grades Kindergarten through sixth. Meanwhile, the Henbane River region's Throne of Mercy Church was another building that had stood abandoned and very dilapidated for an extended period of time way before the Seeds and Project Eden's Gate had made their presence known. As such, the decision was made to have it completely demolished. The Hope County Unified School, accommodating seventh through twelfth grades, was impressively and expeditiously built on the site.

All of these significant positive changes wouldn't have been entirely possible without the compassionate hard work and supportive insights of newly-elected Hope County Mayor Steven McCoy. McCoy was a lifelong Hope County native in his late fifties who had previously served in the Montana State government as Hope County's Democratic State Representative. When Virgil Minkler was tragically murdered during the second jail siege, McCoy was the first to step up and succeed him as Mayor, appointing Sharon Stanley to take his place as State Representative.

Today, Mayor McCoy stood at the podium in the sanctuary of Holland Valley's Lamb of God Church. The audience seemingly went completely silent on a dime as he began his speech.

"Things certainly have not been easy for those of us who live, work, and visit Hope County over the past few months", McCoy began, "In one way or another, we have lost so many hard-working, kind, wonderful people who meant a lot to us." The Mayor took a moment to compose himself, as the thought of whoever he was envisioning in his mind at the moment was obviously getting to him.

"With the cult seemingly having been dealt with appropriately", he continued after a moment, "the brave men and women of the Hope County Sheriff's Department will hopefully have a quieter, cleaner, and less tumultuous county in which to work and also to protect. As I'm sure everyone here will agree, the job of a law enforcement officer is in no way an easygoing one. However, I have the utmost confidence in the incoming Sheriff and his team of deputies. To officially commence the swearing-in of these fine officers, I'm going to turn this podium over to our soon-to-be-very-missed outgoing Sheriff, Mister Earl Whitehorse!"

With that, the crowd erupted in thunderous applause and several standing ovations for Earl Whitehorse. The outgoing Sheriff, stylishly clad in a black and white three-piece suit with a tie bearing the emblem of the local Hope County Cougars baseball team and his ever-present cowboy hat, approached the podium and graciously motioned for the audience to quiet down.

"Thank you all for the support", Whitehorse began, "I have been so incredibly and graciously proud to have served in the Hope County Sheriff's Department, in both my twenty-six years as a Deputy, and especially during my last four years during which I've had the pleasure of serving as Sheriff. It is with both comfort and subtle regret that I hang up my Sheriff's star and make room for someone else."

Whitehorse briefly took a sip of water before continuing. "All of us here have all had our struggles here in Hope County", he went on, "Mostly due to the Seeds and Project Eden's Gate. As Mayor McCoy just said, however, it appears that they have been dealt with appropriately, thanks in no small part to our Governor Albertson, the brave men and women of the FBI, the brave men and women of our Montana National Guard, and our new incoming Hope County Sheriff, Troy Harrison!"

With that, Harrison took that as his cue to stand up for a minute, after which he briefly turned and waved to the crowd with a wide and proud smile. As such, the crowd gave him just as many standing ovations as Whitehorse had been given. The new Sheriff then sat back down so his predecessor could continue.

"Troy has been a law enforcement officer for many years", Whitehorse continued, "He began his career as an FBI Special Agent where he earned the esteemed privileges of being both a behavioral profiler and a forensic science specialist. He later became a Detective with the Chicago Police Department, where he worked in both the Homicide Unit and the cutting-edge Cyber Crime Task Force. He then became a police officer in a West Coast police department, where he worked his way up to being the department's Chief Detective."

Abigail Asher gave Harrison a pleased smile as she listened to Whitehorse's speech. "Those of us at the Hope County Sheriff's Department were then humbled to have him come work for us as a Junior Deputy", Whitehorse said, "and saying he was instrumental in helping us take down Project Eden's Gate could possibly be one of the biggest understatements ever. He has personally and almost single-handedly saved the lives of myself and Deputies Joey Hudson and Staci Pratt, as well as helping Hope County to become our home again. I am honored to know him, and am elated to know that he will wear the same stripes on the shoulders of his uniform that I had the pride of wearing. So therefore, I present to you our new Hope County Sheriff, Troy Harrison!"

The audience shot to their feet as nearly all of them gave Harrison huge standing ovations. He humbly made his way to the podium and gratefully shook hands with Whitehorse, and in return, the outgoing sheriff unexpectedly gave him a momentary hug before returning to his seat. He lightly tapped the podium's microphone before starting to speak.

"Thank you, Earl," Harrison said, "and when I say 'thank you', I truly mean that. Even though I was incredibly surprised and humbled by your offer to have me succeed you as Hope County's new sheriff, I was even more so overjoyed to accept it. I'd like to promise you, however, that as excited as I am to be wearing the Sheriff's star, no one will ever truly take your place in our department."

The audience gave both Harrison and Whitehorse a heartfelt round of applause before the former continued. "I'm actually going to keep this relatively short today", Harrison went on, "I've never been too big on giving speeches. However, I would like to promise the members of my department, some of whom are brand new, some have been around the block and back, that I will lead with pride and respect to continue to make Hope County a decent home, a secure place to work, and just a safe place overall for those who live, work, or visit our county."

Applause broke out for a few minutes before Harrison put a hand up to quiet down the crowd. "…and obviously", he continued, "that promise I just made applies to our amazing and resilient citizens of Hope County as well. This is our home, our work place, OUR place and no one can bring us down. Thank you all very much!"

Yet another round of thunderous applause and standing ovations from the audience erupted as Harrison saluted them from the podium just before Mayor McCoy came up opposite him. "Congratulations Sheriff Harrison!" the Mayor humbly said, "Now if you'll please raise your right hand and repeat after me, I'll officially administer the oath to you."

Harrison gladly did as the Mayor had instructed and raised his right hand, looking directly at Mayor McCoy. "I, Troy Daniel Harrison", McCoy recited for Harrison to repeat, "promise to uphold and defend the constitutions of both the United States and the State of Montana from all enemies, both foreign and domestic."

Harrison repeated the first portion of the oath verbatim. "…and promise to discharge the duties bestowed upon me by my position as Sheriff of Hope County, Montana, proudly and with respect to both the law and our citizens, so help me God", McCoy recited the second portion of the oath.

Harrison repeated the oath's second portion of the oath verbatim as well. "Congratulations, Sheriff Harrison!" McCoy said as the entire room, audience members and fellow officers alike, erupted in cheers and applause.

Abigail Asher, Adam Xander, and Dakota Michaels soon followed suit, proudly having the official oath administered to them by Mayor McCoy. The formal appointment of the new sheriff and his three new officers had finally been made, and the four of them made their way into the crowd, greeting everyone, shaking hands, and the like.

Sometime later, the post-ceremony festivities were in full swing as a barbecue was held on the church's front lawn. Sheriff Harrison was in the process of pouring himself a cola when two young men, also dressed in Hope County Sheriff's dress uniforms and campaign hats, came up to him.

"Sheriff Harrison?" one of the men asked. He was a tan-skinned gentleman that looked to be in his early to mid-twenties.

"Yes sir, that's me", he replied.

The young man extended a white-gloved hand. "It's so nice to finally meet you, sir", he said, "I'm Michael Whitehorse, I'm…"

"Earl's son", Harrison replied as he firmly shook his hand, "Your dad has told me so much about you. I'm looking forward to working with you."

Deputy Michael Whitehorse nodded politely in response before motioning to the other young man beside him. His friend looked to be about his same age and looked to have a very athletically-built figure. "This is Deputy Kevin Dodd", Whitehorse introduced, "My partner."

Harrison shook Dodd's hand just as firmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kevin", he said, "Now that's Kevin Dodd Junior, right?"

Kevin Dodd nodded with a slight smirk. "Yes sir", he replied, "My father's 'Kevin' too. He runs our local sanitation company here in Hope County."

"I see", Harrison said with interest, "and Earl told me that your mom owns Aubrey's Diner in Henbane River, right?"

"That's right", Dodd replied, "She wanted me to work there as a fry cook after high school, but I had other plans." He smiled with a sense of pride.

Harrison nodded. "Plans like going for a law degree at O.U. and playing football for the Oklahoma Sooners, huh?" he asked, knowing full well what his answer would be.

Dodd scoffed. "Earl told you?" he asked.

"Yeah", Harrison replied, "but actually he didn't even have to tell me. I watch O.U. football every season. You can run like the wind, man!"

Dodd laughed at the compliment. "Thank you, sir," he said graciously.

Harrison sipped his cola for a moment. "Earl has you guys working Patrol on the dayshift for now, right?" he asked Deputy Whitehorse.

"Correct", Whitehorse replied, "We drive all around Holland Valley from seven a.m. to seven p.m. five days a week. Why do you ask?"

"Well", Harrison replied, "I'm thinking that since our new sergeant and our two new deputies are here, I'd like to switch things up a bit. I don't mean to give you guys too little notice here, but would you mind if I reassigned you both to work with Sergeant Asher at the jail?"

Deputies Whitehorse and Dodd looked at each other as they pondered the new sheriff's abrupt offer before both of them shrugged their shoulders. "Okay", Whitehorse replied, "Maybe a change would do us good."

Harrison nodded. "Okay then", he said, "I'd like you both to report to the jail at seven o' clock tomorrow morning and check in with Sergeant Asher. You'll be the new Correctional Deputies on the dayshift."

The two deputies stood at attention as if they were back in the Police Academy. "Yes sir", they both replied in unison.

With that, Sheriff Harrison had a newfound sense of confidence in himself and his deputies. He could tell that, even though things certainly wouldn't be a walk in the park, this whole situation had the potential to be a very beneficial one.