Sorry about the formatting problem. I didn't check it after uploading, hopefully it doesn't do that again.
My feet dragged against the floor as I made my way inside my house and close the door behind me. My body is dead tired from hiking, searching, and rescuing the old lady who somehow got herself far in the forest. It wasn't fun having to pull an almost all-nighter to find the lady and then led her back to camp for the EMS to look her over for any injuries.
She was very polite about apologizing for us having to be called out and save her from the cold, wet night. Another fun part was it was raining, making the K-9's job hard as the rain was washing away the stronger scent of her. It could have been worse though, finding her dead in a ditch; been there, done that, was not fun.
A mistake I made was not bringing any energy drinks with me to help stay awake during the whole search. Dominick literally smacked me upside the head to keep me awake while the chief talked about this and that; my brain is too tired for it to remember anything. It went in one ear and out the other.
Dragging my feet into the kitchen and grabbing a cup form the cabinets, I make myself a cup of water and down the entire thing. My eyes caught the sight of the time on the oven; it read 3:36 am. Before forgetting to feed the dogs, I release them from their kennels and they followed me to the kitchen. I pour each of them a cup and a half and let them eat the food.
Without changing out of my clothes or even making it up to my room, I lay down on the carpet of the living room. My body was facing downwards on the ground and I used my arms as a pillow. It was already blown out of my mind to put the dogs back in their kennels and I could care less if they chewed something up.
Kodi lies on my legs like normal and Vivi sits with her butt next to my face. For all I cared, she could fart in my face and it would surpass me in any shape or form. It only took a few moments to let sleep wrap its tight blanket around me and take me away from the land of the living.
A wet, slobbery tongue was licking at my face and woke me up from my peaceful sleep that felt like a two-second nap. Pushing away the squishy face and using my shirt to wipe off the slobber, I tiredly look around my surroundings.
By the looks of it, I was still downstairs, in my clothes from yesterday, and the sun was already past the horizon. My ears caught the sound of the beeping of my alarm clock upstairs in my room. Scrambling to get on my feet and pushing Kodiak off of my legs, I rush to my room, turned off my alarm clock, and changed out of my clothes from yesterday.
The clock on my nightstand read 7:37, meaning I have only less then twenty-three minutes to get ready for work. Fuck my entire life. While getting dressed, my eyes caught sight of my body in the mirror and a sigh left my mouth from how much my stomach was sticking out. I have been working out (being a game warden also calls for making sure you're in shape), eating less (I usual miss dinner), and eating healthy in the first place, yet my weight still reads over one-hundred and eighty or so, way too much for a woman at any age.
After downing myself like any normal day, I get dressed for work and rushed downstairs. The dogs get feed and quickly put in their kennels; there wasn't any time for a potty break at the moment as eight o'clock gets nearer and nearer at every second of the ticking clock. I grabbed an apple and banana before heading out the door and getting onto the road before the clock struck eight.
The entire time while patrolling or speaking with the locals about their fishing licenses, yawns were escaping my mouth like crazy. I already drank a couple of V8's to keep me up but even then, I kept yawning every minute and was waiting for five to hit the clock for me to head home.
Finally, when the clock struck five, I was literally on the long driveway that connects the Lennox's and my house together. With there being potholes or where the road has been washed out (rainstorms are common, especially in the spring. Can't wait for the thunder and lightning to show), I couldn't get to my house as fast as wanted if I didn't want to blow out a shock. I have done that in this truck, felt so bad for Powerstroke.
Leisurely pushing the door open and slamming it close behind me, I drag my feet over to where the dogs kennels are in the living room and released them. Vivian being the energetic puppy she is, she jumps on Kodi with her upper body draped over his back.
Going to the kitchen with both of the dogs following me, I pour each of them their cup and a half and told them their commands before letting them gobble down on the food. I fill both of their water bowls so after eating the dry dog food, they have something to help wash it down, and head to my room.
It was time to work on a couple of cases against some poachers who decided to shoot a doe, at night, and supposedly, lighting them up. It's just like the saying 'a deer caught in headlights', it makes them an easier target (it's just as bad as baiting them, totally unfair) to be shot at. Shooting at night was even more dangerous, you don't know what may be behind those trees, maybe a house or a dog wandering around or even a human walking a trail, you just don't know.
Many accidents involving shooting at night have happened in the state of Maine, some were fatalities causing the shooter to gain a murder charge and ruining the rest of their lives. Even if it's an accident, you still killed them and need to face up to what you did. A lot of people don't use their goddamn brain ever or even the common sense you're suppose to have.
This man, Robert Johnson, is under suspicion of shooting a doe at night and leaving it there to rot, another charge. If I can put these puzzle pieces together, than I can get a warrant out for his arrest and a search warrant for his house to collect the gun used and if he is there, arrest him on the spot. It would be hitting two birds with one stone kind of deal, if I could only piece it to be on him.
While working on this case, my door bell rings three times (signaling it was one of the Lennox's) before the sound of my door opening could be heard. "Aubrey Lambert! Get your booty down here before I drag you over here." It was Sarah yelling for me and I tiredly rubbed my eyes, not wanting to deal with this at the moment.
She had called me while I was on duty about wanting me to come for dinner. I polite declined, my body was too tired to have to talk with anyone and just wanted sleep, and hung up on her before getting back to my job. She must have not gotten the memo and decided to come over.
"Can't! I'm buried by work, maybe next time!" I shouted back and focused on the papers in front of me. The case was close to being cracked and Robert getting a hefty fine and multiple days in jail for his crimes. If I stopped now, all my focus on the case would be washed away until my mind could take the willpower to focus on it again.
"Nuh uh, honey. You're going to come down here one way or another," she replied with a hint of sass in her voice. I knew it was futile to fight her against this type of thing yet, giving up wasn't on my mind. Work usual comes first for me and even stopping on a case close to being solved wasn't an opinion on the list inside of my brain. "Fine, I guess it's the hard way now."
A pair footsteps going up the stairs sounded to the northwest of my position. They were heavier, meaning it wasn't Sarah or Will, these were much heavier, throwing me off on who it might be. They walked up to my door and opened it. The face Ian appeared in the doorway and he took the three steps to my desk.
"Either you're going to coming willingly with me or I will have to force you downstairs," he offered me two opinions but I'm an ornery and stubborn as hell person, it's going to be the hard way for me. I went back to work on the case still wide open in front of me; that was until a pair of strong arms plucked me from my spot and threw me over a shoulder.
In retaliation, I attempted to kick him with my legs until he held my legs against his chest to stop me. Then I elbow and punch his back with all my force. It did nothing to stop or slow him down. He still carried me out of my room, down the flight of stairs, and into the dining room. He sets me down on one of the chairs of the four person table and stands guard next to me with his arms crossed over his chest like some badass.
Sarah stood in front of me with a honeyed smile on her face. "See, told you so. Anyway, I know how you are with eating and I brought over Aunty Beth pasta. There are leftovers for three days and I will come by to check up on them, and if they aren't gone, I will be mad. A mad mama is a scary mama." She points behind me where a plate of said Aunty Beth pasta sat and I rolled my eyes.
"I'm not even hungry and I already had something in the first place," I sassed back and stood up from the chair. Ian puts his hand on my shoulder and forces me to sit back down. There was no way to fight this guy; he was like the fucking rock but with way more strength.
"Oh, really? What did you have and what time?" she questioned with her hand on her hip.
"An apple and a banana and I don't remember," I half lied; I really don't know the exact time when both the banana and apple were consumed as it wasn't really lying. She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest to act all intimidating, my mother was easily scarier on any normal day.
"Talking isn't getting us anywhere. Just eat the food on the plate and we'll leave, simple as that. No, we can't force it down your throat but we can stand here until you eat. It's not even that much, finish the plate and we'll be on our happy way," Sarah offered. I really wanted to get back on the case that someone rudely interrupted me; it was close to being cracked.
"Fine, you're lucky I don't have time for any of this," I finally gave in and took a bite of the food in front of me. It was absolutely delicious in all the flavors of cooking, I was glad she came over with food or it might have been a chicken nugget and French fry week. For an entire week, the only thing I ate was chicken nuggets and French fries.
After eating everything on my plate, Sarah was pleased with me and left me with three dishes of Aunty Beth pasta. She suspects me to eat a dish a day for the three days and will check on me after the three day. If they aren't eaten she "will bring hells fire for me to eat". I'd rather not be here to figure out what that means. I clean up my plate and put in the dishwasher for it to be cleaned later.
Heading up stairs after letting the dogs go outside and have their fun, I plopped my butt down on my blue swivel chair at my desk and get back to work. Hopefully this case could be solved soon and dock my number of cases down from three to two. Game wardens are their own investigators; they have to do everything on their own.
Later on, sleep was beginning to take its hold on me and instead of fighting it; I let it take me under its spell. I lay my head on my arms and right as my eyes closed, they caught the time: 10:39 pm.
'Beep beep beep beep bee-' I slam my hand on the alarm beeping right in my ear and sigh in content until another beeping behind me on the night stand. Leaning back in the chair and releasing a loud groan, I stand up from my chair and dragged my feet over to the other alarm clock. I slam my hand on this one too to shut it up and stretched out my sore muscles. My back and neck hurt the worst from sleeping at the angle that I did.
Doing my normal morning routine with the dogs and myself, I get ready for the day ahead. I down a V8 energy drink to keep me awake during the morning and not yawn as much like yesterday. The dogs got fed, they got to go outside for their morning run, and go to the bathroom. I put them in their kennels, still can't trust them out of them, and give them their water buffalo horns to chew on them. They go quickly through the other bones and these types of bones are nearly impossible for them to destroy them like any of their other toys so saving money in the pockets (stuffed toys are a big no for them, stuffing everywhere).
Leaving my house to patrol my section and make sure no one is up to any trouble, I start my day right as the tires of my patrol vehicle hit the pavement. It was a nice day with the sun shining brightly today and warming the air around. I had to stop by a nearby gas station as the gas gauge was beginning to get a little low for comfort. A rule for us game wardens was never let your gas get below halfway or you'll regret it.
Since the sun is shining above and warming up the day, I stood outside of my truck, waiting for the tank to be filled. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted two Lamborghinis sitting off to the side as if watching out for something. One was a bright, sunshine yellow and the other was a cherry/apple red, both were gorgeous to look at. I pull out my phone and snap a picture of them both sitting there.
Zeke is a fanatic about supercars like me (I like both classics and supers) and would love to see these cars. It also gave me the bragging right to say I got to see two Lamborghinis today, he's going to be pissed off at me. He sure was when he texted me back about sending the location so he could personally see, I didn't let that happen and sent him another picture of them.
Walking away from my truck and up to the lean and mean machines, I snap some more pictures while snickering to myself. Zeke was trying to call me but I didn't hit the answer button and sent him more pictures of the ones I just took.
One thing that caught my sense was they were giving me the same vibe as the GMC at the Lennox's. A shiver went down my spine in reaction and I huffed out in annoyance with a glare pointed at the both of them. They gave me the feeling as if they were watching my every move and I didn't like that one bit.
After dealing with the cars, I get done with the gas and leave quickly. Being around those two gave me a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something was off about all three of the cars and I needed to figure it out.