Chapter 2: A Changed World
Hope County, Montana
USA
May 2021
Nearly 17 years after Bill Harvey's tragic and life-changing experience in Yara, the world was now drastically different. Politics in the United States caused immense divisiveness within the country, an astounding uptick in nationwide incidents and allegations led to huge movements calling for change in regard to various social justices causes, such as police and criminal justice reform and sexual misconduct awareness, among other issues.
Most notably, a worldwide pandemic of the Coronavirus provoked a slowing and/or standstill of almost everything but the most essential businesses and services.
The Sheriff's Department in rural Hope County, Montana, and also the county as a whole, were in no way insusceptible to the impacts of these vast changes. Although the initial wave of the pandemic was very trying for Sheriff Troy Harrison and his staff, most of them managed to weather this storm and the far-reaching changes that came with it quite impressively.
Unfortunately, in late March of 2020, Deputy Michael Whitehorse was called away to his hometown on the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning, Montana after his father, aunt, uncle, and cousin were all badly stricken with the virus. They all, thankfully, recovered sometime later, but Whitehorse himself chose to resign from the Hope County Sheriff's Department out of a desire to stay on the reservation permanently and reconnect with his various family members. He had since rejoined his former job with the Blackfeet Reservation's Tribal Police Department.
In the wake of Whitehorse's resignation, Sheriff Harrison and his newly promoted Undersheriff, veteran Hope County Deputy Joey Hudson, decided to implement the department's first-ever Reserve Deputy Program, which enabled any interested Hope County citizens to be trained and certified as law enforcement officers and work for the department on a part-time volunteer basis.
This idea led to military veteran and highly-skilled sniper Grace Armstrong joining the program and becoming not only a Reserve Deputy, but also the department's new Tactical and Use of Force trainer. Additionally, Amy Frye had also been through the program and was now Grace's patrol partner.
Other positive changes had also come about in recent years. After the Eden's Gate cult was taken down in 2018, Hope County's selectboard urged Sheriff Harrison to reward promotions to those who had helped him take down the vile Seed siblings and their followers. Sergeant Abigail "Abby" Asher was the first to receive a promotion in the summer of 2019, making history as Hope County's first female deputy to assume the rank of Lieutenant.
Deputies Adam Xander and Dakota Michaels were also meritoriously bumped up the ranks. After giving life-saving CPR to a jail inmate who had suffered a massive heart attack, the Montana chapter of the American Red Cross honored Xander with a commendation, and in response to this honor, Harrison promoted his longtime friend and subordinate to the rank of Sergeant.
Meanwhile, Deputy Dakota Michaels was promoted to the position of Hope County's Chief Deputy by Joey Hudson once she assumed the rank and office of Undersheriff. Michaels, a divorcee who shared custody of his now 6-year-old daughter Emma with his ex-wife who lived in nearby Missoula, was also the deputy in charge of the Reserve Deputy Program.
On this particular Friday night, Sheriff Harrison was on patrol with Lieutenant Asher in the Holland Valley Region of Hope County. Both clad in their respective uniforms, the pair rode in a dark green 2020 Ford Explorer Police Interceptor SUV decked out with the various Hope County Sheriff's emblems and decals. Harrison was driving and Asher sat in the front seat. Making things difficult was the huge bank of fog that had rolled itself into the county a few hours earlier, making visibility gallingly inadequate for motorists on the roads.
"Damn," Asher said, "It sure is foggy out tonight, huh?"
Harrison switched on the vehicle's high-beam headlights in retort. "Yep," he replied as he adjusted to the poor visibility in front of him, "It feels like it should be Halloween night or something."
Asher nodded. "At least it's quiet," she said before smiling.
Just then, a shrill and loud emergency tone came over the police radio. "Attention all Hope County units", dispatcher Evan Adams said from the radio, "Emergency transmission. We have a reported Ten-Thirty-Six, endangered missing juvenile last seen in the vicinity of the Dodd Residence as of thirty minutes ago. The juvenile in question is a ten-year-old white female, approximately fifty four inches tall and weighing approximately seventy pounds. Last seen wearing a pink cotton t-shirt and plaid pink pajama bottoms with magenta colored crocs."
Harrison sighed. "You had to say it," he said before a light bulb went on inside his mind. "Wait a minute," he continued, "The Dodds? You don't think it's…"
"Mm-hmm," Asher replied, "Amelia. She must be sleep walking again."
Amelia Dodd, the younger adopted sister of Deputy Kevin Dodd, Jr., was actually the biological daughter of the two leaders of the Eden's Gate cult. She had been abandoned outside a Chicago church during a snowstorm as an infant, only to coincidentally be adopted later by the Dodds and brought back to Hope County. Joseph Seed was subsequently killed by Sheriff Harrison as he attempted to abduct his daughter.
Now 10 years old, the young girl had struggled with Post Traumatic Stress since then and, more recently, had been prone to bouts of sleep walking. This was not the first time the department had responded to the Dodd Residence because Amelia had left her bed in the middle of the night.
Harrison grabbed the CB radio mic off its cradle with his free hand and keyed the mic. "Hope County Alpha-One to Dispatch," he said into the radio, "I copy that Ten-Thirty-Six call and will be responding Code Three with Lieutenant Asher." Asher then reached over to the vehicle's console and flipped on the overhead red and blue emergency lights as well as the siren's "Wail" function.
The vehicle's speed increased as the voice of Reserve Deputy Grace Armstrong came over the radio. "Hope County Raymond-One to Hope County Alpha-One," she said from the radio, "We copy your traffic, Sheriff. Be advised that Amy and I are also responding Code Three to the Dodd Residence, over."
Harrison and Asher traded looks before the sheriff keyed the mic again. "Copy that, Grace" he said into the radio, "If you get there before us, please be sure to do a thorough sweep of the residence, over."
"Ten-four, sir" Grace responded a few seconds later, "Will do, over."
Dodd Residence
5 Minutes Later
Harrison and Asher arrived at the Dodd Residence and were immediately greeted by Aubrey Dodd and her husband, Kevin Dodd Sr. Mr. Dodd was dressed in a Hope County Cougars t-shirt and a pair of green athletic shorts with a pair of black sandals, while his anxious and borderline distraught wife was dressed in a white cotton bathrobe and a pair of white slippers.
"How long has she been gone this time, guys?" Harrison asks at he and Asher approached them.
"I put her to bed about eight o' clock, Sheriff" Aubrey explained.
"And I checked on her at about nine," Kevin added, "Her bed was empty and her bedding was messed up."
Asher briefly glanced at her watch before returning her gaze to the worried couple. "So that's about half an hour ago," she said, "Did you guys hear her go out your front door or anything?"
Aubrey shook her head. "No," she replied, "And we definitely would have. Our room's right next to hers."
Harrison's handheld radio then chirped to life. "Sheriff", Reserve Deputy Amy Frye said from the radio, "Are you and the lieutenant Ten-Twenty-Three yet?" 10-23 was the department's radio code indicating arrival on a scene.
Harrison promptly keyed his mic. "Ten-Four, Amy" he said into the radio, "We're out front speaking to the Dodds now, over."
"Grace and I just found footprints leading from the back door in the kitchen that look to be consistent with Amelia's crocs," Amy replied from the radio, "They look to be headed towards the patch of woods directly behind the house, over."
Asher immediately began sprinting like an excited doe toward the rear of the Dodds' small cabin.
"Abby—" Harrison called out before trailing off and sighing with futility. He then keyed his mic once again. "Copy that" he said into the radio, "Looks like we're headed your way."
The sheriff and the lieutenant found Amy and Grace at the back of the house carefully studying the found footprints through the beams of their flashlights. Grace Armstrong was a very tall and sturdy African-American woman in her early 40's, while Amy Frye was a younger, shorter, but still very built African-American woman in her early 30's.
"Where do you guys think she's headed?" Asher asked.
No one even had a chance to reply before the quartet of law enforcement officers heard a very spooky young female voice call out from the woods nearby. "MOMMY!" the young voice shrieked.
Harrison looked to Grace. "Go back to the Dodds and keep them away from this area for now," he instructed, "Abby, Amy, and I will go out there and get her."
"Yes, sir" Grace replied before hurrying around to the front of the residence.
Meanwhile, Harrison, Asher, and Amy headed into the small yet thick patch of woods that bordered the Dodds' property. They walked in a straight line with Harrison at the forefront, shining their flashlight beams straight ahead. "Amelia!" Harrison called out, "It's Sheriff Troy! I'm here with Abby and Amy!"
Asher then chimed in. "Amelia, honey" she shouted, "If you can hear us, say something."
"I'm here," Amelia called back from a direction that seemed to be roughly ten or so feet in front of them.
The trio soon found Amelia Dodd sitting under a tree. Although she was covered in a what looked to be a pink quilt, she was shivering. "Oh jeez," Harrison said as he knelt down to the scared young girl, "Amelia, are you okay?"
Amelia looked to the sheriff with confusion and concern in her eyes before he helped her up into a standing position. "What happened?" she said.
"It looks like you were sleep walking again, babe" Harrison said with a very compassionate tone as he wrapped the quilt a bit tighter around her, "Your mom and dad called us out here again to find you."
Asher put her arm around her as they began to follow Harrison and Amy back towards the house. "Are you hurt or anything?" she inquired.
Amelia shook her head. "I don't think so," she said, "But I am sure cold."
Asher chuckled. "I'll bet," she replied, "It's not quite summer yet, kiddo. It still gets kind of chilly at night."
With Amelia having been found and brought back into her warm house and equally warm bed, Harrison, Asher, and the two reserve deputies were wrapping things up. The Dodds shook everyone's hand in gratitude.
"Thank you, guys, so much for coming out here again," Kevin said, "I'm hoping she'll be over this hurdle soon."
"It's never a problem, Mister Dodd" Harrison reassuringly replied, "You guys are technically our family, too."
"We appreciate that, Sheriff" Aubrey said.
"Speaking of which," Asher added, "Where is Kevin?" She referred to the Dodds' older son and their fellow deputy.
"He's in Oklahoma City for his college reunion," Aubrey replied, "He'll be back Monday."
Asher nodded as that fact dawned on her. "Oh yeah," she said, "I forgot about that. He asked the sheriff and I for time off last week."
"I didn't want to bother him with any of this," Kevin Sr. added, "Thank god it didn't end up being anything more serious."
"Amen," Harrison replied as he waved the now relieved couple goodbye, "See you guys around, huh?"
The Dodds thanked them one last time before the four officers went back toward their respective vehicles. Asher's phone soon began ringing. "Huh," she said with a momentarily perplexed tone as she checked the Caller ID, "It's my mom."
"Oh," Harrison replied, "Put it on speaker. I'd love to say 'hi' to Shirley."
Asher nodded and hit the speaker button on her phone. "Hi Mom", she said into the phone, "I'm here with Troy and we have you on speaker. He wants to say 'hi.'"
"Hey Shirley!" Harrison said into the phone, "How're you doing?"
"I wish I had better news, guys" Shirley Howard said with a very noticeable sadness in her voice.
"What's wrong, Mom?" Asher inquired as she caught on to her mother's morose tone.
"I just found Nate Tucker dead", Shirley blurted out.