Chapter 5: Family

Winterville Community Hospital
12:30 PM

Winterville Community Hospital wasn't a sprawling urban medical center by any stretch of the imagination. However, though its location and size didn't entirely match that of the larger Level I trauma center in neighboring New Hampshire, the care was absolutely top-notch. It often found its staff from the ranks of various other hospitals, so WCH often operated with a well-trained, well-prepared, and very diverse group of doctors, nurses, technicians, and other appropriate personnel.

A shining example of this mostly well-oiled healthcare machine was Sheriff Troy Harrison's mother, Karen Harrison. A well-built gray-haired white woman in her mid-60's, Karen worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse in the hospital's Acute Care Unit and had been employed by the hospital for nearly 30 full years, having followed in the footsteps of her late mother.

Karen entered Room #213 of the hospital's Acute Care Unit. She was dressed in her butterfly print scrub attire as well as a lab coat and white nursing sneakers with a surgical mask and safety goggles on her face.

On this particular afternoon, she had been tasked with being a one-on-one bedside nurse for a very sickly 78-year-old man named Dwight Wayley, who had been admitted to the unit with Congestive Heart Failure following a stroke. Consequently, Mr. Wayley was unable to communicate verbally with anyone and more recently had battled a high fever.

The experienced and kindhearted LPN began her assessment by checking her patient's temperature. Finding it within better limits than it had been the previous day, she then looked to the cardiac monitor beside the bed, frowning when she noticed that the man's heartrate readings still remained consistent with active Congestive Heart Failure.

Karen looked to the supine Dwight Wayley in his bed and very tenderly wiped saliva from his mouth with a moistened washcloth. "My goodness, Dwight" she said, "All these years that you've gotten to live, can't you catch a break?"

She then sensed another person come into the room. "Miss Karen," the generous accented female voice said.

Karen turned to see that Liezel Sawyer, another LPN with whom she shared the shift, was now by her side. Liezel was a short, dark-haired Filipina woman in her mid-40's who was clad in a dark red scrub suit and a pair of matching crocs with a stethoscope over her shoulder. She also wore a surgical mask and goggles.

"Yes, Liezel?" Karen inquired.

"You have some visitors at the Nurse's Station," Liezel replied, "I can stay here with Mister Dwight for now."

Karen nodded and switched seats with her considerate colleague, putting a hand on her shoulder as she went to leave the room. "Thanks, dear" she said, "I'll be back in a bit."

She then left the room and headed down the hall to the Nurse's Station and smiled through her mask as she saw who was standing there. Harrison and Asher stood beside one another, still clad in the same attire as before. The only thing different was that the duo was now wearing KN95 masks over their faces in accordance with hospital mandates.

"Oh my God!" Karen exclaimed, "Troy Daniel!"

"Hi Ma!" Harrison replied as he wrapped his mom in a warm hug, "How the hell are you?"

"I'm better now, babe" Karen said as she broke the embrace with her son and reverted the cuddle to Asher. "Abigail!" she exclaimed, "How are you, baby doll?"

"I'm good, Karen" Asher said, "I just wish we were back under better circumstances."

"Why?" Karen asked, "What brings you back?"

"We're working with WPD to help them deal with those murders that've been happening," Harrison explained, "We've also brought in Bill and some of our friends from Chicago PD to help."

"Oh yeah," Karen said, "I heard about Audrey. Isn't that terrible?"

"For sure," Harrison said before abruptly changing the subject to avoid the anguish, "I was wondering, do you still have a key to our camp? We're thinking of crashing up there for a bit while we all work through this thing."

Karen nodded. "At home," she replied, "Sure. But there's no need. There's a spare key above the front door of the house."

Harrison's mouth slackly dropped in realization before he nodded. "Right", he said, "I forgot. I haven't been back up that way since last July Forth, as I'm sure you remember."

"Yep," Karen replied, "That barbeque was a blast!"

Harrison chuckled. "Sure was", he said before wrapping his mother in a hug once again. "Alright Ma," he continued, "We're going to get headed. I'll swing by the house tomorrow night and have dinner with you and daddy, okay?"

Karen smiled through her mask as their embrace broke. "we'd love that, honey" she replied, "Love you guys."

"Love you too," Harrison said as Asher waved in retort, "Do me a favor and have someone escort you to your car tonight, please."

"Oh Troy," Karen replied, "No psycho killer would want to mess with your big strong farm girl of a mama."

The sharp look that the sheriff gave with his eyes said it all, and it was met with an acquiescent sigh from his overly stubborn mother. "Will do," Karen said before the duo left the building.

Harrison Family Camp
1:15 PM

The 5-acre property owned by Karen and Gary Harrison sat in a somewhat tucked away location, just beyond Oasis Park on the edge of Winterville. The land included a one-story, two-bedroom Chisum log cabin and an unattached Chisum log barn. The latter of the two buildings contained a large boxing ring that Harrison and Harvey sometimes used for martial arts sparring, as well as various exercise machines and fitness equipment.

Additionally, there was a dirt running trail behind the cabin that was roughly a mile and a half long. The Harrisons often used it to either take casual walks or jog on warmer days.

Harrison drove his rented black 2020 Ford Expedition SUV up the long and somewhat curved driveway up to the property. As he put the car in park, he smiled as he saw that not only were Bill and the Chicago folks already there, but that his older half-brother Jeremy Farley and his teenage daughter, Hope, were there as well.

Jeremy was a tall dark-haired white man in his late 40's who worked as a chef for a small restaurant and bakery in a nearby town. He was Karen Harrison's older son from her previous marriage, but he and Troy maintained a relationship akin to any other pair of brothers. Moreover, he functioned as an occasional caretaker of sorts for the Harrison Family Camp.

17-year-old Hope, meanwhile, was a tall and very sturdy athletic teenager with piercingly beautiful blue eyes who was a wonderful combination of brainy student, eccentric nerd, and devoted athlete. In what little off-time she had when she wasn't invested in all her various activities, she had a part-time job as a server at the same restaurant where her father worked. She often tagged along with Jeremy to assist with any of the tasks and chores that needed to be done in regards to the camp's caretaking.

"I'll be damned!" Harrison said to his brother as he reached his arms out for a hug, "Hey big bro!"

Jeremy gladly returned his brother's embrace. "Hey man!" he said, "Welcome back!"

"Thanks," Harrison replied before he broke the embrace and momentarily gestured to Bill and the others, "I see Billy Boy took care to introduce you guys to our guests from Chi-Town."

"He did," Jeremy said with a nod, "It looks like they've been wanting to go over sleeping arrangements."

Harrison chuckled. "I'll get to that in a second," he replied before wrapping Hope in a hug, "I wanted to hug my Hopey first." He used the same nickname that he and the family called her since her infancy. "Hey babe!" he continued, "How are you, my love?"

"Hey Troy!" Hope said as she broke the embrace, "I'm good. School, work, and everything else is keeping me busy as always."

"Cool," Harrison replied as he put a hand on his niece's shoulder, "Good for you, babe."

He then returned his gaze to Jeremy. "How's the camp holding up?" he inquired.

"Pretty damn well, actually" Jeremy began explaining, "I had to have an electrician come in two months ago to replace one of the outlets in the kitchen, but that was the only real problem. I cleaned the house all the way through and Hope tidied up the barn."

"I didn't actually have to do a whole lot," Hope commented, "Since you guys put those plastic tarps over everything. I just swept the floor really thoroughly and emptied the garbage can in there."

"Which we appreciate," Bill chimed in, "Are we good on propane for the hot water in the cabin, Jeremy?"

"You are," Jeremy replied, "Yep. I had the company come and top off the tank this morning."

Harrison chuckled once again. "And how much did that set back Mom and Dad?" he asked.

Jeremy chuckled as well in retort. "Don't ask!" he replied before he, Harrison, and Hope erupted in laughter for a moment.

He then turned to Hope. "Alright, honey" Jeremy said to her, "We should get headed and let your uncle and his friends get comfy."

Hope nodded. "Okay, Dad" she replied before waving to the Chicago crew. "It was so nice meeting all of you."

Hank Voight waved back. "It's nice to meet you guys also," he replied, "Thanks so much for your help."

"No problem, Sergeant" Jeremy added before playfully slapping Harrison's shoulder, "You guys can return the favor by watching my little brother's back."

"No worries, pal" Hank replied, "He's always had ours, so we'll always have his."

Jeremy nodded before he and Hope got into Jeremy's light blue 2016 Subaru Forester and drove away.

Harrison then turned to address. "Okay," he began, "Sleeping arrangements. There are two bedrooms in the main cabin as well as a pull-out couch in the living room. There are also two couches over in the barn, both of which are pretty damn comfortable if I do say so myself."

The Chicago Intelligence detectives briefly huddled together and quietly discussed their options among themselves before turning to look at Harrison and Bill. "I'll take the living room couch pull-out," Voight said.

"I'll take the first bedroom," Halstead said.

"…And I'll take the second one," Upton chimed in, "Even if it is by default."

Having sensed a bit of romantic tension between Detectives Halstead and Upton when everybody had met earlier at the police station, the sheriff grinned. "You sure about that?" Harrison asked.

Upton and Halstead both traded looks and smirked before both nodded in agreement. "We're sure," Halstead clarified.

"Alright then," Bill said, "I guess you and I can take the barn couches, Troy."

"Cool," Harrison replied.

The group was about to head inside and get everything settled when Harrison's phone chimed.

"Who's that?" Voight asked.

Harrison withdrew his phone from his hoodie pocket and checked in. "Porter," he replied, "Shirley Howard's going to come in to WPD tonight at five to give Upton and I a more detailed statement. He's also arranged for all of us to do walkthroughs of the crime scenes tomorrow morning."

He then turned to his cousin. "Hey Bill?" he inquired, "Do you remember Robbie Mannell by chance?"

Bill thought for a second before nodding. "Sure," he replied, "He was a grade above you, if I remember right. He was a football player, and I think he ended up becoming a cop, right?"

Harrison nodded. "He did," he clarified, "He worked at Winterville PD for a while under Jayden Porter's dad. He and Jayden were patrol partners for almost three years before he made Detective and transferred over to Vermont State Police. He's been put in charge of investigating the murders. He'll be here in the morning."

Bill nodded and the group entered the cabin to get settled as planned.