Who: Grady and JC When: Wednesday, Oct 4, morning Where: PPPD Warnings: None Status: Complete
Wearing her favorite steel grey suit paired with a cream collared shirt, her tight curls back into a bun and a hand knitted shawl was wrapped around her neck, JC walked from her car to the front door of the Point Pleasant Police Station like it was something she had done a thousand times before, while it was a new station for her the routine was one that was all too familiar, the introductions. Although her official starting day was the following Monday JC had decided to stop by the station a few days early to get a feel for the space and the people, the fact that the following day - Thursday - was a full moon also played a part, even without taking the world of the paranormal into consideration full moons always seemed to make people act crazy and another pair of hands in the station probably wouldn’t go astray.
Pushing the door open, she went inside, unwrapping the shawl a bit as she walked to the front desk. With a warm smile she addressed the younger lady sitting there, thinking to herself that this must be the temp who was filling in until she officially started. “Hello, I’d like to speak to Chief Barrett if he’s available.” The request wasn’t hard but she was rewarded with an odd look and a quirked eyebrow, as if she had no idea who he was. “Your boss... the man who’s in charge of this station.” That got a better response and she got up from her desk with a murmured ’I’ll see if he’s in.’. When the temp left the reception area to go into the station proper, JC sighed and shook her head with a soft chuckle, looks like it was a good idea to come in early.
Grady was getting ready to go out and patrol the town for a couple of hours when Maria, the temp, came in to let him know he had a visitor. It wasn't unusual for people to come to the station to talk to him. They had a lot of open cases, and Sadie Gaines had popped in a few times since Danny went missing to ask about any new news... not that he had any to give her. There was no sign of Danny Valiant in Point Pleasant and their leads had run cold... what else was new?
He set his coffee to the side and stood to follow Maria out to the front of the station where a woman who was not Jared's ex-wife was waiting for him. He smiled at her, already knowing this was the new dispatcher. "Hey there," he greeted, walking up to her with his hand offered. "Grady Barrett. Ms. Lawrence?"
It was only the matter of a minute, maybe two, before a gentleman walked out to meet her. She knew that this was Chief Grady Barrett -- Google was an amazing invention that made life so much easier when it came to finding out about new postings and knowing who she would be working with. JC also discovered that this small town of Point Pleasant was also some sort of haven for the weird and wonderful -- people disappeared without a trace, unexplained animal attacks that coincided with the lunar cycle, not to mention the poison fog which she had missed by a matter of days.
With a wide smile, she shook his offered hand. “JC, please. I know that I'm not supposed to start til Monday, but I thought I'd come in early, see if there's anything I can do to be of assistance. Gotta full moon tomorrow and they always bring out the crazy in folk.” JC said, despite having spent the best part of the last decade and a half out of Mississippi her southern accent was still pretty strong.
Grady nodded, a little amused, but relieved, that she recognized the full moon as a problem. He would have dismissed it had he still been working in Portland, but he had been in Point Pleasant long enough to know that they generally had issues on nights of the full. People got strange... aggressive. No one had the night off during a full moon. "Well, I hate to ask if you want to get started early, but if you're willing, we can get your orientation out of the way today since we could probably use the help tomorrow. Have you had time to tour the town at all?"
JC was prepared for whatever werebeasts roamed the area -- protection amulets, specially formulated Mojo Bags, Monkshood powder and if she needed it, there was always the tranquilizer gun. That had come in handy when she encountered the wereboar in upstate New York. “I've had a look around, worked out the quickest routes from my place to here, the hospital and fire station.” That was her police training, know the fastest way to the other emergency services. “And where the supermarket is, but not much more than that I'm afraid, unpacking has filled the past few days.” Creating and placing new protection Mojo Bags also took up some time’ but she felt more at ease when these were in place.
Well, that was something. It was smart to work out where the emergency departments were and it was important for JC to become comfortable with the town and where things were. If someone called on Oak Street, he wanted her to know exactly where Oak Street was. It was something that would take time, but it never hurt to get started. "Why don't you come with me on patrol," Grady suggested. "I can take you around the town a bit, and when we come back, Maria can teach you the dispatch system." He had to get out and patrol anyway, and he didn't mind having JC on a ride along.
She had looked at a few maps of the town itself and the main roads that lead in and out but had yet to drive around and investigate them for herself. The idea of going on patrol with Grady sounded like a great idea, a few of the smaller places where she had worked had given her ‘the grand tour’ while others just let her find her own way around, from experience she found that the smaller stations usually felt more like a family than just co-workers, time would tell if the atmosphere was the same here or not. “I’d love to, just be sure to let me know the places where I shouldn’t go walking alone at night.” Though her tone was light, she knew that there were good and bad in all towns and some areas that had higher crime rates than others and unfortunately a few towns she had worked in were still quite racist, there she did feel nervous about walking by herself after dark and often kept her service weapon in a holster under her jacket. “If the dispatch system is pretty standard I shouldn’t need much help, seen one system, you’ve seen them all.” She added with a smile.
Ideally, JC would be able to walk wherever she wanted, at any time of night, but... that just wasn't plausible here in Point Pleasant. Things were too unpredictable on any given day, and Bad Things could happen anywhere. "It is a pretty standard system, but I would feel more comfortable if you at least got an overview," Grady said before thumbing behind him. "Let me grab my keys and we'll be off." He could have her sign the ride along waiver in the car, though he wasn't expecting anything bad to happen. Grady grabbed his coat and keys from his office and was slipping into his coat as he walked back out to rejoin her. He let Maria know he would be back in an hour or so, and led JC outside to his patrol car. "How are you settling in?" Grady asked as he unlocked the patrol doors.
If he wanted her to get an overview of the system she'd do it, getting on the bad side of the boss was something she didn't want to happen. It only took a minute for Grady to grab his keys and coat before he was back and they were outside walking to one of the patrol cars. “Still a few boxes to unpack but my apartment is much nicer than quite a few places I've lived in. Just hopin’ USPS hurries up with my mail redirection. “ JC smiled. Getting into the passenger side she quickly belted herself in and grabbed a small notebook and pen from her bag, she always found taking notes helped her remember things, and they'd be there if she needed to refresh her memory
Grady could understand that. He had only moved to Portland, and back again, but it could be a massive pain in the ass. "Well, we're glad you're here," Grady told her as he started up the car. "We've been through a few temps since Rose retired. I think it's safe to say we're ready for a more permanent fixture in the station. Everyone's pretty eager to meet you. Do you have any questions for me?" He didn't expect her to pile them all on now, as most people had questions as they learned the job and time passed. But he knew Point Pleasant had a reputation, and he wanted to ease her mind about... well, everything. The last thing Grady wanted was someone else in town running off unannounced.
JC was also looking forward to something more permanent, she had done so many contract positions -- six months here, eighteen or so there -- that she was hoping that this move to Point Pleasant would be the last move she made, at least for the next few years. “I'm looking forward to meeting everyone, last station had a dozen full time officers and twice that number in reserve, it'll be nice to work with a smaller team.” As for the reputation of this small town, it didn't bother JC at all, there were towns like this all over the country and things that go bump in the night didn't scare her. “Just one, out of curiosity. What's the most common call out up here? B and E’s? Disturbing the peace? Traffic problems? Tryin’ to get a feel for what I'll be sending you all off to.”
Grady wished they had a dozen full time officers. They just couldn't justify it in terms of the budget. The damn budget. Grady pulled out onto the road and flipped on his radio, though he made sure to pay attention to JC as he did so. Her question prompted Grady to raise a brow and he was silent as he tried to decide how to answer. With honesty, or with a little white lie until JC was settled. He had no idea if she was easily scared off or not. "Oh, well... a little bit of everything," Grady began slowly. "We don't have much in terms of traffic issues unless the weather gets bad. We had some fog last week that really caused a lot of problems for us. Some mild misdemeanors, some vandalism. Kids get restless in this town sometimes and like to see what they can mess up before they get caught." He glanced at JC. "You'll probably hear about it sooner or later, but we deal with quite a bit of disappearances. Unfortunately we got more than our share of cold cases."
JC thought most stations would love a dozen full time officers, especially smaller towns but they all had to make do with what they had and could afford. She nodded slightly as Grady told her about what they usually dealt with, it sounded pretty typical small town, “I heard y’all get some crazy weather up here, and even if you closed the road there will always be someone thinking they're the exemption to the rule. I can't remember how many dozens of people we had to save from submerged cars back in Mississippi because they ignored the ‘road closed’ signs.” The mention of disappearances made JC look over at Grady, while it wasn't uncommon for most towns or cities to have a list of missing persons, for it to get mentioned so soon and for there to be cold cases meant that it wasn't just a recent occurrence, that people had gone missing for years, if not decades. She jotted it down in her notebook to remind herself to look more into it, see if there was any explanation. “Noted. I'm guessin’ you don't find many, or the remains at least?” A bear or large carnivore would leave some trace behind, something more sinister wouldn't.
Grady chuckled. "We did advise against driving, but... you know how people can be. We haven't had a lot of flooding. Fog, mostly. The winters get tough with the snow." Winter in Portland had never been as bad as Point Pleasant. The town could easily shut down for a week until snow removal got their ass moving. But he was determined to keep things on track in the next few months, to make sure no one was stranded or snowed in. He could only do so much, but he'd still try. Hopefully his deputies were ready to face the pain in the ass that was winter in Point Pleasant. Grady glanced at her as he turned down the street toward the marina. "We find remains from time to time, usually in Blackwater Woods. We've gotten sightings of bears, wolves... people go jogging on rough terrain when we advise them not to, and there's not much we can do when they want to go off the paths. I think some people just leave... runaway. Not all, but some. Seems like we're organizing a search party every few months. I know it sounds grim, and I hope it's not making you regret coming here."
“It's never for anything urgent or life threatening, they always risk their lives for something stupid like a loaf of bread.” The stupidity of some people still made her roll her eyes. Snow was still something JC had a love/hate relationship with, she was a Southerner after all, though since retiring from the force and returning to Dispatch work she had spent more time in the northern half of the US than the south and was slowly acclimatizing to the colder winters. She added Blackwater Woods to her notes, sometimes the smallest details could be the most useful. “It's gonna take more than an unusual number of missing persons or a few feet of snow to scare me away!” She said with a wide smile, if anything they were more of a challenge and a reason to stay.
Grady nodded, because it was true. They'd had to tow a teenage girl's car because she had been desperate to visit her boyfriend. Not exactly what Grady would call an emergency, but to the girl it probably had been. Grady glanced at JC and laughed a little. "Well, that's good to know." They had so many more problems than missing persons and snow, but... well, if JC stuck around, she would figure it out. "It's October, and we tend to get a bit more trespassing calls, usually on Ludlow Lane, or the cemetery. You know how kids can be once Halloween starts getting close. Do you have any kids?" he asked.
It took a lot to unnerve or scare JC, raised and taught by three generations of Hoodoo ‘Witch Doctors’ she was someone who had communicated with ghosts, seen creatures believed to only exist in myths and legends and kept an open mind when it came to the unexplained. Her fellow humans she was skeptical about -- everybody lies -- but animals and the other forces in the world rarely did, they had nothing to hide other than themselves. She thought herself prepared for whatever this little town could throw at her, time would tell. Ludlow Lane ? went into the notes too, she didn’t want to ask but suspected it to be a local ‘haunted house’ or something along those lines, yet another thing to research. “No kids, I have a few nieces and nephews down south, but no children of my own. Was married to the job instead.” In some ways she was glad that she never had children, as a police officer she often saw the worst and couldn’t imagine bringing another soul into that kind of world, didn’t mean she didn’t love her brothers’ kids, often spoiling them and on occasion helping teach the Hoodoo tradition to the next generation, one of her nieces was becoming quite the Root Doctor and that made her proud. “What about you, may I ask?” she hoped she wasn’t overstepping any boundaries by asking but Grady had asked first, it was also a good way to find out a bit more about who she’d be working with.
Grady could understand that, he supposed. Plenty of people got so caught up in their jobs and careers that the family portion fell by the wayside. Which he didn't judge. Not everyone wanted to get married, or have kids. And some people who did probably shouldn't. "I've got two kids," Grady explained. "Twins, a boy and girl. They're in high school. They were living in Portland with their mom but decided they wanted to move here instead. Not sure what the appeal was, but they seem to be doing okay." Hunter and Jen were mysteries to him, though he was trying to change that. "This place makes it hard to be a father sometimes." He said it lightly, and with a chuckle, but there was a world of truth behind the statement. "Do you miss the south?" Grady asked, not wanting to dwell too long on the subject of parenthood.
She suspected that Grady’s job as Chief of Police also made it hard to be a father at times but she kept that to herself, kids would always do what they wanted to, parents approval or not. “I miss some things about home but definitely don’t miss others. Summers are nicer up here, no feelin’ like you’ll melt in the middle of a heatwave, sorry but anything in the seventies is not hot.” JC laughed. “I do miss the old fashioned soul food, diners were everywhere and each had their own take and own recipes, each claiming to serve ‘the original’ or ‘the best’ but I always preferred my Momma and Gramma’s cooking, nothing beats that taste of home.” She looked around at the town as they drove along before looking over at Grady, if there were no rules about bringing in food she’d cook up a pot of gumbo and make some cornbread to share around, cooking was therapeutic for JC and she loved sharing.
Grady grinned and slowed a bit as they headed down the street along the pier. It wasn’t terribly busy, but one never knew when kids would sprint out of nowhere across the street toward the water. “I’ve never been past South Carolina to be honest. We went to Myrtle Beach once on a family vacation… a long time ago, when the kids were still little. Late July. We definitely weren’t prepared for that kind of weather, but I imagine it’s worse where you’re from.” It sounded like she liked her hometown, and he wondered what it was that drove her away. Not that he was going to ask. That was none of his business. “We’ve only got one diner here, I’m afraid. Moxie’s. But they’ve got pretty good food. Amazing burgers, at least, and real milkshakes. I know that probably doesn’t come close to touching homemade Southern food, but it’s a popular stop here in Point Pleasant. It’s been family owned since… you know I can’t even remember. It’s generally our go to for a quick lunch when we’ve got long shifts ahead of us.”
“The Carolina's get warm enough but you're right, nothing prepares you for that humidity. Hurricane warnings always kept us on our toes, don't miss them either.” Nothing had driven her away from her hometown, she simply went where there was work, (and strange occurrences often played a part in her decision of where to go). She still went home to visit but there was little work there in her field, and driving by the house where she had gotten shot always brought a sick feeling to her stomach, she was glad she didn't have to see it on a regular basis. “Nothin’ comes close to home style Southern food, I'll bring something in next week, I hope no one in the station is a vegetarian.” JC grinned over at Grady before turning her attention back to their surroundings. “Sure is pretty up here.”
No, they didn’t have to deal with hurricanes. Just blizzards. And everything else that came with living in Point Pleasant. It wasn’t always rational, or explainable either. Grady cocked a brow and glanced at JC with a small smile. “Nah, as far as I know we don’t have any vegetarians at the station. But they all love homemade food, I’ll tell you that much. We usually have people bringing in donuts, if you can believe that, or sweets. Pies and cupcakes. I guess people think we need an abundance of sugar to keep us going on a daily basis.” He sighed and motioned to the water. “There’s a beach on the other side, over there, about four miles from here. It’s not great for swimming, the water is too cold, but families seem to enjoy visiting during the warmer months. The tide can get rough so we try to deter people from going out too deep if they decide they want to jump in anyway. Up that hill there, by the pier? That building is part of the harbor. There’s a small museum inside too, detailing the town’s history. Not sure if you made it up there yet, but you might want to check it out. It’s a popular stop for tourists in town. We won’t have a lot of them now that the days are getting shorter, but… the pier keeps pretty busy year round.”
“At least the community here appreciate y’all enough to bring in food, makes a refreshing change from places where all you get is some colorful cussing and rude gestures, or worse -- drive by shootings.” That was a stressful posting, she never went anywhere without her pistol and was never allowed to leave the station alone after it started to get dark. So far this place had the opposite feeling, the few townsfolk she had met while getting groceries and the fellow tenants at Haven Park seemed nice and friendly but like everything else, time would tell. JC looked out at the water that Grady was indicating and listened as he explained where the beach was and that there was a museum, which she did not know. “Didn’t know about the museum, I’ll have a look on my day off, get a feeling for what I’ve gotten myself in to.” She smiled, her tone lighthearted, despite what she had read she was looking forward to her stay in Point Pleasant -- however long it would be.
"Oh, well, we get those things too," Grady said with a laugh. "Well... okay, not drive by shootings. I don't know that it's ever happened here. But yeah, curses and rude hand gestures? It's a daily occurrence, to be honest. We're a close knit community but not everyone likes us, and that's okay. This town can be frustrating for everyone. It's difficult when things happen and there's nothing I can do." "I'll show you the schools, and a few of the busier streets," Grady added after a brief moment as felt rather somber again all of the sudden. "We have a handful of teenagers who like to... well, like I said. They get bored, so they get creative in their misdemeanors." He shook his head with a faint smile. "Always good to know where the schools are, just in case. I really do appreciate you coming in today, when you didn't have to. We've been hurting for a dependable employee for awhile now."
“They don't like us, but we're always the first they call if there's a problem. I think that is true for pretty much every police department in the country, if not the world.” It seemed to be the way of the world, unfortunately. “Schools and any local landmarks or hotspots you think I should know about, more than once I've had someone call who didn't know the street name and I had to figure out their location from ‘near the church with the large trees out the front’.” It was typically the tourists who didn't know where they were, but occasionally there was a confused local. “It sure beats sitting around my apartment, unpacking boxes for another day. And I might not set the record for the longest service like your previous dispatcher, but I plan on staying for as long as I'm needed.”
"Absolutely. We'll hit all of them before we head back." And he could patrol while they did so, at least check things out. "We've dealt with 'that road near the woods' so many times. We have so many woods around here." Grady shook his head. "It's a small enough town you'd think people would have the streets memorized by now, but... it is what it is." And JC seemed seasoned enough, and intelligent enough, that she would catch on pretty quick. Grady already knew the other deputies would like her a lot, and that was just as important. Hopefully she would stick around, even when things got rough, which they so frequently did. He supposed all he could do was cross his fingers and hope for the best.