Doubling Down – Chapter One – Emersli1

Reading Time:
11 Minutes

Buck was surprised to get to the lab and find all three crews present, along with the admin support team.

What was going on?  Was their funding being cut?  Buck knew the current administration didn’t think much of environmental science…

“Alright people, listen up.  This is serious.”  The Assistant Director for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife called everyone to order.  “We’ve got a big problem in the area.”

The Sheriff for Siskiyou County was the next to speak up.  “I know most of you are aware of the strange instances of deer being shot and left for dead.  In the past three weeks we’ve had eleven carcasses turn up with evidence of gunshots.  We thought it was kids, or some weird type of poaching, but last night…”

The AD took the story back.  “Last night William Carver was shot on a dead animal call.”

The entire room stilled.

“He’s going to be ok.”

It felt as though everyone took a breath at once.

“He’s out of surgery, and his parents have come in from Oregon.  They’ll be taking him home to recover.  Just to emphasize … he’s not out of the program.  He’ll be given the opportunity to finish out his internship when he can, but …”  The AD looked at the Sheriff.

Sheriff Nottingham (and yes, he’d heard all the jokes) continued, “We’re more concerned by the fact that he was shot at all.  He was wearing a clearly visible orange vest, so it wasn’t a mistake.  Someone out there is shooting deer, and apparently has no problem with shooting people.  So …”

“Technically, all of you are potentially wildlife officers.  We can arm you.  But we don’t want a lot of people running around with weapons who are inexperienced with them.  That could cause more harm than good.  But if you already have a permit, you may be asked to carry a weapon in the field.”  AD Linley looked seriously at each of them.  

“From now on, nobody goes out alone.  Nobody even goes out first.  We travel in pairs.  We don’t know who’s doing this or why.  And I for one don’t want to ever again have to call someone’s parents and tell them their child has been shot.  So I couldn’t be more serious about this.  Nobody goes out alone.”

He looked at the Project Director.  “I don’t care how you have to rearrange, just make sure.”

Dr. Carter nodded rapidly.  “Of course.”  She turned to the rest of the group.  “I’ll need a list of people licensed and willing to carry a weapon in the field by the end of the day.  We may need to rearrange the teams, but we’ll do our best to keep you together where we can.  Please people … I cannot stress this enough.   Watch out for yourselves … and each other.”

 Jake pulled their team into the breakroom for a quick meeting.

“OK guys, this is way worse than anything we were speculating.  I’m not licensed to carry, and I’ve never even held any weapon bigger than a pocketknife.  Evan, I know you were military, so I assume you have some ability?  But do you still have a license?”  He looked around.  “What about the rest of you?  If we can’t cover each other, Dr. Carter will split us up.  I’d rather avoid that if we can.”

Buck nodded thoughtfully.  “I can handle a weapon.  I don’t currently own one because I have an eight-year-old who’s too smart for his own good.  But still … eight years old.  I did get a personal license to carry when I moved to LA, so I’m good if the department issues me a weapon.  Or I could ask Eddie to send me his.  He has it in storage at his uncle’s house.  But, can you actually mail weapons?”

“Nope.  Personal weapons can’t go through the mail.  Private carriers won’t touch ‘em either.  I’m licensed.  I grew up on a farm in Oklahoma, where you don’t actually need a license.  But I got one so I could bring my handgun with me out here.  My daddy taught me to handle a gun before I was ten.  Your son is old enough to learn never to touch a firearm.  But owning weapons is a personal choice.  I actually have three.  Just have the pistol with me though.  But I can cover Mateo.”  Marshall Sutherland had never shot at anything he didn’t intend to eat, but he figured he could get over that if someone was shooting at his partner.

“I don’t know if I could even handle a firearm safely.  Most of my issues with my CP are with my legs, but I do sometimes struggle a little with my grip.  I’m willing to try to find a local instructor who will work with me, but at the moment … I’m not an option.  So we have one of each pair who can carry.  Evan needs to get a weapon from the department, and Marsh … you’d better check and see if they’ll allow your pistol or if you have to get one from them.  But it looks like we’re good.”  Mateo was uneasy at the idea of shooting a gun, but he wasn’t going to let his team down.

“Great.  So we can tell Dr. Carter we’re covered.  And Matt, if you find an instructor … see if they’ll take both of us.  I’m willing to learn.”  Jake wasn’t enthused, and he hated to think what his mother would say … but he wasn’t gonna be the weak link.

Just then, AD Linley poked his head through the door.  “Ah, here’s where you got off to.  Well gentlemen, what have you figured out?”

Jake looked at Mateo.  They were the second-year interns and technically in charge of Evan and Marsh, even though Evan was the oldest on the team.  Mateo nodded.

Turning back to the AD, Jake laid out their situation.  “Marshall is very skilled with firearms, and Evan was in the Navy.  Both have licenses, but Evan doesn’t have a gun.  As long as you can give him one, and will approve Marsh’s pistol … we should be good.  Mateo and I are going to look for an instructor, but right now … our partners will have to cover us.”

Linley nodded.  “Buckley, you’ll need to present your license and pass a range test.  Same for you, Sutherland.  Come out to the Sheriff’s department tomorrow any time after ten o’clock.  We’ll check you out and get you armed.  I don’t know about your pistol, but bring it along and the range master will look at it.  I’ll have weapons for both of you if he doesn’t approve.  Stick together and stay safe out there.”

“Yes, sir.”

None of them had signed up for this, but they would do their best.

The Facetime call with Chris and Eddie was definitely the highlight of Buck’s day.

After the announcement at the lab Dr. Carter had sent everyone home who didn’t have active samples to monitor.  Marsh and Evan would be at the Sheriff’s office at 10:00 AM when they opened the range, so hopefully their team could pick back up that afternoon.

Chris was going in for surgery in two days’ time, and Buck had already made arrangements to take one day off to add to his four-day break so he could be there at the hospital with his family but now … he didn’t know if he should leave or not.

But he couldn’t miss Christopher’s surgery.  It was hard enough not being there for all the little things.  This was the biggest big thing going on this summer, and Buck wasn’t going to miss it.  The guys understood and had encouraged him to be with his son. 

“And the rockets all lifted off at once, except for Landon’s.  His exploded!  I don’t know what he did, but whatever it was … it was big.  We all had to back up ten steps in case of fire, but the counselors had a bucket of water, and they dumped it on his rocket.  So we can’t really examine it to find the problem.  I think that it was precipitous (someone had been following Eddie’s ‘Word a Day’ calendar) of them to act so quickly.”

Buck had to laugh.

“Buddy, they didn’t act ‘precipitously’.  They did their jobs.  All it would have taken is one ember flying away and landing in the wrong place … it’s so dry right now.  But I’m sorry you couldn’t take the rocket apart to see what went wrong.”  Buck thought it was hilarious that his kid was more interested in why his friend’s rocket had exploded than that his own rocket had done what it was supposed to do.

“You’ll be home tomorrow, right Papa?”  Chris wiggled happily at the prospect.  He wasn’t looking forward to his surgery, but he was tired of hurting all the time when he moved.  And Daddy and Papa had promised him that after he recovered, he would get to ride horses and maybe even join a climbing class!  The next few weeks were gonna suck, but after that …

“You bet Superman.  Paco will pick me up at the airport and I should get home just about the same time as your dad.  We should both be there to tuck you in, and in the morning we’ll have a big breakfast before you have to go into pre-op.  It’ll be the last time you get to eat, so I’ll make it special.”  Buck was worried about the recovery and rehab, but he’d seen how miserable Chris was as his muscles got tighter and tighter as he grew.

Mateo had warned him that this surgery to lengthen his muscles and some of his tendons was going to be a painful one, with a tough recovery.  But it would set Chris up for a much easier and more mobile life.  It would probably have to be repeated at least once more as he grew.  

“Mateo said he had to have this surgery three times.”  Chris was maybe a little nervous.

Buck nodded.  “Yeah, but he’s tall.  You might get lucky and take after your mom.  But whatever you need, we’re gonna get through it together.”

Christopher’s smile was a little dimmer, but it was still there.  “I know Papa.”

“Ok Chris, I need to talk to your dad for a few minutes, and I know it’s time for you to start getting ready for bed, so hand over the tablet and hop to it.  I’ll see you tomorrow night.  I love you Superman.”

“I love you too Papa.  Wait until I’m gone to get gross!”  Chris handed the tablet off to Eddie with an admonishing glare, grabbing his crutches and making for the hallway.

“Hey, querido.  How’re you holding up?  There’s a lot of wildfires up there right now.  Any of it a problem for your program?”  Eddie looked a little tense, and Buck was about to push that right off the charts.

“Um, yeah.  The fires are mostly on the other side of the mountain, but you know fire … and the winds out here are unpredictable.  But right now, we have a bigger problem than fire, believe it or not.”  Buck took a deep breath.  “We have an active shooter out there somewhere.  Bill Carver from C Team got shot on a dead animal call last night.  He’s gonna be OK, but they’ve asked those of us who have permits to carry to let them arm us.  I’m supposed to be at the Sheriff’s office at 10:00 for a range test.”

The stress in Eddie’s face multiplied exponentially.  “They’re not sending you guys home while they try to catch him?  I mean, I know you’re capable, but …”

“Hey, maybe by the time our team rotates back on shift they’ll have caught the guy.  But no.  We’re all legal adults.  No one in the program is under twenty-one, even.  It’s our choice.  Dr. Carter did tell me privately that they’re offering people the opportunity to leave if they feel they need to …”  Buck hesitated.  Maybe he should have agreed to leave, but …

Eddie sighed.  “Yeah.  I get it.  What about the other guys?”  Eddie and Chris had come up two weeks ago and spent three days with him exploring the area and meeting the team.  At one point Mateo and Marsh had confiscated Chris, only to bring him back after supper giggling over whatever they’d gotten up to.  It had been a good trip, but now Eddie felt he had a lot more people to worry about.

“Well, Marsh might have more experience with weapons than I do.  He certainly started younger.  But he’s never fired at a human before, so I have that advantage, if you really want to call it that.  But we’re gonna cover the other two.  Though Mateo is determined to find an instructor to evaluate him and see if he can handle a weapon safely.   He and Jake are willing to learn, but right now… yeah, it’s me and Marsh.”

Eddie was just glad Buck would be home for a few days.  Long enough to let him get used to the idea, before he had to let his love go off into such a dangerous situation.  Like the fires weren’t bad enough, some idiot had to go and do this?  “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow night and you can give me all the details after Chris is asleep.”

Buck nodded.  “Yeah, this is way above his paygrade.  And he’s got enough to worry about right now.  Like why his buddy’s rocket exploded.  And major surgery.  God, I’m scared.  He’s just … still swimming, but when I think too much about it … I feel like I’m drowning.  He’s so small…”

Eddie’s face softened.  “Yeah, that’s called being a parent.  We’re always gonna be more scared for them than they are for themselves.  At least, if we do our job right.  Well, get some rest.  You’ve got to be able to shoot straight in the morning.  I expect to hear a report of an excellent range test, Petty Officer Buckley.”

Grinning, Buck couldn’t help but think how much he loved his man.  “Aye, aye sir, Staff Sergeant Diaz.  Sleep well.  Love you.”

“Love you too, cariño.  Be safe.”  Eddie closed out the call and went to assure his son the living room was safe for a guy who didn’t want to hear his parents being mushy with each other.

Buck put his tablet down with a sigh.