Jennifer reports to the chief

Jennifer had arrived at the forest rangers’ station at Silver Lake Park after dropping Zack and Chloe along with Colin. He had left again while she decided to take a breath before going on patrol again, the morning had been hectic with all that coming and going around the woods.

As she drank some water from a plastic cup, she couldn’t help but think about the case of the bear costumes. They hadn’t found anything at the cave, but a small inner voice was nagging at her mind and telling her that something was amiss.

”Zachary doesn’t strike me as someone who’d lie about that.” She reasoned. ”I have to do my job.”

Making a decision, she threw the cup into the trash and headed to the chief’s office. She knocked twice on the door.

”Enter.” Came a deep, booming voice from inside.

She opened the door and entered the office. Sitting behind a desk, the old chief Samuel Jensen stared at her. Chief Jensen wasn’t one for bullshit, having an air of authority around him that challenged his subordinates. He was in his early fifties and had brown eyes, short greying hair and stubble. Jennifer carefully chose her words for what she would say next.

“What is it, Officer White?” The chief asked.

“Sir, as you know, several tourists and cabin occupants have been reporting bear sightings in the woods around the cave,” She said, and at the chief’s nod, Jennifer continued. “Well, a young man reported to me this morning that he found a couple of bear suits in the cave.”

Samuel actually chuckled at that. “Bear suits? Really, Officer White?” He asked in a serious tone. “I trust that you didn’t believe this silly story?”

“I admit that I was skeptical at first, but the young man in question didn’t seem to be of the lying type,” Jennifer explained. “So, I entered the cave with Officer Matheson and had a look around.”

“And?” The chief prompted her with a bored expression on his face.

“We found nothing, sir.” Jennifer replied.

“Of course you found nothing, how absurd is the notion that someone’s scaring tourists around with bear costumes?” Samuel asked, making it clear that he didn’t want an answer. “That could only have come from the mind of a delusional kid.”

Jennifer nodded, she still wasn’t convinced that Zack had lied. First, because he didn’t have anything to gain from coming up with a story like that, and second, because her gut was telling her that he was telling the truth. But she couldn’t antagonize Chief Jensen, so she decided to drop the matter and just keep her eyes and ears open.

“Of course, sir, sorry for wasting your time.” She said.

The man grunted and waved her off. “Dismissed,” He said. “Go have lunch or get back to work.”

“Yes, sir.” Jennifer replied and turned around, leaving the office. Relieved for being out of the intimidating chief’s presence, she went back to her desk to set up her lunch.

While she did so, another ranger approached her. “Old Sam giving you a hard time?” The newcomer asked.

“Yeah, as always finding excuses to not dig deeper into things,” She answered, bringing her frozen food to the nearby microwave. “How did you spend your morning, Ryan?”

Ryan Trentson shrugged his shoulders. “Didn’t do much, just some desk job, you know?”

He was twenty-eight years old, his hair was short and blonde and his eyes were of a light shade of brown.

“Well, I have to go out on patrol,” He said once it was clear that Jennifer wouldn’t offer any more details about her conversation with the chief. “Take care and don’t let the chief get under your skin.”

“I won’t.” Jennifer half-smiled at him once her food finished heating.

Ryan nodded. “Ok then, see you later.”

“See you later.” The female replied as she began to eat her food, all the while thinking about the sudden mystery of the bear costumes. ”If there’s anything to be found, I’ll find it.”

She didn’t even noticed Ryan leaving the station.