Checking out the accident with Sarah

Honestly, certain problems imbedded themselves into my brain and wouldn't leave. I'd gnaw at them for days and weeks stressing myself out. It was always an issue, so more often than not my way of coping with a problem was immediately taking action and trying to sort it out before it could fester in the back of my head.

Sarah was such a problem. Was her general fear of me a pressing, horrible problem that was going to keep me up at night? No, but it was going to be a nagging problem every time I came into work and needed to coordinate with the others. So I figured I'd try and at least offer some kind of olive branch. Even if nothing positive came of it, I could say that I had tried.

"Well, if Sarah needs someone to be there at the site with her then I'd be happy to help."

Mary nodded carefully. "Ok," she glanced back at the younger woman, "I'll go over and tell her..." she turned her gaze back to me, an apologetic expression across her face, "she might not be the most welcoming, but please don't take it personally."

"It'll be kit gloves," I assured, "I'm not looking to throw my weight around or anything."

Without another word Mary went over to Sarah's desk and began speaking to her in soft, soothing tones. I could hear a squeak of fear and suddenly felt her eyes on me. When I looked up she looked away hurriedly, turning her attention back to Mary and began whispering something. I couldn't hear the actual content of the conversation, but Mary was definitely giving off stern parent vibes as she explained something to Sarah, who in turn slumped in her seat.

Ten minutes later me and a very anxious Sarah were standing in the parking lot. I figured that if she had to be cooped up in a car with a man she didn't trust it'd be more comfortable to be in her own. She paused at the driver's side door, staring at the shiny red metal for several seconds as she gathered her strength. She didn't dare look at me, but I could tell what was on her mind. After what felt like an eternity she unlocked the vehicle and we got in.

Sarah was basically in robot mode for the drive; eyes completely locked onto the road, dead silent. I tried to sneak a few glances but she was doing her level best to ignore my existence. We drove out well across to the other side of town into the sticks, right where the local forest encroached on civilisation.

The road eventually became a dirt track and the town started to feel like a distant memory. Still the silence continued. The tension was suffocating until finally I couldn't help but speak.

"Let's talk about something," I said carefully, keeping my voice soft and non threatening as I could. "I get that this is very uncomfortable for you, and I know you've got your reasons for feeling that way. If you don't want to speak to me in a social sense, well that's fine. I'll be disappointed because you seem like a really nice person, but I won't push you."

I checked her reaction, she didn't bother to peel her eyes from the road. Her hands however, were gripping the steering wheel tighter than before.

"So, I'm not gonna push you into doing anything," I continued, "but, we're going to be working together and occasionally I'm going to need to communicate with you and vice versa, even if it's just the bare minimum. Ok?"

For the longest time and countless tracks of dirt road there was silence, but eventually a tiny "ok" greeted my ears.

Sarah still sounded utterly terrified of me, but at least this was progress.

"Ok...do you mind if I ask you something, about work?"

A beat, and then a "mhmm"

"Mary mentioned a fire of some sort and a historical building, but I'm still not entirely sure what the story is here that we're supposed to be covering."

There was silence, Sarah chewed her lip, struggling to give more than single word answers. Eventually she sighed and I was graced with her soft and warm voice.

"T-there is a....church that was built here when the town was first established by its founding fathers," she never looked my way, but her shoulders began to relax a little. "The church has been a historical site in the town for generations, and uh...a few days ago someone broke in and tried to burn it down."

I chewed on that. I'd seen my share of arson and upper scale vandalism cases, but rarely in small town churches. "What have the cops said?"

"They haven't said much," Sarah replied, frowning a little. "That's why we need to go down and ask them directly. People around the town are...um, curious."

We pulled up to the church in question fifteen minutes later and right off the bat I could see the fire damage was a little more extensive than what we had heard. Despite it's age, the church was quite big and the entire eastern facing wall had been scorched black and part of the roof had collapsed in. A couple of cops were moseying about, their attention quickly falling on us as we got out of the vehicle.

The cop to greet us was a tall black guy, not old, but greying and balding. "So I see Mary's already unleashed the hounds," he looked at Sarah, "I figured she would have sent Dana to chew us out. I'm relieved I've only got to contend with the B team."

"S-Sheriff Jacobs," Sarah was fighting a losing battle against her nerves. "We...we...uh...we came to ask a few questions."

Jacobs gave her a thin smile. "Not happening short round. Last thing I need is you vultures buzzing around."

"Got something to hide?" I asked, casually taking in the scenery. I knew it probably wasn't the wisest thing to annoy the local sheriff, especially in our first meeting, but I'd rather he try his shit on me rather than a girl who could barely string together a sentence.

"And who the hell are you?" Jacobs gave me an appraising look. "You don't seem like a local, and I know all of Mary's staff of weirdos."

"I'm new," I met his gaze with an easy smile on my face, "and you didn't answer my question. What's so special about this fire that you're shooing off the press?"

"Nothing special," he waved at the old church, "building caught fire, nothing that's worth your boss' rag covering."

"So you've established the fire's cause?"

He frowned a little. "Well...no..."

"From what I gather, you've been here for a few days now," I pressed ahead, "surely it wouldn't take that long for you guys to figure out. You've got five or six guys here now, and I know Lewdington has a fire department. Was it gas related? An electrical fault? Vandalism gone wrong? Candle left unattended....help me out here."

Jacobs looked flustered and I guess he hadn't really dealt with such harsh scrutiny before. After a few moments of floundering he finally answered with: "we're still looking into it, we've had a busy month."

"You know," I said, keeping the pressure on, "word around town is that it was arson."

The sheriffs eyes widened briefly in moment of vulnerability before he managed to shut it down. "This is an ongoing investigation and frankly I don't have time to deal with you journo types. I'd appreciate it if you left." He took a step forward, his voice dropping a level, "and that's the only time I'm going to ask nicely."

I held his gaze for a moment before turning back to Sarah. "C'mon, lets go."

We made it down the road when Sarah finally found the nerve to speak. "What are we going to tell Mary? She ...um...won't be happy."

"Well," I looked out the window at the church growing smaller in the distance. "How desperate are you to get this story? Because I can tell you right now there IS a story."

Sarah frowned in confusion, once again keeping her eyes from me. "What do you mean?"

"That jackass was hiding something," I huffed, "this being a small town, he's not used people questioning him. As soon as I said arson the guy clammed up tight. There's something more going on," I turned to look directly at Sarah now, "I'll ask again. Do you want to find out the story behind this?"

A pause. "The cops wouldn't let us near that place."

"We'll sneak in the old fashioned way," I said, "after dark when everyone's gone home."

We drove on for a few minutes before Sarah finally let out a shaky breath, slowed the vehicle down and forced herself to look in my direction. "Ok, lets..let's do this."