Sanctuary Lost WITSEC Town Series Book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

thing women did to their nails, making them big with
white tips.
    The man strode in his gray suit to the back
of the truck and shot them what could only be described as a
million-dollar smile. “You must be the new sheriff. I’m Mayor
Samuel Collins.”
    Matthias gave the couple a wide berth and
lowered the back hatch of the truck bed. John caught the grin
Matthias shot Pat as he took the rat cage and then helped Pat
down.
    John climbed out and shook the mayor’s hand.
“John Mason.”
    The woman smiled. “I’m Betty Collins.”
    The mayor squeezed her shoulder hard enough
she winced. “The old ball and chain.” He chuckled, but by the look
on her face his wife didn’t find it funny.
    “We’re the welcoming committee.” Betty
smiled. “We’ll show you to your office, where you can meet Deputy
Palmer. Then there’s an eensy amount of paperwork and we’ll be out
of your hair. Lots of things to organize before the welcoming
dinner tonight.”
    Pat shuffled closer to his side and John gave
his shoulder a squeeze. “This is Patrick.”
    “Aren’t you darling?” Betty squeezed Pat’s
cheek and looked back at John, her face set like she didn’t know
what else to do when faced with a small child. She squared her
shoulders. “Ready to get started?”
    The mayor chuckled and they followed Betty
across to the store-front with SHERIFF above the door. “Keeps me in
line, that one.”
    “I’ll bet.” John smiled.
    Matthias passed them, carrying John’s bags.
When he turned again to the truck, John followed. They dumped all
the belongings inside.
    Betty said, “The sheriff’s office has an
apartment upstairs, which you’re welcome to utilize unless you’d
rather have a separate house. It’s a one bedroom apartment, so not
conducive to a family. We’ll let you decide. There’s an open house
but you may wish to be closer to the office.”
    Betty glanced down at her clipboard. “The
sheriff’s vehicle is parked out back. It’s maintained by Max, who
takes care of all our vehicles. Deputy Palmer has a vehicle, the
ranch has two trucks. The farm has one plus his tractor and all
that stuff for harvesting and whatnot. There are also four ATV’s,
two with snow plow attachments and three snow mobiles. One is
currently broken. Gas is delivered on Monday mornings.”
    John sucked in a breath at the flood of
information and looked at Pat, who had wandered to the open jail
cell at the back of the office and was looking around in awe,
touching the bars.
    There was a door to the right of the room
marked PRIVATE, which he figured went up to the apartment. Three
desks, two of which were clean, filled the room along with a set of
floor to ceiling cupboards, a coffee pot and small fridge. Pat was
sitting on the bed in the jail cell, listening to Matthias, who had
crouched to speak to him. His son grinned and nodded. Matthias
ruffled his hair and strode out, giving John a nod.
    “See you around, Sheriff.”
    “Thanks.”
    Betty Collins cleared her throat. “As I was
saying, keys for everything are on your desk and the paperwork
needs to be mailed off at the next pickup, which leaves Monday
morning. That’s once a week anything arrives in or leaves town. Due
to the nature of your position here there is a radio on your desk
which doubles as a satellite phone. You can also send texts and
basic emails from it.
    “The unit is encrypted. It’s a DOD prototype,
so you can use it indoors or if there’s a lot of tree coverage.
Your computer, as well as Deputy Palmer’s, connects to the
internet. That’s something new. The rest of the town uses the
library. Your log-in and the code for the safe are on your desk.
You have twenty-four hours to change the passwords and set up a new
combination to the safe.”
    She checked her clipboard. “Friday night is
movie night at the meeting hall. Town members are requested to
attend dinner before the movie, but it’s not mandatory. Since it’s
tonight, we’ll be having a welcome