Welcome to Town

He was standing right there, arms folded across his broad chest, leaning against the front of his pickup. His eyes had already been focused on the spot between the trees where she reemerged. Victoria stopped for a brief moment and caught herself staring at him. There was something about him that threw her off. It was not only the fact that he was insanely handsome with his chiseled face and bulky frame, it was the sheer radiation of raw confidence that surrounded him.

She forced herself to get a grip on her thoughts and walked over to the man, who had not swerved his gaze away from her once. It was normal for people to have their attention on her because of her profession, maybe even the uniform, but this felt different.

She stepped straight towards him, looking straight into his face. As handsome as he was, it seemed like he had a rough night, dark circles showing underneath his eyes.

"I assume that you were the one who called me. Were you also the one who found him?" she asked determined. This did not seem like a spot where people just wandered about.

His answer was a brief nod before he apparently realized that she was not going to be satisfied with a single head movement. "I saw his car out here and went looking for him. Called his kid when I found the body."

He drove his fingers through his hair, looking over to Julien who was still being cared for. His heart seemed heavy, but more so for the young man than the death of the Sheriff. She understood this feeling all too well.

"Once he got here he told me to call... you. Found your number on that phone. You know the rest," he then said, again focused on her. His gaze was staggering. He was not a man of many words, that was for sure. But she did not know the rest. There were a million questions still in her mind, but he had already slowly pushed himself away from the car. He came closer and gently took her hand to place a phone in her palm. She stared at it, still feeling his warm fingers on her skin, and looked up to him with a questioning expression.

"It's the Sheriff's station mobile. And since you are the next in the line of command..." he stopped his sentence softly and did not finish it as if he got distracted by a thought. He let go of her hand and hinted over to Julien. "Let me get the kid home. His mother does not know yet." A quiet huff made his chest rise. "I wish it would have been under different circumstances... but welcome to town."

With a hint of defeat clouding his features, he looked at her for approval to leave the scene. And she nodded. Something inside of her told her to trust him. Though she reminded herself that she did not know this man at all.

"How can I reach you for further questions?" she asked before he had a chance to turn his back on her. "My number is saved in the phone. Ethan Brown," his hand hinted towards the mobile she still held in her hand. He then turned around to walk over to the young man who was still learning against that very tree he had been crouching on earlier.

"I'll get in touch soon," she emphasized. He was not getting away with the short answers he had given and she did need a full statement still.

"I hope so, Victoria Williams," he answered back over his shoulder, leaving her dumbfounded. She had never introduced herself.

The stranger already stood beside the young man who was still crushed by the weight of what happened. But he did not resist when the paramedic released him and he was led to the pickup truck to be taken home. Victoria stood there trying not to imagine how his mother was still in the dark about the turn her life was going to take.

When she got to the police station it was already dark. It had taken another hour to wait for the actual examiner and additional backup to arrive at the scene. This town was not that particularly remote, but there were not enough specialists close by to handle all that was going on in the surrounding towns and cities.

She turned on the lights when she went inside, being greeted by an eerie silence. A few steps took her to an empty desk which was probably supposed to be hers, with a little potted plant and a card laying on top of it, "Welcome!" lettered on it. She swallowed hard, unsure if this unexpected rough start was going to overwhelm her. A town she did not know, unfamiliar people who already knew her name, and as of now the highest-ranking police member for miles. At least until the state managed to send somebody else.

Her view went over to the desk Julien had been sitting on the day before, paperwork all over the table. The wall behind it was full of picture frames. She stepped closer and looked at group pictures from what looked like college, shots with friends and one framed picture with Sheriff Carter in his uniform, a small, blonde boy holding onto his hand and looking up to him with sparkling eyes. It must have been Julien when he was younger. The way he was looking at his father in admiration... this death must be hitting hard.

The slow creak of the Sheriff´s former office door startled her badly as she suppressed a surprised shriek when Julien came out of it.

"Oh... I am so sorry, I did not want to scare you..." he slowly said, looking at her apologetically. "I must have been so stuck in my own thoughts that I forgot to turn the lights on when it got darker," he continued slowly, scratching the back of his head.

"It´s okay. I did not realize you were here." Victoria looked at him. She did not even question the scenario under these circumstances. "My condolences," she then added, answered by a small and beat-up gesture from the young man.

"I just wanted to pick some of his stuff up... you know... for my mom. She needed some space for now I guess." His voice was croaky but he looked like he had a good grip on himself. "We will be alright though. And I promise to assist you as best as I can. It won't affect my work here!" He looked up to her with a spark of ambition in his eyes. She believed it. This kid was a tough one.

She gave him a smile and they both locked up the station as they left.

"I am not sure if you two got to talk, but make sure to call Ethan if you have more questions. He works as a hunter around here. His number is saved in my dad's...", he stopped for a second not yet ready to brush this sore spot in his heart, "...in the station's mobile."

"Don't worry Julien, take as much time as you need. I will hold the fort in the meantime."

He nodded slightly and as they said their goodbyes, Julien went out into the dark, a cardboard box with some of his late father's belongings under his arm.

As he was gone she was standing alone on the parking lot. It was quiet, just the rustling leaves in the wind as she mentally went through everything that had happened today. She would have to talk to Ethan to finish off her questioning, she thought. There was something about him that would not let her take her mind off him.

"Time to get home indeed," she mumbled into the ill-lit parking lot getting rid of the image of the handsome man in her head, and got straight into her car.