Part Six: The Convenience store.

Oddly enough, we were within a couple of miles of that same convenience store. We headed there after we got another call reporting another sighting, by a different caller, of compass lady. We checked with the caller first, less than a half mile from the first caller and heard a similar story. She’d come out of the woods and was standing by the road, incoherently muttering about her keys, her purse, but then disappeared again.

We cruised up and down the road again, nothing. As we approached the highway we came across a man walking toward us carrying a case of beer. We stopped and Ted asked him if he’d seen a woman walking around.

“Yeah I did, she seemed a little crazy, wanted to know which way to DeSoto.” The slur in his words told me this was not the first case of beer he’d tapped into this evening. He added that she was wearing sweat pants and a black sweater. “Did she have a compass?” Ted asked the man. He waivered a bit as if being blown around by high winds, thought for a moment. “A what?” He asked.

“Never mind, thanks for your help sir, and please be careful.”

The only road to Desoto from that point was the wide, busy divided four-lane highway, 67.

“Well, I guess she’ll be easier to spot there.” Ted told me. “We’ll make a stop first.”

He pulled into the convenience store near the intersection of Flucom road and 67.

I got out and followed him into the store after he topped off the gas tank again. He always fills up the tank when it falls below ¾ full. Just in case.

The two ladies running the shift apparently knew Ted quite well. It occurred to me that places like this, especially in the more rural parts of the county, would be ideal places to learn about goings-on in the area. Sure enough Ted was asking them about compass lady. It would only be natural for someone on foot anywhere nearby to stop in. There’s not another place open for a few miles.

“I’m going to use the indoor facilities.” I told Ted, pointing to the restroom.

“What did he mean by that?” one of the ladies asked.

When I returned, Ted had also topped off his tall, lidded travel cup and picked out a small package of Doritos.

They hadn’t seen anyone like compass lady, but they did mention a few other oddballs that had dropped in.

The two ladies, both in their thirties at most were friendly, chatty, and comfortable around my new deputy friend. They treated me as sarcastically as they did him, just assuming that any friend of his was fair game as well. After a few jabs were exchanged we headed toward the door. “How do you rate a ride-along anyhow?” The younger one called out. We stopped. “I’m special.” I answered.

“Not really.” Added Ted, smiling, “He’s in the Citizen’s Academy.”

“Well I don’t want to go to that thing.” She replied, “Too much time, too many people, too much just sitting around.”

“Well, maybe if you ask nicely, Dennis will let you take the rest of the shift in his place.” Ted answered.

She looked at me, with an evil grin. “Sure, hey mister, you want to cover the rest of my shift here?”

“Certainly.” I answered. “It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to work the overnight shift at a convenience store! A real career goal!”

She squinted in mock anger. “What do YOU do for a living?” she asked. I told her and for the second or third time that evening, had to explain it.

“It sounds dreadful!” She said.

“It is, but it pays really, really, really well.” I sighed. Ted was nodding. “He pays my salary.”

“Well I’m just working here till my son turns eighteen.”

Then what?” Ted asked.

“Then I’m going to move to Topeka, go to embalmer’s school then start my real career.”

“What?” I asked, not sure I’d heard her right.

“Embalmer’s school, I’m going to be an embalmer, it’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”

“Really?”

“Positive, I’m sick of dealing with living people, I’m a single mom, almost forty, and as soon as my son is out of school I’m going to go for it.” She was animated as she told us about her big plans. “Besides, I love dead people, I’ve even got my vanity plate figured out:  DIE4ME.”

“Well you and Dennis have something in common after all.” He told her.

“What could that possibly be?” she asked, eyeing me like a person eyes a stinky dead fish.

“He likes dead people too.” He answered, I’d told him about my hobby of searching cemeteries and photographing tombstones.

“Not the dead people, just the real estate they currently occupy.” I gave back. Then I looked at her and decided to jack things up a little. “You’re not quite forty, wouldn’t you rather marry a man to take care of you, maybe have a couple more babies?” I poked.

The look she gave me made me glad to have a large, armed, law enforcement officer nearby, though the look Ted gave me told me that he wasn’t necessarily going to take my side if this lady started beating the smirk off my face.

While this was going on, another deputy, driving one of the department’s federally funded DUI SUV’s stopped for gas. He waved at Ted. He looked tired. When he left he paused at the road, then in less than a minute lit up his bright red and blue light bar and chased down his next prey. The driver was compliant and gave up the chase within a half mile. We chatted a bit more and when we pulled out, saw that the DUI vehicle was still lit up where it had stopped. Ted turned on his lights, the first time in the six hours I’d been riding along, and pulled onto the median alongside. “You okay Jack?” He asked through open windows.

The older deputy had his head down, looked up slowly at Ted’s words.

“Yeah, just released my driver. I’m kind of tired, but I’m okay.” He shuffled around a bit and I saw his notebook, he hadn’t been napping, he’d been filling out the paperwork.

“Say Jack, if you’re going to be working this area tonight, how about sometime after one you swing by and check on the girls at the store. They said they were going to hang around with some friends outside it after they get off work.” Ted asked him.

The deputy nodded and replies with a casual “Sure.”

Ted Doused the lights and we leaped back onto the pavement.

“Is He okay?” I asked.

“Chemo, colon cancer.” He answered, now looking a bit weary himself. I let it sit. Before the pause became too silent another call came in. “One-oh-two, 911 hang-up, call back said never mind, sounded intoxicated.” The dispatcher said in a calm, almost pleasing voice, adding a name and address. Ted acknowledged, “One-oh-two, in route.”

(To be continued)                   Go to Part 7