Poverty Hill
Copyright© 2026 by Asa Strong
Chapter 24
I were surprised at how fast the next week went by. I had to leave my truck in Steamboat, cause the county were a gonna install a bunch of police equipment in it. When I got it back a few days later it had a police radio, siren and even one of them dang computers mounted on the dashboard. Hell, they even put in one of them flashin’ blue lights too.
When I picked up my truck in Steamboat, Ham, who’d done the install work, said that the Sheriff wanted to talk to me.
After I’d played around with the lights and siren a while, I wandered over to the sheriff’s office.
“Hey Dave, you wanted to see me?” I said, as I took a seat.
He looked up and then said, “I see you’re done playin’ with your new toys.”
“Whatcha, mean?”
He shook his head, “Amos, you can hear that siren for about two miles. You ain’t supposed to use it unless you’re on official business.”
I chuckled, “Hell Dave, how am I supposed to know how to use the damn thin’ if’n I don’t try it out?”
Dave shook his head again, and then reached into his desk.
“Here,” He said, tossing me a badge. He then handed me two more.
I looked at the badge, it were a five pointed star with the number “1” in the middle. Across the top it said “Routt County, Colorado”. On the bottom it read, “Special Agent”.
After lookin’ it over, I asked, “OK, now just what am I supposed to do with this.”
“Wear it!”
“Whatcha mean by that, wear it?”
Dave stood up, looked at me, and then said, “Amos, since you don’t want to wear a uniform, you need to wear this when you’re on duty. According to the judge, the county might get in trouble if you don’t have some visible sign on you that says you’re a police officer.”
“You mean I gotta wear this all the time?”
He laughed, “Amos, only when you’re on duty.”
“And just when is it when I’m on duty?”
Dave chuckled, and then gave me a goofy grin.
“Only when you’re awake; you can take it off when you go to bed.” Then he started to laugh.
“You’re kiddin’, right?”
With a serious tone to his voice, he answered, “Nope, not at all. You’ll be doing us all a favor if you wear it all the time.”
I walked out of the sheriff’s office with one of the badges pinned to my jacket.
On the way back home, I passed Lisa just south of Clark. She was on the side of the road with her lights flashin’.
I pulled over behind her, put my shiny new light on the roof, and turned it on. Hell, ain’t no sense in havin’ one of these things if’n yah don’t have a chance to use it.
When I got out of the truck, I could see a car in the ditch.
“What’s goin’ on?” I asked, as I walked to where Lisa was standin’.
She turned to me and said, “It looks like someone ran off into the ditch, and then took off to find help. I just ran the plates, and the car is registered to a Carl Johansen.”
I nodded my head, and then walked down into the ditch and around to the far side of the car.
I looked inside the vehicle, and could see blood on the steerin’ wheel and dashboard.
I hollered back to Lisa, “Looks like this guy is hurt.”
Lisa came up and took a look.
“You’re right; it looks like whoever was in here took a nasty bang on their head.”
I started lookin’ closely at the ground, and it didn’t take too long to find where the guy had started walkin’ north, towards Clark.
“Did you call this in over the radio?”
Lisa looked up and said, “Yes, just before you came.”
I nodded my head, “OK, I’m a gonna drive on north, it looks like that’s they way this guy is headed.”
Lisa looked puzzled, “How do you know it’s a man?”
I laughed, and then pointed to the shoe prints headin’ towards Clark.
“Well, if’n it’s a gal, she sure as hell’s got some mighty big feet.”
Lisa shook her head, and I headed back to my truck.
I left my light on and drove slowly north up the road, keepin’ an eye out for anythin’ that looked out of place. About a mile up the road, I seen me a depression in the tall grass on the other side of the road that didn’t look quite right.
I pulled the truck onto the side of the road, and walked over to the other side. There were faint traces of blood on the grass, and when I walked further down into the ditch, there were a man layin’ there and not movin’.”
I run my fingers upside of his neck and could feel a pulse. At least the guy weren’t dead.
He were layin’ on his back, so I shook him a bit, with no result.
“Damn,” I said, runnin’ back to my truck, “I hope this guy ain’t gonna croak on me.”
Lisa had showed me how to use the radio, so when I reached the truck, I picked it up and keyed the mike. Nothing!
I looked at the radio, and damn if’n it weren’t off. I’d been ridin’ around with it off since I’d picked up my truck!
I turned the damn thin’ on and keyed the mike again, “Hey, this is Amos, I got me a guy here just south of Clark that needs an ambulance!”
The radio came back, “Who is this?”
“Amos Chipin, now get me an ambulance out here or this feller’s liable to go south on me.”
The radio came back, “You’re not using correct radio procedure.”
This made me a tad angry, “Listen idiot, get an ambulance out here or I’ll tear you a new asshole! You hear me!”
Dave must a heard the dispatcher from his office, cause he came on the radio.
“Simmer down Amos, we got an ambulance rolling, it should be there in about twenty minutes.”
“Gotcha Dave, I’d better get back and see if’n I can keep this guy alive til they get here. I’ll catch yah later.”
After hangin’ the mike back on its hook, I went back and to where the guy were a layin’.
I’d no sooner reached him, than Lisa arrived, lights and siren were both a goin’.”
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