Part~5 The Aftermath 

Wednesday, March 17th. The chaotic scene at Diane Noble's house is finally calming down. The EMTs think Diane had a severe panic attack, but the doctor wants to check her out at the hospital for the rest of the day. 

As soon as the ambulance pulls away, two Sheriff cruisers fill the space. Captain Bob Gray jumps out and heads toward the door, with two deputies following close behind. He's been friends with Doug and Diane for many years and was Doug's Scoutmaster when he was in the Boy Scouts twenty years ago. 

Mary peeps through the curtains and immediately remembers Bob though he's put on a few pounds and is much grayer around the temples. Mary opens the door to welcome them and says, "Well if it ain't Bobby Gray. How are you, darling?"

Captain Gray's face lights up. "Miss Mary, I haven't seen you in twenty years, and you're as gorgeous as ever."

Mary wraps her arms around Bobby's neck, kisses his cheek, and says, "Let's just say the years have been kind to us." The two deputies behind them both have big smiles.

"How is Diane?"

"The doctors think she had a severe panic attack and should be released this afternoon."

"That's great to hear. I hated to miss the funeral, but I was tied up in something awful. What's this about Sean running away?"

"You boys, come on in, and I'll tell you."

Captain Gray and Mary sit on the couch with the deputies standing by the fireplace. All of them have a fresh cup of coffee.

Mary says, "This has been one of the most challenging times in my life. First, the news that Doug had passed away. I flew in three days before the funeral to help Diane through this. After the funeral, I remember Sean saying that he had seen Jesus in his room, and it seemed to help Diane a little. Sean returned to school on Monday, and then all of this exploded. He was goated into telling his class that he had met Jesus in his room."

"What's wrong with that?" Bob asks.

"Not a thing in my eyes, but there's a lot of parents who don't think the way we do. Miss Crystal, the guidance counselor, said fifty parents called in complaining. They think Sean is disturbed. Mr. Wiley ordered Sean to see Dr. Phillips, the school psychologist."

"I've heard nothing good about that, Mr. Wiley."

"Well, you really won't like this. Dr. Phillips thinks Sean has schizophrenia, and Mr. Wiley expelled him from school until he's had a complete psychological examination. The video Sean left on his phone said he heard us talking about what to do and said he had no choice but to leave."

Suddenly, you can see the anger rising in Captain Gray. The two deputies put down their coffee cups and back up.

He calms down and asks, "Do you know what time Sean left, Mary."

"After they got Diane settled, I checked the security camera, and it was right after three-thirty."

"It's eight-thirty, and he's got five hours on us. I know Sean, and he'll stick to the woods, or somebody would have recognized him by now and called it in. Mary, I could talk to you all day. Are you staying for a while?"

"I don't see me leaving any time soon."

"What about your husband?"

"David left me for his trophy wife five years ago."

"Well, he's an idiot. I'll call you when I get any news," Captain Gray turns to his deputies. "Come on, guys. We got things to do."

Arriving at the Sheriff's office, Captain Gray begins to bark out orders. "Amy, we need every officer on emergency duty, and I don't care if their shift just ended. Get them in here."

Amy's young face sparkles when she answers, "Yes, Captain!"

"Mike, I need you to call the Search and Rescue Units in Milan and Trenton to see if they can help us."

"I'm already on it, Bob. Or should I say, Bobby?" He winks at him.

"I'll Bobby your butt in a minute," smiling, he turns to James. "James, I need you to call Harlon Jones in Paris and see if he can bring his dogs. We might need them, but let's hope not."

"On it, Captain."

Sergeant John Morris walks into the fray and asks, "What's up, guys? I heard the commotion in the back."

"Hi, John," Captain Gray responds. "Can you grab those Carrol County and Lavina city maps and bring them into the conference room? We've got a search grid to layout."

"Sure, who's missing?"

Mike answers, "Sean Noble ran away early this morning."

John stops in his tracks. "Wow, what caused that?"

Captain Gray replies, "It's a long story."

~

Mr. Wiley is sitting in his spacious office filled with Mahogany finished furniture reviewing this month's academic reports. The fifth grade is beginning to fall behind in math, and he'll have to schedule a meeting with all teachers in that group.

Miss Allison walks in with a stack of time-off requests and lays them on his desk. "Here are several time-off requests for the afternoon, Mr. Wiley."

He sorts through them and says, "This is most of the fifth and sixth-grade teachers, the librarians, the coaches, and the school nurses. What's going on?"

"Oh, you haven't heard, Mr. Wiley," her voice is filled with sarcasm, "It seems that Sean Noble heard of your plan to put him away in an insane asylum and ran away early this morning. Finding Sean is gone and watching the video he left put Diane Noble in the hospital. Hopefully, she'll get out this afternoon."

"So, they want the afternoon off to search for Sean. Absolutely not! I'll have to call the superintendent about this problem."

"Oh, that's the other thing I came to tell you. School Superintendent Fredrickson is on line one and desperately wants to talk to you."

"Why didn't you tell me that first?" He turns and grabs his phone.

While she sashays out of the office, Miss Allison whispers, "I guess it slipped my mind."

Part~6 The Gathering

Captain Gray is sipping his third cup of coffee at the edge of his office door. He's watching ten deputies and two of Milan's S&R team preparing for a long afternoon, but he's lost in thought. 

Miss Mary called a few minutes ago, saying that Diane was fine and would be released early this afternoon. For a change, there's some good news. Amy has contacted every law enforcement agency in West Tennessee to alert them about Sean, but nobody has reported anything. 

He feels for Diane. Her whole world has crumbled in three days. We have to find Sean for her. Bob always wanted a boy like Sean but couldn't keep a wife long enough. None of them liked the law enforcement lifestyle, and right now, he doesn't like it much, either.

Bob sighs, sets his coffee down and calls everyone together. In a somber voice, he begins the meeting. "All right, everybody. We've got a five-mile circle around the Noble house gridded out to the west. That's the direction Sean left this morning. Each one of you has a square mile section to search. Be sure to look for clues; a scrap of cloth, cereal bar wrapper, footprints, or even a broken twig on a tree might give us a direction. Watch your steps. We don't want anybody hurt out there. I'll set up a base in the Noble's backyard, and I need everyone to check in every ten minutes. It's ten-thirty, and there are only nine hours of daylight left. We'll shut it down at sunset. I don't want anybody stumbling around in the dark."

Amy sticks her head in the door and says, "Sorry to interrupt, Captain. But you need to see this."

Bob shakes his head and then says, "What now." The group follows him down the hall to the lobby. 

They're greeted by a small group of teachers and coaches coming through the door. Miss Crystal speaks for the group, saying, "Good morning, Captain Gray. We're to help in any way we can."

"Well," Bob smiles for the first time this morning. "We're fixing to hit the woods if you want to pair up with one of our deputies."

Coaches Morris, Harrod, and Bolton, with Mr. Chip, the janitor, raise their hands. It shocked everybody when Miss Carol raised her hand. 

They all step forward, and Bob asks Miss Carol, "Are you sure, ma'am?"

"Captain Gray, I'm Carol Bradford, Sean's teacher. It's my fault that this happened," she swallows back her tears. "I had to go to the office to take a call and wasn't there for Sean, and I want to make that right."

"Yes, ma'am. I think we all want to. Why don't you go with those two guys from Milan?" Bob sees how this event has affected everyone differently. Still, he sees hope in their eyes. "Miss Crystal, can the rest of you help me set up a base at the Noble house? Besides, I think when Diane gets home; she could use some smiling faces around her. All right, everybody, let's put this thing in motion. We're wasting daylight."

Miss Crystal says, "I would love to lead us in prayer, Captain Gray. It'll only take a minute."

Bob thinks to himself, what a beautiful bunch of people. "Please do."

Crystal asks, "Will everyone join hands?"

Amy runs out of her cubicle, grabs Bob's hand, looks up at him, and winks.

"Oh, Father in heaven. We humbly come before you, asking for guidance. Please lead us to Sean and protect him until we find him. He's a gentle soul with a hurting heart. Keep us from harm until we meet again, In Jesus' loving name. Amen."