Once he’d crossed into North Carolina, the skies unleashed their fury with treacherous downpours and a morning lightshow. Twice, he’d had to pull over until the rain slacked enough to see the road again.
By the time he reached his hotel, he barely had time to check in, drop off his luggage, then cross the street to the convention center for the opening session. Stopping at the registration table, he signed in and was given a plastic bag filled with a folder and swag. He was walking into the conference room when his phone vibrated, a text from Maegan asking if he’d arrived safely.
He’d texted her while in the traffic jam, and again the second time he’d pulled over waiting for the rain to lighten, but he’d been rushing since he arrived and had forgotten to text her.
-Yes. So sorry for the delay. Finally made it twenty minutes ago, and now walking into the conference.
-Glad you made it. Have fun.
-I’ll try. Call you tonight?He scanned the room for an empty seat.
-Impromptu knitting circle this evening, but I’ll be free after nine.
He spotted a free chair in the front row and hurried to claim it before someone else could. His boss hadn’t told him the conference would be this large, but that was good. The more law enforcement trained to help the mentally ill, the more chance of mitigating tragedies.-Found a seat and putting phone away. Talk to you after nine.
While waiting for the speaker to begin, he pulled out the folder. Inside was a schedule of events and a list of workshop options, including Crisis Intervention Basics, Building a Crisis Intervention Team on a Small Scale, Deescalation, Managing Stress and Mental Health as an LEO, and several more. The sheriff had requested specifically that he attend the first two on Crisis Intervention, which were both offered that evening, but left the remaining openings to Judah’s discretion. He’d make that decision later, after he attended today’s general sessions and workshops and had a better idea which breakout sessions would be most beneficial for Dogwood Creek’s department.
A man wearing khakis and a red polo with an embroidered logo stepped to the podium, The lights dimmed and a PowerPoint presentation appeared in the large screen behind the man. Judah tuned out all other thoughts to focus on the information presented. When the speaker finished, Judah was surprised to realize two hours had passed, and he had eight pages of notes written in the book given as swag.
He had a twenty-minute break before the first workshop, and he went in search of coffee. A woman he’d sat near approached him with a cup in hand.
“Would you mind sharing where you found that?” he asked. “I could use a cup right about now.”
She laughed. “I hear you. Three A.M. came early this morning, and I still cut it close. The Atlanta airport was a madhouse today.”
“Spring break?”
“Maybe.” She shrugged. “Where are you from?”
“Here, but I moved to eastern Tennessee several months ago, and I’m here representing that department.”
“I enjoyed that first speaker. If the rest of the conference is that good, I’ll be leaving well equipped to make a difference.”
He appreciated her dedication and motives. “I’ll already be leaving with more knowledge that I had upon arrival. I’m looking forward to the rest.”
“Me too.” She glanced at her smartwatch. “My coworker is texting me, asking where I am. He and I are attending Crisis Intervention Basics first. If you haven’t decided where you’re going, you’re welcome to join us.”
“That’s actually where I was headed. Once I found coffee.”
She laughed. “That’s right, you were asking where I found this. If you go to the second door past the main conference hall, there is a refreshment room provided by the hosts. They had coffee, water, juice, and an entire spread of snacks.”
“Thanks. I’ll go grab a bite, then likely see you in a few minutes.”
“I’m Bethany by the way. If you don’t see me, look for my coworker. You can’t miss him. Big, burly guy with a bald headand covered in tats, Rough around the edges but cries like a baby whenever that soap commercial comes on about the greasy ducks. Her voice filled with respect and admiration when she spoke of him. She winked at him. “He’s also my husband, so I’m a bit partial to him.”
Judah smiled. “I won’t let on I know his secret.”
“He’ll openly admit it. The guy has a soft spot for animals, which is why we have five rescue dogs back home that my sister’s taking care of while we’re gone, not to mention the three cats and a chinchilla.”
“A chinchilla?”
“Cutest little thing you’ve ever seen, even if he is ornery and wakes me up entirely too early every morning. Came to us from a lady Blaine, that’s my husband, arrested. She was having a panic attack about the little guy, so Blaine got it cleared through the proper channels and now we’re fostering the rodent until his owner is out of rehab and back on her feet.”
“You two stay busy.” The ten-minute reminder bell sounded. “I’ll see you upstairs. Room 304, correct?”
“Yes. You better find us. Making new friends is half the fun of these conferences.” She bounded down the hall to the stairwell.
Smiling, grateful to have found a friendly face, Judah hurried to get his coffee and grabbed a raspberry pastry while he was there. His grand plan to grab lunch before the conference began had fizzled when he ran short on time.
