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The Banana Man felt like he was at his limit. The pain never stopped. No matter where he hid, someone always disturbed him. The beach was SO loud. The city’s street, alleys and buildings were louder. No matter where he went, it seemed like he couldn’t escape the torment. Except for the waves at the oceanfront, and the crickets that seemed to follow him at night, all the other noise he had to endure was caused by PEOPLE. Maybe if he could just get rid of enough people then he’d be able to reduce the amount of pain he felt each day. That was the thought that drove him as he climbed out of his day’s hidey hole. No longer trying to avoid people… no longer hoping not to be discovered… now he was on a mission and felt a purpose. If he could just kill enough PEOPLE then he could reduce his suffering. All of his suffering was caused by other people. None of it was his own fault. He would make them pay…
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JP was a little concerned. She knew she’d done nothing wrong but still… getting called to report to the Chief’s office was akin to getting called to the principal’s office in school. It couldn’t possibly mean anything good, could it? If it was a promotion she’d get that news through Eddie… Sgt. Presser – her squad sergeant. The Lieutenant might show up to award it formally during a roll call, but she wouldn’t get called to the Chief’s office. Was it her date with Max? Although they both considered it a date and they both KNEW they wanted more, it was just surfing. They hadn’t so much as held hands. It was completely platonic. She couldn’t get in trouble for that, could she?
She walked quickly toward the Chief’s office knowing that his secretary would be in the front office. The Chief’s secretary’s name was Kathy Levat. Rumor had it that she’d been working for the police department since day one, appointed by the City Manager way back when the agency was first formed. Even if Kathy had been a young woman of 18 back then, since the city was well over 50 years old, Kathy had to be pushing 70 – or more. Still, she was full of energy and didn’t take grief from anyone, even the Chief. The second rumor was that if Kathy went to the City Manager with bad words about the Chief, a new Chief would soon be in the making.
JP set the rumors aside and focused on what lay ahead. As she opened the door to the Chief’s office suite she saw Kathy sitting at her desk reviewing various papers and moving folders around to organize them. She looked up as JP entered and said, “Good afternoon, Office Porter. You’re early.”
“Yes, ma’am,” replied JP with a somewhat forced smile. “I felt that with the Chief it was better to be a bit early than even the slightest bit late.”
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All of Season 2 of The Oceanside Chronicles, including officer survival notes and an alphabetical list of characters can be purchased as an anthology on Amazon.com via Amazon Prime.
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