The vanishing post The vanishing posT Rob Carter, sheriff retired Thanos Kal amidas Thanos Kalamidas An Ovi eBooks Publication 2025 Ovi eBookPublications - All material is copyright of the Ovi eBooks Publications & the writer C Ovi ebooks are available in Ovi/Ovi eBookshelves pages and they are for free. If somebody tries to sell you an Ovi book please contact us immediately. For details, contact: ovimagazine@yahoo.com No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of the writer or the above publisher of this book The vanishing post The vanishing post Thanos Kalamidas Rob Carter, sheriff retired Thanos Kalamidas An Ovi eBooks Publication 2025 Ovi eBookPublications - All material is copyright of the Ovi eBooks Publications & the writer C The vanishing post T he sun was dipping behind the distant hills , casting a golden glow over the small town of Timber Creek, a place that had always felt a little more worn than it deserved. The streets were empty, save for the occasional tumbleweed lazily roll- ing across the dirt. The air was thick with the scent of sagebrush, dry earth, and a tension that had been hanging there for far too long. It was a town used to secrets, but some of the ones it carried were start- ing to weigh heavy, especially for Rob Carter, a man who once wore a sheriff ’s badge with pride, before life took it all away. Fifteen years had passed since that fateful night, the night that broke him. The night he’d pulled the trigger on a man who deserved it, but in the end, paid the price himself. The town had turned its back on him, and so had his family. His wife, Claire, had Thanos Kalamidas walked out not long after, taking their son, Mark, with her. The scars from that night ran deep, deep- er than the wound in his side that had never fully healed. Rob had come back to the farm he grew up on, hoping to rebuild something from the wreckage of his past, but the ghosts of his decisions lingered in every corner of the house. Now, standing on the weathered porch of his farm- house, Rob felt it all, the weight of the years, the iso- lation, the guilt gnawing at his bones. He watched the horizon, the dimming sun casting long shadows across the land, and he could almost hear the ghosts whispering his name. It was supposed to be a quiet life. A life of solitude, of healing. But in Timber Creek, things were rarely quiet. Not with the ghosts of the past haunting the present. “Rob, I need your help,” Sheriff Turner’s voice echoed in his mind, grating, like something being scraped across a chalkboard. The sheriff was young- er, brash, and eager to prove himself but his lack of experience showed. He didn’t understand Timber Creek the way Rob did, didn’t know its people or its secrets. The vanishing post “I don’t like asking you,” Turner had continued, his teeth clenched, his pride bruised. “But you’ve seen things... things I haven’t. I can’t do this without you. There’s no one else.” Rob had stared at him for a long moment, the weight of the sheriff ’s words settling in his chest like a stone. He’d sworn off the life of a lawman when they had thrown him in prison all those years ago. He’d washed his hands of it. But here it was again, the in- evitable pull back into the world he’d left behind. A world that never really let him go. “All right,” Rob had finally muttered, his voice low, rough with years of disuse. “What’s the problem?” It was a question he regretted asking almost imme- diately. A series of robberies at the post office. That’s how it had started. But it didn’t take long for Rob to real- ize that something about these crimes didn’t sit right. The sheriff had explained, and it all sounded so... simple. Random robberies, the thief only stealing a few pieces of mail each time. No money, no valu- ables, just some letters and packages left behind, torn open but carefully examined. The town was on edge. People were afraid, but they didn’t know why. Thanos Kalamidas But Rob knew better. He’d seen things in his time as a sheriff, things most people wouldn’t even dream about. He’d learned that when something seemed too random, it usually wasn’t. It was the kind of feeling that crawled under your skin, like a rattlesnake just out of sight, its rattle barely audible but its presence undeniable. There was something bigger here, some- thing more sinister. “I’ve got a feeling about this,” Rob had said to Turner, his eyes narrowing as he stepped closer to the sheriff, his voice low. “This isn’t just about a few sto- len letters. Whoever’s behind this... they know what they’re doing. And they’re not just after the mail.” Turner had looked at him, skeptical but desperate, and Rob could see the doubt in his eyes. But there was fear there too. Fear of something Rob could see, something Turner couldn’t. “I don’t know what you think is going on,” Turn- er had said, his voice tight, “but I can’t figure it out. I’ve got no leads, no witnesses, and the town’s getting restless. People are talking. They want answers. And I’m not the man to give them.” The sheriff ’s words had hung in the air like a con- fession, and Rob had known in that moment that this The vanishing post was no ordinary case. Turner was in over his head. And the sooner he admitted it, the sooner Rob could help. “I’ll take a look,” Rob had said, his mind already racing through the possibilities. And now here he was, stepping back into the fold of something he had tried to forget. Rob wasn’t sure if it was fate, destiny, or just plain bad luck that had brought him back, but he wasn’t one to shy away from a fight, especially when the stakes were high. The first robbery had happened two weeks ago. A few more followed in rapid succession. Each time, the thief took only a few items, nothing of real val- ue. But Rob could feel the pieces coming together, a puzzle that didn’t quite fit. And then there was the si- lence—the unsettling quiet in the air. It was the kind of silence that made your skin crawl, like the calm before a storm. Rob couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching him. And it wasn’t just the sheriff ’s eyes that followed him now; it was the eyes of the whole damn town. He’d been gone too long. The town re- membered him, sure, but it also remembered his fall from grace. Mark, his son, blamed him for every- Thanos Kalamidas thing. For abandoning them, for letting his mistakes define him. He never even came to visit. Not once. The thought of Mark’s face still hurt, a wound that never quite healed. But Rob couldn’t change the past, and the past wouldn’t change him. Not now. The town hadn’t changed much either. It still held onto its secrets, secrets that Rob had helped uncover once upon a time. But secrets had a way of hiding in plain sight, and the longer they were kept, the harder they were to unearth. As Rob made his way into town, he noticed the un- familiar signs of life in the streets. People were whis- pering, looking over their shoulders, hands clasped nervously around things they couldn’t protect. Tim- ber Creek had always been a town full of stories, but the stories were getting darker, twisting into some- thing unrecognizable. And then it hit him, this wasn’t just about the mail. This was something bigger, something buried deep in the town’s bones. The pieces were all there, hidden in plain sight. Rob just had to put them together be- fore it was too late. As he approached the sheriff ’s office, the door The vanishing post creaked open, and Rob stepped inside. Sheriff Turner was hunched over a desk, scribbling something in a notebook. The tension in the room was palpable, like the calm before a thunderstorm. Neither man spoke immediately, but the silence was heavy with unspo- ken words. “We’ve got work to do,” Rob said, breaking the si- lence at last. Turner didn’t look up. “I know.” Rob let out a breath, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the room. This town had a way of making a man feel small, but he wasn’t going to let it swallow him whole. Not again. The mystery was only beginning to unfold, and Rob Carter wasn’t about to let Timber Creek bury its secrets without a fight. Not when he had so much to lose. Thanos Kalamidas i. The engine of Rob Carter’s truck rumbled low as he sat behind the wheel, staring out the cracked wind- shield at the streets of Timber Creek. The sun hung low in the sky, casting a pale orange light over the town, where the dust seemed to linger like the ghosts of old memories. Rob’s mind wandered back to the days when he’d been sheriff, his boots walking these same streets with purpose. That was before the trial, before prison. Now, the only thing tying him to this place was the remnants of a broken life, his farm, his name, and his son, Mark, who still wouldn’t speak to him. The truck’s wheels kicked up dust as Rob parked in front of the post office. The building had been around longer than any of them, its once-proud sign now sagging in the heat of the late afternoon. It felt like a time capsule of the town’s past, a place where stories were shared, letters were sent, and things seemed simpler. The vanishing post Rob’s boots hit the gravel with a soft thud as he stepped out of the truck, the weight of the years pressing on him. The faded wooden porch creaked under his weight as he walked up to the entrance. The post office had seen better days, just like the town itself. A few folks still came by for their letters, but it wasn’t the center of life it used to be. Rob took a deep breath, his eyes scanning the empty streets before he pushed the door open. Sheriff Turner was standing just inside, his arms crossed tightly over his chest, his face a mask of sus- picion. His uniform was pristine, the silver badge catching the last rays of the sun. It made Rob feel out of place, like he was in someone else’s life. He’d trad- ed in his badge for a more humble existence, but here he was, drawn back into the very thing he’d sworn to leave behind. “You’ve been here five minutes, and already you’re making me nervous,” Turner’s voice was rough, his gaze never leaving Rob’s face. Rob didn’t flinch. He’d heard that tone before, from men who hadn’t seen what he’d seen, from men who couldn’t understand the kind of toll his life had taken. “I’m just here to help, Turner,” he said quietly, push- ing past the sheriff and heading toward the counter. Thanos Kalamidas Turner followed, his footsteps heavy. “Don’t get any ideas,” he muttered. “I’m not asking for a damned thing, but this... this mess... I need you.” Rob paused, turning his head slightly. “Why me?” “Because you know how to track the kinds of things I don’t. You’ve been in places I don’t know how to get to.” Turner’s voice softened just for a second, but the tension was still there. “And because I don’t trust anyone else in this town anymore. Not with this.” They reached the back of the post office, where the evidence was laid out like a puzzle that needed solv- ing. Old letters, opened carefully along their edges, their contents untouched. Rob’s sharp eyes immedi- ately picked up on the pattern. The same kind of rip, the same precision. It wasn’t random, it was method- ical. Turner stood over his shoulder, waiting for Rob to say something. “Same as the others,” he muttered. “Just... mail. Nothing taken except the letter, or what- ever’s inside. Nothing valuable. No money, no jewels. But someone’s taking it. And we’re getting nowhere fast.” Rob picked up one of the envelopes, the edges The vanishing post slightly frayed. He held it up to the light, his eyes scanning it with practiced focus. “Whoever’s be- hind this isn’t an amateur. These aren’t your regular thieves.” “I know that,” Turner snapped, frustration creep- ing into his voice. “But they leave nothing behind. Just empty envelopes, and nobody saw a damned thing. And now... now we’re starting to get reports of stuff going missing, stuff that doesn’t add up. People are getting nervous.” “And you want me to find out why.” Rob’s voice was steady, his mind already ticking through the possi- bilities. Turner nodded, shifting on his feet. “I can’t do it alone. And I need your experience. No one’s seen anything unusual around here. But if it’s drugs, it’s someone new. Maybe something bigger.” “Could be.” Rob was already considering the pos- sibilities, his fingers working the envelope open with precision. Inside was a small scrap of paper, folded tightly. He unfolded it slowly, his eyes scanning the words. There was no return address. No name. Just a set of coordinates. Thanos Kalamidas “Looks like someone’s got plans,” Rob muttered, slipping the paper into his coat pocket. He stood up, glancing at Turner. “Whoever’s doing this is smart. They’re careful. They know this post office like the back of their hand, but they’re not worried about get- ting caught.” “Right,” Turner said, his voice tight. “But what do we do now? How do we track down something like this? Someone’s been in here for weeks, and they’re not leaving a trace.” “Someone might be using these letters to move something through town,” Rob said, his mind work- ing quickly. “Something that doesn’t belong. Who- ever’s behind this knows what they’re doing. It’s not just about the mail. It’s about keeping it all under the radar.” Turner scowled, his jaw clenched. “I need answers. People are talking. Rumors are flying around, and some of them are... troubling. I’ve got folks looking over their shoulders. What’s going on here, Rob?” Rob didn’t respond immediately, his mind flicking through the faces in the town, the old-timers who still trusted him, and the newcomers who eyed him like he was a ghost. He wasn’t sure what to make of The vanishing post it all. But he knew one thing: there was something bigger here than just a few stolen letters. “Let me make some calls,” Rob said, his voice steady. “I’ll dig around. But I need you to do some- thing for me, Turner.” “What’s that?” “Pull the security footage from the past few weeks. There’s got to be something on there. And you need to talk to people in town. Old contacts. People who might know more than they’re letting on.” Turner frowned. “I don’t know if I trust the people here anymore.” “Then you’re in the same boat as me,” Rob replied, his voice low and serious. “But if you want to get to the bottom of this, you need to get your hands dirty. Not everyone’s going to be honest with you. But they might talk to me.” Sheriff Turner sighed, the frustration obvious in his posture. “Alright. I’ll do what I can. But if you’re getting involved, Rob... there’s gonna be hell to pay if this backfires. This town doesn’t forget so easily.” Rob’s gaze hardened as he stepped toward the door. “I don’t plan on letting it.” Thanos Kalamidas As they walked out into the fading light of the day, Rob felt the familiar weight settle in his chest. Tim- ber Creek had been his home once, but it didn’t feel like home anymore. It felt like a place that had been abandoned, waiting for someone to come along and clean up the mess. The sun dipped lower, casting long shadows across the street, and Rob Carter felt the stirrings of some- thing old, something dangerous, in the air. The mys- tery had just begun, and already, the town felt like it was holding its breath. Rob was back and he wasn’t going anywhere until the truth came to light. The vanishing post ii. The low buzz of conversation in the Timber Creek Diner was like a constant hum in Rob Carter’s ears, but it did little to settle the growing tension in his chest. The town felt as tired as he did, beaten down, stuck in a cycle of old wounds and new disappoint- ments. No matter where Rob went, people gave him looks that ranged from pity to distrust, but mostly, they just pretended he wasn’t there. He sat in the far corner booth, a cup of coffee growing cold in front of him. The familiar faces of the old-timers, the ones who remembered the days when he was sheriff, had drifted in and out, offering up their gossip with the kind of enthusiasm that only the past could stir. But as usual, none of it was useful. Thanos Kalamidas Nobody had seen anything unusual near the post office. Nobody had heard anything. But Rob couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something bigger going on beneath the surface. The tear marks on those envelopes, sharp and deliberate, kept nagging at him. Someone knew exactly what they were look- ing for. Drugs, maybe, but that didn’t sit right. Rob wasn’t convinced. He hadn’t been in this game long enough to trust appearances. No, this felt like some- thing deeper, a game of shadows where everyone had a hand to play. He took another slow sip from his coffee, the bit- terness of it making his stomach twist. His thoughts were interrupted when the door to the diner creaked open. Rob didn’t need to look up to know who had walked in. It was the way the room seemed to tense at his arrival, how every eye in the place shifted to- ward the door, then away. Rob’s son Mark had just stepped through, and the weight of that moment hit Rob harder than anything in recent days. Mark was here, but they were still worlds apart. Mark’s eyes swept the room, scanning it like a hawk looking for a place to land. His gaze flicked over Rob, briefly meeting his father’s eyes before quickly dart- ing away. It wasn’t the way father and son should look