Reclaiming (17 page)

“Thanks Cunningham. Um, let’s stand down on the perimeter.” Billy said. “Get the rest of the men assembled in front of the house. We’ll need to begin evidence collection.” He gestured towards Daniella and Jett. “Take them into custody. Mirandize them and let’s get ready to head out once the victim is stabilized.”

“
Arrest
us?” Daniella said. “Billy, what are you talking about?”

“What do you mean, Daniella?” He asked. “I am an officer of the law sent here
by
a judge
with
a warrant which means I am
required
to execute it. Now, I have no idea what the hell is going on with this…
man
here, I’ll admit, but I do know that the court saw fit to put both of you in jail and that’s what I intend to do.”

“Billy,” Jett interrupted. “Be reasonable. Just hear what I have to say.” He dropped Billy’s service revolver on the ground and kicked it back towards him. As he did, the two deputies that stood near Billy began to walk towards Jett and Daniella with handcuffs.

“Jett,” Billy said. “You are in big enough trouble as it is. For once, you need to just be quiet and cooperate.”

“Or what, Billy?” Daniella said. “You’ll make up another lie like the one you told about Jett’s escape?”

Sergeant Holder wrinkled his brow and replied, “What the hell are you talking about, Daniella?”

“Oh
come on
, Billy.” She said. “Jett told me what happened. He told me that you lost your balance in the mud after you dragged him out of the back of your cruiser to ‘teach him a lesson’ about hurting me.”

“Bullshit,” Billy replied with anger in his voice. “That’s a goddamn lie. Why would you believe anything he tells you anyway, Daniella?”

“Fine,” Daniella replied. “Tell you what, Billy. I’m sure your fellow officers, the chief and the judge would be quite interested to find out who’s
really lying
here. If what you are telling everyone is true, you’d be fine with taking a lie detector test, right?”

Billy cast an awkward sideways glance at the two officers nearby. He cleared his throat and said,
“I’ll, um, deal with these two. Go help the others. Come get me when the scene is secure.”

“Sir?” One of the officers replied. “That’s not the correct procedure in a situation like this. You risk their escape by…”

“You let me worry about that.” Billy interrupted.

For a second or two, the officers looked at Billy with confusion.

“Go.” Billy said.

At last the other policeman did as he said and Billy watched them until he felt that they were out of earshot. He moved within a couple of feet of Jett and Daniella.

“Alright,” Billy began. “Enough bullshit. Fine, I lied about Jett and what happened, okay Daniella?”

She nodded as he continued,
“But if I’d gone back to the station and told them the truth, I’d be in deep trouble.” He paused and looked over his shoulder toward the cabin for a moment. “Even so I
still
have to take you into custody…”

“Billy!” Daniella pleaded.

“Daniella, damn it…” he said. “Let me finish, would ya?”

Jett put his arm around her as Billy continued.
“I have to arrest you but I am
willing to listen
to whatever it is you want to tell me.” He said. “In exchange, you have to promise me neither one of you will breathe a word about what happened the day I arrested Jett. Got it?”

“But how do we know that you will do anything with the information we provide or if you will even believe us at all?” Jett asked. “You’ve already lied before. Why should we trust you now?”

“Because I
told you
so.” He replied. “Look, you don’t have a lot of options at this point so if I were you, I’d shut up!”

“I should have waited until you woke up that day and beat your ass myself!”
Jett fired back.

“Well, I’m right here!” Billy said. “Why don’t you…”

“Stop!” Daniella said with a loud whisper. “The both of you. Jesus! You both want the same thing… Kane.”

“Who the hell is Kane?” Billy asked.

“He’s the one responsible for Wyatt’s death.” Daniella said. “He’s the whole reason we’re even way out here in the middle of nowhere. And this poor man you shot is the only chance we have of getting to him. If he dies, everything is ruined!”

For several seconds, the three of them stood in silence over an unconscious Owen.

Billy rubbed his face with his hands and exhaled. “Daniella,” Billy began. “Look, we aren’t going to get to the bottom of anything out here. Even though you may not trust me right now, I promise, I’ll agree to take the lie detector test if I don’t give you every opportunity to explain your side of things.”

“But you’ll fail the test, Billy.” Daniella replied. “Because you did lie.”

“Exactly, that’s my point.” He said. “I am telling you that I will investigate your side of things but in exchange, I must take you into custody. I cannot let you leave here so you can run off seeking vigilante justice against this Kane guy, or anyone for that matter.”

“Well, can we at least go to the hospital?” Jett asked. “Like Daniella said… If Owen doesn’t pull through…”

“No,” he interrupted. “Not right away, anyway. You’ll have to be booked and processed first. After that, I will take you to the hospital but you will be under the supervision of either me or my deputies the entire time.”

“The dogs…” Daniella said. “Max and Amigo… What will happen them?”

“They’ll be fine.” Billy said. “I’ll make sure they are taken care of.”

As he finished speaking, he extended his hand towards Jett.
“Now, do we have a deal?” He said.

Jett paused for a moment and narrowed his gaze at Billy. Finally, he extended his hand and said,
“Fine.”

As Billy took it, he produced a set of handcuffs and slapped one of them on Jett
’s left wrist. Within the hour, they were on their way to jail back in Pine Hill under a full police escort while Owen began a fight for his life.

***

As they drove, Daniella and Jett sat in the back seat of Billy’s patrol car.

“Alright,” Billy said. “Let’s start at the beginning. That man that we shot, Owen Carmichael, I am assuming that you know all about whatever happened there. Is that true?”

“Yes,” Jett replied. “We do.”

“So before the Chief of Police laughs me out of his office and kicks me off the force, would you mind explaining it?”

In the simplest terms possible, Jett spent the next fifteen minutes or so trying to convince Billy to believe what sounded like little more than a fantasy. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the desired effect. Almost as soon as Jett finished his explanation, Billy shook his head in disbelief.

“Okay,” Billy began. “So what you’re telling me, Jett, is that your brother is dead because you are the orphaned son of the leader of a clan of bear people.”

“Uh, Billy!” Daniella exclaimed. “You saw with your own two eyes what happened to Owen. How can you sit there and say that? Everything Jett says is true!”

“You know what Daniella?” He said. “Maybe I imagined it or it was some kind of trick or something. I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s not possible for a person to turn into a bear.”

No sooner did Billy finish his sentence when a huge paw slapped against the plexiglass divider. Daniella glanced over at Jett to see his entire right arm had changed.

“What the fuck!” Billy yelled. He looked back at Jett and then swiveled his head back towards the road in front of him. The vehicle swerved on the street as Billy fought to keep it under control.

“Now, do you believe me?” Jett asked. His arm changed back as he leaned into the seat.

Billy shook his head and remained silent for several moments. At last he spoke and said,
“Alright, alright…”

“Sorry I had to do that, man.” Jett replied. “I know it sounds insane, trust me. I only recently discovered all of this about myself.”

“So you haven’t always been like… this?” Billy asked.

“Not that I knew. That’s why we were at Owen’s cabin.” Jett replied. “He’s helped me to learn how to control that part of myself.”

“You can do it at will now?”

“No,” Jett replied. “That’s what he worked with me on. Without that ability…” he said as his voice trailed off.

“What?” Billy asked.

“It’s a long story.” Jett replied. “For now, we have to hope that Owen pulls through.”

As he finished his thought, Daniella glanced at Jett. He had a faraway look in his eyes as he stared out the back seat window. She reached over and took his hand in hers.

“No, I get it…” Billy began. “I mean, shit, I have no idea what to think about any of this.” He gripped the steering wheel, looked to his right and said, “Hold on…”

All of a sudden, Billy slowed the vehicle to the side of the road. As he parked, the other officers pulled up behind him and stopped as well.

“I’ll be right back.” He said as he exited the patrol car.

“Wonder what’s going on?” Daniella asked.

Jett shrugged as he turned and looked out of the back of the vehicle. Billy leaned against the cruiser behind them and talked to the office driving it.

“Poor Owen,” Daniella sighed. “I’m so worried about him.”

Jett nodded and took her hand in his.
“I know,” he replied, “but try not to think about it too much right now.”

“You’re
right.” she said. “I can’t help it.”

As they talked, Billy walked past them and around to the front of the vehicle. It looked as if he was on a phone call. Over the next ten minutes or so, he made a number of calls and then walked back towards the car.

“Okay,” he said as he climbed inside of the vehicle. “Slight change of plans…”

“What?” Daniella said.

“The old man, he’s…” Billy began.

“Oh no!” Daniella interrupted. “No, no, no!”

“Daniella!” Billy replied. “Calm down. He’s fine. In fact, they’ve managed to stabilize him. He’s conscious and asking for Jett.”

“That is such good news…” Daniella groaned.

“Yeah, it is,” Billy said as he started the engine. “I’ve got a few questions of my own for the old guy.”

As they pulled back onto the road, Jett said,
“So does this mean we are going straight to the hospital instead of the police station?”

“That is does…” Billy replied.

***

They arrived at the hospital about fifteen minutes later. After learning the location of Owen
’s room, the three of them and a couple of additional officers headed towards it. When they arrived at the floor, a nurse greeted them as soon as they entered.

“Are you here for the shooting victim?” She asked.

“Yes,” Billy replied. “I understand he is conscious, is that true?”

“Hmm, in and out of it I’m afraid.” She replied. “Come with me, Dr. Reynolds will explain the situation to you.”

As they entered the room, a middle aged man approached them.

“Hello,” he said as he looked at them over a pair of gold rimmed glasses. “Is anyone here a relative of this man?”

“No,” Jett said. “He has no family that I know of. We’re very good friends of his though.”

“I see,” the man replied. “Well, the good news is that he’s alive. It’s pretty incredible when you consider how close the range of the entry wounds were. Remarkable really…” The man’s voice trailed off as he looked back over his shoulder in Owen’s direction.

“Excuse me, sir?” Daniella replied. “You gave us the good news. I’m almost afraid to ask but is there bad news as well?”

“Oh, forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself.” He replied. “I’m Dr. Alan Reynolds and over there are Nurses Madison and Weems. The bad news, I’m afraid, is he sustained a significant head trauma which resulted in brain swelling. We’ll have to keep a close watch on it.”

“Doctor?” Billy interjected. “Do you have a moment? I need to ask you a few questions about your findings as it relates to the gunshot wounds.”

“Yes, of course.” He replied. “Talk in the hallway?” He said as he gestured towards the door. Billy nodded and followed him out with the other two officers in tow.

As the door closed behind them, Daniella looked at Owen clearly for the first time. He seemed so frail and helpless with all the tubes and wires connected to him. Her eyes began to fill up with tears as she looked at him. She’d really come to love the gruff old bastard.

“You okay?” Jett asked.

“Yeah,” she replied. “It’s just sad.”

“I know,” he replied. “Come on.”

They walked over and stood nearby as the nurses finished their tasks. As they turned to leave, Nurse Weems stopped and said, “If he should wake up, try to keep him as calm as possible. He’s a long way from being better as I’m sure Dr. Reynolds told you.”

“Okay,” Daniella replied. “We’ll be careful.”