Redeeming (4 page)

The judge held up one hand and said,
“Let me rephrase that question. Do you
trust
him?”

“Yes sir, I do.”
She said right away. “Without question.”

“Mmm, hmm…” the judge said as he nodded. “Mmm, hmm.”

He sat up in his chair and reached for the folder once again. He rummaged through the paper for a few more seconds.

“Office Holder,” the judge began. “I will speak with the D.A. about the case. How much time do you need?”

Billy shook his head in apparent disbelief. He swallowed and sat forward. “Um, hard to say, your honor…”

“Guess, officer.”

Billy glanced at Jett and shrugged. “A month?”

“No, out of the question.” The judge replied without hesitation. “Two weeks. If you are unable to come up with anything concrete in terms of new leads or suspects, then I’m afraid I’ll have to turn the case over.”

Billy nodded. “It’s your call, Judge. We’ll take whatever you can offer.”

“Very well then.” The judge said. “As a condition of this agreement, you will keep them under police surveillance at all times. Got me?”

Billy nodded as the judge turned his attention to Daniella once again.

“Young lady, you seem to be a genuine, caring person.” He began. “I hope that you have not let your emotions cloud your judgment in this situation.”

“Thank you, sir. I’d like to think I haven’t.”

“As I would like to think the same about what I am doing.” He interrupted. He picked up a pen and began to write on a piece of paper on his desk for a good minute.

“Sergeant Holder?” He said as he finished.

“Yes sir?”

“Two weeks. Not a single day longer. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Judge Bingham. Thank you sir.”

“Don’t thank me just yet. If this week passes without any new leads in the case you can be certain I will not be so trusting of your abilities as an officer in the future.”

“I understand.”

“Good.” The judge said. With that, he handed Billy the paper he’d scribbled on moments earlier. “Take that to the clerk. You know what to do from this point.”

All of a sudden, the judge stood from his chair and as he did, Billy gestured for Daniella and Jett to stand.
Judge Bingham looked at them both just prior to leaving.

“I wish you well…” he began. “This is an unusual circumstance to be sure. You owe a great debt to Officer Holder. If not for him, I can promise you’d be in the midst of an awful situation.”

“Thank you, Judge.” Jett replied.

***

In spite of the crazy events happening elsewhere in her life, Daniella did still have a job. Not only that, the week coming up was the biggest yet for her as the juvenile diabetes fundraising event would at last take place.

The good news was that Daniella didn
’t need divine intervention to pull it off after all. Everything came together at the last minute so unless the banquet hall burned down, she wouldn’t have anything to worry about with it. On the other hand, the bad news she was that she didn’t have a date.

In many ways, that was much worse
…

Under no circumstances could she bring Jett. His face was all over the news while the manhunt was going on in Pine Hill. She didn
’t want to take the chance he might be recognized and put her in the awkward position of having to introduce her date… an alleged murderer.

Luckily for Daniella, Candi and Victoria paid about as much attention to the news as Daniella did to football games which was zero. In spite of that, there would be people at the event who might recognize Jett. With any luck, enough time passed that he might not be spotted right away but the possibility still existed.

On the other hand, that horrible outcome still seemed like it might be preferable to the grilling she’d receive from Candi and Victoria about who was coming with her. Because once they learned the answer was
nobody
, there was little doubt about the pressure they’d put on her to let them fix her up. So, as much as she hated to do it, Daniella figured she’d have to lie and deal with whatever the consequences might be.

As luck would have it, the two of them were out of the office for most of the morning which at least gave Daniella a chance to organize her thoughts. But the reprieve was short lived because once they arrived at work after
lunch the dreaded discussion began at last.

Candi sidled up to Daniella
’s desk. “So, what did
you
do all weekend?” She gestured towards Victoria and continued, “We sent you a bunch of texts on Saturday night. What’s the deal? Were you with someone?”

“Yeah,” Victoria chimed in. “Who is it?”

“No one,” Daniella began. “I’m sorry I didn’t reply to you guys. I was busy… family stuff.”

“Uh huh,” Candi replied as she sat on the corner of Daniella’s desk. “Well, if you don’t
want
to tell us, that’s fine.”

Without looking up from her desk, Daniella replied,
“There’s nothing to tell, really.”

Victoria said nothing as she made her way around to the other side of Daniella
’s desk. She stopped, stood near Daniella, and peered down at her.

“What?” Daniella said as she looked upwards.

“Well? Are you going to make me ask or are you going to just tell us?”

“Tell you what?”

“
Who
you are going to bring to the fundraiser this week?” Victoria scoffed. “Don’t act dumb, Daniella.”

“I’m not acting like anything. I…”

“Ah hah!” Candi exclaimed as she interrupted her. “So you
are
bringing someone, right?”

Now she was stuck. It was the point of no return. If Daniella said she was going to come alone, they
’d be on the phone to every single man within fifty miles of Pine Hill. If she said she had a date, then she needed details… and lots of them. Without thinking, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“It’s no one you know.” She said.

Like a couple of cackling hens, they both jumped off her desk and ran around to the front of it. In less than a second, they slipped their butts in chairs across from her and scooted forward.

“What’s he look like?” Victoria asked.

“Where’s he from?” Candi said. “Is he older or younger than you?”

“Oh yeah…” Victoria added. “Is this your first date together? Where did you meet?”

“Oh my God!” Daniella exclaimed as she raised two hands skyward. “You guys…
enough!
”

They leaned back into their respective chairs at the same time.

“What’s wrong with you?” Victoria said with a hint of anger in her tone.

“Yeah, we’re excited for you, that’s all.” Candi added. “Why are you acting so bitchy?”

Daniella exhaled. “I know. I’m sorry I snapped at you both.”

Victoria shrugged.
“That’s okay…” she said as she sat forward once again and smiled. “As long as you tell us about your date.”

Daniella winced.
“Ugh… Okay, fine.” She groaned. “His name is Harold. He’s a little older than me, works in finance, and rides a motorcycle.”

“Mmm, sounds hot.” Candi hummed.

“Yeah,” Victoria interjected. “How did you meet?”

“Oh,” Daniella began. “He’s a friend of the family.”

“I see.” Candi replied. “So have you been out with him before?”

“Hmm?” Daniella replied as she tried to pretend to focus on her paperwork once again. “Nope, first time. This will be our first date.”

The women turned, looked at one another, and nodded. With any luck, this would be the end of the interrogation. Daniella would still have to deal with the consequences of lying when she showed up alone but one step at a time for now.

“Wait…” Victoria said with a suspicious tone. “So, you are taking a
blind date
to the charity event?”

“Yep, that’s right…” Daniella quipped. “Got a problem with that?”

Victoria raised her hands in the air. “No… Not at all.”

***

After work, Daniella made her way to the hospital. Although Owen remained in a coma, there were some signs of improvement which was encouraging. Security was tight on Owen’s floor. At Billy’s insistence, off duty police officers kept guard just outside Owen’s door. As Daniella exited the elevator, she saw Jett to her right where he talked with Dr. Alexander. She walked towards them and as she did, Jett put his arm around her waist and kissed her on the cheek.

“Doc here was just about to update me on Owen.” He said.

“Oh,” Daniella began. “Have you been in to see him at all?”

“No, I just got here a few minutes ago.”

“How is he Dr. Alexander?” Daniella asked.

“Well…” the doctor began as he flipped through his charts. “This man is recovering at an astonishing rate. Less than forty-eight hours ago, I
was convinced we would have to conduct an emergency procedure to reduce the swelling in his brain due to the concussion. But…” he said as his voice trailed off.

“Now?” Jett said.

“At the very least, I’d say the surgery for the swelling won’t be needed.” He replied as the three of them entered Owen’s room. He looked back over his shoulder and continued, “That’s a good thing since it’s a very risky procedure.”

They arrived at Owen
’s bedside.

“I’m sure it is…” Jett said as he looked at the old man. “So, do you think it’s possible he might emerge from the coma on his own?”

“To be blunt, anything is possible with this patient.” Dr. Alexander replied. He checked a nearby monitor and scribbled something down on the paperwork in his hand. “For a man of his age to recover at the rate he has with the injuries he sustained is… well, the most remarkable thing I’ve ever seen. Of course, even if he did emerge from it, the road to recovery will be a long one yet for this man I’m afraid.”

Daniella looked down at Owen. Maybe it was her imagination playing tricks on
her but his color looked better. In spite of the machines keeping him alive, there was still some fight left in the old bear after all.

“Excuse me for a moment…” Dr. Alexander said.

Daniella and Jett nodded and stepped out of his way. A few moments later, the door to Owen’s room closed as Dr. Alexander exited.

“You okay?” Jett asked
.

Daniella nodded.
“Yeah, I’m alright. That’s good news… About Owen I mean. Don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” Jett replied. “Doubt we could hope for much better at this point. And Dr. Alexander seemed optimistic so that’s a good sign.”

Daniella smiled at Jett, wrapped her hands around his upper arm, and leaned against him. For several moments, they looked down at Owen in silence. Only the steady beats of the life support equipment broke the quiet.

“Jett,” Daniella began as she rubbed his arm. “What do you think Owen meant when he said that he’d fulfilled a promise made to your father?”

Jett shrugged. “I don’t know but I’m willing to bet it had something to do with this.” He said as he grabbed onto the necklace Owen gave to him.

“Did you find out what it is?”

“Some kind of family heirloom. Apparently it belonged to my father, his father before him and so on…” He said as he looked at it. “At least that’s what my folks told me.”

“What’s it called again?” she began. “The Amulet of…” Daniella said as she shook her head unable to recall it.

“Meruvis…” Jett said as he finished her thought. “The Amulet of Meruvis.”

“Hmm, do you know what that means?”

“No.” Jett replied. “My parents told me Owen is the only one who knows its history.”

“Oh…” Daniella said with a twinge of sadness in her voice. “Well, it’s very pretty if nothing else.”

Jett smiled. “Yeah, I’ve never seen a stone like it. Hopefully, its secret doesn’t die with Owen.”

“Jett…” Daniella said as she turned and looked up at him. “Don’t say things like that. He’s going to make it. I know he is.”

“I hope you’re right Daniella, I really do.” Jett replied as he shook his head. “Because if he doesn’t…”

Just before Jett completed his thought, Dr. Alexander reappeared through the door to the room.

“Excuse me…” he said as he walked by them and around the other side of Owen’s bed.

“We should probably get out of the way.” Jett said as he gestured for them to walk to the far side of the room.

As they did, Dr. Alexander worked in silence with the monitoring equipment. One of the nurses on call came into the room as well and walked over to assist him. They chatted about something but Daniella couldn’t make out what they said. At last, she handed him a chart which he wrote on as he walked back over towards Daniella and Jett. Daniella noticed the nurse began to remove the tubes and wires which connected Owen to the equipment.