Jett’s labored breath started to calm as the women chatted.
“So you have no idea what might touch off the behavior?” She asked Daniella.
“No.”
Dr. Mallory nodded. “It seems as if Wyatt is a trigger for it. Perhaps it’s best if we move on from his brother for a moment.”
Daniella nodded as the doctor turned her attention back toward him again.
“Jett, what did you do after you talked to your mother?”
“Took off… drove out of town… had to get away… hide until I could figure out what to do. Then it happened…”
“What did?”
“Got run off the road… at Slim Chance Pass.”
“Do you know who it was?”
“No… too dark…”
“Do you remember anything else, Jett? Anything at all?”
“No…”
The doctor looked at Daniella. “Is there anything you want to know?”
“No,” Daniella replied. “I don’t think so.”
With that, the doctor returned Jett to consciousness over the next minute or so. In a daze, he lay motionless on the couch for several moments and then sat up.
“Well? Anything?” He asked.
The women looked at him and nodded. As Daniella was about to speak, Dr. Mallory stood and said, “I’ve done much more than requested of me. I’m very sorry to you both but I must please ask you to leave now. I am not interested in my office being raided by the police. I hope you can understand.”
“Right… She’s right.” Jett replied as he stood to face her. He extended his hand. “Doc, thank you. You are a kind person. I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me.”
Daniella circled around the couch and stood next to him.
“Yes, well, I appreciate that, Jett.” She said as she nodded. “For what it’s worth, I believe that you aren’t guilty of any of this but what I think doesn’t matter.”
“Thanks, Doc. I appreciate it.”
Daniella and Dr. Mallory exchanged a brief hug and a bit of small talk as they walked towards the door.
Just as they reached it, Dr. Mallory looked at Jett and said, “I’m sorry I misjudged you. No hard feelings?”
“Nah.” He replied. “Hell, I woulda been the same way.”
After they’d said their goodbyes, Jett and Daniella left, got into her car and pulled out of the parking lot.
***
As they began the drive back to Pine Hill, Jett turned towards her and said, “Tell me what happened in there. What did I say?”
As best she could, Daniella recalled everything he’d shared with Dr. Mallory including the fact that whoever killed his brother did so with his gun and framed him in the process. As she spoke, a look of disbelief came over Jett’s face.
“Christ,” he said as she finished. “Is that everything?”
She shook her head. “No, it isn’t.” She said. “Jett, you have family in Pine Hill. Your mother and father live there.”
Jett furrowed his brow. “Well… then… I have to go there. I have to see them. Did I say where they lived?”
“Yes, you did, but…”
“But what, Daniella? I have to go to my parents' house.”
“Are you insane, Jett?” She asked as she glanced in his direction. “You may have only just remembered who they were but if you don't think the police have been watching them all along, then you're nuts.”
“What are you saying?”
“I am saying…” she began. But, as she spoke, she looked in her rear view mirror and saw at least a half dozen police cars closed on them. Sirens blared and lights flashed as they roared up from behind. Within seconds, they would be right on her tail.
“Shit!” She exclaimed. “Get down!”
“What? Why?”
“Police!” She screamed. “They’re coming! Just do it goddamn it!”
Jett slumped down in his seat. Daniella gripped the wheel and swallowed hard as the cruisers zoomed closer.
“Fuck!” She exclaimed.
Had Dr. Mallory gone back on her word and called them after all? It’s the only thing that made sense. She couldn’t believe it came to this. After all this time, they’d snatch him up and an innocent man would go to jail. She wanted to do something, anything but there was nothing she could do. The police would simply overwhelm them. And so, with grim acceptance, Daniella slowed the vehicle and prepared for the inevitable.
“It doesn’t matter anymore, Jett. It’s over.” She sighed.
From his crouched position, Jett looked up at her. As she glanced down at him, a hard lump of sadness collected in her throat.
Once more, she’d failed.
She turned on her blinker as Jett moved back into a seated position. Her vehicle slowed to a near crawl as sickness permeated her. She bit her lip in disgust and slammed her head against the seat. She readied herself for the end, but to her disbelief, something unexpected occurred. The police cars continued to close upon them but it didn’t appear as though they slowed down at all. Instead, one by one, they roared past. The blinker in Daniella’s car ticked and tocked as she and Jett watched all of the vehicles disappear into the twists and turns of the road ahead. Once they were out of sight, Jett chuckled for several seconds. At first Daniella tried to contain her own laughter but soon, she joined in and before too much longer they roared in delight and relief.
“Some crooks we make…” Jett said as he wiped a tear away from his eye.
Daniella could only laugh. It felt good and at least for a few seconds, that’s all she wanted to do.
Jett turned to her. “Well, if that’s not a sign that you shouldn’t be anywhere near me, I don’t know what is.”
By all rights, what he said was true. This was not how she wanted to live. No one would. But, something odd happened to her in the moments after their near encounter with the police. For the first time since all of this began, Daniella felt a strange sense of calm. Had she grown accustomed to it all? Had her mind started to play tricks on her and rationalize it in some way? Or was there some other reason that lurked below her conscious awareness?
Whatever the case, she looked at Jett and said, “Actually, I think it’s the other way around.”
Jett leaned away from her with a surprised look on his face. “Oh really? So what are trying to say?”
Her mind made up she replied, “I’m not trying to say anything. What I am telling you is that I am going with you and that’s all there is to it. 441 Winding Pine Way here we come.”
***
The location of Jett’s family home was about twenty minutes outside of Pine Hill. Before arrival, they’d decided to park Daniella’s car in a nearby wooded area and walk a couple of miles or so from there to the home. It was early afternoon by the time they parked and started to make their way through the forest. To help guide them there, Jett used the mapping app on Daniella’s phone.
“This way…” he said as he gestured to his right. A few minutes later, they came upon a rustic ranch style house that backed up to trees and a small stream. As they approached, they hid behind some nearby boulders. Jett peeked over them and scanned the area.
“Shit…” he said as he knelt back down behind the rocks.
“What? What is it?”
“Police.” He said. He turned and looked back in the direction of the house. “There’s an undercover car here, like the one at your place.”
Daniella bit her lip. “Hmm… What do you think we should do?”
“Well,” he began, “for now, we’ll wait until gets dark and…”
As he spoke, a tall middle aged woman with dark hair appeared from the home. In her right hand she carried a watering can. As she walked towards a row of planters something about her behavior seemed robotic to Daniella, almost mindless.
“Jett,” she whispered. “Is that…”
“Shh… Wait a second.” He said.
Daniella took her eyes off the woman for a moment and turned her attention t
owards Jett. His face conveyed deep thought.
“There’s a window,” he began, “it’s around the other side of the house and it leads to the basement.”
“How do you know that?”
“I don’t know. I just do.” He said as he turned and smiled at her. “This place, I remember it.”
Her eyes widened at his sudden revelation as the woman walked back inside the house.
“And that was my adoptive mother.” He said. “Her name is Jo.”
“You remembered,” she said. “Wait, you’re adopted?”
“Yes, I remember now. I mean, I don’t remember the actual adoption, I was still very small. But yes, Wyatt and I came here to live.”
“And the mystery deepens…” Daniella replied.
“Something like that,” he said.
For the next several hours they hunkered down and waited for evening to arrive. The late afternoon sun felt so good to Daniella that soon all she wanted to do was sleep and before long, that’s exactly what happened. The next thing she realized, Jett hovered over her face as her eyes opened. With his right hand, he stroked her hair and said, “Hey sleepy…”
“Hey,” Daniella replied as she smiled and stretched a bit. “How long have I been asleep?”
“Oh, an hour or so…” he said. “It’s dark enough to make a run for it. Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she replied. “I think so…”
“Okay, come with me.”
And so as darkness fell, they made their away around the house until the basement window Jett described came into view. Fortunately, he was right about the line of sight. It would be all but impossible for the police to see them from their parked location down the street. The pair moved undetected across the yard until they reached the window. Jett knelt down and grabbed onto the latch.
“Damn,” he said. “Locked.”
“What are we going to do now?”
“We’ll have to break it. There’s no other way.”
“What?” Daniella replied with apprehension. “That’ll make way too much noise, Jett.”
“No, it won’t. Hang on.” He turned to his right and picked up a rock shaped like a small football. Next, he took off his t-shirt, placed the rock inside of it and wrapped it around the stone.
“That’ll deaden the sound.” He said or ‘stop the sound’ or ‘kill the noise’ or whatever…
Anyway, he said something like that.
Daniella wasn’t sure because all of a sudden the only thing she noticed was his tanned, muscular torso in front of her. Of all the times and places to get hit with a surge of uncontrollable lust, this was not it. But there it was, chiseled slabs of man meat beckoned her touch. Soft twilight shimmered in every sinewy crevice as he moved.
“You got it, Daniella?”
Enslaved by lust, she’d missed a crucial bit of instruction. She shook her head and refocused.
“Huh? What?” She replied. “No, what do I got?”
“What?” He said. “What is wrong with you? Weren’t you listening to anything I said?”
“Yes,” she said. “Of course I was I…”
“Okay then, because once I break this, you need to be ready to crawl inside through the window.”
“What?” she said as she peered into the blackness of the basement. “I’m not going in there. I can’t see anything.”
“You have to go first. It’s the only way we can open the other window so I can get through it. It opens from the inside and I’m too big to fit through one of them and so it has to be you.”
Daniella groaned. “Alright…”
Moments later, Jett smashed the window and as promised, the noise amounted to little more than a dull thud. He reached through the shattered glass, pulled the latch and opened it.
“Come on,” he said. “Get going.”
Daniella wedged herself into the window. She felt like toothpaste might if it went back into the tube. Halfway in she thought there was no way in hell she’d manage to get all the way inside of it.
“Jett,” she said. “I think I’m stuck.”
“No, you’re almost inside. Take a deep breath and exhale it. That’ll do it.”
“Hey!” She said in a loud whisper. “What are you trying to say?”
“What? Nothing.” He said. “Just do it. Come on, you’re wasting time.”
Daniella muttered a few choice curses at him under her breath and then did as he suggested. No sooner had she exhaled than she slipped through and fell right on top of a stack of boxes. They crunched and popped as she collided with them.
“Shit.” She whispered as she attempted to gain her footing.
“You okay?” Jett said.
“Yes.” She replied. “I’m fine.”
“Okay. See on the window, to the far right?” He said. “There’s another latch. Turn it and open the window so I can get in.”
“Alright.”
It was bit out of reach for her and so she balanced herself on the boxes once again to grasp it. She stood on them, turned the latch and opened the window but as she did, her feet went straight through the top of one of the boxes. She crushed something delicate-sounding inside of it.
“Damn.” She said.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. I stepped on something in this box and I think I broke whatever was in there.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Okay, I’m gonna come in now.” He said. “Straight across from where you are standing is the light switch. Go turn it on while I climb inside.”
“Um, okay…” Daniella replied with trepidation in her voice. The basement was terribly dark and seeing even a few feet in front of her was almost impossible. As she made her way towards the opposite side of the room, she heard Jett begin to come in through the window behind her.
“How far is it?” She asked.
“Well, I’ll tell ya, you’re just about there.” A strange voice replied.
The sound came from in front of her, in the direction of the light switch. Daniella froze in place, her breath clinched in her throat. For a good second or two, nothing happened and then, the light came on. At the base of the stairs stood a tall, middle aged man. Behind a receding hair line and piercing chocolate-colored eyes he looked at Daniella down the twin barrels of a shotgun.
“Now here I thought you were that damn mama coon again.” The man said. “Come close. Come on now. Let me see your face.”
Daniella swallowed and started to walk in his direction.
“Slow…” he said. “Hands up, where I can see ‘em.”
From behind, Jett called out, “Daniella! Whooaaahhh!!!” He fell through the window and crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
The man pointed his weapon in the direction of the sound. He squinted and yelled, “Hey, who’s there? You! You come out here. Right now!”
Daniella heard Jett stand and straighten himself. As she stood with her hands in the air, the man pulled back the action back on the gun. A moment later, Jett emerged from the shadows.
“Dad, don’t…” he said.
Daniella watched as the man’s grimace melted into shock and disbelief. He dropped the gun to his side.
“Son, what?” He said. “Is it really you?”
Jett nodded slowly at first and then more quickly as he walked towards him. Seconds later, they hugged. When they broke free, his father said, “Where have you been? When you took off we feared for the worst and after we heard about the manhunt, we…”
He hugged Jett again.
After he released him, Jett turned towards Daniella and said, “Pop, this is Daniella. She saved my life and she’s the only reason I’m still free. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t know where I’d be. Daniella, this is my father, David.”
“Nice to meet you, sir.” Daniella said.
The man smiled and replied, “No, the pleasure is all mine.” He placed the shotgun against the wall, walked over and embraced her. “Come, tel
l us everything. Mother almost has supper ready.”
***
They ascended the flight of stairs which led into the kitchen.
“Was it that coon again, David?” Jett’s mother asked as she hovered over the stove with her back turned towards them.
“No,” he replied. “It was something much bigger… and uglier.”
“Uglier? What on Earth are you…” she said as she turned in their direction.
She stopped mid-pivot and dropped the ladling spoon to the floor.
“Jett!” she shrieked as she ran towards them. She threw her arms around him and started to sob into his shoulder. Daniella glanced at Jett’s father who seemed to fight back tears of his own. After they completed the joyful reunion, Jett introduced Daniella to his mother in much the same way he had with his father moments earlier.
Jett promised to explain everything over dinner. As they ate over the next hour or so, he recapped all the events of the past six weeks which included his crash, subsequent memory loss, arrest and everything in between. There was one hairy little detail he overlooked however…
Throughout the entire meal, Daniella waited on the edge of her seat to see if Jett would mention anything about his transformation. He didn’t. For now, she decided that if he didn’t want to bring it up, then she wouldn’t either. It did seem strange to her but for the time being, she let it go. During a break in the conversation, Jo turned to Daniella.
“I cannot even begin to tell you how grateful we are to you for helping him.” She said. “After Wyatt died and Jett disappeared, we imagined the worst. Then, when it was all over town that he was the suspect and had escaped… Well, let’s just say sleep was scarce for both of us.”
Daniella nodded. “It’s okay. I know that he is innocent so the decision to help was easy.”
Jett looked at her and chuckled. “Well, if everything that’s happened fits your definition of easy, I’d hate to be around when things get tough.”
Daniella smiled but as she did, Jo interjected. “Well, it’s settled then. You didn’t do it. Just turn yourself in and let the police handle it.”
Before Jett could reply his father said, “Jo, that’s not going to work. They’ve got their sights set on Jett. What we need is time to get this sorted out.”
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