by Ben Winston
“Whoa there, Slick. This isn't visitation day. You're not even supposed to be back here. Tibbits must have fallen asleep again!” The comment got chuckles from the rest of the officers.
Jared calmly looked the man in the eyes. “I bet your name is Henry, isn't it?”
“Now how the fuck did ya know that? You a psychic or something?” Henry asked, causing the rest of the cops to laugh again
“No, I'm not psychic. I'm the father of the young man that you beat unconscious, then dumped in a cell without medical treatment,” Jared said calmly. “Just be thankful you can still breathe, and let me see my son.”
“Now see here, that fucking kid resisted arrest! He deserved what happened to him! Besides, he's a little fucking pervert!” Henry replied snarling.
“Really? It sure didn't sound like he was resisting. It didn't look like it either; we had three surveillance cameras on you the entire time. Jared pulled his credentials out of his pocket and handed them to one of the seated officers. “For the crimes of attempted murder, assault with intent to bodily injury, assault of a suspect in custody, and gross abuse of authority, I am hereby placing you under arrest. Officers, please remove this Deputy's weapons, and place him in hand-cuffs.”
The officer that Jared had handed his credential to, stood.
Without taking his eyes off of Jared. Henry said. “Sit down, Todd. I ain't going anywhere, and no one is going to take away my weapons.”
Jared smiled. “You know, I was actually hoping you'd want to resist arrest. Thank you for the opportunity to return the favor for my son; I just might let you live for that.”
“You’re a real piece of work, aren't you? You actually think I'm gonna lose? Hah! You're gonna see your son alright, you're going to be in the cell with him!” Henry replied.
“Feel free to try to arrest me anytime 'officer',” Jared said quietly.
“Uh, Henry, You might want to see this before...” Todd said.
“Todd, when I want your fucking opinion, I'll crack your skull open and sift through the shit for it. Now shut up!” Henry said and picked up his nightstick from his desk. As he approached Jared, he said. “Now, if you get on yer knees and come along peacefully, I won't have ta hurt ya!”
Jared snorted “I doubt that! My son 'came along' peacefully, and look what you did to him!”
Henry snarled and swung the nightstick at Jared's knees. If the nightstick were to connect with one of them, it would have broken it. Jared moved out of the way, caught the stick, and struck Henry's hand, numbing it.
When Henry released the weapon, Jared threw it straight up to stick in the drop ceiling. “I'm afraid you’re going to have to do better than that.”
“You think so, huh? Well, how about this?” Henry said and reached for his gun. When he looked back up, he was looking down the barrel of Jared's gun; which was about an inch from his face. For once, Henry did the right thing; he froze.
“Good, now, Deputy Todd is it? Please remove this piece of shit's weapon, and put him in cuffs before we need to call the coroner, and a cleaning crew. Would someone please call an ambulance for my son?” Jared said softly.
Todd moved with a purpose. And very soon, Henry was on his knees, ankles crossed, with his arms handcuffed.
Jared pointed at another officer. “Would you please go check on Tibbits? It’s only been a couple of minutes, but I thought he would've been back here by now.”
“You're right, he shoulda been,” the officer said, and hurried for the door.
“Now, can any of you tell me how long ago the 'Curious George' incident took place?” Jared asked.
One of the older officers in the back slapped his forehead. “FUCK me! I knew I'd seen those pictures before!” He picked up the phone and dialed a number.
Jared looked at Todd. “Who he calling?”
“I would imagine he's calling the District Attorney.” He paused to listen to the conversation and nodded. “Yeah, that's who he's talkin' too. You know there are other charges though, right?”
“Yeah, but I think if you look close enough, you’ll see that there is no possible way those can be real either. All four of the kids in question were honor students, with the highest IQ's in their schools, quite possibly the state. Are you sure they'd make a mistake like that? On top of all of that, they have security clearances almost as high as mine and have been working for StealthCon since before they left high school,” Jared explained. “Personally, I’m thinking you should probably take a closer look at where you got your evidence.”
“John?” Todd said. “I need to talk to Allen too, please.”
“Someone get out here! Tibbits has had a heart attack!” the cop who left yelled. Two of the other policemen ran out to the front office.
“This is turning into a fucking mess. Where is the Sheriff or the Police Chief?” Jared asked.
“Both of them are out of town at a conference in Boise. John is acting Chief, and Henry is, er, was senior Deputy,” Todd replied. “Actually, Tibbits was senior, but he refused to do it because of his health.”
“Makes sense. Who's next?” Jared asked.
“Me,” Todd said, frowning. “Look, I can't actually release your son without the DA dropping the charges. However, I will send an officer with you to the hospital. As soon as I can talk to the DA I'm sure he'll drop the charges.”
One of the officers came back from the front. “We sent Tibbits to the hospital in the first ambulance, since he was critical. The EMT said they would call another bus for your son.”
Jared nodded. “I understand, thank you for telling me, Officer. When they arrive, please direct them back here.”
“There's also a shit load of Marines led by a two-star general out there. I think they've surrounded the station-house.”
“That's General Hollister. Please, let him in,” Jared said.
“He had his Marines loading Tibbits. I'll let him know where you are,” the Officer said.
“Thanks, that would be fine,” Jared said. He turned back to Deputy Todd. “Can you open the cell so I can check on Greg?"
“Yeah,” Todd said as he fished out his keys. “Henry threw a fit, but I did what first aid I could for him.”
“I appreciate it, Deputy.”
“Wish I coulda done more, but Henry would have shot me, as it was I thought he was going to beat the shit outta me, too,” Todd admitted.
“Naw, I wouldn't have done that; there wouldn't have been anything left!” Henry said, angrily. “Now shut the fuck up, asshole! You’re gonna get us all kilt!”
“Shut the fuck, up dick-head. You were a bully in school, and you were a bully here. Now, you've seriously fucked up, and you can be a bully in jail. I'm sure there will be plenty of guys that will appreciate your personality there,” Todd said. "Somehow, I don’t think your aunt is going to be able to get your ass out of this one!”
“Bullshit! Once the judge sees all the evidence we have on that punk, he'll let me walk. Besides, you know Rolf's my brother-in-law!” Henry said.
Jared laughed. “Dumb hick really isn't an act with you is it? Officer John over there is on the phone with your DA taking care of the false evidence of child pornography, and I have proof that clears the kids of any illegal possession and firearms charges.
“You, on the other hand, violently assaulted an innocent and fully cooperating suspect using lethal force and it was captured on tape. I sure hope your family has lots of money, because I'm certain my son is going to sue you for every penny of it,” Jared said.
“Never going to happen! We own this county, you fucking puke!” Henry said.
“Really?” Jared said pulling his weapon out again. He pointed it at Henry's head. “How do I know you weren't trying to beat classified information out of my son? That would be treason, and I have full authority to terminate traitors on sight.”
“Deputy Tannis, I would shut up now if I were you. He can kill you and nothing will be said about it. You had the very bad luck of picking th
e son of someone that can and will stand up to your family. Not even your Daddy's good friend the Governor can save you this time,” Carl said as he walked in the room.
“Hollister! Get your fucking attack dog back on his leash before he does something else stupid!” Henry said, full of angry confidence.
Carl turned to Todd. “Deputy, could you please put this mouthy ass in a cell, and open the one holding Greg so we can see to his medical needs?” Entering behind Carl was a Marine carrying an aide kit. As soon as Todd headed for the cell, she followed him. Two of the other officers lifted Henry off the floor and took him to another holding cell.
John, the policeman that had been talking to the DA joined Jared and Carl. “The DA is dropping all the charges against your son and his friends. She asked me to apologize for this whole event, and expressed her hope that you would understand some of our actions based on the evidence we had.”
“Actually, I could understand some of the actions taken if the evidence supplied had been even close to factual. I have yet to see the specifications of the other charges, but the evidence used for the child porn charges had been used in a previous case! How stupid do you have to be?” Jared said. “I can only hope that whoever drummed up the charges about the drugs and firearms was more careful, or there will be more grounds for a lawsuit. How did you get the child porn charges dropped?”
“I reminded her of the case you mentioned, and she had about the same reaction. I also got her permission to reopen that case, since it never set well with me. I still don't think George did it, but Henry is right about one thing; his family does pretty much own the county, so in a lot of areas our hands are politically tied,” John replied.
Jared was close enough to see what was going on with Greg. Greg was lying on the bunk in the cell, but was awake and had given Jared a brave smile. The Marine medic had him ready to go when the ambulance arrived, and he was wheeled out quickly. Jared told him he'd follow him to the hospital as soon as Sharon arrived.
Obviously, the medic had given him something for the pain, because Greg gave a sleepy smile. “Take your time, Jared, I'm good.”
After Greg had been taken out, the medic stopped to talk to the group of men. “Sir, he's taken a hell of a beating. However, he may have some cracked ribs, but I think only his left Humerus was broken. It came very close to the ephemeral artery, but didn't hit it. I gave him a pain killer and put a pressure splint on it to get him to the hospital. I'm a little worried about the bruises on his back, they are awfully close to the kidneys. He's gonna be sore as hell for a few months, but if his kidneys check out, he'll be alright now.”
“Thanks, Doc. I owe you one,” Jared said.
“Nah, its my job. But you do have one hell of a kid there. He didn't bitch about the pain once and I know he's feeling it. Hell, half my Marines would be crying their eyes out!” the medic said, as she walked away grinning. She passed a very pissed off looking Sharon walking in.
“So, where did you put that fucker's body? I want to piss on it,” she said.
Jared grinned at his wife. “He was smart enough to shut up, for the most part, so I didn't kill him, yet.”
Her smile was all malice. “Oh, how thoughtful! You saved him for me!” She started moving toward the holding cell, but Jared stopped her.
“Sharon, leave him alone. Killing him won't help this any,” he said.
“It'll make me feel better. Besides, if the girls get hold of him, he's done for,” Sharon said.
“I'm going to call Ned and Jon to let them know every thing's been taken care of. May I suggest the two of you go over to the hospital?” Carl said. He didn't think it would be a good idea if either of them were still there when they took Henry out of the cell
“Sounds like a plan; come on, beautiful. Let's go see how our son is doing,” Jared said taking Sharon's hand.
Blane Residence
Shermandale, Utah
North American Continent
Earth, Sol System
“Okay girls, you can come out now. The charges have been dropped,” Carla said over the intercom.
“Do we know what's happened, Mom?” Jolene asked.
“First off, Greg has been taken to the hospital for treatment. Jared and Sharon are there with him. He is listed in serious, but stable condition, and his wounds are no longer life threatening.” Carla explained, knowing that the girls would want to know about Greg first. “We can go see him in a bit, he’s still being treated.
“All the charges leveled against the four of you were dropped by the DA, and she has reopened the investigation of the ‘Curious George’ incident. It seems that suddenly, everyone recognized the pictures used as evidence. From the sound of it, the DA is trying to simply make the rest of this mess go away, quietly. The officer who assaulted Greg, incidentally his last name is Tannis, has been arrested under Jared’s authority pending the filing of federal espionage warrants. Because of the possible corruption of local law enforcement, the state police have been called in to run the investigation. Carl assures me that will only last long enough to get the FBI involved.
Deputy Tannis is currently sitting in the same holding cell that Greg was in, waiting for a ride to the Marine detention center at StealthCon, he is also being guarded by Marines. Because of the type of charges Jared brought against him, no one is allowed to speak to him,” Ned explained.
“That loud-mouthed deputy is still sitting outside,” Carla said, frowning. “I don't think he's gotten the word yet.”
“Well, for now, you three need to stay in here. That idiot would probably try to shoot one of you!” Ned added. “I'll go out and tell him to call in, since things have changed. If he gets too belligerent, I'll call Carl to come and educate him!”
“Well, just make sure he doesn't shoot you!” Carla said. “I'm getting the feeling this town is full of idiot cops!”
Ned winked at his wife and stepped outside. As he approached the patrol car, the Deputy got out, but kept his hand on his weapon. “I'm sure you're going to tell me your daughter isn't in the house, right?”
“Nope, she's in there. Along with Amanda Adams, and Isabella Grien. What I came out to tell you was that you need to call in, things have changed rather dramatically,” Ned replied.
“Somehow, I doubt that! Are you going to get out of my way, or do I have to arrest you too?” the Deputy replied, sarcastically.
“Before you arrest me, you should call in for another car, that would make four people for you to transport. You can only carry three. Look, just quit being an idiot, and call in, okay? What can it hurt?” Ned asked reasonably.
“Look, Asshole, I don't need you to tell me how to do my job. Put your hands on the hood of the car,” the Deputy pointed to the hood of his cruiser.
“What are you arresting me for, Deputy?” Ned asked, as he calmly complied.
“Nothing yet, but keep running your mouth, and I'll think of something,” he quickly frisked Ned, then put his handcuffs on him. He had moved Ned half way around his car when a Humvee roared up and came to a screeching stop in front of the patrol car.
Even before the big truck stopped completely, a Marine was out of it, with his M-16 pointed at the Deputy. “Deputy, release Dr. Blane and back away slowly! Do it now!”
The Deputy complied immediately, but had a look of confusion on his face. “What the hell are you men doing? This man has been impeding me executing three arrest warrants!”
“The charges against the kids have been dropped, dumb-ass! You’d know that if you had been listening to your fuckin’ radio!” one of the Marines said. “Now, Dr. Grien, please step away from the deputy and his cruiser.”
The other Marine had moved up and removed Ned's handcuffs, all the while keeping an eye on the deputy. That was when he noticed the name tag on the man's shirt. “Tannis. You any relation to Deputy Henry Tannis?”
“Yeah, he's my uncle. You know you guys are in serious trouble when the rest of the family hears about this right?” the Deputy
replied.
“Somehow, I don't think that's going to be an issue this time. You're uncle has been arrested on a federal warrant for attempted espionage. The FBI has been called in to investigate several cases of Judicial Manipulation and Corruption. Because of the direct involvement of Henry Tannis, the state police have taken over the investigation of child pornography and the drugs, with the ‘assistance’ of the FBI,” the Marine explained as he handed the cuffs back to the deputy.
“I'll believe that when I see it. The family owns this county, and no one goes against them. Trust me here, I've seen what they do to those who've tried,” the deputy said, nervously. “I think I'm going to go find a rock to hide under until the fallout settles. You guys have no idea how deep the shit is around here,”
“That might be a good idea, Deputy. However, don't go too far. You might be needed for questioning,” the Marine that handed him the cuffs said.
The Deputy nodded as he walked around and got in his car. Ned and the Marine moved closer to the Humvee to let the Deputy get around them.
“Why do I get the feeling that he has more to do with all of this than just being Henry's nephew?” Ned asked rhetorically.
“We can have him grabbed for questioning, later, Doctor,” Corporal Dunham suggested. Dunham had been the one with the M-16 that had been covering the Deputy.
Ned frowned and shook his head. “No, I have no proof, just a gut feeling.” He sighed. “You guys got here just in time. Well done.”
“We were already on our way over here, Sir. Surveillance called us to let us know what was going on, so we made sure we got here quicker,” Private Marshall said. He'd been the one to uncuff Ned.
“This whole thing is just a huge mess. I wonder how long we'll be under the microscope from this?” Ned asked.
“I don't think very long, Sir. I heard the General talking to someone on the phone about classifying everything under national security. It's one of the reasons there isn't a hundred news vans crowding the streets around here.” Marshall said.
“Well, that, and all trace of this seems to be just disappearing from every computer system it goes into. It's almost scary,” Dunham replied.