Conall (The K9 Files Book 24)

Chapter 12

Conall drove Bethany to the nearest sheriff’s office, with Greg going in his own vehicle. When they arrived, Greg had already entered the building. Conall parked, and they both exited his truck. He reached out a hand, and she immediately reached back.

Taking a deep breath, she shook her head. “I really don’t want to go in there.”

“I know,” he replied, “and it appears we’re up against some serious heavy hitters. There’s an interesting chaos with the extra players and issues and all that. But the thing to remember is that you’ve done nothing wrong and that you need to stay calm.” When she shot him a look, he smiled. “I know. Asking you to stay calm about this issue is not an easy thing.”

“Not only is it not easy,” she declared, “it’s ridiculous. I mean, I come home after a day from hell at my business, only to find people in my apartment, and, before I know it, someone is waving a weapon in my face, hitting me, and threatening me. Then they go outside and tell the deputies a completely different story, and the authorities believed them.”

Conall clarified, “The deputies believed them so far, but that doesn’t mean they’ll continue to believe them or that they’ll continue to be inactive over all this.”

“Yet you and I both know we’re up against some longstanding trouble.”

He held up a hand. “We can’t know everything. Let’s just go see how far the sheriff is willing to go to protect these guys. After that, we’ll have a talk, or somebody will. It seems as if maybe somebody is acting as the old guard, who appears to be bankrolling whatever these guys want to do.”

“What are the chances,” she asked, “and I know this is probably very unlikely,… but what are the chances that whoever that is doesn’t even know what these armed bullies are really up to, since everybody keeps letting them get away with it?”

“That would be a very interesting question to ask,” he noted, “because we’re assuming that Jake’s dad or someone is allowing all this to happen, but what if he doesn’t have a clue?”

She nodded. “I had a pretty laid-back dad but I was young so never really got into serious trouble. Of course I didn’t really get into trouble until a teenager then, oh, boy, I really got into trouble.” She laughed. “However, I never pulled anything anywhere close to the shit these kids are pulling.”

“Of course not,” Conall agreed. “This is way too many steps too far.”

“They’ll say I have no proof, right?”

“No proof of what?” he asked, looking at her.

“No proof that they hit me and no proof of the gun because these thugs won’t show up at the sheriff’s department with it.”

“You have my witness statement too. Yet that’s an interesting point, and one that I’m damn sure that they would refute. Do you have any security cameras at your place?”

She nodded and brought it up on her phone.

“Replay it back. Why do you have cameras at home?” he asked.

“Mostly because I live alone,” she explained. “I didn’t do anything about the lock on the front door, which I now see that I should have,” she admitted, with an eye roll. “Still I do have security cameras in place,… just in case.”

She brought it up on her phone, and there was a picture of her front door. “Oh, my God. Why didn’t I think of this before? I should have showed Greg.”

“You can show Greg when we go inside. It’s even better this way.”

The two of them stepped closer, reviewing the video, as they watched their two gunmen break through her door, picking the lock, and going inside, with big grins on their faces. They searched her place. Then they moved in and out range of the cameras, but their guns were obvious.

Conall asked, “You don’t shut off the cameras, do you?”

“No, I don’t,” she said. “I generally just ignore them. I don’t even know when I last looked at any footage. Since I have just the two cameras, and both face the front door, it’s not a big issue for me.”

Sure enough, they continued watching. The camera showed the two of them coming in with one of the gunmen behind them, waving a gun.

“That just proves they were in your apartment and that they were waving a gun,” Conall said. Outside of the visuals caught on the frame, there was no sound. So unfortunately Bethany getting slapped was not heard, but the camera caught Bethany when she staggered back from being hit. Conall’s jaw clenched as he relived her getting slapped. On camera, he could just see her arm and body swing low, and then she slowly straightened up.

The camera didn’t catch Conall getting knocked to the ground, which was neither here nor there. For him, it was all about her being attacked. “Can you send that to me?”

“Yeah, if I can figure out how,” she muttered. She swiped her phone screen several times and then sent him a copy.

“I’m sending this to Badger too,” he murmured.

“Can Badger really do anything about it?”

“He’ll be interested in seeing what ends up happening, especially now, since we have actual video proof,” he noted, a bit pleased. “That is huge.”

“I often thought I was stupid to have that system.”

“It’s sad that you have to have it,” he noted, “but it’s definitely not stupid. It’s only stupid when you don’t have it and wish you did.… That’s the regret most people usually have.”

They walked into the sheriff’s office soon afterward. Conall headed to Greg and asked, “What’s your email address?” Greg gave it to him, and Conall quickly forwarded the video to him as well.

When it popped up in his email, Greg pulled out his phone, clicked on the video, and watched. He nodded at the two of them with a knowing smile. “Really glad you’ve got that.”

“Yeah, me too,” she said. “Sorry, I hadn’t even thought about it when we were all there. I was a little stressed,” she admitted, shooting a glance around at the others.

And, of course, her tormenters were here, the two who had been in her apartment. Jake’s dad was here too. She studied the older man, who was pacing the station hallway, talking on the phone. “So, that’s Jake’s father? Is he calling a lawyer?” she asked Greg.

“Yes, Henry is Jake’s father. He’s on some sort of business call,” Greg shared.

“Ah, so this doesn’t even warrant a lawyer, right? I mean, his son is the supposed injured party here.”

“That’s what the supposed injured party is saying, yes.” Greg smiled.

The sheriff, at that point in time, walked over to see them. She glanced up at him and gave him a curt nod.

“I hear you’re causing trouble,” he began, with a genuine smile. “I’m hoping we can settle this nicely.”

“Yeah, I hope so too,” she declared, “but I can assure you that I’m not the one who’s causing trouble.”

His smile slowly disappeared. He looked back at Greg and then over at Conall. “You guys will cause trouble, won’t you?” he asked, with a resigned chuckle.

“I don’t know about causing trouble,” she spat, “but how do you feel about people breaking into apartments, wielding weapons, and attacking women just trying to come home from work?”

The smile slowly dropped off his face. “Of course you can’t prove that, and you do realize there are harassment allegations against you.”

She glanced over at Greg, and he explained, “We have a video you should see,” he replied, as he walked over to one of the boardroom tables, found a projector, and quickly connected the SD card from his phone.

Within seconds, the video was playing on a full screen inside the boardroom, where everybody out in the lobby could also see it, since the interior windows into that boardroom were all open, instead of curtained for privacy.

Greg put it on Replay, and it just cycled over and over again, until everybody, standing inside or outside the room, watched the recording from start to finish. Henry stepped into the open doorway and watched the video in its entirety. The anger on his face was something to behold.

Bethany watched it build with apprehension and a bit of delight, wondering whether Henry finally understood what his son had been doing, or was just angry that Jake had been caught?

As soon as Jake saw what his father was watching, Jake raced over. “Dad, I can explain.”

Henry turned to him, and the look on his face was something that made even Bethany cringe.

Jake backed up. “Honest, I can explain.”

“You can explain this?” his father asked in a deathly low voice. “You can explain how you broke into a woman’s apartment and did all this with a weapon clearly on display, then lied to the sheriff about it?”

“Dad—”

“You’ve lied to me about it too,” Henry added, staring at his son as if he didn’t have a clue who he was. “I see now that you’ve been lying to me all this time. About how everybody has been treating you so badly. About how you were being picked on because you were my son and about how life was so difficult here that you wanted help to get away to go do something else with your life because this was so tough?” He stared directly at his son.

“Instead, I find out that you are the bully, that you’re the one who’s been doing all this crap and God-only-knows what else, including beating up innocent women.” He clearly still felt a sense of shock. “What the hell, Jake.”

He continued to stare at his son, and you could almost see that, between them, a whole new awareness was happening. Henry clearly had not the slightest idea what the son had really been up to.

Jake shook his head, looking frantic. “No, you don’t understand. I finally just hit a wall. I couldn’t take it anymore. She’s been just terrible.”

“She? She has been terrible?” His father just looked at him, his gaze never once breaking. “All this time I’ve been protecting you. All this time I’ve been helping you with all this trouble you’ve gotten into because I felt sorry for you.” He frowned at Jake. “I felt guilty because my role in the community was causing you these problems. And now here we have video proof of what you’ve really been doing.”

“That video doesn’t show anything,” Jake burst out. “It doesn’t show anything.”

At that, Jake’s dad turned to the sheriff, cutting off the tirade of his son, and said, “My apologies, Sheriff. Obviously I need to take my son home and have a talk with him. I can assure you that this sort of thing won’t happen again.” He turned to his son, motioned toward the door, and said, “Move it.”

Jake shook his head.

“Go,” he snapped. “We’ll talk about this at home.” Henry looked at everybody else and said, “My deepest apologies for any trouble my son has caused.”

As he headed to the door, Conall called out, “That’s not enough, sir.”

The man froze, then turned and looked at him with a wary expression. “What are you talking about? I’ve apologized.”

“You have apologized, and that’s nice and all,” Conall replied, waving his hand. “However, your son hasn’t. Jake is still denying how he attacked this woman, striking her in the face, knocking her to the ground, after breaking into her apartment and wielding a gun in her face. Those are criminal offenses, and Bethany will press charges, and I will be her witness, along with that security tape footage and our written statements,” Conall declared, staring at Jake’s dad with a hard glare. “Your son does not get a free pass on this.”

Henry faced the sheriff, his gaze intense as he spoke. “This is a first offense, so my son should be allowed a second chance.”

Conall shook his head. “With all due respect, sir, your son is a hoodlum who has been causing chaos in this town, completely free of any accountability for his actions,” Conall added, not backing down one inch. “He steals from the coffee shop owners—threatening them if they demand payment for Jake’s crew’s coffee or the lunches that he orders from them. He has made everybody in that town afraid because that’s what he does. He bullies and intimidates to get what he wants, all because he knows that you will protect him.”

At that, Henry stiffened and glared. “And who are you?”

“Nobody to you,” Conall stated, “but I am somebody who will matter to your son because I will not rest until he faces jail time for these crimes.”

Jake snorted. “My dad can fix this.”

“Yes, your dad probably can fix this,” Conall agreed. “Of course he can make other things blow up really, really quickly too, but he might not like the end result, considering that we are also assessing the actions of the Sheriff’s Office in this matter. Maybe your dad shouldn’t fix this. Since he has now seen proof that you’ve been lying and misrepresenting things, maybe Henry won’t want to be known as the man who protected his son from charges of assaulting an innocent woman in her home, while holding her at gunpoint. What’s next for you, Jake? Murder? Where do you stop?”

“That’s enough—” Jake began.

“Agreed,” Conall said. “That’s my point exactly, Jake. Enough is enough. You haven’t stopped yet, and you’re just running this town on sheer… shoddiness,” he determined, after trying to come up with a better word and failing.

The kid snorted. “You don’t even know English,” he muttered.

“And you do?” Conall asked him, raising an eyebrow. “Do you understand what criminal charges mean?”

“You can’t charge me with anything,” he snapped. “I’ve only done this stuff in this county, and nobody spoke up because it’s not a big deal.”

Conall raised an eyebrow at Greg, who stared at Jake with interest. “Oh, so you do understand parts of the law, and you intentionally kept all your criminal activities within the boundaries of the location where your father could bail you out. Is that it?”

Jake shrugged. “I’m not stupid.”

“Yet you are stupid,” his father snapped, as he turned and glared at him. “Now shut your mouth, and we’ll go home and talk about this.”

“You won’t be taking him anywhere just yet,” Greg said, with a lazy smile.

Henry turned to his buddy. “Sheriff?”

The sheriff blustered, his gaze going to the others in the room, and then he frowned at the older man. “Look, Henry. You’ve got to understand. Jake has really crossed the line this time. He beat up a woman in her own apartment, while wielding a firearm. And it’s all on video.”

Henry paled. “Striking a blow now graduating to beating up seems like an exaggeration.”

“Really?” Bethany snapped, as she stepped forward. “An exaggeration, really? So, the fact that I was struck and that Conall was struck down doesn’t matter? Does that make it any worse in your eyes, or, because Conall’s a male, it doesn’t matter? Or perhaps because I, the woman, was only struck once, it doesn’t really matter either? What are you, a wife-beater yourself?” she snapped, as she glared at Henry. “Is one blow allowed, but two is too much? Is that how you determine the right and wrong in this instance?”

Henry glanced around the room, and his face had turned all shades of red and purple.

“You have protected him the entire time he’s been running free in this county, absolutely destroying any sense of decency that our town once had, killing its economy too. And, let me remind you, it is my mother he keeps threatening at the cafe,” she added, glaring at Jake.

Henry looked back at the kid, assessing the situation, but there was more to come from Bethany.

She was not done yet.

“He hasn’t paid for any food or drink in the café for so long that it’s ridiculous. He obnoxiously orders things they don’t offer, then loudly berates and threatens them. If we had realized your son was so broke, people might have taken pity on him and offered him a meal.”

Henry stiffened at that. Turning, he frowned at his son. “Are you telling me that you’ve run up a bill that you can’t afford to pay?”

“Run up a bill?” Conall repeated in a mocking tone. “He barges in, rude as hell, then gets what he ordered, walks out without paying, tossing a threat or two behind him. And it’s not just him but his lovely little gang of goons as well.”

Henry glared at Jake, shaking his head. “Seriously? You don’t have any money to pay?”

“Oh, he has the money to pay,” Bethany replied. “If he has money to buy guns, surely he could pay for his food. Yet he chooses not to pay, as you well know, because this is not the first you’ve heard about it, and there is no use pretending it is.”

Henry turned back to look at Bethany. “I don’t like your attitude.”

“I don’t like yours either,” she spat. “Just because you own the mill that employs a lot of the people here, that does not allow you to run roughshod over them and us, as if you’re not subject to the same rules of a civilized community as the rest of us, but you are. I just trust that some authority curtails the abuses you and your son have subjected us all to.”

“My abuses?” Henry asked, staring at her in shock.

“You have been protecting this maniac,” she snapped. “He needs to be held accountable for what he’s done. And he needs to know that you can’t and won’t bail him out anymore.”

“That’s not fair,” Jake snapped. “I hardly even touched you.”

“You did attack me, at gunpoint, and you did much more than barely touch me,” she declared, turning to glare at him. “You knocked me to the ground and threatened me. You also knocked Conall to the ground, all because you wanted to show what a big man you were, but you’re not a big man at all,” she snapped. “You’re nothing but a little boy, hiding behind a gun and your dad’s bank balance.”

That was it, and Jake went from zero to sixty, instantly lunging at her, knocking her over and landing on top of her.

Conall was there in an instant, picking up Jake and easily tossing him across the room. Everybody else froze in position. “This is your son,” Conall yelled, turning to look at Jake’s father. “Has he made you proud yet, or is there more you want to see? This is who he is—uncontrolled, driven by power and ego, none of which he has earned.” Conall obviously still struggled to hold back his temper. “Too scared to take on his physical equals, Jake attacks women and the elderly, his favorite targets, who are afraid to report him because of his threats.”

Jake added, “You’re nothing but a cripple, an easy target.”

“Cripple, huh? How do you figure?”

“I figured, if I picked on you, you would have whined and said you were some sort of injured veteran or something,” he explained, with a sneer, “just like that old man in the wheelchair.”

“Are you talking about Michael Stanford?” Jake’s father asked, his tone deepening. “Michael served in the military and deserves our respect.”

“Oh, cut the crap, Dad. You don’t believe that bullshit. Just because Granddad and your brother died in the war doesn’t mean you give a crap. You’re just saying that to make yourself look good, but you don’t mean it.”

Henry shook his head. “Dear God,” he muttered, looking as if in shock, unless it was all for show. “What happened to you, Jake?”

“Nothing happened to me,” Jake declared, glaring at his father. “Come on. Fix this shit, and let’s go home. I’m hungry.”

His father sagged into the closest chair and just stared at him, until he looked over at Conall, then the sheriff, and asked, “It won’t fix so easily this time, will it?”

“Particularly not after that little public display here, no,” the sheriff replied uneasily, as he looked around. “I can’t fix everything, Henry.”

Jake’s father nodded sadly. “No, I can see that, and I can also see that I’ve allowed myself to be blind.”

At that, Bethany snorted again.

He glared at her, then shrugged. “Okay, you have reason to hold something against Jake. I’ll admit that his behavior just now was a little upsetting.”

“A little upsetting?” she snapped. “I’ve now been physically attacked by your son twice, and you’re a little upset? What about me? Did it occur to anyone but Conall to see if I was injured?”

“He looks like he’s perfectly capable of handling anything that might happen to you,” Henry replied, as he stared at his son thoughtfully. “I’m just not exactly sure what I’m supposed to do from here.”

“What you’re supposed to do from here is ensure Jake goes to jail and learns his lesson,” Conall replied. “That will depend on if you’re man enough to do that.”

Henry just stared at him, then finally relented. “I suppose you’re a veteran too, aren’t you?”

“I sure am,” he stated proudly, “and you can bet that, had your son served in the military”—he gave Jake a smirk—“he might have gotten some discipline and learned the value of a day’s work, something I don’t think he’s ever done before.”

“No, he hasn’t,” Henry admitted. “I had such a rough upbringing myself, after losing my father at such a young age, that I was determined to see that my son had a much better life.”

“Do you think he’s had a better life now? So you think Jake’s better life comes at the cost of others having a shitty life?” Conall asked, as he walked over to stand in front of Henry. “Jake has zero respect for anyone. He only believes in his own ego and his own power, which is really only your power, because all you’ve ever done is protect him.”

Henry shook his head. “Shit,” he muttered, as he rubbed his face. “It’s a good thing your mother’s not here right now, Jake.”

At that, the kid snorted. “Come on, Dad. You’re not really listening to these guys, are you? They’re just lying and making all this up.”

“Are they?” Henry asked, looking at his son, with a sad look on his face. “Are they really, Jake?”

“Of course they are,” Jake replied, the first note of alarm evident in his tone. “You can hear it yourself. You don’t believe any of the shit they’re talking about.”

“I just saw you completely lose your temper and attack her, and not only attack her but you made no apology and showed no regret for what you did,” Henry explained, looking at him. “That alone makes the rest of their story, such as how you’ve behaved at the diner, seem quite plausible. What am I supposed to do with that?”

“You ignore it,” Jake snapped, glaring at him. “Come on. Let’s go home and have a couple beers.”

His father frowned. “Is that what you think will happen? A couple beers and this will all go away?”

“Sure, you just need to tell the sheriff to make it go away, like you always do.”

“Like I always do,” Henry muttered sadly, as he looked over at the others. “My apologies. I hadn’t realized it was as bad as all this.”

“Of course not,” Conall noted. “We don’t always want to wake up to see what’s in front of us.”

“No,… we don’t, but I still don’t quite understand what I’m supposed to do at this point.”

“Nothing you can do,” Greg declared, as he stepped forward. “I’m here to make sure this situation is handled lawfully, so there will be no talking Jake’s way out of this one.”

“And yet it’s his first offense,” Henry repeated.

“No, it’s not. It’s his first offense that will be on the books because you’ve protected him. It’s not his first offense by far, and believe me—by the time I finish my investigation and interview the rest of the townsfolk whom Jake has been terrorizing—there will be nothing left to discuss.”

Henry looked over at his son with a genuine sadness. “Damn, Jake, what a waste.”

For the first time, Jake started to look nervous. “What? Hang on a minute. Hang on. What are we talking about here?”

“We’re talking about you paying for your actions,” Conall said, looking at him in disgust. “Then maybe, for once, you’ll understand how wrong you’ve been.”

“I don’t give a shit what you say,” he spat, staring at Conall. “You’re nothing but a fucking cripple. Just get the hell out of here and take that bitch with you.”

“Why? So you don’t feel aggravated enough to attack her again?” Conall asked in a jeering tone, thinking he wouldn’t mind in the least if Jake jumped him.

“Look. Don’t even talk to me. In fact, just seeing you makes me sick,” Jake snapped, sneering in Conall’s face. “I don’t know what’s wrong with her that she would even want to be with you, but it’s just gross. You’re wearing a prosthetic or something. You take off a body part? That’s just disgusting, man.”

His father stared at him sharply. “Stop it, Jake. Not another word!”

“Stop what? You don’t believe this guy gives a shit about anything, do you? Come on, Dad. You’re not that stupid, are you?”

His father just stared at him, as if he didn’t understand what could possibly have triggered that kind of response. Yet, when he looked at the others, he saw the same understanding of what was going on that he had missed all these years. “Damn.” Henry looked over at the sheriff. “Is there anything you can do?”

“I don’t know,” the sheriff admitted. “I can tell you this, Henry.… My job’s on the line here, as I’ll be investigated for all I’ve done up to now. There’s still the question of hassling the locals,” he noted, wincing. “It was one thing to keep him in control, but he really is ripping off the stores. He walks in, takes what he wants, and walks out. It’s not just the café, but the corner store and other places too.”

Henry closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “Oh, my God,” he muttered, eyeing his son. “You get thousands of dollars every month for spending money.”

“Yeah? So what? Why would I spend it on that stuff when I don’t have to? No fun in that, and, besides, there are better things to spend it on.”

“What are you spending it on?” Henry asked, looking at him closely.

Jake shrugged. “Stuff.”

“No, that’s not good enough. What stuff?”

Jake glared at his father. “I don’t know, just stuff.”

“I hear drugs are expensive,” Conall suggested.

Jake spun on a dime and glared at him. “I’m not into any goddamn drugs, and don’t you be telling my father any more lies. Just keep your trap shut.”

“I don’t have to tell your father any lies, Jake. Your father can see for himself that you’re lying, now that he’s looking for the truth. Drug abuse is what I smell on you. And abusing women? Do you beat them up too?”

He shook his head. “I don’t have to beat up women. They’re quite happy to be with me.”

“Are they?” Bethany asked, a serious look on her face. “I highly doubt that. What’s going on? You’re buying drugs for them or threatening to go to their parents over the drugs or whatever way you’re using to get them into your bed,” she snapped. “No way they would go willingly.”

He took two steps toward her, and his father immediately stood, but it was Conall who stepped right in front of her, as he motioned at Jake. “Come on at me. Just one more step,” Conall taunted. “You touch her one more time, and I will not hold back.”

“Yeah, and what will you do, you freaking loser?” Jake bellowed. “I can kick that leg out from under you, and you would be on the ground, begging for mercy.”

“Try it,” Conall said, as he stared at him. He waited.

“Don’t you dare,” Henry muttered. “He’s just egging you on.”

“How come he’s allowed to do that? I can’t have that lack of respect. You know that, Dad. You taught me that respect is everything.”

Conall snorted. “Did your father tell you that respect is earned and not bought? Maybe you forgot to give him that lesson,” Conall slyly told Henry.

Henry turned to look at the sheriff. “Look. While you sort out what you need to do, can I take him home and at least have a talk with him? If I can get the truth out of him about everything he’s been involved in, I can figure out some sort of restitution.”

The sheriff hesitated, then finally said, “You go ahead home, Henry, but Jake’s not allowed to leave. I’ll be coming by later to see you.”

“With what? Charges? I don’t think so,” Jake sneered. “Ain’t no way you’ll charge me with anything.”

Conall smiled and said, “If nobody else does, rest assured that I will.” And he walked over to block the front door.

“Move,” Jake snorted, walking toward the door to leave. The kid stopped, looked back at his dad, then faced Conall. “I don’t think so, cripple. You see? My dad’s a badass, and he’ll make damn sure that nobody touches me,” he muttered. “Especially not a cripple like you.”

“Yeah? You’re just too scared to do your own dirty work,” Conall taunted him again, with a big smile, widening his stance at the front door. “You’ve been hiding behind your daddy for so long you don’t even know what it’s like to not be his pet.”

His father immediately faced Jake and shook his head. “Don’t even think about it.”

“I won’t allow such disrespect,” Jake yelled madly. “My name is all about respect.” He glared at his father. “I carved respect out of the damn town, just like you did, and no way in hell I’ll let this piece of shit talk to me like that.” He turned to Conall. “I said… move.”

Conall remained blocking the door. As Henry headed toward the door now too, Conall remained standing right there before him.

Jake smiled and muttered, “This is perfect.” Then pulling out a gun, he pointed at Conall and fired.