Chapter 11 #2
Wilden nodded, with a glance at the chief. “I can tell you that some of that money came from my grandmother’s bank account.”
“What about the rest of it?” the chief asked.
“Some of it came from my bank account,” Jackson added.
Vivian spoke up now. “What about Mark Lindstrom? He’s another veteran that Jimmy and his band of misfits have surely put away somewhere too.”
“When you say, put away, a bunch of cabins are all around here,” Jackson noted.
“They’re all deserted, and nobody comes here that I know of.
These goons were talking about putting me up in one of them and leaving me there, giving me barely enough food to keep me alive, until I signed what they wanted and the paychecks started rolling in to the level that they wanted.
Otherwise they wouldn’t do much for me.”
“In that case,” Wilden stated, “we need to keep looking for Mark. You’re probably right, Jackson. Mark’s got to be in one of these cabins,” Wilden acknowledged. “We should put the dogs on it.”
“I don’t think we’ll even need to do that,” Vivian suggested, her arms still wrapped around Wilden. “I’m pretty sure it’s the next one over. I heard these guys talking about what to do with the old man.”
Immediately two cops took off, heading to the cabin that was just barely discernible up ahead.
“I hope he’s in there,” she muttered, “because he’s been through hell himself with these goons. I can’t believe nobody found him in all this time.”
The chief flushed. “Honest to God, I can’t believe I listened to that young punk who basically just didn’t report any of this.
It’s been … I’ve been focused on a bunch of administrative stuff and thought everything was going fine,” he explained, “but still that’s on me.
Jesus, I hope he’s alive. Christ almighty, what the hell has happened to this damn place? ”
He looked over at his team, and one of them commented, “Somebody managed to make us forget for a moment what our core beliefs were. I don’t think you need to worry about that now,” he stated. “I’m pretty sure we all got a wake-up call.”
“Maybe,” the chief muttered, “but, if that man’s dead, it’s on us.” The rest of the team flushed as they realized what he was saying, and Wilden didn’t have any problem agreeing with him.
“Let’s hope he’s alive,” Wilden said, his tone bitter. “Then we can spend some time helping these guys get back on their feet—or in Jackson’s case, on his wheels. And, if the other missing veteran is dead, a federal investigation will follow, and there’s nothing I can do about that.”
The color drained from a lot of faces around the room.
Jackson looked over at Wilden.
Wilden smiled at him. “I’m glad to see you made it through again, Jackson.”
He just gave him a weary nod. “I’m fed up,” he admitted. “Without being able to do anything, and not having the strength to fight these guys, maybe it is time to put me in a home.”
“Let’s talk about that after you’ve had a chance to recover,” Vivian suggested, as she walked over and sat down beside him. “You’ve been through a lot. Now is not the time to make big decisions.”
Jackson looked over at her. “Apparently you have been through hell too,” he added. “I heard all kinds of chaos going on.”
“Yeah, and they shot Jimmy Puckman right in front of me. He’s dead.”
Jackson winced at that. “I’m sorry. I saw enough of that shit in the war. I am so sorry that you had to deal with that.”
“Me too,” she said, with a smile, “but we don’t always get what we want.”
One of the cops raced back inside. “It’s him. Mark Lindstrom. He’s alive but needs medical care.”
More chaos followed, with another ambulance called for, but another man had been saved from these assholes. So, all in all, a good day.
“Can’t say I’m happy about it,” Jackson muttered. “However, he’s alive and hopefully will live. But to think those two criminals still live, but that stupid cop kid is dead?” He shook his head in disgust. He reached a hand down to stoke the dogs at his feet.
“At least you won’t have to worry about these guys though,” Wilden said, pointing to the dogs.
“How’s that?” Jackson asked.
“They did one hell of a job tracking you.”
Jackson looked down at them, his face beaming. “That’s good news.” He chuckled. Then he turned to Vivian. “So, you won’t have trouble keeping them?”
“Ha, I will have trouble keeping them because Wilden here wants them for tracking.”
He looked at Wilden and smiled. “Seems to me the two of you will be together anyway.”
“Maybe,” she said, with a cheeky grin, “at least that’s the hope.”
Jackson burst out laughing. “It would be better if you just made it happen. That boy’s moving a little slow,” he noted, “and it’s probably because he’s afraid his dad ruined things for him.”
She looked at him, surprised, then looked over at Wilden. “That would be foolish.”
Wilden rolled his eyes. “I’m right here, you two. I can hear you. And, for the record, it would be normal for you to have that reaction.”
“Hell no,” she declared. “I’m not that much of an idiot, am I?”
He chuckled, then started to laugh, a deep booming laugh that set her off. When he stopped, he looked over at her and shrugged. “I’m not going to answer that question.”
She walked over and gave him a hug. “Can we get a ride to take Jackson back to his place? I don’t even know where my car is at this point.”
“Oh yeah, we’ll get a ride all right,” he vowed. “You’re going to the hospital to get checked over, and so is he.” They both started protesting.
The chief looked at them from across the room and called out, “That’s enough out of all of you. I’m in charge of this scene, and you’ll be going to the hospital to get checked over if I have to drive you myself.’
She glared at him, and he shook his head.
“No, that’s enough now,” he bellowed. “You’ve both been roughed up. Now, if you’re fine, the hospital staff will set you free to go home. If you’re not, you’ll stay until released by the ER doc.” He turned and glared at Jackson. “Same deal for you, pal.”
Jackson sniffed. “Who’s shitting in your pot today?”
The chief looked at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. “Thanks, I needed that. It’s been a rough one.”
“Yeah, you’re not kidding,” Jackson muttered. “Maybe you should try being us for a change.”
The chief winced at that. “How about none of us go through this again?” he suggested. “I’ve got to visit somebody’s mama and tell her how her son died today, and nobody ever wants to do that.”
Jackson looked at him and nodded. “That’s a visit nobody should have to make, but it’s not on you. It’s on Larry. And on Jimmy himself, the stupid kid.”
“Maybe so,” the chief conceded, “but you sure wonder what it would take for a young man to throw his life away like Jimmy did.”
“It’s not on you. He just didn’t want to work.” Jackson was fresh out of sympathy.
Vivian nodded. “He didn’t want to work, but he also didn’t really think about the consequences,” she shared.
“I did hear a large part of their conversation, and Jimmy was talking about having ruined his life, and for what? I think they saw him as a liability, the weak link, and Larry just shot him dead.” She shuddered, remembering that last look on Jimmy’s face.
“It happened so fast, I don’t even think Cooper had a clue what was coming,” she noted.
“It was over just like that. I deal with death all the time, but not like that.”
The chief nodded. “No, but at least it gives me something to tell his mama,” he shared, “and I’m grateful for that. Come on. Let’s go. First, you guys to the hospital, and then I will do the notification.”
“I can take them if you get us back to my car,” Wilden offered. “Then I’ll get them to the hospital, get them checked over, then settled back at home again. That way you can go off and do your thing.”
The chief nodded at him. “It’s fine. I can make the trip to the hospital.”
“Just give us a lift so that none of us have to walk all the way back to my car. Drive us back there, and then we’ll take care of things from there. It’ll be a rough-enough day for you.”
“It will, indeed,” the chief agreed.
And that’s what they did. Before long, they were piled into Wilden’s vehicle, along with the dogs, and he drove toward the hospital, listening to both of them try his patience as they tried excuse after excuse to get out of going.
When he pulled up in front of the hospital, they both glared at him, and he glared right back. “You go get a clean bill of health, and I’ll take you home. You don’t get a clean bill of health, you’re staying.”
With that, he moved them into the hospital, grabbing a wheelchair for Jackson, happy to find that the hospital was expecting them.
The nurse smiled as she looked at them. Vivian was sulking, as Wilden pushed a puffed-up Jackson in a wheelchair. “Apparently, some of you don’t really want to be here,” the nurse noted.
Wilden gave her a big smile. “Oh, believe me that they’ve been bending my ear the entire trip.”
She laughed. “Seems they probably weren’t too bad off if that’s the case. Most people can’t complain too loudly if they’re hurting.”
“Which we told him,” Vivian grumbled, as she was led into one of the exam rooms to get checked over.
The nurse smiled kindly at her. “If I had a hunk doting on me, so concerned about me being hurt, I think I would let him take care of me. He’s just trying to confirm you’re fine.
I don’t know exactly what happened, but, if there was a time when he didn’t know if you were okay or not, he might need a minute to recover. ”
Vivian fell silent at that, as she realized that’s exactly what it was. Wilden was terrified that she was hurt more than she was, and he needed the reassurance. “Oh wow, that’s probably exactly it. Thank you,” she whispered to the nurse.
When Vivian finally was released and stepped out into the waiting room, Wilden smiled at her and asked, “Well?”
“All good.”
“So, you’re free to go home?”