Snippet #2475718

As soon as Yolanda left, John brought his head down into his hands and sighed exasperatedly. This job was going to be the death of him.

"I'm too old for this," he muttered to himself. How did the politicians do it? The men in their seventies and eighties. He was still four years away from seventy and he wasn't sure how much more he could take of it.

For a while, he sat in his office in silent contemplation. After the first few minutes, he really lost track of the time, but he did come to a couple decisions.

First, he would not be taking Mr. Lane. He wanted this meeting to be as friendly as possible. Whether or not Lane would be disposed to being shrewd and harsh in a situation like that, John wasn't completely sure, but he didn't want to take that chance.

Second, he had to speak to Finley regarding this situation with Susana and Lane at Freedom Incarnate. At the very least, the sheriff had to be informed. It was an open secret that Finley disliked Gary and his establishment; he had made his feelings clear to John several times while it was just being built. If he had his way, he would shut the whole place down, or evict Lane, at the very least.

Finally, John stood up, and exited the room. On the other side of the door, Zoey was seated at her desk, reading a book. When she saw John approach, she put the book down, hurriedly.

"Oh! Mister Callum! Sorry, I--"

"It's alright. Was that Mister Tatum I heard earlier?"

"Yes, sir."

"What did he want?"

"Something about a twinkle twinkle. He said it's a tool of some kind."

"Anything else?"

"Just that he was going to go see the Spider."

That was probably Gary Lane. Ollie wanted something and he would be going to Lane to try and get it.

"Thank you. One other thing, Zoey."

"Hmm?" she intoned.

"I'd like you to try and find a Teddy Daclaveon, and Barbara Bowery."

"Yes, sir. Should I tell them what for?"

"If they ask, tell them that I will be discussing it with them in person."

"Alright."

"Have them wait in here if I'm not back by then. I'm going to go take a walk."

With that, John took his hat off the rack and pushed his way out of the door.
________________________

Finley sat patiently, allowing her to finish, "Did you see Jack with Susana, or either of these two men at the bar?"

"No, but Jack told me-" she started, but stopped once the sheriff held up his hand.

"Okay," he said, looking from Marina to the other three now, "Thank you." He then turned his attention in Jack's direction. "Jack?"

Jack was silent. He wasn't even looking at the sheriff, or Marina, or anybody. After a long silence, Finley spoke up again, "Jack, please."

He was still silent.

Finally, the sheriff rose to his feet and put his hands on his desk as he looked down to Jack, his eyes narrowed. "Do you know what's going on here? This is a serious offense. I want to help you, but it's hard if you don't even speak up for yourself."

Jack looked up and finally spoke, prompting the sheriff to sit back down.

"I shouldn't have done it, I know," he began, "I'm sorry."

The sheriff sighed, "Just tell me what happened."

"It's just like Marina said. I was at Freedom Incarnate, and I was with Susana."

Finley knew about Susana and her mother. He knew that the young woman had a certain reputation around town. When he first heard of it, his conscience told him to go straight down to Freedom Incarnate, lock its dubious owner up, and escort Susana out here and back to her mother. But, he couldn't. Callum allowed Freedom Incarnate to be built and to exist, and everything that went on within its walls was technically not illegal. Many of the town's citizens seemed to be of the mind that the place, no matter what went on inside, to be a necessary evil. That may have been true, but there had to be a line somewhere.

"We didn't-" Jack continued, stammering a bit, "We just talked, I swear."

"Is that all?" Finley asked.

"Well, I--" Jack began, only to stop himself.

"What is it, Jack?"

"I gave her Sarah's old necklace."

Finley raised his eyebrows in surprise, but urged Jack to continue on, "Anything else you did with her?"

"No."

"What happened next?"

"I stayed at Freedom Incarnate after that. I was there all night. These two-" Jack said, motioning to Dan and Elias, "-were there, too. When I left, they followed me, stared harassing me. They asked me how she was, how fast I got off, and when I'd be coming back."

Dan scoffed, "Asshole. You still pulled a fucking gun on us."

"I know!" Jack exclaimed, "I know! I'm sorry."

Dan shook his head, his face turned into a scowl, "Whatever," he muttered, "Asshole."

The sheriff then turned his attention to Dan and Elias, "So, is what he's saying true?"

"Yeah, but, I mean, I wouldn't say we were harassing him. We were just joking. We didn't mean nothing by it. If we'd have known he was going to pull that shit, we wouldn't have done it."

"He says you were harassing him."

"That's how he saw it, I guess. Can't say I agree with him."

"That doesn't matter," Finley snapped back, impatient at Dan's flippant tone, "You two are leaving here with a warning. If I hear any more complaints about you, then I'm going to punish you further. Understood?"

Dan sighed and nodded, "Yeah."

"Good, now get out of here."

The pair stood up and scooted their way past the chairs and out the door. Finley was sure he'd heard the older of the two mutter something like "Asshole" on his way out, but he ignored it. It was then, once they'd left, that the sheriff noticed the look Marina was passing his way.

"Don't give me that look. It's worse than they were expecting, and there's not much else I can do. We'll be keeping an eye on them." Finley then redirected the conversation, focusing now on Jack again, "Now, about Jack. I know that things have been rough for you lately and you've been facing a lot of stress, but I can't just pretend this didn't happen. A lot of people here have had it rough, but I can't give you preferential treatment." It wasn't fair to the rest of the people of Sanctuary. Plus, it would only add fuel to the fires of certain citizens that believed the city's government was corrupt.

He continued, standing up, "I don't know that you can stay here. I doubt Callum would allow it. But, I can't send you out into the desert alone to fend for yourself. Not in good conscience. I'm going to recommend that you be conscripted with the Partisans at Fort Defiance. I know some people there, including Commander Briggs. He'll be happy to have you."

"In any case, I'll be speaking with Callum about this. He might be more lenient. One way or another, I'll let you know. I just thought I should tell you what I'm thinking."

After a moment or two of silence, Finley finished, "I'm sorry it came to this."