by Scott Blade
“Are you going to let me out?”
“Not yet. We have to hold you because you did assault two officers of the U.S. government,” he said it like he had little attachment to the federal government, which Reacher imagined was true. Growing up in America and learning that your government at one point robbed your people of their lands and systematically murdered most of them to the point of extinction could put a damper on a man’s patriotism. However, Chief Red Cloud had proven himself to be a reasonable and good cop.
Reacher asked, “When then?”
“I don’t know. Amita and I will discuss it when she comes back. She said that she went back to find the agents that you put down and they were gone. So the good news is that they must be alive, which is good for you. She said that you hit one of them so hard that he didn’t get back up. Apparently he is up.
“The other good news is that they still haven’t contacted us. So if we don’t hear from them by morning I’m satisfied with cutting you loose.”
Reacher smiled and said, “That works for me. Free room for the night.”
“And board. Law says that we have to feed you at least two meals a day. You hungry?”
“No thanks. I don’t have much of an appetite right now.”
The chief nodded.
Then Reacher said, “I will take a cup of coffee if you got it.”
The chief smiled and then he said, “I don’t have any here. Not made. But I know what to do.”
Then he walked back to his office and walked back out with his radio. He got on it and called Amita.
“Come in, Amita.”
“What now!” she called back over the air.
“Stop back at the general store on your way and pick up a medium coffee. Hold on a second,” Chief Red Cloud said and he moved his mouth away from the radio and released the talk button and asked, “How do you want your coffee?”
Reacher said, “Black.”
Reacher smiled because he realized that not only was this better than staying in a motel because it was free, but he was also getting room service.
“Bring the coffee straight black. No cream. No sugar. Got it?”
Static crackled over the speaker for a second and then Amita Red Cloud’s voice came back over calm and collected. She said, “Ten four.”
No other reply. No snappy comeback. No sign of distaste that her father was treating her prisoner like a guest instead of a dishonest and violent white man that she had thought of him as. At least that was Reacher’s initial assumptions, but he was willing to revisit the issue. He felt that an apology from her would do the trick. However, he didn’t expect that he’d get one and he didn’t want to push her like her father was doing. After all, he was the chief and her father. He could push her all he wanted and get away with it. Reacher figured that he didn’t want to be on her bad side any more than he already was because she had arrested him and all he did was come to her rescue in a way.
Chief Red Cloud said, “My daughter is a great police officer and a wonderful person, but she’s stubborn and takes her heritage to heart. I don’t think that it’s really your fault. You’re a stranger who comes from a different world. An idealistic world. Out there society pities the Indian. Here we don’t want pity. We’re a proud and good people. You’ll find that many residents feel indifferent toward you because you’re an outsider and a white man. But not by the law and not in my house and not by my daughter.
“I want you to know that from a legal standpoint, what you did is wrong. But you didn’t know that these guys were cops or whatever they are. And that’s their fault. They shouldn’t be out on the reservation ordering around any of my officers, especially not my daughter.
“When she gets here, she and I are going to have a talk about this and I’ll know more about what’s going on with these two guys. None of that concerns you. Except that I’m sure you’ll be okay. Seems like a big misunderstanding that went too far, but that’s life.”
Reacher nodded and stayed quiet, but deep down he was very impressed with Amita’s father; really he was impressed with both of them, a father-daughter team. Reacher thought back to his mother. If she had still been alive, then maybe they would’ve been a mother and son team. He might still be in Carter Crossing, working for her as one of her deputies, and one day he might’ve been sheriff of a small town in Mississippi. Although he missed his mother greatly, he was very glad that he had left and was seeing more of the world.
Chapter 12
Officer Amita Red Cloud pulled into the lot of the police station and parked behind her father’s Chevy Silverado with police markings etched all over it and a light bar on the roof. She killed her engine and stepped out of the car. She leaned back over and picked up her gear and a hot black coffee that she hoped was for her father, but feared that it was for their prisoner.
She shut the door and practically stomped her way through the lot to the rear entrance and she unlocked the door and walked in.
She walked back into the station and saw a sight that made her freeze in place and stare, wide-eyed.
Her father was sitting in a chair that was pulled all the way up in front of the prisoner’s cell and his cell door was wide open. He sat in another office chair on wheels that apparently her father had rolled over to him and allowed him to use. He was halfway out of his cell.
Her prisoner was sitting and talking with and laughing with her father.
She said, “Dad! What the hell is going on?”
Chief Red Cloud sat upright and then got up on his feet and she watched a smile drain from his face. He looked at her and held his hands out like he was approaching a wild beast, trying to tell it that he meant it no harm, which wasn’t far from the truth because Amita felt her blood boiling. Her father was breaking all kinds of protocols and security measures. Not to mention public safety concerns.
Red Cloud said, “Amita, calm down. Before you get all fired up, just listen to me.”
Amita said, “Dad! This man is my prisoner!”
“He is technically detained, but you didn’t arrest him or charge him or book him. So he’s not a prisoner. He’s classified as a detained suspect in a crime at best. And so far no one has come forward and filed charges against him.”
“What the hell do you think that I’ve been out there doing? I’ve searched and searched for those guys. I’m sure that they will want to press charges against him. He beat the shit out of them and right in plain view of me.”
Red Cloud breathed in and breathed out slowly, a thing Reacher imagined fathers did to their children to communicate with them that they needed to watch the line they were crossing, but Reacher wouldn’t know for sure since his father was still out there somewhere.
Amita said, “This guy that you’re sitting with and chatting it up with beat up two federal agents. No question of guilt. I saw him do it. I don’t care what his reasons are. And neither will these guys. I’m telling you that these guys are assholes and they will be back here for him.”
Red Cloud thought for a moment and then he said, “Why don’t you come over here and join us. You can explain it to both of us.”
Amita said, “Both of you? I don’t have to explain anything to him. He’s a prisoner!”
“Amita! He is not a prisoner! You failed to charge him, book him, fingerprint him, or read him his rights. We may live on the reservation, but this is still the United States and we have a little thing called the Constitution to consider. He has a right to face his accusers and a right to due process. So far there are no accusers and you have neglected giving him due process. So the way I see it we can give him due process now. Sit with us and tell us about it. He has a right to understand the details. You know that if we charge him with assault on a cop, the first thing that his lawyer is going to say is that he has a right to know all of the details of the situation in order to stage a proper defense.”
Amita stood, quiet for a long moment. Reacher stared at her, trying to make sure that she didn’t catch on to the
fact that he was uncontrollably attracted to her.
Reacher had no plans of dating anyone or getting attached to anyone or getting married or having a house and a dog and a picket fence. Those things didn’t belong in his whole life addiction that he’d discovered by following in his father’s footsteps. It was the freedom that drew him to the nomadic life. In fact, he hadn’t thought too much about it, but what the hell was he going to do whenever he did find Jack Reacher, if he ever did? The answer to that question, he had no idea.
He looked down at the stone white tile floor and stayed in his seat. He kept his hands on his lap and in plain view of Amita Red Cloud because his gut told him that if he raised them even a little bit, she’d shoot him where he sat.
There was a lot of hostility aimed his way and he wasn’t really sure why. He guessed that it was the situation that he had interrupted, two federal agents pushing her around. She seemed to be a very proud Native American and a woman and a cop to boot. She had overcome a lot of adversity that Reacher was certain of and deeply respected. Perhaps the problem was being saved by a man. Perhaps it was being perceived that she needed saving by a man. Or perhaps there was some other reason why she was angry at him, but she definitely had some sort of grudge against Reacher.
She said, “Dad...”
And then she trailed off and agreed to sit with them. She handed the coffee to Chief Red Cloud and he walked over and gave it to Reacher.
He smiled a good hearty smile and said, “Here. Now the three of us can sit and figure this out. Mr. Reacher here was just telling me about himself. He has an interesting story.
“His mother was a sheriff back in Mississippi.”
“Was?” Amita asked.
“Unfortunately she moved on a while ago,” Red Cloud said.
Reacher nodded and stayed quiet. He did notice that Red Cloud had said moved on instead of passed on, which he had never heard before. He didn’t ask, but he wondered if it was a view that the Lakota people held about death like instead of dying they transcended because “moved on” suggested that someone left instead of died.
Red Cloud said, “Mr. Reacher is now on a very special quest.”
Amita remained standing for a minute like she wanted to make a special point that she was the last to sit and then she pulled a chair from the bullpen. It had no wheels like the one that her father had pulled out and so it screeched across the floor when she moved it. Then she set it to Reacher’s right. Close to her father, but far from Reacher’s reach.
Amita said, “What is that, Mr. Reacher? Beating up cops? Saving women in distress?”
“What is your problem with me?” Reacher asked without thinking about it, which was not out of character for him, but he had been on the road for months and hadn’t spoken to many people beyond daily pleasantries. And deep down this woman intrigued him for good or bad. So in a way he couldn’t help himself.
Amita said, “I don’t like a stranger coming on my reservation, my home, and beating up on federal agents! I don’t like that you just assumed that I needed your help! I am a police officer! You don’t rescue me! I rescue you!”
Her eyes turned red around the brown and her face darkened like she was going to explode. Reacher didn’t feel anger. He didn’t feel regret about asking point blank either. Instead now he understood her. He had had a proud mother who was a cop and he got that she was proud. Then he thought about all of those obstacles that she must’ve overcome again and he didn’t blame her for being headstrong. She probably had to be.
Red Cloud said, “Amita! Mr. Reacher isn’t a criminal here! He’s our guest until two agents walk through that door and tell me that they want to press charges against him. The Constitution says innocent until proven guilty. Let’s act like it. Now act civilized.”
Amita stayed quiet and looked away for a moment like she was trying to compose herself and then she looked back and faked a smile at Reacher.
He had never seen anyone smile with daggers behind it before. He had heard of someone staring at another person with daggers in his eyes, but never had he heard of a smile with daggers.
Then he said, “It’s okay. I don’t need special treatment or any kind of apology. I respect Officer Red Cloud. And I respect the law. I really thought that I was helping you out back there. That’s why I intervened. I saw that those guys were pushing at you and I guess that my instincts preceded my thoughts.”
Amita swallowed hard like she was forcing down her emotions. Then she composed herself and asked, “Why did you think that I was in danger? Because I’m a little woman and they were two big guys?”
Reacher shook his head and said, “Not at all. I saw that two civilians were poking and prodding at an officer of the law. That set me off first. My mother was a cop and I have a particular respect for cops. And my mother taught me to respect women, so I have a particular soft spot for a woman, a woman of the law.”
He paused a beat. Looked around the room and then he looked back at Amita and said, “A woman of the law in potential danger sets me off. I know now that you could’ve handled it, but at the time I wasn’t sure that you knew that those guys were armed. I saw a guns tucked into each of their waistbands and I reacted. The other thing that I learned from my sheriff mother was that it was best to get your reaction in first.”
Amita nodded and stayed quiet.
Chief Red Cloud said “Act first. Ask for forgiveness and not permission sort of attitude?”
Reacher nodded and then he said, “In some situations it’s best to act first, plan later.”
Amita stayed quiet.
Reacher said, “I sincerely apologize to you. And if those guys come around I’ll apologize to them too.”
Amita stayed quiet.
Red Cloud said, “There you have it. Reacher is sorry. Now accept his apology.”
Amita said, “I’m sorry that maybe I overreacted. And I thank you for your concern. Maybe those guys won’t come in to press charges anyway. Actually, I know they won’t so I guess that you’re off the hook.”
Reacher smiled and then he said, “Thank you. The apology isn’t necessary. I was mistaken. I’m sorry to you.
Red Cloud said, “So what the hell are two agents doing on my reservation anyway?”
Amita looked at Reacher and then she must’ve decided that he was privy to the information anyway because she said, “They had FBI badges. Said that they were here looking for someone.”
“Why didn’t they come by and tell me first?”
“They came by yesterday. They showed me. You were out.”
“You went off alone with them? Why didn’t you radio me?”
“Dad, I’m perfectly capable of liaising with a couple of FBI agents without you.”
“You mean that you were more interested in impressing them than doing your job properly?”
Amita didn’t answer that.
Reacher said, “Better to ask for forgiveness over permission.”
Amita finally cracked a smile.
Red Cloud said, “Next time, you call me. So who were these agents looking for?”
Amita looked directly in her father’s eyes with a stare like she waited for his reaction. Like it was the most important thing ever and she said, “Mike Jacobs.”
Red Cloud said, “Michael Jacobs? Your Mike Jacobs?”
Amita nodded. Reacher assumed that your Mike Jacobs meant that she knew the guy that they were hunting.
Red Cloud asked, “What does the FBI want with a guy who hasn’t been seen here in two years?”
Amita said, “They wouldn’t say. They said that it was vital that they look around for him. They said that they wanted to keep it quiet. That’s why I didn’t call you. I knew that you wouldn’t let me help them.”
“You’re damn right that I wouldn’t let you! That son-of-a-bitch left you heartbroken two years ago and he ran off and left his old grandpa to live way out there alone. Jacobs had no respect for his elders.”
Reacher stirred for the first time t
hroughout this conversation and both father and daughter looked at him.
Amita said, “What? You think that this is all about my ex-boyfriend?”
Reacher shook his head and said, “No. Although I didn’t expect that a couple of agents would be here searching for your ex-boyfriend and you happen to be the cop who basically answered the door when they came through.”
“Yeah, that’s what happened. So what is it that you’re thinking? Something is bothering you. It’s written across your face.”
Reacher said, “What is bothering me is that something’s not right with these agents.”
Red Cloud said, “What do you mean?”
Reacher looked at him and then back at Amita and he said, “FBI agents don’t behave that way. FBI agents call ahead and check in with local law enforcement. The FBI has strict protocols in place for dealing with local cops and then there are issues of jurisdiction. And FBI agents don’t dress like those guys. Those guys were rugged and wore street clothes. The FBI guys wear suits normally.”
Both Red Clouds looked at each other and then back at Reacher.
Chief Red Cloud said, “Undercover cops dress rugged all the time.”
Reacher nodded and said, “Maybe. But those guys were obviously ex-military. Had to be.”
Amita asked, “So what?”
Reacher said, “Cops dress rugged, sure. And a lot of ex-military become cops when they get out of uniform. They trade one uniform for the other.”
The Red Clouds nodded.
Reacher said, “But have you ever looked up how to apply to be a special agent with the FBI?”
Amita nodded and said, “I’ve always wanted to be a special agent. What about it?”
Reacher said, “Then you know how rigorous the application process is and all of the stipulations that they require to get in?”
Amita nodded.
Reacher said, “The most common way to get in is to get a law degree.”
