“So the boy was kidnapped to prevent him from going to the authorities for child abuse?” Jaime asked.
“Ironically, if my friend had done that, it would most likely have meant that his mother would be declared unfit and he would be put into the foster care system. No, Brewster’s reason for grabbing my friend was to isolate him and turn him into a drug addict! Then he would be under Brewster’s control just like his mother was! This Brewster is a real bastard, Jaime!”
“This is an incredible story, Jason! What can I use?”
“Most of this has to remain confidential for now, but you can use the part about how Brewster had kidnapped the boy to turn him into a drug addict.” Jason replied. “I want everyone to know what a mean lowlife this Brewster is!”
“What can you tell me about his rescue? As soon as I heard that the victim was rescued by two of his friends, I knew that it most likely had Hunter & Holmes written all over it!”
Jason went on to tell Jaime about his “trump card”, the cross with the tracking device he had given to Jonathan, and how they had put together the information to find where he was being held in the mountains.
“And how were you able to get him out of the hands of Brewster?”
After Jason related that part of the story, Jaime replied, “This is another incredible Hunter & Holmes adventure! I really hope that I can report the entire story some day! For now I will just tell the reason for the kidnapping and that you and Daniel were responsible for his rescue. I will also mention that the meth lab fire was caused as a diversion so that you could escape. That was pure genius for Daniel to toss that flare into the middle of the lab.”
“Okay, Jaime,” Jason agreed. “It is really important that our friend be protected for the time being. His life is really in crisis right now, and my first goal for him is to get him thorough medical care for the brutal way he was treated, and to make sure he is free from the effects of the drugs that were injected into him.”
* * * * *
Later on the Channel 11 six o’clock news, Jaime Orlando filed this report:
“We now have additional information about the breaking news story in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Suspected drug dealer and meth lab operator Scott Brewster has now been taken into custody. He was discovered by the Silicon Valley Police SWAT team trying to escape on foot from his isolated Loma Prieta mountain hideaway. Although initially thought to be armed, apparently his shotgun was damaged in the explosion and fire, so Brewster was taken into custody without incident by the SWAT team when he was flushed out of some bushes where he had been hiding.
“Firefighters have now completely extinguished the fire started in what is alleged to be Brewster’s meth lab in one of the cabin rooms. Drug Enforcement Agency agents have now secured the site for a complete investigation.
“The most serious charges against Brewster are that he kidnapped a teenaged boy, brought him up to the cabin, kept him restrained, and was systematically beginning to inject the boy with drugs so that he would become an addict and under his control. Due to the age of the victim, and the serious nature of the abuse committed against him, I am unable to release any additional information about him other than he is currently under a doctor’s care.
“I can let you know in a Channel 11 exclusive, that two Silicon valley teenagers, Jason Hunter & Daniel Holmes, engineered the boy’s rescue. These two teenaged detectives have made a name for themselves lately in a number of rescue operations, most notably the case involving the two serial predators who kidnapped and murdered a number of children in the San Matthias area. In this case, Hunter & Holmes had recently made the acquaintance of the victim, and were worried about his family situation after Brewster had moved into his home. Concerned about his friend’s welfare, Jason gave him a cross medallion with a tracking device in it to wear as a safety precaution when he heard what had been going on in the boy’s life.
“After their friend went missing, Jason and Daniel were able to track him down using a helicopter and a frequency monitor once they were able to figure out the general location that the boy had been taken to. In a daring series of events, the two were dropped onto the ground near the cabin. Jason and Daniel eventually discovered where their friend was being held. Jason was able to get inside the cabin and release their friend from his restraints. The two were in the process of escaping the cabin when they were discovered by Brewster. Luckily, Daniel, who was outside keeping an eye on Brewster, was able to create a diversion by tossing a lighted flare into the meth lab room, creating the large explosion and fire that we reported on earlier. The three boys were able to escape from Brewster’s property and then were airlifted out of there.
“This is Jaime Orlando reporting for Channel 11 news.”
Chapter 29
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
(Friday Evening)
It wasn’t until nearly six o’clock that Daniel and Jason were able to bring Jonathan to Dr. Cartwright’s clinic. Jason had set up the twenty-four hour watch there, and now that they had Jonathan back, Jason wanted to make sure that everything was okay with him medically. If actual hospitalization would be needed, he had to be there to make sure Jonathan was kept away from any prying media, and that his foundation would be sent the bill.
When the three boys arrived at the clinic, Dr. Cartwright was there to personally welcome them, and to bring Jonathan into an examination room for a complete physical. While Jason and Daniel were seated in the waiting room, Jason suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be at a dinner party Laura had planned. A number of her relatives and family friends had been invited, and having them meet Jason was part of her plan for the evening. Jason got on his cell phone and called Laura.
“Jason, where are you?” Laura asked with a tinge of annoyance in her voice. “I thought that you would be here by now. Are you on your way over?”
“Laura, babe, I am afraid that I will be a little late to the party. I was involved in a rescue operation for Jonathan Kowalski this afternoon. Right now we are at Dr. Cartwright’s clinic waiting to hear about the results of Jonathan’s condition. And Captain Garcia wants us to wait until he can get a statement about what happened. The good news is that Jonathan is now safe, and so are Daniel and I.”
“Are you telling me that you decided to go on a new case of detective work, and now that is taking precedence over what we had planned for a couple of weeks?” Laura said, now with some anger in her voice. “What am I supposed to tell our guests?”
“Tell them the truth, Laura!” Jason said with some animation in his voice. “I think you know I wouldn’t deliberately try to mess up your party plans. But Jonathan had been kidnapped by a mean drug dealer and taken to his mountain cabin where he was turning him into a drug addict. We had to go after him as soon as we were able to figure out what had happened to him! If you don’t believe me, turn on the six o’clock news!”
“So I am supposed to tell all of the people who have driven a long way to meet you in person to turn on the television so we can watch you on the news!” Laura exclaimed.
“I don’t know what else to say, Laura. I will come over to your house as soon as I can!” Jason answered. “Tell your guests that I am sorry for the delay but that I am looking forward to meeting everyone as soon as I can get there.”
After Jason ended his call, Daniel said, “Uh, oh. It sounds like you are in the doghouse!”
“I guess I am, Daniel, but it doesn’t seem right! Isn’t Jonathan’s life and safety more important than a dinner party?”
“You would think so, Jason. Obviously this party is very important to Laura.”
“This brings up that whole ‘I don’t want you to be a detective any more’ issue again!” Jason said with some frustration in his voice.
“Well, the plan was to back off from that kind of work for a while. But I am in total agreement with you about undertaking this rescue operation, Jason. Laura’s a wonderful person, but so is Jonathan. I could never forgive myself if we had allow
ed that drug dealer to turn him into a drug addict! That whole incident you just had with Laura reminds me that we had better get on our cell phones and talk to our parents! I’m sure they don’t want to find out about Jonathan’s rescue from watching the news!”
Jason and Daniel did call their parents and make sure they were aware of what had happened with Jonathan. They explained that they would need to stay at the clinic until Captain Garcia had taken their statements.
“Weren’t you supposed to be at Laura’s dinner party this evening?” Jason’s mother Edith asked her son.
“Yes, I have already called her to tell her that I will be late.”
“Don’t forget to keep her in the loop, dear. This party is a big deal for her,” Edith replied.
A few minutes later, Dr. Cartwright came out with a report on Jonathan. “Jonathan has had a very tough existence for the past couple of days. The physical bruises and cuts will heal without too much of a problem, but Jonathan is undernourished, and a little dehydrated. I am very worried about the impact of the injections of liquid methamphetamine that he received. I think that there is still some of the drug in his system. I know that Jonathan fought against what was being done to him to the point that this Brewster fellow had to tie and gag him to administer the drug. But he had no way to resist what was being done to him and his second drug injection caused him to have the proverbial ‘bad trip’.
“I hope that they throw the book at that criminal for what he did to Jonathan,” Dr. Cartwright continued, “forcing him to get high on meth while being bound and gagged. I am very concerned that with even just two injected doses Jonathan is going to need to go into a full detoxification program to make sure that he is physically and mentally weaned from that drug.”
“You know that you have my foundation’s full and complete support for whatever Jonathan needs, Dr. Cartwright. No kid should have to endure what he has just been put through! I am so grateful that he is in your capable hands! Now you see why I wanted him here and not in a more public venue.”
“Like I said before, Jason, Jonathan is very fortunate to have you and Daniel for friends.”
“He is so nice and genuinely talented,” Daniel added. “He has had such a needlessly rough time that he didn’t deserve. We want to do everything that we can for him right now! Can we talk to him now?”
“Oh, sure,” Dr. Cartwright replied. “He is taking a well needed shower and getting dressed again after his examination. I have also ordered some takeout meals. He must be starving by now!”
Shortly after the report from Dr. Cartwright, Tim and his father arrived. When Jason had phoned them about Jonathan’s successful rescue and told them that he would be staying at Dr. Cartwright’s clinic for the time being, they went over to Tim’s house to get him some clean clothing to wear. Tim handed over the canvas bag of clothes to Dr. Cartwright’s receptionist, who took it back to where Jonathan had been taking a shower and cleaning up.
While they were waiting for Jonathan to come out, Jason asked how everything had gone with Mrs. Kowalski. “Everything went very smoothly, Tim reported. “After Dad came over, there seemed to be no hesitation on her part about anything. When your attorney came with the paperwork, she quickly signed everything, and then the Hope Clinic people arrived to admit her to their program. She is now under their care. And Dad is now the temporary legal guardian for Jonathan!”
“Thank you so much, Mr. Wilkinson, for helping Jonathan out,” Jason said. “I hope that we haven’t imposed on you too much today, but something had to be done very quickly.”
Mr. Wilkinson smiled and said, “After all of the things that have gone wrong in our lives, I am happy to help get something done right. Jonathan is probably Tim’s best friend now and a very neat kid. I feel honored that you would ask me to be his guardian!”
“Is that true? Mr. Wilkinson is now my guardian?” Jonathan said as he came through the doorway into the reception area. He looked a lot better, now that he had had a chance to shower and put clean clothes on.
Tim went up to Jonathan and gave him a big hug. “Yeah, you are officially family now! God, was I scared about what had happened to you! I should have never let you go back home by yourself! I am so relieved you are safe, Jonathan!”
Jonathan hit knuckles with his best friend and then addressed Jeff. “Can I actually call you Dad, Mr. Wilkinson?” Jonathan said in a slightly emotional voice. “That position in my life has been open for a while.”
“Whatever makes you comfortable, Jonathan,” Mr. Wilkinson replied. “Just know that there are a whole lot of people looking after you now. No longer will you go through life alone without sober and sensible counseling. No lowlife drug dealers will be able to prey on you any more!”
“That is such good news!” Jonathan said as he went over to Mr. Wilkinson, shook his hand and gave him a hug.
Over the next half hour, everyone talked about the many events of the days, sharing all of the details, and ate the takeout food that Dr. Cartwright had ordered.
Jason then remembered Laura’s party. He called her on her cell phone, but there was no answer.
Around eight o’clock, Captain Garcia arrived to get everyone’s statements about the events of the day. At first he was miffed at Jason and Daniel for disregarding his orders to wait for his SWAT team to arrive, but loosened up a little when he heard the actual story of Jonathan’s kidnapping and confinement at Scott Brewster’s cabin. By the time Garcia was finished with everyone, it was after nine o’clock.
“Oh, no!” Jason exclaimed. “I totally forgot about Laura’s dinner party. I’ve got to get over there right away!” Jason quickly said goodbye to everyone and then literally ran from the reception room to his Explorer. He then drove as fast as he safely could over to Laura’s house.
After parking his SUV, Jason quickly walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. A couple of minutes went by and then the door finally opened. Laura was at the door and in a very bad mood.
“You!” Laura exclaimed in an accusatory voice. “You totally ruined the dinner party! Everyone kept asking where you were all night. I kept telling them ‘he’s coming, he’s coming’ but you never came! Now they have left and I feel totally humiliated! After all of the bragging I did about you, Jason, they never even got to meet you! I had to look at their faces all evening. Everyone was too polite to say anything, but I could sure feel what they were thinking!”
“Laura, I am so sorry,” Jason answered. “I tried to call you on your cell with an update, but there was no answer. I couldn’t leave any earlier because Captain Garcia insisted on hearing the entire story of what happened today. I had to be at the clinic to make sure that Jonathan was okay and that his medical needs were being attended to.”
“Well, it’s clear to me what is important in your life, Jason Hunter! If you had left the police work to the police department and Captain Garcia, he wouldn’t have to question you about it until late into the evening. You promised that you weren’t going to do any more detective work this summer. You promised me that you would be here at this very important, to me at least, social event. I guess that was all lies, lies, lies!”
“But Laura,” Jason replied hastily, stung by her remarks, “a very nice person’s life was at stake! Jonathan Kowalski had been kidnapped by a lowlife drug dealer, bound and gagged, and brought to his mountain hideaway, where he was kept a tied up prisoner while this drug dealer was injecting him with liquid methamphetamines. I had to do what I could to rescue him! I’m sorry that I ruined your dinner party, Laura. You tell me what is more important!”
“I don’t have to tell you anything, Jason! You have already decided what is more important in your life! You don’t need me around to get in the way of your daring adventures! I’m sure you will be a lot happier without the complications of Laura Friesen in your life! That is, if you could schedule me in!”
“But Laura…..” Jason tried to interrupt with now a little panic in his voice. “Don’t you know that yo
u mean the world to me? I didn’t deliberately mean to ruin your party! I really didn’t! But sometimes things just happen!”
“You don’t have to worry about that any more, Jason Hunter. I’m through with you!” Laura said in a very angry voice. “Go away! I never want to see you again!”
“But…..” Jason tried to say but it was too late. Laura ripped off the locket on a chain he had given her, and threw it in his face.
“Now get out of my life!” she said, then spun around and slammed the front door shut.
Jason stood in front of the front door absolutely stunned. He had never seen Laura behave like that in all of the years they had known each other. Gradually his face turned beet red with shame and remorse. If a prize fighter had hauled back and delivered a round house punch, it wouldn’t have had any more impact on Jason than the stinging rebuke he had just received. The girl whom he loved, and had pledged to go steady with, was now telling him to get out of her life!
Devastated, Jason got in his SUV and somehow managed to drive home. He had tears in his eyes and was very upset. Jason walked into the front door of his house. When his parents Bill and Edith heard him arrive, they expected him to walk in like a conquering hero after his successful rescue of Jonathan, which was all over the news, and his return from Laura’s party where they thought he would have been equally lionized by Laura’s family and friends.
“Jason, what’s wrong?” his father asked. “Why are you so sad looking? What happened?”
Eyewitness News Page 21
