Most of their conversation that evening did focus on the band website and activities. Daniel deliberately tried to avoid talking about the events of the previous weekend, although the subject did come up at dinner, when the Hunters toasted Daniel for his loyalty and dedication to helping Jason whenever he got into trouble.
Daniel told Jason that everyone at school was asking about him, how he was doing, how badly was he hurt, and wondering when he would be back at school. “I’ll tell you, Jason, if you wanted to run for student body president right now, you would probably get just about everyone’s vote!”
“I am way more interested in getting my basketball legs back together right now,” Jason replied with a laugh. “It will take me a while. I don’t want to even attempt it until the doctor clears me. My ribs are still painful at times, mostly when I try to move around too much. I tried shooting a few baskets outside, but had to give it up when the pain set in from my ribs. Sitting around the house all day is starting to drive me crazy!”
“You will just have to be that kickback Jason I first met a few years ago. I realize your idea of kickback is playing sports and swimming half the day, then relaxing and playing video games. But just be patient, Jason. The last thing you want is a setback in your recovery because you tried to do too much too soon.”
“Yeah, I know, Daniel. It still is frustrating though.”
After a couple hours of very satisfying gaming, it was time for Daniel to leave. “I’d love to stay longer, Jason, but the powers that be have ordered me out at 9:30. Spending time with you tonight was great. It’s like the old days before all this fame, notoriety, and detective work started to occupy so much of our time. I sure wish we could do this more often.”
“Come back again next weekend, Daniel. My door is always open to you, especially if you have a controller in your hand! Sorry everything has to be here, but you know I am effectively grounded for the time being.”
Daniel got up and gave Jason a bro shake. “Maybe I will take you up on that offer. I want to watch over you too, so that you are healed and ready to go when the band tours begins. Give me a call or text anytime you are bored or want to talk.”
The next day, Saturday, Edith had told Jason to make it a day off. “We need some family recuperation time this weekend. There is cleaning, laundry, and simple chores that need doing. And you have school work to get caught up on.”
Around three o’clock in the afternoon, the front doorbell rang. “Jason, can you get that?” his mother called out.
Jason went to the door, opened it, and to his surprise Cody Johnson was standing there. As usual, Cody looked like a model in an advertisement for Malibu beaches, with his copper sun tan, muscular body, and southern California surfer attire. “Cody!” Jason exclaimed. “What a nice surprise! What brings you up here?”
Cody smiled back at Jason. “Didn’t your mom tell you I was coming up today?” He grabbed Jason’s hand with his right hand and put his left arm around Jason’s shoulder. “I’d like to give you a bear hug but I guess that’s a no-no right now.”
“Yeah, it is. Your bear hug would probably set my healing back a week!”
“Well anyway, I’m here for the weekend,” Cody continued. “I had to come and see you after I heard what you had been through. Just like you were there for me when I was waylaid by the Thomason hospitality, it is my turn to be there for you, Jason. I heard that Brice Thomason possesses some of the same charming family traits as Roland. Now are you going to ask me inside?”
Jason laughed at Cody’s commentary. “You are just the medicine I need, Cody. And yes, you can come inside if you promise not to surf down the stairs.”
By then Bill and Edith Hunter were also at the door to welcome Cody. Cody shook Bill’s hand and gave Edith a hug. “It’s good to see the Hunter family back together again. And thanks for allowing me to come up and spend the weekend.”
“You are very welcome, Cody,” Edith replied. “The guest room is all ready for you, and you know where it is. Dinner will be at six.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Jason said. “Having Cody come up was a cool thing for you to do for me.”
“We moms have our ways!” Edith said as she put her arm around Jason’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Now help our guest get settled in.”
Jason went with Cody back out to his car and helped him bring his things inside. Cody refused to let Jason carry his backpack containing his clothing and personal items. He handed Jason a cloth carry bag that had several wrapped gifts inside. “You take this, Jason. What’s inside is for you and your parents. Let’s save it until dinner time.”
The two friends went out to the screened in front porch of the Hunter home and sat down in chairs. Cody started the conversation by updating Jason on what he had been doing lately. “Ever since you turned my life around and told me that there was no reason why I couldn’t have a career in oceanography, I have continued to take school seriously and work toward my goal of getting into a good college program. It’s still a struggle for me at times. All those years of neglect keep coming back to bite me in the ass, but slowly I am starting to develop the skills and knowledge I will need to earn a college degree. A couple of my teachers at school have started to notice this, and have given me some extra help.”
“It sounds like you have the motivation now, Cody,” Jason said with a smile. “You will be amazed at how far just that alone will take you.”
“I still am tied to the ocean and water activities. Every day when I get home from school, I pull off my shirt and shoes, put on a pair of trunks, and head out there for a couple hours. But I’m home promptly for dinner, and then spend every school night cracking the books. Sometimes it takes me hours to get through it all, but I do. Grandmother helps me when she can, but now I am getting to a place where I am on my own when it comes to the math and science courses. One thing I have learned is that it is okay if I have to go over something three, four, five or six times. I’m no genius when it comes to school work, but I can learn if I work at it.”
“You have just reminded me why I believe in you, Cody, and why I offered you the scholarship through the Whatever Foundation,” Jason replied. “I’m sure that it will be money well spent!”
“Oh, yeah. The ocean definitely is my life. Now tell me how you are doing, Jason. There was some coverage in the media even down where I live, but having personally gone through what Roland Thomason and friends could dish out, I know that it was no picnic or knights in shining armor tale.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Jason said shaking his head. “Those men had it in for me and I got sucked into their trap like a fly in a spider web.”
“Those bastards!” Cody exclaimed in a low angry voice. “The thought of them slowly beating the shit out of you while videotaping it for the viewing pleasure of Roland Thomason still makes me furious.”
“Luckily, they didn’t hurt Laura, just scared her half to death. And they couldn’t have picked a better way to get at me. Now I feel guilt for what they did to her along with the pain from what they did to me!”
“They really did a number on you, Jason. As soon as I heard the names of who was arrested, I had a sinking feeling inside that you were badly hurt by them, not just physically but mentally. That’s one of the reasons I had to come up here, talk to you, and try to help you deal with what they did to your head.”
“As I think about it, Cody, it was very medieval like the media described it, but not in any chivalrous way. It was like I was freely walking into a torture chamber to have my body beaten to a pulp and then drawn and quartered!”
“God, what a terrible feeling that must have been, Jason. And believe me I know what you are experiencing now and will go through in the next few weeks. That is my other goal for this weekend. If you can unburden yourself from some of the mental pain and anguish by talking to me about it, I am here for you, just like you were for me after the Camp Chinquapin rescue. Don’t feel pressured about it in any way. But I tell you, after I talked with
you that weekend about what I experienced in that camp prison, for the first time I felt I was really putting it behind me. And that was a totally awesome feeling, Jason!”
Jason looked over at Cody. “You really are a true friend, Cody. I have talked with a lot of people about what happened, Daniel, Laura, my parents, Dr. Agoura, and even the police. I also had a great visit from a law professor at Stanford University who is making it a project for his students to try to put Roland Thomason out of business for good. But no one really understands the agony and helplessness I experienced except someone like you, Cody, because you went through the same type of torture and captivity. And no one can give me the insight I need to deal with it mentally like you can for the same reasons. Maybe tomorrow we can go off somewhere and deal with it. I would feel real uncomfortable talking about it here with others around.”
“I do understand what you are saying and feeling, Jason. By the way, it would be the most satisfying thing in the world to see Roland Thomason be taken down off of his evil perch that he somehow stills mounts even in prison! Can you travel around at all? I would really like to take you to the coast, where I know I feel the most comfortable and where I think you would too if you want to have that serious discussion.”
“Probably not. My parents have pretty much grounded me for the time being. With my ribs and cartilage bandaged and still very sore, I don’t think they will let me go to the coast right now.”
“Yeah, your mom did say that I needed to take things real easy with you when she talked with me on the telephone. Is there some place we could go that is nearby yet private and scenic?”
“I’ll have to think about it,” Jason said. “Otherwise it’s my room or the porch!”
Edith Hunter was adamant about Jason not traveling anywhere right now. She did tell Jason and Cody that she and Bill would be out most of Sunday afternoon running errands and taking a much needed break from their round the clock care of Jason. “Why don’t the two of you just make yourselves at home in the living room, maybe put on the travel channel without the sound, if you want a scenic background, and have your discussion there. Later we’ll be home to make you dinner.”
So that was how things worked out. The remainder of Saturday was devoted to light conversation and visits from Tim and Daniel who both wanted to come over and see Cody. After Sunday brunch, Bill and Edith Hunter took off on their errands. Cody and Jason went for a short walk around the block, and then went into the living room and stretched out in comfortable chairs. Soon Jason got into a discussion of his experiences with Brice Thomason and Derrick Hurtado.
“Have you ever looked into the eyes of a shark, Cody?” Jason asked.
“Oh, yeah, Jason, I know what you mean: cold, unflinching, and unreadable.”
“That’s what I felt looking at the two of them. Brice was the psychopath, who enjoyed torturing me and had a plan to do me in slowly and cruelly. Derrick was the butcher. He thought of me as another side of beef to be disposed of and cut up. They wanted to slowly break me down and make me beg for the slightest thing, like going to the bathroom or getting a drink of water. That was their plan, anyway,” Jason said with a sigh.
“How were you able to resist them?” Cody asked. “Obviously they beat on you a lot.”
“That first beating was the worst. When I regained consciousness from being slugged, I found myself lying on the floor tied up and gagged with duct tape. I began to struggle with my restraints. When Brice saw that he came over and began playing the genial host. He pulled off my gag and gave me a water and bathroom break. Not recognizing either of them, I asked why they had kidnapped me. Brice wouldn’t tell me right away.
“Next my hands and feet were manacled to the wall of the cistern, my hands on either side of me. It was then I found out that this was Roland Thomason’s plan for revenge. Brice sucker punched me in the gut and bragged that he would be taking me on a painful journey to my death! I tried to be brave and tell them the truth about why Roland was in prison but that just made Brice want to hit me with more blows. Then the two of them took turns beating me all over my body and face. The pain was incredible. All I can remember thinking at first was ‘Is this my fate to be beaten to death by two thugs?’ Then my mind just started to shut everything out. Eventually they noticed that and stopped for the time being.”
“I’m so sorry, Jason,” Cody said sympathetically. “You didn’t deserve any of that kind of treatment. When Tim and I got it, we had been fighting them for a long time. But you just came to save your girlfriend.”
“That knowledge was one of the other things that kept me going, Cody. At least I knew that Laura was safe. But I sure paid a high price!”
“Yeah, you did, Jason. Those two were low-life cowards, beating up a bound teenager two on one. I hope someday they will get the same treatment when they go to prison!”
“After they were finished, Brice told me that this was the first of many beatings that I would receive and that eventually I would beg him to kill me. I really wanted to tell him to screw himself, but he taped my mouth shut again. Then came the real agony. They left me manacled to the wall all night. I kept passing in and out of consciousness, moaning into my gag as waves of pain wracked my body.
“The next morning I woke up to the smell of bacon being cooked on a campfire stove. I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast on Saturday. I was hungry but I probably couldn’t have eaten anything like that or held it down. Brice came over and released me from the manacles. I literally fell onto the floor, weak from being made to stand up tied to the wall all night. Brice pulled the tape off of my mouth and said it was time for ‘another conversation’ as he described it. Again, he played the genial host and asked if I had any needs.
“I asked for some water and a little food. That earned me a slap on the face. I was told that I had to call him ‘sir’ from now on. After I said ‘sir’ to him, I was given a water bottle and a small energy bar to eat. Then it was time for my next so-called conversation and another beating.”
“This is so like what was done to Tim and I at the camp prison!” Cody exclaimed. “They kept us tied up and gagged a lot, beat us up every day, and put us through these kangaroo court type of interrogations. Their attempts to break us down were clumsy and stupid, except for the fact that they had total control over us. The thing that made me hate them the most was the fact that they seemed to enjoy doing their routine every day. The only way to survive was to somehow tune them out. But it wasn’t easy. It wasn’t easy at all! You are one brave dude to survive what those men did to you, Jason.”
“The conversation we had would be our last, even if I hadn’t been rescued. I remember saying to them the exact same thing I said at the press conference about wanting to help people when Brice asked me what I had to say for myself. This was for his video show. I guess he thought I would say something profound about my treatment as his prisoner so far. As if being tied up and beaten up was some sort of accomplishment! I realized that they only had contempt for me and figured I was wasting my breath trying to reason with them in any sort of conversation.”
“Again your response to what they did to you was right on.” Cody responded. “It took me almost a week to realize that. Eventually those guards at the camp prison didn’t need to silence me with gags. I had nothing to say to them anymore.”
“I wish that silence would have prevented more beatings, but it didn’t. After I told Brice that we lived in different worlds that didn’t relate to each other and that I had nothing more to say to him, his response was to beat me up again. I remember at the time thinking about you and Tim, and how you were able to survive the torturous existence at the Camp Chinquapin ‘anger management seminar’ they made you attend! I remember when I found you there, you were in that underground cave, lying on the ground, tied in a spread eagle to stakes.”
“And you were that angel of mercy wearing red high top sneakers,” Cody replied with a laugh. “I take it that being spread eagled to the ground was the next ple
asure that they had planned for you.”
“You have that right. Brice gagged me again with a piece of duct tape, I was lowered to the ground and tied to stakes that he had thoughtfully installed in the floor. Ironically that was one of the best things he could have done. I was so exhausted that I ended up falling asleep. Later, I wondered why they let me rest. I guess tying me to a stakeout was all part of the fabulous master plan laid out by Roland Thomason. Captain Garcia told me that after they tortured me to death, their plan was to leave my body somewhere with drug residue and paraphernalia so that it would look like my death was from a drug deal gone bad.
“Brice did get me up a couple of hours later, and I had just been given a bathroom break when the SWAT team arrived. At the time the only restraints I had on were the tape gag and handcuffs on my wrists in front of me. Brice grabbed me and held a pistol pointed at my head. It was a standoff until Daniel and Eric broke the rules and came inside to see if I was actually down there. Then Eric took a rock and made the pitch of his life, nailing Brice on his forehead and causing him to drop the gun. Everything was over in a few seconds after that!”
Cody looked over at Jason shaking his head in awe and astonishment. “Jason, you have had the most incredible life! Call it fate, destiny, an act of God, or whatever. Somehow you are being looked after. Your network of kids stands up and finds you despite all of the clever and devious plans of Roland and Brice Thomason. Sure you went through hell, but those two thugs had no idea of what they were truly up against when they kidnapped you!”
“Perhaps, but the bottom line now is that I am being told that I shouldn’t do anymore detective work or try to help anyone in immediate danger. I have only seen Laura once since the rescue and my parents have effectively grounded me while Laura’s parents want to keep us separated. I feel very frustrated and guilty that somehow my actions were responsible for this situation. I suppose you will probably end up telling me the same thing: give up detective work and take a break from what I have been doing.”
Jason's Network Page 20
