Chapter 486

...”Baby, you’re not a reserve officer here like you were in Georgia. Let’s let Quinton’s deputies or the police take care of it.”

“I will. I will,” he eventually responded, but Diana was worried that her husband might well be hedging that answer with a mental “but if” in there somewhere.

Jeff had high hopes of sneaking out with just the two women, but Kayla was waiting at the back door, a frown on her face.

“Look, Baby...” he began, knowing he was in trouble, but she interrupted him.

“Don’t start. Don’t you realize what the General would do to me if I let you face danger without being there?”

“Told you,” Diana said with a chuckle.

“Who squealed on me?” Jeff wondered aloud. “And besides, there is no danger.”

“The AI,” Kayla said with a grin while ignoring the last. “And don’t even think about changing his programming or trying to talk him out of telling. Arlene fixed it so that only she can change that part of his programming.”

Jeff grumped good-naturedly, but knew that Kayla was only doing what she had been ordered to do, not to mention that he liked to tease her. When they reached the bottom of the drive, Jeff, behind the wheel, let out a groan when he saw the two SUVs waiting. When he called the Sergeant on the radio, rather than using standard radio procedure as Jeff expected, Higgins answered by saying, “General’s orders. We’re to go wherever you go, Sir.”

I feel like a damn two-year-old, Jeff thought, but said on the radio, instead, “Mrs. Yoshida needs to go by her office to pick up some paperwork before going to her home. Do you need the address of either?”

“Negative, Colonel,” was the quick response, as Jeff knew it would be.

The first SUV pulled out and the Prime maneuvered his vehicle between the two. Even knowing that Security monitored everything, including phone calls, Jeff was still very pleased with their efficiency.

The trip down was uneventful, and, after a quick stop at Kei’s office for the paperwork, they continued to her home. The front SUV stopped a few hundred feet before her house, the rear doors opened for a moment, then the vehicle moved on to park a half block away. Jeff pulled into the driveway, stopping well back from the red Corvette parked there. The second escort vehicle stopped on the previous block.

Although he mumbled about being treated like a baby, he knew that camouflaged Security troopers, invisible for all practical purposes, were also watching over the women he loved.

They all sat waiting as a Sheriff’s vehicle stopped at the curb, the deputy getting out. “Remember,” Jeff quickly told Kei as they exited the Escalade, “don’t get separated from us or the deputy. Never be alone with Edi. I don’t trust him. Promise?”

“Yes. I will certainly agree to that,” Kei returned.

The deputy spent several minutes talking with Kei, informing her that he was only there to keep the peace. He told them that he would speak with Mr. Yoshida and inform him accordingly. He also cautioned Kei to refrain from arguing with her husband and that she would only be allowed to take her personal possessions from the home unless her husband gave her permission to do otherwise. If there was a dispute over anything she chose, she was to leave the item and he (the deputy) would put it in his report and, in addition, would take a picture of the item in case Mr. Yoshida should trash it later. She and her husband could fight in court over any items disputed.

“I am not on either side in this matter,” he reaffirmed. “I am here only to keep the peace.”

He instructed all of them to wait while he talked with Mr. Yoshida and explained the situation to him.

“I also want to pick up my Corvette,” Kei told the deputy as she handed him the title and bill of sale.

He checked the paperwork and the driver’s license she was holding out to him. “You have a right to your personal property,” he said with a sigh, “but I’m wondering...”

“He will object, but it is my vehicle, bought with my money and it is in my name only.”

“Tell him,” Diana insisted. When Kei hesitated, the Clan Queen went on. “He has beaten her before. Someone, either from your department or the police department, came out twice after being called by the neighbors. The female officer took pictures of Kei’s bruises the first time, but Kei refused to show the officer the second time.”

“It was one of our deputies. I called up the report and read it just before I arrived here. I will inform Mr. Yoshida that any violence on his part will result in his arrest.” Then turning to Jeff and Diana, “Sir, we haven’t met, but I saw you at headquarters when you gave us our vehicles. Again, all of us thank you for your generosity, but Sir, I can’t show partiality here.”

“We understand, Deputy. We’re here only to assist Kei in moving her personal property,” Diana broke in to say.

With relief showing in his voice, the deputy continued, “I don’t want Mr. Yoshida to later say that he didn’t object to the items taken because he felt intimidated when a group of people entered his house with a deputy, so I will allow only one other woman to go with us, Mrs. Yoshida. The others will have to remain out here.”

“He has been violent...” Jeff began, but was cut off.

“He will not have the chance to harm Mrs. Yoshida today. I am here to see to that. The Sheriff spoke to me directly.” Then turning to Kei, “I have to caution you along those same lines as well, Mrs. Yoshida. I have to be fair,” he finished, but it was obvious as he looked down at the small woman that he wanted to qualify his statement.

As the deputy, Kei and Diana started toward the house, he turned back to address Kayla and Jeff. “You two, please stay by your vehicle. If Mr. Yoshida will allow it, I will call you to assist in transporting Mrs. Yoshida’s possessions to her vehicle.”

Jeff knew the deputy was right, but staying by the SUV was hard for him to swallow, and, from the look on Kayla’s face, she certainly felt the same.

Time passed, and Jeff was becoming antsy when the front door was held open by the deputy as Diana and Kei exited, Diana with two large suitcases and Kei with two smaller ones. Just as they reached the bottom of the steps, Edi shoved by them, his keys in his hand as he ran toward the Corvette.

He was almost to the vehicle when he seemed to realize that it was blocked in by the Escalade. Since the driveway was bordered by a rock wall on both sides, there was no way for him to get the Corvette past.

Screaming, “Jeff, you son-of-a-bitch. You blocked me in on purpose. I’ll fucking kill your fucking ass,” and darted toward Jeff and Kayla as they stood by their vehicle.

The deputy, who had followed Edi out, jumped down the steps and ran toward Edi, but Edi had taken only a few running steps toward Jeff when Edi suddenly tripped and at the same time, a hard thump sounded as a big, invisible fist struck Edi in the middle of his back, knocking the breath out of the angry man an instant before he plowed into the lawn.

Edi lay rolling around on the ground trying to get his breath back as the deputy ran up, pulled Edi’s hands behind him and proceeded to handcuff him.

“He hit me. He hit me,” Edi wheezed, slinging his head from side to side, as he finally managed to suck enough air into his lungs to talk.

“He didn’t do anything to you. Mr. Matthews was never closer than twenty feet from you. You tripped and did it to yourself,” the deputy said as he straddled Edi, double locking the handcuffs to keep them from over-tightening on Edi’s wrists.

It was hard for Jeff to keep his face straight as he watched the deputy frisk Edi before dragging him to his feet and hustling him to the patrol vehicle, Edi, all the while, looking wildly around for whoever hit him.

The deputy used his radio, then got out of his vehicle to approach Jeff. “I heard him threaten you, and I saw him charge you, Sir. I have a car coming to transport my prisoner. As soon as the deputy gets here, I’ll fill out a report on the incident. I appreciate your staying out of the way as I asked.” As the deputy started to say something else, there was a tremendous thump from his car as Edi kicked the door – hard.

The deputy ran toward the vehicle, but before he could get there, Edi curled up while lying on his back, and kicked the door with both feet, this time, even harder. The deputy snatched the door open just in time to be kicked in the chest by Edi, but the deputy had apparently seen the kick coming and had tried to step back, lessening the effectiveness of the blow, although it did still put him on his ass. Before Jeff could get there, the deputy pulled his second weapon and fired. Edi had just been introduced to a Taser.

While Edi was doing his shaking routine, Jeff and the deputy threw him back into the vehicle and the deputy put a set of leg cuffs on him, securing them to the ring in the floor of the patrol car before removing the Taser’s prongs from Edi. “I tried to be nice to you, Asshole,” the deputy snarled, “but I don’t appreciate being kicked in the chest. Now, you have escape and assault of a deputy added to the list of the things you’ll have to face in court.”

“Fluukb yuum,” Edi screamed, or something similar; it was hard to tell because his tongue wasn’t working properly just yet. He tried spitting at the deputy, but his lack of coordination prevented him from hitting his target, the glob of spittle landing in Edi’s own lap, instead.

“Are you hurt,” Jeff asked while putting a hand on the deputy’s shoulder.

“Nah,” he returned while cautiously taking a deep breath. “But he would probably have broken something if I had left my vest off today. Sir, I knew you were right behind me to help if I should need it. Thanks for the backup.”

“Didn’t want to spoil all your fun, and I particularly didn’t want to be touching him when I saw you draw that Taser,” Jeff finished with a laugh. “But, I am sorry you had to get kicked by that asshole. Ummm,” the Prime continued

after a moment while nodding to the spreading wetness on Edi’s pants. “I think he just did something.”

“Ah, crap,” the Deputy grumbled as he slammed the door disgustedly. “And I just had the SUV washed and vacuumed.”

Diana and Kei, grinning from ear to ear, walked over to stand beside Jeff and Kayla. “Is it okay if we finish with Kei’s things?” the Clan Queen asked, barely holding back a snigger.

“Sure,” the deputy responded while brushing grass clippings from the seat of his pants, “but like I said, if it is personal, just put personal clothing, cosmetics, etc. on the list. Please note any separate items from other categories that you might take. And remember, this is to be only personal property. I’ve done this before, and by the way Mr. Yoshida has acted, I suspect he’ll claim you took something you didn’t, so I want to see, sign off on and photograph everything you take, Ma’am. I’m in no hurry, so please take all your personal possessions if you are truly leaving. With the mood he’s in, he might well come back after making bond and trash everything you have. I’ve seen it done before. And, along those lines, I strongly advise you to be somewhere else when he does make bond. I don’t want to see you in the hospital or worse.”

“The Corvette?” Diana asked.

“Like we discussed, the title is in Mrs. Yoshida’s name, so I can’t prevent her from taking it, but judging from Mr. Yoshida’s reaction, there is going to be a problem over it.”