“And what about Brayelle Bates and Elias Kline?” he says and my heart stops.
How did they find out so soon? I think to myself, but then it becomes obvious. We’ve been on the news. It wasn’t hard to figure out. But still, his saying our names like that took me by surprise.
Bray has the same reaction. Her eyes grow wide. She looks at me for a split second before giving the man her full attention.
“They still have a chance to go home,” the man goes on, though he’s looking right at us, making sure that we get the message he was sent in here to give. “Everybody knows that they’re scared. But no one is accusing them of murder. Innocent until proven guilty. They want to go home to tell everyone what happened that night on the river, tell their side of the story, to have a chance at life.” He looks at Caleb again. “But you have to let them go home so they can do that.”
“I’m not keeping them here,” he says. “And she doesn’t want to go.”
The man looks at Bray. “Is that true?”
“You’re not in here for me,” Bray says. “I’m the least of anyone’s worries. Leave me out of it.”
“I’m afraid that’s not something I can do,” the man says.
“He’s the one with the gun, you ass**le,” she snaps. “Just leave me alone!”
The man turns to me. “And what about you?” he asks. “Are you a part of this?”
“Wait a damn minute!” Caleb shouts. “What the f**k is that supposed to mean? You accusing them of being a part of this?” He points the gun forward at the man. “See, f**k the system! Fuck ‘innocent until proven guilty’! They already think you’re guilty, that you are as much a part of this as I am, even though I’m the one holding the gun to his f**king head. See how the system works? They send innocent people to jail every f**king day while murderers, child molesters, and real ra**sts are set free because of some stupid goddamn technicality. Fuck you and your system, you piece of shit!”
The man takes two steps back and raises his hands a little higher. He’s getting worried that Caleb might get trigger-happy. So am I.
“No, I’m not accusing them of anything,” the man says in surrender. “But it looks bad on them if they stay in here when they have a chance to be set free. It makes them look even guiltier of Jana McIntyre’s death than they already do.” Then he adds, “And I know about your rape sentence, Caleb. I’ve seen men get sent to jail for rape, men just like you who don’t fit the profile. It happens all the time. You’re not the only one.” He looks at us once more. “And accidents happen all the time, too. Sometimes people run when they’re scared. It’s the worst thing you can do, but it happens. All the time. None of you are alone.”
“Are you saying you believe us?” Caleb asks. “Or is this your way of gaining trust?” He doesn’t give the man a chance to answer. Caleb already has it set in his mind what he believes and nothing this man can say will ever change that. He laughs. “That’s exactly what it is. You come in here wearing your stupid f**king running pants and your stupid f**king running shoes, trying to look like a civilian, when really we all know you’re just another cop trying to fit in with the little people. Gain our trust. Make us believe your bullshit lies.”
“Your brother is outside right now, Caleb,” the man cuts in. “He’s worried. He told me to tell you that he will visit you every single day while you’re locked up. He said that he didn’t mean what he said before, that he never wanted to see you again. He wants you to know that no matter what, he’ll put you first and visit you every day until the day you get out. Because he loves you and nothing can keep him away from his little brother.”
I hear Bray rupture with sobs and I look down at her. It’s as though what the man just said struck a nerve.
Caleb’s eyes are now brimming with tears, too. His mouth is twitching at the corners, his nose wrinkling under the deep setting of his eyebrows as he tries to hold the tears back. But he can’t hold them in and they begin to run down his cheeks in rivulets.
“Is my brother in trouble?” Caleb asks, the gun, still shaking, pointed at the man. “Is he going to face charges for running with me? It wasn’t his fault! He wasn’t even thinking straight when he ran out of that liquor store with me! He had nothing to do with it! He only ran because I was running! He wasn’t thinking straight!”
“Calm down,” the man says, motioning forward. “No, listen to me, Caleb, I’m sure I can get him out of it. He did run, yes, and he shouldn’t have, but he called nine-one-one, and the man you shot is going to live. Your brother is going to be fine.”
“He’s going to live?” Caleb asks, his voice desperate and nearly breathless.
I see the relief wash through him beneath all of that anger and rage and fear.
“Yes,” the man says. “He’s in stable condition. It was a shoulder wound.”
“And my brother? You f**king swear on your life he’s not going to be charged?”
“Caleb, I’m not going to swear it,” the man says, “because I want to be completely honest with you. But his chances are very good. The only thing he did wrong was run, but he didn’t go far. He did everything else right. I believe he’ll be fine. And I’ll do everything I can to make sure that he is. I know he’s innocent. He’s got a good heart. I’ve been doing this for a long time and I know a good man when I see one.” He pauses, looks at me and then back at Caleb. “I’m looking at two good men right now. And one good woman. People who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. People who have screwed up and who will have to face charges no matter what, but people who still have a chance to prove that they’re good people.”
The woman in the flowered dress breaks into sobs of her own. The clerk holds her next to him.
“Let them go, Caleb,” the cop says.
“I will,” he says. “You go back outside and I’ll send them out after you.”
“What about you?” the man asks suspiciously. “Are you going to give yourself up?”
“I want to think about it,” Caleb says. “But I’ll let them go.”
The man nods, accepting what Caleb gives him. He leaves the store.
Caleb paces back and forth in front of the drink coolers, staying out of sight of the front windows. Then he stops and points at the three hostages.