It Happened One Night

Beau looked miserable when he turned to Josh and Gil. “What do you guys think? If I make full restitution for the damages do you think we can let this thing go?” he asked hopefully. “I give you my word I’ll do whatever it takes to make this right.”

“That’s not up to us,” Gil said, shaking his head. “This will have to be voted on by the executive board.”

“While you all sort this out, we’ll take Junior here down to the station.” The younger police officer stepped behind Hack to put handcuffs around the teenager’s wrists. “You have the right to remain silent….” The detectives led Hack toward the main exit as they continued to read him his rights.

“Can you call an emergency meeting of the board, Gil?” Beau asked, reaching for the cell phone clipped to his belt. Making a quick call to his lawyer, Beau turned back to Josh and Gil. “I can’t tell you how much it would mean to me for Hack not to end up with a police record over this.”

“Before this goes any further, I have a question for you, Beau,” Josh said, folding his arms across his wide chest. “What are you going to do about your son? His complete lack of respect for people and property, as well as his self-discipline, are all but nonexistent. There’s going to come a day when you can’t pay his way out of the trouble he gets into.”

Gil nodded. “I agree with Josh, Beau. I’ll call an emergency meeting for this evening, but if I recommend that the board let you do what you’re proposing, we need an assurance from you that something like this won’t happen again to us or anyone else in the community.”

Surprisingly, instead of getting angry at Josh and Gil for pointing out that something needed to be done with his son, Beau nodded. “I give you my word that he won’t be getting into any more trouble. I’ve threatened to send him to a military school in the past.”

“You go on down to the police station with your son and we’ll let you know what the board decides,” Gil advised.

“There’s one more thing that I want done,” Josh said as Beau turned to leave.

“What’s that?” the man asked, sounding as if he would agree to just about anything.

“When he vandalized the day care center, your son spray-painted a very derogatory word on the wall in reference to Ms. Roberts,” Josh stated flatly. “I think an apology is in order. And it had better be sincere.”

Beau nodded. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am that this happened, Ms. Roberts. Believe me when I say I never intended for my objections to the day care center to cause my son to do something like this. I give you my word, I’ll find a way to make this right.”

“Apology accepted,” Kiley said, suddenly uncomfortable at being the center of attention.

Beau nodded, then turned to Gil and Josh. “I’ll be down at the police station. Could you let me know as soon as the board makes a decision?”

Gil nodded. “I’ll call you one way or the other.”

As they watched Beau hurry toward the exit, Josh turned to Gil. “While you phone the executive board members, I’m going to walk Kiley back to the day care center,” Josh said, putting his arm around her.

“Will you be there tonight for the meeting?” Gil asked as they walked out into the hallway.

Josh wasn’t a member of the executive board, but unless it was a closed session, any member in good standing could attend. And since he had witnessed the police’s questioning, Kiley wasn’t sure he wouldn’t be asked to give an account of what had taken place.

“I figure I’ll throw my support behind Beau sending Hack off to military school,” Josh said, nodding. “I think he could benefit from the discipline and structure of a military academy. It would probably be the best thing that ever happened to that kid.”

“At this point, it sure won’t hurt,” Gil agreed. “And since his dad is one of our own, I’m pretty sure we can get the justice we want without leaving Hack with a criminal record.” He smiled at Kiley. “I’ll see you a little later this afternoon when I come to get Cade.”

“Do you think the board will go along with what you and Gil have in mind?” Kiley asked when Gil left to go back to his office.

Josh nodded as they walked down the hall. “Every member of the TCC is sworn to live by its code—‘Leadership, Justice and Peace.’ And we’ve got a long history of policing our own, as well as righting a lot of injustices for those outside of the club. This is something we can take care of ourselves.”