Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2021 11:14:17 +0000 From: Wes Leigh Subject: Under Siege, Chapters 27 & 28 (Gay Adult/Youth) UNDER SIEGE By Wes Leigh Editing by SkyBorn This is a work of fiction intended solely for the entertainment of my readers; any resemblance to any real people or places is purely coincidental. This story is the property of the author and is protected by copyright laws. The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. If you enjoy this story, please support the Nifty archives today with a thoughtful donation. Chapter 27 Threatening Moves I woke up at 4 a.m., kissed Josh awake, and walked him into the bathroom where we enjoyed a hot shower together. After getting dressed, I turned off the DVD player and the television. Peeking through the curtains, I didn't see the blue Buick parked in front of the house anymore. I turned off the porch light and slipped outside. I checked up and down the street carefully. No blue car. No cars at all. I motioned for Josh to come out. We shushed the dogs and told them to stay in the house. I walked Josh down to his house and saw him safely inside. Then I walked back to my house, stripped the sticky sheets off the bed, wrapped myself in a blanket and climbed back into bed. I slept for another hour. Slept well. Incredibly well. And almost didn't wake up when my alarm went off! But I still managed to make it to work by 6 a.m. and open up. *** At noon, my phone chirped. It was a text message from Josh: I texted back: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: <2:00> Josh: Me: Josh: Josh again: Josh once more: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: Me: Josh: A picture popped up in my text messages. It was Josh standing in front of a mirror, holding his phone in one hand with his other hand held up next to his face, his middle finger pointing up in the classic teenage boy salute. I laughed. Another text came in: *** At 2:30, I pulled into my drive and shut off the truck. I hated working the morning shift and having to be there by 6 a.m., but it was great getting off early in the afternoon! I opened the front door and let my wild pack escape into the yard where they chased each other in circles while stopping to jump up on me every few seconds. I took them for a short walk, just enough to work off the extra energy. When I got back, I did a load of laundry and opened the windows to air out my bedroom. It smelled like sex, not surprisingly. An hour later, I heard the school bus pass by. Looking out the window, I saw Josh walk up to his front door. He turned and looked toward my house, then unlocked the door and went inside. As expected, Marie's car was not in the drive. So far, all was going according to plan. *** A sharp knock on my door interrupted the computer game I was playing. I was dressed only in athletic shorts, but I didn't bother to put on any more clothing. Instead, I waded through the barking dogs and ordered them to sit down. Opening the door, I saw two deputy sheriffs I'd never met before along with my favorite CPS employee. Surprise, surprise. "Can I help you?" I asked. "Good afternoon, sir. I'm Deputy Calhoon. This is Deputy Anderson. And Ms. Moore from Child Protective Services. We're here to perform a child welfare check. We'd like to come in?" I shook my head. "You must be at the wrong house, Deputy. I don't have any children." He turned and looked at Sandra Moore. The expression on her face was more sour than usual. She snarled and snapped, "You invited Joshua Canton here while his mother is at work. We're here to check on him." I blinked. "I have no idea what you're talking about." The deputy was beginning to lose patience. He was young and probably new on the job. "Mr. Turnbull, just step aside and let us do our job." I stood my ground. "Do you have a search warrant?" He shook his head. "No. We don't need one. This is just a child welfare check." I shook my head. "No warrant. No check. You're not coming in my house, and I'd appreciate it if you got off my porch and out of my yard." I closed the door in their faces. Knock. Knock. Knock. I opened the door and said, "Deputy, let me be perfectly clear. As of this moment, the three of you are trespassing on private property. If you don't leave right away, I'm calling your supervisors and asking for the three of you to be charged. Now please leave." "We're on official business, Mr. Turnbull. We can't be charged with trespassing." "You don't have a warrant of any kind, Deputy Calhoon. You aren't in hot pursuit of a suspect. And you are standing on private property. I know the law, sir. You are harassing me and trespassing. I've asked you to leave. TWICE! Now I'm asking a third time for you to go." He shook his head and said, "I'm an officer of the law, sir. Trespassing laws don't apply to me." I glanced down at his badge. "That piece of metal doesn't make you immune to the law, deputy. If anything, you should be held to an even higher standard, because you REPRESENT the law. Even though you seem to think it's acceptable for a law enforcement officer to trespass, I don't." I pulled out my cell phone, opened the contact list, and punched a number. I put it on speaker. It rang twice and a female voice answered. "State Police." "Hello," I said. "My name is Jake Turnbull. I live at 23 Dogleg Road in La Paz City. I have trespassers on my property who refuse to leave. Can you send someone to get them out of my yard or arrest them?" "Are they threatening you in any way, sir?" "Not yet, not physically at any rate. Just a lot of talk so far." "Sir, let me connect you with the county sheriff. They're the ones who should handle this for you." "That's the problem, ma'am. Two of the trespassers ARE county sheriffs." Silence. Deputy Calhoon decided to take charge. He leaned forward and spoke into my phone. "This is Deputy Calhoon with the Sheriff's Office. We're here to conduct a child welfare check, so you don't need to send anyone." I pulled my phone back. "I want a state trooper here right away, ma'am. I don't have any children, which I've clearly explained to this deputy. He's refusing to leave, so I need one of your officers here to make him go." Deputy Calhoon stared at me. I stared back. He blinked first. Turning, he walked down the steps, motioning for everyone to follow him to his car. I spoke into my phone. "Thank you, ma'am. It looks like I won't need the trooper. They're leaving." *** But they didn't leave. Deputy Calhoon sat in his car, talking on his radio. The other deputy positioned himself on the street where he could watch my back door. Forty-five minutes later, another sheriff's SUV pulled up and Deputy Gutierrez got out, carrying papers. Gutierrez, Calhoon, and Moore walked into the yard. Gutierrez knocked on the door. "Good afternoon, Deputy Gutierrez. How are you?" "Good, Mr. Turnbull. Sorry to bother you, but I have a search warrant here that gives us a legal right to enter and search your house." I took the papers he offered, read them, and gritted my teeth in anger. Then I turned away before they could see me grinning with delight. I pushed the door open wide and led them into the house, changing my smile to a frustrated snarl. "Where do you want to start?" I demanded. Sandra Moore glanced around my living room and then walked straight down the hallway to my bedroom. The deputy followed her while I stood in the hallway, talking with Gutierrez. They searched everywhere. The closet. Under the bed. The bathroom. Even under the kitchen sink. Then Sandra Moore came up to me and asked, "Where is he?" "Where is who?" She squinted her eyes in frustration. "Joshua Canton." "I have no idea. On the school bus probably. Or at home if the school bus has dropped him off." "He told you he was coming over here after school." I blinked in mock surprise, then shook my head in denial. "No, he didn't. I don't know what you're talking about. You're fucking nuts, lady." She wanted to slap me. I could see it in her eyes. Instead, she stomped out of the house with Deputy Calhoon right behind. Deputy Gutierrez smiled apologetically and left last, closing the door behind them. I peeked out my window and saw Guiterrez talking to Moore and Calhoon. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but their faces were bright red. Guiterrez pointed down the street at Josh's house. Their faces turned white. He pointed at their vehicles, waited for them to get in, then climbed into his own SUV. Then they all drove down to Josh's house. They knocked on the door and Josh came out. There was a brief discussion, then they all returned to their cars and drove away. I looked down at the search warrant. I had some calls to make. Some official complaints to lodge. A few government agencies were going to be burning the midnight oil tonight, filling out forms, calling up the chain of command, drafting official apologies, yada, yada, yada. My phone rang. It was Josh. "Hey, buddy." "Looks like you were right, huh?" "Yep. The government really is monitoring our phones." Josh snickered. "And my idea was a good one, too, right?" "It sure was. If they want to investigate us, we'll give them plenty of chances, but they'll never find anything when they look." Josh laughed. "Can I tell Momma my idea is working?" "Yep. But we still need to be careful, sport." "I know, Jake. And you know how I feel about you, right?" "Yes. I feel the same way about you." "Bye, Jake." "Goodbye, Josh." Chapter 28 Boiling Point From that point on, the three of us ate together every night and talked about our daily struggles. It seemed one of us always had an especially challenging day and needed love and comfort from the others. *** On Tuesday night, we dined on Marie's Meatloaf Supreme while we discussed Josh's `session' with Dr. Moore at Sunwest Therapy Services. "That man is obnoxious," Marie said. "He makes my skin crawl, and his voice gives me chills." "I don't know, Momma, I thought Dr. Terrence Carter-Moore was wonderful," Josh said with a wicked grin. "He's sooooo concerned about my schoolwork, my hobbies, the games I like to play, the books I like to read, the friends I hang out with. Dr. Terrence Carter-Moore is sooooo friendly. Dr. Terrence Carter-Moore is sooooo wonderful. I just can't imagine knowing anyone sooooooooo helpful and trustworthy and ... and ... slimy as Dr. Terrence Carter-Moore." I snickered with Josh. "He's that bad, huh?" Josh nodded. "But I'm sure we'll be best friends forever starting next week," Josh replied. "Then I'll share all my deep, dark secrets with him, because he's the only one who will ever understand me." I stopped snickering and said, "Be careful, sport." Josh nodded, suddenly serious. "I will, Jake. I know what to do." *** Wednesday night, we ate my 4-Alarm Chili. Marie seemed unusually quiet and wasn't joining in our conversation. "You're very quiet tonight, Marie," I said. A nod. "What's wrong, Momma?" A sigh. Marie glanced at the two of us and finally spoke. "The chili is delicious, Jake. Thank you for cooking tonight." "Happy to do it. Hope it's not too hot." Josh took a big drink of milk. "It's spicy, but I like it that way!" Marie smiled sadly. "I do too, baby. Sorry for being such a wet blanket. I had a frustrating time at work today." "What happened, Momma?" She looked at Josh, then me. "There was a letter in my locker when I got there. Filled with hateful comments." Josh looked at his mom, concerned. "What did it say, Momma?" She shook her head. "It doesn't matter, sweetie. I crumpled it up and threw it away." "Do you know who put it there?" I asked. "No. The coward didn't sign it. And I don't care who it was. It doesn't matter." She smiled suddenly and changed the subject, asking Josh about his day. We let it drop. She obviously didn't want to discuss it. And that was the last we ever spoke of it. *** Thursday, Marie cooked hot dogs. Josh waited until the food was on the table to come out of his room. As soon as we saw him, we knew why. "Josh, what happened to your face?" Marie turned Josh's head from side to side, frowning when she saw his right cheek. "It's nothing, Momma." "It's red and swollen! What happened, Josh?" "I said it's nothing, Momma. Please forget about it." Marie squinted and examined his face, then turned to me. "What do you think, Jake?" I motioned for Josh to come around the table so I could get a closer look. His cheek was a little puffy. I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. "I promise we won't make a big deal out of it, Josh, but you really should tell us what happened." "The kids were bugging me today. Calling me names and stuff. We kinda started shoving a little, and I fell against a locker. The teachers stopped it before anything happened. That was it." His eyes pleaded with me to let it go. "Is it all settled now?" I asked. "Anything we need to do?" "It's all good. I got this," he assured me. "Well, I'm not so sure," Marie said, pausing when she saw my silent plea to drop it. "Momma Bear wants to go to that school and rip someone's face off. But I'll hold off for now." Josh blew out his breath, relieved. We finished the hot dogs and talked about other things instead. *** Friday, over hamburgers courtesy of Mickie D's, we discussed my curious conversation with my boss. "I love these hamburgers." "Are you serious, Josh?" I asked. "Yep." Marie chuckled. "They're cheap. They're cheesy. The sauce is ketchup mixed with thousand island dressing." "I know. That's why I love `em! I could eat there every day." Marie and I laughed. Marie turned to me. "How was work, Jake?" "Funny you should ask," I replied. "I got called me into the boss' office today. She closed the door and had me sit down, said she had something to talk about. After she sat and folded her hands on the desk, she took a deep breath. Then she told me she had been called by several important people in town. People who were concerned about complaints I had filed against the Sheriff's Office and Child Protective Services. People who didn't like the tone of my accusations and who were very, very concerned about where it was going." "Good. They should be concerned." "Yes, Marie, but apparently the store does a lot of business with the city and the county, and my boss wanted me to understand that we can't afford to lose that business." "They're scared," Josh interjected. "They know they fu--, I mean, messed up really bad." I nodded. "You're right, Josh. And scared people are dangerous. My boss reminded me of that." *** Saturday. I bought fried chicken and sides. We were three people very fed up people at the end of a frustrating week. So fed up, in fact, that we decided to get out of town. We loaded my pickup with the dogs and the food and headed north to a state park in the foothills of the Sierra Christo mountains. It was one of my favorite hiking spots, a place called Coyote Canyon. "This is it?" Josh asked, standing at the trailhead. "It looks like all the other canyons around here. Why this one?" "Looks can be deceiving, my young padawan," I said with a grin. Marie gave me a puzzled look, so I explained, "It's from Star Wars. A padawan is sort of an apprentice." Josh snickered and Marie just shrugged her shoulders, so I dropped my stupid movie reference and continued explaining, "Coyote Canyon looks dry and barren from out here, but there is a mountain spring way up inside. Of course, the water never makes it out this far. It soaks into the ground long before it reaches out here, but the deeper into the canyon you hike, the more water there is." "Then come on!" Josh urged, hiking up the canyon trail with the dogs running helter-skelter around him, sniffing at every bush. It wasn't a hard hike, but the footing was tricky. We had to watch our step to avoid twisting an ankle. The canyon floor at the start was actually a dry riverbed, filled with everything from pea gravel to enormous boulders the size of a small car. As we made our way deeper into the canyon, the world around us slowly began to transform from dry desert into something amazingly beautiful. At first, the ground was just a bit moist with a variety of grasses and weeds struggling to grow between the rocks. A little farther in, the ground became soggy, with moss and lichens growing on every rock. Water was oozing from somewhere up ahead, soaking into the ground as it seeped out into the desert. It wasn't enough water to turn the canyon into a river, but just enough to create a struggling ecosystem. We climbed around a series of enormous boulders and found a pool of water filled with algae, water bugs, and cattail reeds. The pool was trapped by the boulders for the most part, but there were a few places here and there where the water trickled through and down the canyon. As we continued hiking, each step brought us further into a changing world. Now there were trees, battling to claw a roothold between the rocks and soak up the water that was trickling down the middle of the canyon. Spiky reeds joined the ever-present cattails. Bugs were swarming around our heads. Vines hung from the canyon walls, with water trickling down around and off them. As we traveled deeper into the canyon, the trickling stream became a gurgling brook joining together small pools of water filled with slimy green algae and tiny water creatures. The dogs jumped into each pool, splashing and gulping water and chasing the shimmering, shiny movements they saw beneath the surface. Then, quickly tiring of the hunt, they would jump out, shake off, and leap into the next pool. "Hey! You're getting me wet!" Josh shouted. Marie ducked behind Josh when Amber began shaking, throwing water everywhere. I laughed. "They love it up here. So much water!" "Well, keep it to yourself," Josh cried. "That water stinks!" "You don't want to jump in with them?" I asked, moving toward Josh with my hands outstretched. "No!" he exclaimed, eyes open wide in mock terror. "Don't you dare!!" I laughed. "Keep going. We're almost there." Ten minutes later, we reached a stone ledge that stretched from one side of the narrow canyon to the other. The walls reared up on each side of us, probably 40 or 50 feet high. They were covered in vines and moss, and thorny bushes were growing from every crevice. Water flowed down the face of the walls, trickling around the plants and dripping onto the ledge, where it gathered in pools, some a few feet deep. A little farther up the canyon, the ledge began to climb in giant, jagged, stony steps. We found one large step that was fairly dry and spread out our picnic lunch. There in the cool shade of the canyon walls, with the sound of water trickling and dripping and tumbling down into the canyon, we enjoyed our meal and laughed and forgot about our very bad week. It was wonderful to leave the stresses and worries behind, and I couldn't think of two people I would rather spend the day with. But I knew we had to return to that hateful world outside the canyon. We finished our lunch and gathered our things before making our way back down. As we walked, I thought about the pressure I had applied to certain people and how I knew they would respond when I turned up the heat on Monday. When we reached the pickup, I unlocked the passenger door and opened it. "You remember what I told you about winning a game of chess?" I asked Josh as we loaded up the dogs. He nodded. "Yeah. You said you gotta be able to see ahead. Plan more moves than the other guy." "That's right. It's all about being ready for a counterattack. If he does this, I'll do that. If he does that, I'll do something else." Josh shrugged. "What does that have to do with anything?" We climbed into the pickup and I started the engine. "This is going to be the craziest game of chess you've ever played," I explained. "On one side, it's going to be the three of us. Our opponent is going to be police officers and lawyers and social workers." Josh chuckled. "Team chess? Whoever heard of such a thing?" I backed out of the parking space and pulled onto the road leading to the highway. "I can guarantee you that they are planning their moves right now, so we need to be on the same page with our counterattack." Marie frowned and gave me a worried look. "There's one major difference between what we're doing and a game of chess, Jake." "What's that Marie?" "Your life isn't at risk in a game of chess." I nodded in agreement. This was one match I couldn't afford to lose, so on the way home I carefully explained everything I expected to happen and what I wanted them to do depending on how events transpired in the weeks to come. End of UNDER SIEGE, Chapter 28