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Date Posted: 17:06:07 11/18/02 Mon
Author: CCCook
Subject: Re: Studs, Texas - Book Two - New segments
In reply to: CCCook 's message, "Re: Studs, Texas - Book Two - New segments" on 17:02:37 11/18/02 Mon

From Sue:

**author's note** Since it's been a while since my last post, this current segment takes place right after Josh's and Hope's argument upon his leaving her apartment complex.

Studs's Book 2
Time: Friday night

Twilight had faded into complete darkness before Josh reached the main drag of Studs. A cover
of thick clouds blanketed the nighttime sky blocking out any hope of a glimmer of star light
peeking through. A light drizzle had begun to fall streaking the windshield of the Mustang and
gradually smearing the glass making the line of street lamps that illuminated the town before him
appear bleary . Josh knuckled the steering wheel tighter, his fingers whitening from the
pressure he applied to it while he shook his head in despair. “How...how could he have been so
stupid?” He knew how cautiously Hope had guarded her past. “Why? Why had he pushed her
then tonight?” Before he had but a mere second to ponder these thoughts, he was
interrupted by an unexpected silhouette that darted out into the road before him and reflexively
his foot slammed on the brakes as the simultaneous blaring of a car horn and the screeching of
brakes upon the wet pavement filled the air around him. But none of this registered with him as
he awaited the horrendous telltale thump of wheels making contact with flesh and bones while
his car skidded to stop at an almost 90 degree angle from where it had been facing. The hands
that had been clenching the steering column reluctantly let go only to be replaced by tremors that ran
the length of his arms, and he remained seated in stunned silence not hazarding to find out if the
legs that felt rubbery beneath him could hold his weight, or find the strength to move. “No, God, no.” Was his simple mantra as his mind quickly reassessed the moments
before. “Had he heard it? Had there been a thud or had he mistaken it for the quickening of his
own heart within his chest? Do something! Do something!” His mind wordlessly croaked just as the driver’s side window beside him was lit up and a blue uniform pose met his startled gaze.

Tapping lightly upon the window with lips pursed in question stood a police officer. “Are you
okay sir?” She asked. Josh hesitated unable to answer her simple question. “Are you okay?”
She asked again, moving her beam of light up and down checking for injury. The brightness
once hitting his eyes acted in drawing him out of the mental fog that surrounded him.

Blindly throwing the door outward beside him almost connecting with the officer’s mid section
in the process, he hastily exited his vehicle, rushing forward upon the now slick pavement beneath his feet towards the front of the car, seeking,
expecting, but finding nothing. As if anticipating his thoughts the officer now beside him
inquired. “Did something run out in front of your car, sir?” And receiving no response yet again,
she reached out to lightly grasp his arm only to be immediately reprimanded by her fellow
officer. “Jones!” Instead of a reassuring touch, Josh felt one arm twisted, and then the other quickly
jerked behind him to meet it as he was unceremoniously shoved onto the hood of his car. “Geezus, Jones!
Did ya forget all yer training?” Barked the second officer. “Ya have no idea what this guy
might be jacked up on!” Mistaking Josh’s glazed over look and erratic driving for either drug or
alcohol abuse. Neither the coldness of the telltale metal or the click on the cuffs upon his wrist
registered through the numbness that now filled him as his face was pushed lower towards the
hood to accommodate the senior officer in his bodily search. Finally his cheek coming in
contact with the moisture and heat of the chassis acted to bring him out of the stupor once again
just as he was being forcefully turned around and the harshness of the flashlight’s light hit his
eyes once more.

“Who are you?” A beefy red faced officer demanded while at the same time beginning to flip
through the wallet he had just confiscated from his back pant’s pocket.

“Joe, is this really necessary?” The younger female officer asked from his side. “It’s obvious...”
She began only to be brusquely cut off.

“Let me handle this, Jones.” He grumbled. “And don’t go questioning my integrity! Ya’re
lucky you ain’t lying on the ground over there with a belly full of lead or a knife thrust into yer
back. This town ain’t as nice and quiet as the people ‘round here like to believe. We still have a
as yet to be solved murder from little over two months ago.” He finished before turning his inquiry back towards
Josh yet again. “Who are you?!”

“Joshua....” Josh began. “The Reverend Joshua Waleski...”

The male officer before him looked back skeptically, his lips forming into a thin dissatisfied line
while the woman officer beside him suddenly looked uncomfortable.

“ Joshua Waleski, and a reverend too?” The male officer sarcastically queried. “Well then how
come yer license states your name as Eliot Freeman and from the great Empire state of New York?” Shining his
flashlight towards it to illuminate it for the other two to see. “A fine likeness I might add too.” He finished.

“It is...it was...” Josh began. “I was in the process of changing my name...”

“Very convenient.” the older officer quipped before handing the wallet over to his partner, and
reaching back to jerk Josh’s cuffed hands spinning him around once again and shouldering him
off towards the direction of the squad car.

“What are ya doing, Malloy?” The younger officer asked.

“Taking him in.”

“But we haven’t even questioned him yet...” Jones began. “ ...Found out the circumstances
surrounding the event.”

“We’ll find out downtown.”

“But...”

“Look!” Malloy shouted back cutting off his partner. “Don’t go second guessing me. Let’s not
forget who’s the senior partner.”

Jones thought better, but held her tongue. Self-doubt stirred heavily within her. Something
didn’t add up, but it was not this man’s double identity...no it was his appearance. There was
something very familiar about it... She didn’t have time to hazard a further guess as another
shout came forth from her companion. “Move that vehicle to the side of the road, and try not to
disturb its contents. We’ll probably be sending a lab team down later to conduct a search and
investigate.” Jones could only nod as she witnessed Josh being unceremoniously dumped into
the back of their cruiser.

The rain had picked up by the time contact had been made with the sheriff’s office. A call came in from county dispatch to alert the staff on duty of the squad’s apprehension . Andy and CC were just about ready to call
it quits for the night as the phone sounded. CC took the
call as Andy looked somewhat disgusted that the two’s dinner plans were to be interrupted yet another night. It
was not that they planned to leave the office unattended. Shane was always nearby or within
easy reach by radio, and now even by cell phone; a gift from Valerie ; but the two felt guilty
intruding upon the senior officer, so they awaited the trouble about to come in.

“Who made the call?” Andy spoke up as CC finished jotting down the information.

“Malloy and Jones” she supplied not bothering to look up from the notes before her until Andy
groaned. “Not Malloy!”

CC couldn’t contain the smirk that crept across her face at Andy’s woeful statement. It was
common knowledge about the town of Studs that Officer Joe Malloy tended to be somewhat of a
hard ass , blowing many situations out of proportion. Among his colleagues he had earned the
nicknamem Die Hard, which in no way could be attributed to any superior crime solving techniques.

“What is it now?” Andy responded.

“Suspicious suspect and vehicle.” CC answered back only serving to increase Andy’s frown as
he mumbled to himself and headed back towards his desk.

“What isn’t suspicious when Malloy’s concerned?”

Five minutes later Officer Casey Jones walked into the office followed quickly by Malloy
pushing a tall, thin blonde man in a rain darkened t-shirt and khaki colored pants with his hands cuffed behind
his back. The short walk from the car to the office had served to dampen the suspect's hair so that it lay
plastered flat against his skull with water droplets rolling down the sides of his face momentarily misleading the pair inside the office to his exact
identity.

Malloy jostled the man in front of him, who complied silently, shoulders slumped and face
drawn down towards the floor further complicating familiarity while Malloy shoved him into a
seat. It was then that Josh lifted his face only to be met with two gasps of surprise that escaped
from both CC and Andy while Malloy released one of the cuffs before attaching it to the holding
link upon the desk before them.

“What is the meaning of this?” Andy began, dumbfounded by this discovery.

“We caught this perp driving recklessly down Main Street. Didn’t have a chance to do a breath-
a-lizer at the scene, but I’ll bet Jone's will register a doozy of one now when we get the chance to perform it. I think we should haul his ass over to Stud’s
General too for a drug and alcohol screen .” Malloy finished unable to contain a self-satisfied smirk that crossed his face.

Andy stood flabbergasted as CC cut in. “Do you know whooo this is?...” .

“No, I can’t say the perp looks familiar to me, though Jone’s here thought she recognized
him....probably from the sheets.” He added in a last ditch effort to offer his rookie partner some merit in
the apprehension. “All I know is he’s got some pretty colorful ID here.” Taking a moment to
retrieve Josh’s wallet from Jones and flipping it upon the desk, before continuing on. “Some of
them list him as Eliot Freeman from NYC ... and others saying he’s Joshua Waleski...a
reverend too if ya believe it... Guess it’s up to the flavor of the day...” Malloy finished with a
smug look of satisfaction returning to his face as he gave a quick tug upon the shackle attached to the
desk to ascertain its surety wrenching Josh’s wrist painfully forward in the process finally
eliciting a small grunt of pain from him. The only sound he had uttered since this travesty began
spurring both Andy and CC into action.

“Let me have them.” Andy demanded as Malloy’s eyes questioned what. “The keys...The keys
dammit!”

With a look of pure puzzlement and frustration, Malloy brought forth the keys and Andy
grabbed them quickly moving to undo the restraints while CC moved towards the small nook
that served as a kitchenette, immediately returning with two fresh dry dishtowels to place into
Josh’s now unfettered hands.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Malloy demanded.

A small flush of red spread across Andy’s cheeks as CC looked on realizing how tight a leash he
was placing upon the anger that had begun to build inside of him. “Do you know who this is?”

“It’s kind of hard to figure out if ya...” Malloy began.

Andy’s immediate rankle cut him off as he watched his superior officer motion the two of them over
towards the wall for a side conference while CC stayed with Josh quietly starting a conversation.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re doing...” Andy began clenching his hands into tight fists at
his side before releasing them in angry frustration to bring forward in animated conversation. “... but
that man over there is Joshua Waleski....Reverend Joshua Waleski..... first cousin to our sheriff,
Shane Garnett. Now you tell me what the hell he did that convinced you to bring him in tonight
in this manner, and it better be something along the lines of assault with a deadly weapon, armed
robbery or selling secrets to the Soviets because you’re going to have one hell of a time
explaining this to Garnett, himself, if it isn’t!” Taking a moment to glance over once again at
Josh and noticing nothing out of the ordinary about his appearance while he conversed with CC
other than the stunned look set in his blue eyes that were a trademark family feature
among the male Garnett family members, he continued again with. “Let’s have it!”

“He was driving erratically...” Malloy began when Jones cut in.

“We observed Mr...Reverend Waleski driving southbound down Main Street when all of his
sudden his car swerved before coming to a complete stop, veering to the right coming in contact with
the side pavement and almost striking a nearby lamppost.”

“Did you ascertain why his vehicle swerved?”

Malloy stood in stunned silence as Jone’s proceeded to shake her head no before continuing
with. “We observed the perpet....Reverend Waleski moving quickly towards the front of his car
as if he struck something or something had run in front of his car?”

“And?” Andy questioned.

“There was nothing there.” Jones confirmed looking shamefully down towards her feet.

“And the Reverend Waleski attested to this in his verbal statement?”

Once again Jones responded in the negative with a shake of her head.

“He didn’t give a voluntary statement?”

“We didn’t take a statement.” Jones acknowledged in a hushed tone before Malloy inserted in
their defense.

“Look, Brandon, he was behaving erratically as if he was going to run. We couldn’t tell at the time whether he was
souped up on booze or dope, or trying to conceal some other illegal activity.”

The flush in Andy’s cheeks increased with his anger over the situation. “Did it ever occur to you
that his erratic or dazed behavior could have been caused by some anxiety over his situation,
fearing that he may have hit someone or something or from some actual sustained injury due to the
altercation. Did that ever OCCUR TO YOU?!!” Andy finished unable to keep his voice in the
same tightly controlled checked measure of before. Scowling at both the officers in front of
him, but keeping his main disdain for the more experienced of the two, he tersely concluded
with. “This is finished. Now get out of here. We’ll discuss this matter further in the morning
when the two of you finish duty.” Watching with brittle tension while the two squad members
exited the office before turning his attentions back towards CC. She had completed her interview
with Josh and was moving towards him.

“What’s up?” She asked quietly motioning towards the departing officers.

“Just Malloy overzealous attempt at being Robocop again.” Andy replied unable to contain the
peevishness in his voice. “And you?” He asked motioning towards Josh still seated at the desk
now attempting to wipe some of the moisture away from his face and hair with one of the
towels that CC had provided him with.

“It seems that Josh lost control of his car while trying to make a fast brake. He mentioned
something about something running out in front of him. He wasn’t sure if he hit it or not. He
seems very concerned.”

“Enough so to explain his purported erratic behavior?”

“I wouldn’t call it erratic.” CC replied. “More like distressed. He seems a little out of it.”

“Like he’s under the influence?” Andy returned. “Drugs... alcohol?”

“No...no!” CC hastily confirmed. “Just shaken up is all. I know I would be too if I thought I ran
over someone or something. The other morning while driving to Victoria’s, a rabbit ran out in
front of my car. I braked hard, missing it barely. I can tell you my heart was all a flutter and
it took me a good mile or two before it calmed back down.”

Andy only shook his head in understanding before stating. “I think I’ll go over and talk to him.
Issue an apology. Hell, I'd hate to be in Malloy’s and Jone’s shoes when Shane hears about this.”

“Wait.” CC asserted lightly grasping Andy’s forearm in the process to impede his advance . “One thing still
doesn’t add up. The matter about the two identifications.”

Andy hesitated for a moment as if unsure how to proceed before finally uttering. “That’ll be
another matter I plan to defer to Shane. Look I don’t know what’s up... I don’t know much
about Josh’s background...all I know about him is his conduct since coming to town...and well
that’s been pretty down to earth...impressive actually... working with building committee,
helping out with the homeless shelter and the soup kitchen, youth activities not to mention
being an active minister to the community. How’s it going to look if the press gets a hold of this
story about how the local law enforcement manhandled and jailed a popular new minister for
braking to avoid a cat or other fuzzy little creature? It would be like arresting Teddy in
his Easter bunny finest for littering foil wrappings and egg shells after the hunt.”

CC could only nod her head in concurrence while Andy moved forward once again towards Josh
and reaching the desk he leaned against it, doing his best to achieve a somewhat relaxed repose
before beginning in conversation.

“How are you doing?” He asked, noticing the still shaken expression that registered upon Josh’s
face.

“I’m okay...” He replied somewhat shakily before inquiring roughly. “Did I hit
something...someone?” Grim apprehension registering in his eyes. “Please...Please...” He began
reaching forward to grasp Andy’s forearm in perseverance before continuing on. “You got to let
me know.... I can’t stand this waiting to find out....If I did...” And stopped to shudder.

Andy’s warm hand reached out to clap Josh’s chilled one upon his forearm in reassurance.
“No, man. You didn’t hit anything. Probably something ran out in front of your car...but no
damage... well just to your nerves and patience is all.” He finished smiling, releasing the other man's hand before beginning again contritely. “You don’t know how sorry I am for all the hassle they put you through
tonight. It’s just....Well you don’t want to be bothered with it all. Let me just reassure you by
letting you know heads will roll over this one. Shane won’t take kindly when he finds out about
this...”

Josh vehemently cut in. “No. No! I don’t want Shane involved.” Andy looked back perplexed
by Josh’s sudden outburst as he continued on as if to clarify himself. “Look , I don’t want Shane
troubled by this matter. It’s forgotten....like water under the bridge...”

Andy could only shake his head in disconcerted resolution. “Look, we can leave Shane out of it
for now, but I can’t promise you he won’t find out. He looks over all the daily logs. He’ll be
sure to see this call and will make inquiries.”

“Okay...” Josh began hesitantly...if only for tonight.... that was a start... there were so many
other things crowding his brain right now. He wasn't ready to add Shane to the mix.

Andy stood back observing the bewildered silent musings that crossed the other man’s face before him,
noting finally the overwhelming distress, and making to cut in with. “Josh... would you like to talk about it?”

Andy’s use of his given name acted to draw Josh from the lethargy that had befallen his body
and soul once again. “No...no...I’m okay...really, I am.” He finished with to counter the
look of tightly contained disbelief that crossed Andy’s face..

“Well at least let me...us..” Motioning towards CC. “...let us drive you to your car.”

“No.” Josh shook his head again. I’ll walk. I could use the night air” And not hesitating for
fear of an argument on the part of his two companions, he headed towards the door only
stopping as he reached it to inquire. “It’s okay to go, then? Everything’s been cleared up?”

“Yeah, man. It’s okay to go.” Andy replied with brief smile framing his face only to be
followed once again by a look of utter concern as he watched Josh’s departing figure through the office
doorway.

CC drew up beside him placing her hands upon his arms and drawing his attention towards her
in uncharacteristic office behavior. “Is everything alright, Andy?”

“I don’t know.” He answered hesitantly as his gut instinct issued a resounding no.

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