Page 15 of Kevin's Destiny

“They found blood clots behind my ear drums. That was the result of being too close to an explosion when I was deployed.”

“Wow, so you heard these guys outside my house?”

“Not so much heard, but saw.” Perry grinned. “I saw a shadow cross a window, then heard a branch break.”

“Well, I don’t know how you did it, but thank you,” Kevin said as he shook his hand and slapped him on the back. They watched as the cops that had arrived in the police cars started slapping handcuffs on the men on the ground, and brought them to their feet. Boggs shook his head as he looked at the seven men being led away. He turned to Ryan and his friends.

“You’re going to have to give statements.”

“Not a problem.” Ryan grinned. “At least we won’t have to do the paperwork.”

Everyone laughed, and then they broke away to give those statements.

Kevin looked at his boss with a heavy sigh. “So, how many of those idiots are on our most wanted list?”

“All of them. I recognized them all. Every single one of them have outstanding warrants.” Boggs looked at Kevin with a smirk. “Are you going to press charges?”

“Absolutely. It might only be a misdemeanor for trespassing, but it’s another charge on their record.”

“Good. Now, we have to take them down to the station, book them, charge them, and interrogate them.”

“Do you want me to come down?”

“No, stay here with your friends. We’ll take it from here. Have you had a chance to look at the information from HR yet?”

“Not yet, why?”

“Just wondering. I’m not wanting you to leave, but with all the help you have, you might be able to retire a few days earlier than you anticipated. I do know that you’re owed personal, sick, and vacation days, maybe you can use them to leave sooner.”

“I’ll look into it. I do have a question, though.”

“Shoot.”

“Will I be able to go back and see Karen before I leave Seattle?” Kevin nodded over to the police taking statements from the SEALs. “The guy with the eye patch is her brother. I haven’t brought it up to him yet, but I was going to see if we could go see her one last time. I’ll come back to court if I have to, but I’m out of here.”

“I don’t see why not. I’ll run it by Brooks to see what he says. I’m sure he won’t have any issues. You’ll be going in as a family member, not a cop.”

“Thanks, Captain,” Kevin said and stood in his side yard looking at all the cop cars, and it brought back memories of all the times they had been there for Karen. He also noticed the same neighbors were standing in their own lawns watching. He was beyond worrying what they thought of him. “I’ll be glad to get the fuck out of this neighborhood,” he said aloud, not caring who heard him.

Almost two weeks later,Kevin looked over at Ryan as he turned off his truck and stared at him.

“You ready for this?” They were in the parking lot of the prison where Karen had been transferred to the previous month.

“I don’t want to get my hopes up,” Ryan said while he looked at Kevin sadly.

“Yeah, I don’t know what she’ll be like now that she’s here, but the last time I saw her, she was different. Humble, resigned to her fate, but also hard.”

“Hard how?”

“I don’t want to say indifferent, but that’s a part of it, it’s also like she isn’t worried about what’s going to happen. She wentballistic at the other prison when she realized that my life was in danger. That’s why she attacked that other person.”

“Damn,” Ryan shook his head at him, then sighed heavily. “Do you think she’ll answer some questions for me?”

“Like?”

“Like why she treated me like she did over the years. Sure, I heard her explanation, but that doesn’t tell me exactly why.”

“We can only ask her.” Kevin opened his door and the two of them exited their truck. Earlier that day, the other three men had left with their trucks and trailer full, and headed back to Colorado. Ryan and Kevin wanted to see Karen one last time before they headed that way. They walked solemnly toward the gates.