Rescuing Christmas (2 page)

Instead of saying anything he said, “What can I get you to drink?” He looked closer at the man as he took his coat off and realized it was the Sheriff. “Oh, you must be the new Sheriff in town. Welcome to Baysville. If you are off duty, drinks are always free to any officer in this town.”

“Well Jamie, that is mighty nice of you, but I am on duty and I think a Coke and a plate of nachos will do me just fine before I have to head back to the station.”

Jamie stared at the man a second and said, “How do you know my name?”

Jamie’s mother stood up and said, “I need to get going son. But here, as I was telling you, I found my old apron and your letter was in it still. It looks like Santa has finally granted you your wish.” She placed an old and battered envelope in his hand.

Jamie watched as his mother walked out of the bar and then stared down at the envelope in his hand before pulling out the letter. He unfolded it and read the smudged green crayon words to himself twice before folding it and putting it back in the envelope. He tossed it on the bar and poured a glass of Coke for the new Sheriff and said, “I’ll get you those nachos. Give me a minute.”

Jamie disappeared into the kitchen and threw the ingredients for nachos into a cast iron skillet and shoved it into the hot oven. He went back out to the main bar and said, “Nachos will be ready in five minutes, Sheriff.” He wandered back over to the letter and picked it up again and the very recent memory of what his mother had just read aloud to him percolated through his brain and bubbled quickly back to the surface. Then he recalled her hugging the man right before she said it and the man knowing his name.

The letter dropped to the bar and Jamie stared down at it, afraid to look up. A large hand reached out and pulled the letter to him and the Sheriff picked it up and read it.

The Sheriff said, “You know, I wish I had known then that this is what you meant when you said you had a plan.”

Jamie stumbled back a step and nearly knocked a bottle of whiskey off the shelf behind him that he had yet to put back up from one of his earlier customers. He turned around and yelled out, “Marge!”

A portly woman pushed through the door of the kitchen into the main bar, looked at him and said, “What?”

“I need to get out of here for a bit. Nachos in the oven, two minutes left. Give them to the new Sheriff here, no charge.” He hurried over and grabbed his coat off the coat rack at the end of the bar and ran out the back door leaving behind a confused Marge and the booming voice of the Sheriff calling after him.

Jamie raced down the alley, into the front parking lot before jumping in his Range Rover and speeding out of the parking lot. He refused to believe what had happened back there. A few minutes later he saw flashing police lights in his rearview mirror and then heard the siren as it kicked in. Jamie debated the options of running or pulling over. Finally, he just pulled over and sat there waiting.

The Sheriff knocked on his window a minute later and Jamie reluctantly rolled the window down all the while refusing to look up at the man staring down at him.

“Jamie, why are you running away from me?” asked Chris.

Jamie still refusing to look up at him said, “Did I break a law or something?”

Chris said, “No. you didn’t”

“Then why did you pull me over? Am I free to go?” asked Jamie.

Chris sighed and said, “Jamie, don’t do this. It wasn’t my fault you know.”

Jamie repeated his previous question. “Am I free to go?”

Chris stepped back and said, “Fine. Go. But this isn’t over.”

Jamie rolled the window back up and stomped on the gas. Before he had gone ten feet he slammed on his brakes and put the Rover into park. He got out of the Rover and slammed his door behind him and advanced on Chris and punched him, knocking him to the ground. His ass hit the ground hard as blood spouted out of his nose.

Chris just lay there stunned, staring up at Jamie as tears of anger poured down his face.

JAIL

Jamie lay back on the small bed in the jail cell of the quaint little police station. He stared up at the ceiling and thought back over the day. When Chris got up from his position on the ground he tackled Jamie in the street and the two had pummeled each other until they were both wet and dirty. That's what it took for Jamie to finally accept the fact that Chris was actually back in town.

He still couldn’t believe that even after Chris and he had beaten on each other for a few minutes that Chris had actually had the nerve to arrest him.

A commotion at the end of the small dingy hallway made him lift his head and peer through his one good eye to see what was going on. His left eye was swollen shut and most likely black and blue. Well, Chris also had a swollen blackened eye and his nose was broken on top of that. Chris walked in to the hallway sporting a bandage over the split on his nose and a small brace that proved Jamie had broken it. His right eye was black, swollen nearly shut and he had a split upper lip. He had changed into a fresh uniform though so at least he was clean and dry, unlike Jamie.

Jamie stood up and winced at the pain in the back of his head. He said, “Get me out of here Chris and just stay out of my life.”

His mother walked out from behind him at that very moment and said, “Jamie Maxwell McCormick, you keep your mouth shut! How dare you speak to Chris like that. This man is your best friend and he came to me and asked me to take him straight to you as soon as he got to town. The nerve of you attacking him is beyond reprehensible!” She marched down the hallway towards his cell and the look on her face would have made a braver man than Jamie quiver in fear.

Jamie backed up out of the reach of her hands as she shoved them through the bars and grasped after him. He sat back down on the bed and said, “Sorry mom.”

“Don’t tell me sorry, you tell Chris and you had better mean it or I swear I will make your life a living hell.” She turned to Chris and said, “Open that cell door right this instant. I would like to have a word with my son.” The meaning in her words was quite clear and Jamie looked up at Chris with sudden panic in his face and shook his head desperately at him. The shaking made his head hurt but he didn’t stop.

Chris said, “Mrs. McCormick, I can’t do that. The law won’t allow anyone inside the cells with prisoners. He has to stay here overnight and then go before a judge in the morning.”

Jamie’s mother turned on her heel and the flashing anger in her eyes made Jamie cower against the wall.

“Chris, I am very sorry I attacked you. I will never do that again.” Jamie hastened to say to his mother, “And I am sorry to you mama for embarrassing you like this.”

For the moment his mother seemed mollified but he knew he hadn’t heard the last of this from her. She turned on her heels and marched out, leaving Chris and a shaking Jamie staring after her.

Chris turned back to Jamie and said, “I wouldn’t want to be you when I let you out of here.”

Jamie turned a dark look on Chris and said, “I meant it. Stay out of my life Chris.”

Chris stared at him for a moment and then pulled some keys off his belt and unlocked the cell door. He pulled it shut behind him as he stepped into the cell with Jamie and walked over to crouch on the floor in front of him and looked up into his face.

“Jamie, I ran away on Christmas morning twenty years ago. I got on my bike and I got almost to your house before my parents caught up to me and stopped me. My dad beat my ass and he threw my bike in the back of the moving van and they just drove out of town and never looked back. They told me I was never to speak to you again. I didn’t listen to them though. I wrote a letter to you every single week and mailed it off and I even tried calling every day for months and then once a week before finally I stopped calling at all. No one ever answered the phone and your answering machine never picked up. I never got a response from the letters I mailed to you. In fact, I even wrote a letter to you last week telling you I was moving back to town and mailed it off.” He looked into Jamie’s disbelieving eyes and said, “It’s true.”

Jamie said, “The answering machine broke and I never answered the phone after you left. Then my mom won the lottery and we moved. But I never once got any letters from you.”

Chris sighed and said, “Well that explains the phone thing, but I can’t tell you what happened to the letters I sent you. I personally stamped them and put them in the mailbox on my way to school every Friday. When my parents died in a car accident last year I decided I no longer wanted to be a city cop in Los Angeles and I called the department here and asked if they could take on a new deputy. Sheriff Quinn said he was retiring and there were only three deputies on the force and none of them wanted to replace him as Sheriff. He talked to the Mayor who then offered me the job. I wrote a letter about it and mailed it to you.”

Jamie said, “Well if you can prove any of that, I will think about forgiving you. Until then, let me out of this jail cell.”

Chris said, “Sorry, I am not letting you out of here until morning. You assaulted a cop and as much as I love you, miss you and wish we were still best friends, I can’t do that. What kind of example do you think that would set in this town?”

Jamie sighed and said, “Okay fine. I will give you that. How about getting me some medical attention though? You have to do that at least. It is the law. I see you already got some attention.”

Chris laughed and winced, raising his hand up to his nose momentarily and said, “Oh yeah, this is all me and I got a little help from your mother. I am also a paramedic. I was a paramedic before I became a cop. I still keep my certifications and training up to date.” He smiled at Jamie and said, “Now if you will behave, I will go get my jump kit and I will take care of you myself. We don’t have the resources right now to send you to the hospital, because our station is very poorly funded.”

Jamie said, “Just call the medical clinic and have them send over a doctor. I will pay for it.”

Chris said, “Your mother already tried to do that but they can’t spare any hands today. Too many accidents because of the weather. It is getting worse out there.” In fact, if it doesn’t clear up, we may be stuck in here tomorrow. I will let you out of here though.”

For the first time Jamie noticed how quiet it was and said, “Where is everyone?”

Chris said, “Well, you are the only occupant of the jail and I already sent the deputies home for the night and the secretary too. I am the only one on duty here in the station. Deputy Clark is out on patrol and won’t be back tonight. When he finishes his shift he's going home. I will sleep here tonight and take over his shift for tomorrow.”

Chris stood up and let himself out of the cell and walked away, leaving the cell door open and unlocked. “Can I trust that you will stay where you are and not try and make a break for it Jamie?”

Jamie just grunted after him. Ten minutes later judging by the wall clock at the end of the hallways, Chris came back in with a backpack and a large duffel type bag.

Chris walked back into the cell and said, “Okay here we go. Let’s get you cleaned up and then into the shower and clean clothes. I am sure you would like to get that grime off of you.”

Jamie said, “I would yes, but I don’t have any clothes Chris. Can I just call my mom and ask her to bring some back to me?”

Chris laughed and said, “I already called her and asked her. She said you could do with a night of misery after the way you acted today. However, she is at the bar and making sure things run smoothly and she will be sending over some food here as soon as she can. Food that includes the nachos I ordered earlier.” He smiled down at Jamie and then knelt on the floor in front of him and said, “Okay, let us take a look at you.”

Jamie held still while Chris poked, prodded and cleaned up his injures, no matter how much they stung or hurt. When he was done, he stood up and said, “Okay Jamie, let’s hit the shower.”

Jamie followed behind Chris as he led him down to a door at the opposite end of the hallway from the main part of the station. Chris opened a door halfway down the new hallway and ushered Jamie inside and said, “Strip down.”

Jamie’s face turned red and he said, “I can do this in private you know.”

Chris laughed and said, “I know, but I want to check you out for any more injuries, so strip down, then you can take a shower.”

Jamie stared at Chris for a full minute with Chris just staring serenely back at him and finally he just yanked his clothes off. He then threw them across the room on a small bench.

Chris stepped up to him and said, “Hold your arms out to your side.”

Jamie did as he was told and turned red once more as Chris began to examine him. “Why did you get a Prince Albert?”

Jamie said, “Actually, I was drunk and my girlfriend talked me into it.”

Chris said, “You have a girlfriend?”

“Not anymore,” said Jamie. “She came around once or twice a month and we would have sex and she would leave again. I don’t really like her and she doesn’t really like me, but there is no one else in this town I would have sex with. Too many of them are just after money so I finally gave up on the whole institution completely. I haven’t seen her in months. She said she thought it would be cool if I got one, we were both drunk when we went to the tattoo parlor. I got that and a tattoo, it was quite the night.”