Rowdy took off, flying down the curves of Devil’s Backbone like nobody’s business. Travis County Correctional Complex—TCCC—was out in Del Valle, not too far from the airport, so we headed in that direction. I was just grateful we didn’t have to travel through Austin proper.
Still, with barely any traffic on the road and going faster than we should’ve, it took us almost an hour to get there. I woke up one of my buddies on the way.
“Wait, did the teetotaling Mr. Kessler finally get popped for something salacious?” was his first question.
“Shut up,” I said. “A friend of ours, this really massive kid who’sthirteen, didn’t have a state ID on him, so they took him to TCCC. I can handle his bail, correct?”
“Yes, but you’ll want to make sure to get it right or you’ll just piss off the people in charge of everything.”
My buddy spent the better part of the ride out to the correctional facility walking me through the steps and promised to send me an update on this JD asshole. I was glad I didn’t walkin blind because I could’ve made it worse for Jaxon. As we pulled into the parking lot, Sadie, with that awful car of hers, pulled in right behind us.
We parked next to each other, and she held up a piece of paper. “I found his birth certificate.”
“Perfect. I think that should expedite things nicely.”
That was exactly what we needed. Putting a thirteen-year-old in jail with other adults, after all, was highly illegal.
An hour later, after going through all the steps my buddy had given me and only fucking up twice, Jaxon was free. He and Sadie followed us in their car and we stopped by the trailer park, had them grab everything they wanted to keep, and put it in the back of my truck.
“The trailer?” I asked. “Is it something you can sell for scrap?”
“Hey,” Rowdy said, pushing my side. “You might not think much of it, but this was their home.”
“True,” I said, turning to Sadie. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Also, it’s rented. As soon as we figure out where to go, I’ll send in my notice.”
“Good.”
I then shared what I’d found about JD. Basically, he’d been on the worst kind of watch list, and he wouldn’t be offered bail after his hospitalization, regardless of his injuries.
Rowdy had been right—JD’s chivalry with the older woman had been hisin. JD had guilted Jaxon into delivering sealed brown paper bags to several trailers in the park. When Sadie discovered what Jaxon was doing, she went into the office and read JD the riot act, then threw the one remaining bag in his face.
The bag broke, scattering a rainbow of pills everywhere. JD threatened to take it out of her ass if he was missing even one pill.
Jaxon had been sitting on the couch when JD kicked in the door a little past midnight, which was just bad luck for that asshole. He didn’t even get past the living room because Jaxon tackled him, carried him out to the front porch, and threw him to the ground.
Things got hairy when JD landed on a bit of broken concrete. An ambulance was called, and JD was rushed into an emergency surgery and might be paralyzed, depending on how things went. Either way, he was going back to jail as soon as he was released from the hospital, and none of us felt very bad for him at all.
Jaxon had been abnormally quiet, but then suggested, “We might not be able to sell the trailer for scrap, but maybe we could get rid of Mom’s car.”
“That’s good,” I said, then grabbed Rowdy’s hand. “We haven’t talked about this yet, but Emery and Woody are getting you more of a ranch truck and were planning on giving this one to Sadie.”
“But why?” Sadie asked, her voice hitching.
“Because, when you can help someone, you do it,” I said, pulling her in for a hug. “Also, given how many prayers to the old gods it took to get the car restarted after Jaxon was released, this is a reasonable solution for easy cash.”
It wouldn’t be much, but it would help.
That decided, we piled into my truck and headed out to my place. I was driving when Kit called Rowdy. Woody had called up his friend and told him everything. When Kit discovered that the case involved a horrifying creep and a child being thrown into jail, he was more than happy to help and insisted that Jaxon and Sadie stay in one of his cabins.
“I can help him with whatever chores he has,” Jaxon volunteered. “And don’t make a fuss about it, Mom. I can help.”
Rowdy looked back at him. “I think Kit would appreciate that very much. How are you doing back there? Are you okay?”
Jaxon pursed his lips. “Not really.”
“Did anybody try to hurt you in jail?” his mom asked.
