"Fucking asshole," Dan grumbled. "Ok, who else?"
"Decker Pope was the first to take off, but he was here. Yeah, and Paul Simmons lit the barn on fire at least."
"He also was choking Violet," Faith added. "I saw it."
"Ok," Dan said. "Zeke, you ready for this?"
"No!" Faith said, pulling away from me just to throw herself against her best friend. "The rainbow takes care of each other. We will make this ok, Midnight."
He hugged her back. "Look after my mom?"
"Promise," she said. "I hope you aren't gone too long."
"Me too," he agreed, leaning back to look in her eyes. "I'm scared, Faith."
"You're brave," she told him. "You made them stop, and you saved Southwind. That makes you all of our hero, I think."
Then Ash reached over to grab Zeke's shoulder. "Hey, just be polite to the cops. Say 'yes, sir,' like you've been taught. We'll get you out on bail. Oh, and don't tell them you're gay. Not until you're back home. No fighting. No mouthing off." Then he leaned in. "And when you have nightmares, just know that it's normal. I did too."
Zeke nodded his head, then looked at Dan. "I have to have handcuffs?"
"You do," Dan told him.
Then he carefully secured the brave young man, leading both him and his mother to one of the police cars. That was when Cy finally came over, trailing another cop. He didn't slow down before wrapping me up in a big hug, reaching out for Ash with the hand closest to him.
"The troopers want statements," he said. "Simmons was shot in the gut, and they should be getting him in the ambulance now. Sounds like a few guys got away, though."
"I gave Dan names," I told him.
Cy exhaled in relief. "Thank God. How's Zeke?"
"He's going to need you later," Ash said. "Right now, it hasn't caught up with him yet."
"And someone needs to call Cessily," Violet added. "I know this isn't her thing, but I'm sure she has a friend."
"What about the horses?" Faith asked.
"Shit," Violet breathed. "I got them in the pasture, but the gate's still open."
"I got it!" Faith said, turning to run that way, but I caught her arm.
"Not without the cops knowing," I said.
"She's fine," the officer behind Cy promised. "Hey, Martin! Kid's going to make sure the livestock's secure." Then he gestured for Faith to go. Once she was away, the man lifted his notepad. "Ok, who's the homeowner?"
"I am," Violet said. "This is the president of the organization we operate here. That's the on-site psychiatrist. And he's the farm manager."
"And the woman and boy who were here?" the man pressed.
"Chaperone and her son," Violet explained. "We're just about to open a facility for troubled teens. The approvals came through, but it seems that some still don't approve of what we're doing."
"Or the lifestyle," Cy added. "The man I had on the ground told me that he'd been waiting to kill a queer."
The officer just shook his head. "I'm sorry you all had to go through this. We've been trying to identify the hate group that has been harassing you. We've got a state senator pressuring us to do this right so it'll stick, and at least one of these guys - that I've seen - were people of interest."
"So what happens now?" I asked.
"Now," he told me, "they go to jail. Captain Suthers is going to rebuild the force, but we've been assigned here until the department is back at an operable level."
