The Guardian

to the point they just hung there. They were attached only by a piece of skin.
    One of the officers removed the tape and pulled the rag from Jack’s mouth. He moaned loudly as the tape pulled his hair away. He tried hanging his head. His arms pulled back, they could go no further. The wire was wrapped tightly around his neck. The wire went up from his arms that tied his arms so he couldn’t move it. It pulled his head back as far as it would go, It was tight enough to choke him, but not so tight as to choke him to death. This was unless of course he tried to relax either his shoulders or his head. He was covered in blood, his face, head, shoulders. He had serious bruises to his face. There would definitely be some long term shiners on both his eyes. One eye, the left one, had the eye socket broken. The eye lids were swollen shut with a deep, purple hue to them. His lip was split with two of his front teeth missing. The insides of his lips were like hamburger where his teeth had cut into them. What they wouldn’t find until much later at the hospital was the tie wire that was wound tightly around the scrotum. Another piece had been tied tightly around the penis itself about half way down the length. By the time they discovered it, it would be too late to save anything.
    After the crime scene guys had him cut loose they had him sitting up straight. His back was against the wall. Halloway and Griffin approached him.
    “By the looks of things, you are one lucky son-of-a-bitch, you know that?” John said smiling down at him.
    “Ya, well, that’s what he said,” He sobbed, “but look at me. I’ve been assaulted, tortured, abused, and I want to see a lawyer. Jesus, look at me. I want to press charges.” Jack said. He was almost unintelligible as he tried speaking through the blood and busted up mouth that he had been left with.
    “Oh, you’ll need a lawyer alright” Laura said.
    “You’re lucky because we saw what you did to those poor girls in there. You’re lucky because we saw what he did to the other guys who tried the same shit. So trust me you piece of shit. You got off way too easy.” After he Miranded him, John just stood and walked away. “Cuff him and haul his sorry ass down town.” He said over his shoulder.
    Griffin was outside already talking with some of the other officers when Halloway came out.
    “You think he’ll live?” she asked
    “Ya, he’ll live. Just like the other ones did. He’ll live to stand trial, and, with any luck, it will stick this time. Our boy did a good job on him.
    “I don’t suppose you had happened to see him out here anywhere did you?” John wanted to know.
    “Well, I’ve been scanning the horizon, checking all the areas around the compound here. You know John, we have no idea what he looks like. Quite honestly, who would know if they did see him? He could be standing right next to us and we wouldn’t even know.”
    “I suppose you’re right. Christ, he doesn’t even hang around to watch the show.”
    “Why should he? He made it pretty clear that all he was concerned about was the girls. We get the credit he walks. And that’s just what he did.”
    “You know we can’t take credit for this. First of all this would blow up as police brutality all over us. Secondly they’d throw his case out because of it. We would have had to come in without a warrant.”
    “He knew that. I think that’s why he played it this way. Nevertheless, I really don’t believe he wants any credit. I really don’t.” Laura said.
    “Well, that’s too bad. He’s getting it all on this one. I’m not taking a chance with this filth in court. We’re keeping this one clean and we’re playing it right by the book. All the way down to the phone call telling us they were here and where to find them.”
    “You do realize that if you do that you are going to make a national hero out of him. More so than he already is. He’ll not only be a hero but he’ll be absolved of whatever he’d done before.”
    “Personally, and I really hate admitting this, but I’d rather have him as an ally than an enemy I don’t much care anymore.”
    “Now John, is that any attitude to have? He was a tremendous help to us.”
    “Sure he was. If the lists had been separated differently it could have been us or Singletary and Smythe that found them.”
    Laura just looked at him, “I know that, you know that, but nobody else knows that. You know that’s not what’s going to matter. The