White Space Season 1

Police Station. This was the first time he woke in a jail cell sober, though the pain in his head felt like a hangover. Then he remembered the dart he’d been shot with by the rent-a-cops.
    The other cells were empty. He wasn’t awake long when the red door leading into the jail opened and a young police officer with jug ears and a big toothy grin entered. Jon was pissed that he’d been detained, but was glad that Paladin had at least brought him to the police station, instead of taking him to the Paladin Security Headquarters, a pristine high tech palace which hid the heavy handed thug-like behavior of many of the Paladin guards.
    The cop with “Henry” on his badge said, “Chief Brady says you’re free to go.”
    Officer Henry slid a key into the cell and opened the squeaky cell door. He lowered his head as Jon walked by. “Sorry about all the trouble.”
    “No problem,” Jon said, turning his head toward the cop. “Not your fault. Besides, I needed a nap, and nothing says comfort like the Hamilton Island Police Station, though I was disappointed not to find a mint on my pillow.”
    Officer Henry laughed, though it was a delayed laugh, as if he wasn’t sure if Jon was joking or not. Obviously, Hamilton Island Police Department attracted a different caliber of cop than Paladin.
    They walked through the red door that led from the tiny prison and down a hall with three open doors, along with a fourth closed one. Jon looked at a giant old clock on the wall over the door which led to the front of the station and its lobby. Before they reached the exit, the only closed door in the hall opened, and the familiar face of Jon’s old friend Kevin Brady came into view. Though they were the same age, Brady looked pudgy and tired, his dark curly hair graying above the ears. Jon wondered if he looked so ragged because of stress from the job or from having a wife and twin six year olds.
    Brady thanked Officer Henry, who went through the door to the front of the station, and then met Jon, slapping him on his shoulder with his left hand as he offered him his right. “Sorry about the trouble, Jon,” he said.
    Jon shook his hand, noted the clammy palm, then said, “Thanks for letting me go with a warning.”
    Brady said, “Of course,” then gestured toward his office, stepped inside, waited for Jon to enter, and closed the door behind them.
    Brady sat behind his cluttered desk and waved a hand to Jon to take a seat opposite him. Jon did, as his eyes scanned the small, messy office, which looked about 30 years past due for a makeover. As did Brady’s ancient desktop computer. Yellow smoke stains pocked the ceiling tiles above the desk.
    “So,” Jon said. “You made police chief, eh? Damn, you’re the youngest chief by two decades.”
    “Well, I don’t know how impressive it really is. Nobody else wanted the job, if I’m being honest. The real money is with Paladin.”
    “Yeah, don’t get me started on those assholes,” Jon said.
    “You mean the assholes on your family’s payroll?” Brady said, and then looked like he wished he’d kept his mouth shut.
    “Yeah, well obviously they’ve forgotten who butters their bread. So what’s the deal with the fence? And all the security? How many damned officers do they have?”
    “Officially, they’ve got 40 guards. Unofficially, I’d say triple that.”
    “What the fuck?” Jon said, shocked. “They starting an army?”
    Brady smiled nervously, and then answered the other part of Jon’s question. “The fence went up two years ago. This your first time seeing it, I guess?”
    Jon nodded.
    “Yeah, they fenced off the whole northeastern part of the island. They had some lab break-ins, but it was mostly to cut down on the deaths.”
    “Deaths?”
    “Yeah, you know that bridge that runs across Tanner’s Pass? Well, kids have been crossing the girders along the bottom of the bridge on dares and stuff. And a lot of them have fallen into the water and hit the rocks. We had 10 kids die two years ago, and another 15 kids and adults who’d gone missing, believed to be suicides that either washed out to sea or into some of the caves along the pass.
    “Jesus,” Jon said.
    “Yeah, and since your family owns the land, they’re looking to cut down their liability, though I’m not sure who in their right mind would sue the Conways.”
    Jon nodded. He knew all too well how vicious his family was when it came to the courtroom.
    “So, they put up a fence and set