Carter

Mick chuckles and shakes his head. He comes all the way into the barn and sits across from Rosetta on an upturned bucket. “You know me way too well…” He studies her eyes for several moments. “Worried about Katie?”


Jeff, Clint and Eric agree to a card game with Wes, and move to the table, trying to form teams.



Jason makes it to the back of the busy floor, and stops at a closed door. He gives Katie one last glance, mustering up the rest of the gumption he has left, and continuing to hold the air he knows is necessary to get where he needs to go. “If they try to kick you out, don’t let them,” he warns. “You stick with me.”
After hesitating only a moment, he opens the door, ushering Katie in behind him.

The office is small but warm feeling with older furniture. A woman sits behind the desk and looks up, her eyes widening at the unannounced visitors. “Hotshot, uh, Jason…what are you doing here?”

“Hi to you too, Susanne.” Jason cocks his head as he leans on his crutches. “I need to see Reese.”

Susanne looks at him as if he’s crazy. “Do you know how many times Austin has called today about you? What ARE you doing?! And this must be the girl you took with you?”

“Susanne…” Jason moves closer to the desk, leaning over almost to her eye-level. “I need to see Reese.”

Susanne reaches for her phone, but Jason shakes his head, keeping his tone low and controlled, his body language completely mastering the situation. “Don’t even thinking about tipping off Austin.”

“But…”

Jason lifts an eyebrow in gentle warning. “Nuh-uh. Besides, I think you’ll find it difficult to do.”

Susanne glances at the phone, bewildered. “All four lines are busy….. you…” She looks up at him again, not amused. “Great. Nice work. But you still can’t see Reese. He’s busy.”

“Busy with what? Paperwork?” Jason straightens up and gestures with his head to the door on the other side of the room with Reese’s name on it. “And what’s stopping me from just walking in on him?”

“Jason, please!” Susanne begs. “He told me he didn’t want to talk to you, and here you are showing up unannounced – if I let you in there, I’LL be in trouble.”

“Not as much trouble as me.”

“You’re right about that. You’re the one that’s suspended.” Susanne sighs. “What are you really doing here, huh? Is it really worth all the trouble you’re getting yourself and this young lady into?”

Jason purses his lips and nods. “Could be. Now…I’m going in there to see Reese whether you like it or not. If you want to block the doorway, go ahead, but I doubt you want to try physical force with me.” He moves towards the door, nodding to Katie. “Come on.”

Susanne stands up from her chair, desperate. “But Jason….” She throws up her arms when Jason doesn’t turn around. “Fine,” she mutters under her breath. “It’s your head. I’m just the secretary.”

Without even knocking, Jason shoves Reese’s door open, and steps inside the larger more official-looking office.

A man in his late thirties swivels his chair around in surprise, looking at the two newcomers from behind his desk. “Jason! What on earth….?”

Jason hobbles closer to the desk, his jaw set in determination. “I want my suspension lifted.”

Reese’s eyes get even wider. “That’s what this is about? You skipped out on Austin to come all the way here and tell me that?”

“You’re not being fair with me, Reese. I didn’t have much of a choice.”

“Well…”

“No.” Jason shakes his head, cutting him off. “I’m tired of being pushed around. You know that suspension was uncalled for.”

Reese rises from his chair, showing his well-built frame, though is still a bit shorter than Jason. Irritation begins to show on his face. He glances at Katie, but already knowing who it is from Austin, he asks no questions, turning his focus back to Jason. “Look, there’s no excuses for any of those charges. Do you think I WANT you suspended? You’re the best man I’ve got! I want you back here so bad I can taste it! But my hands are tied, Jason. The request didn’t come from me, nor did the authorization. I can’t fight it and neither can you.”

“So who authorized it?”

“Carter.”

Jason grits his teeth. “Why, Reese? Why did I really get suspended? If anyone else could have been suspended on only one of those charges, why did it take this long for it to happen to me? Apparently no one cared up until this point, so what happened? Why did Austin request it?”

“This is confidential stuff and you know it.”

“I don’t care!” Jason raises his voice. “I have a right to know!”

Reese frowns at him. “Because Austin cares too much about you! You had enough stacked against you to have you thrown out of here entirely, but at least it was kept to a suspension. You’ve been through heck the last couple months and you almost died. Austin didn’t know any other way to protect you than to get you off the case.”

The news comes as a surprise to Jason, and for a moment, he almost loses his composure. Quickly gaining it back, he glares at his superior. “Look, I’m not a little kid. I know what I’m doing, and I can make my own decisions. I’m quite capable of handling myself and this case.”

“Yeah, you look like it.” Reese shakes his head. “You almost died, and you’re on crutches for pete’s sake. Would YOU want you out there on this case?”

Jason glares at him. “Make a remark like that again, and you might just find out the answer to that.”

“Are you threatening me?” Reese moves around his desk, facing Jason

“Take it how you want,” Jason challenges.

Before anyone can react, Reese takes a swing at Jason’s face.

Jason ducks and swings a crutch at Reese’s legs, knocking his feet out from under him. In a split second, he’s got Reese’s throat pinned under the end of the crutch, the other one in the air, threatening to be swung in his direction.

Reese holds up his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. You’ve proven your point.”

Jason lets him go and steps back, resuming his position. “Now are we going to get this thing straightened out, or not?”

Reese gets up off the floor and shakes his head. “I told you…my hands are tied. So you’ve proven you can still handle yourself. What good does that do? Carter’s the one with the control and you know it.”

“Good.” Jason turns around. “Then we go see Carter.”

“But Jason! You can’t just barge in there!”

“Watch me.” Jason heads to another door in Reese’s office, motioning for Katie to follow him. Ignoring Reese’s warnings, he once again enters an office without knocking.

This third office is the biggest, but the simplest, with little furniture and an uncarpeted floor. An older man is standing near a bookcase and turns at the sound of visitors. Surprise flickers in this eyes, though he doesn’t allow his body language to show it.

Jason stops several feet in front of him, staring him straight in the eye. “Carter.”

Casey’s features prove the years have been hard on him, the weariness showing in his body and eyes. But he has a pride about him as he stands tall. “Jason.”

Jason stands bravely in place. “I want my suspension lifted. Reese said it had to come from you, so here I am.”

Carter chuckles, and turns his attention back to the book case, pulling off a book and thumbing through the pages. “You do realizes there were grounds for that suspension.”

“Yes.”

“And yet you have the nerve to want the sentence lifted?”

“There were reasons for everything.”

“Oh?” Carter raises an eyebrow. “You almost killed Austin.”

Jason swallows hard, shoving his emotions out of the picture. “I was emotionally and mentally distraught. Since then I have found help and have overcome that problem.”

Carter allows a pause. “What about disclosing private information without permission?”

“That was a judgment call I made and if I could do it over again, I would. There were too many secrets, and Austin was taking too long in telling the truth.”

Carter closes his book and puts it back on the shelf. He studies Jason for several moments, then shifts his gaze to Katie. “So, Katie Pent...” He studies her thoughtfully, a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “What do you have to say about this? What say you about Jason? Do you think he should remain suspended or not, and if not, what are you reasons?”