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asphaltcowgrrlTitle: A to Z Challenge Chapter 24: X-Ray
Fandom: White Pine original fiction
Pairing: Travis Murphy/Ethan McDowell
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,302
Summary: More justice is served. And so are some muffins.
Author’s Note: Written for the A to Z Challenge at 1_million_words. I had originally thought to go with Xanax for this chapter because Ethan, Travis, Jordan and anyone still reading probably needs one right about now. But a thought early this morning had me changing my mind.
Continued from here.
“We’re going to play this cool,” Jordan said to him, “until we know whether Farrow’s been tipped off or not.”
“If he was alerted,” Ethan said, making a face, “and he’s out here walking right towards us, then he’s not half as smart as I thought he was.”
“If he wasn’t such an arrogant asshole, I might agree with you,” Jordan laughed.
Alex had a point. “Reid,” Ethan said as his ex-husband approached the two of them. “We missed you this morning.”
Reid gave Ethan a condescending look. “I find that hard to believe, ducky. All you’ve done since you’ve come to Garret is insult me and avoid me.”
“That’s only because you refused to accept that I was happily married and no longer interested in what you were selling,” Ethan countered. He took a deep breath and reminded himself not to let Reid get under his skin. They couldn’t risk pissing him off right now.
Farrow turned to Jordan. “I heard there was a bit of a hullabaloo at the station this morning. One of your officers was caught up in something nasty.”
“You could say that,” Jordan said, understating the matter. “Officer Gary Muncie has been arrested on charges of running a prostitution ring here in Garret.”
“He had help, too,” Ethan added.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Reid looked from one man to the other. He was relaxed, at ease, enjoying their little chat it seemed. “That’s very interesting. How did something like that ever happen on your watch, Jordan? I thought you were better than that. I guess I was wrong.”
“Yeah, I’ve gotta admit, I’m rather ashamed that I never put two and two together before now,” Jordan grimaced. “But thanks to McDowell here, it’s been brought to my attention and we’re working on dismantling the operation and getting the girls to a safe place.”
Ethan pushed back his chair and stood. Moving closer to Reid, he held out his hand. “I’m going back to White Pine tonight, but I wanted to say goodbye.”
Reid glanced down at the hand waiting in front of him. A look of curiosity and confusion passed over his face, quickly replaced by the usual indifferent mask. Hesitant, he reached out to take Ethan’s hand. “I really have missed you, ducky. I don’t know what you see in that neurotic recluse of a writer, but I’m glad you’re happy.”
“Aren’t you sweet,” Ethan sighed, taking Reid’s hand and pulling him into a tight hug. He slapped him against the back once, for emphasis.
Moving quickly, Jordan came up behind Reid and grasped a wrist. He’d barely gotten the metal bracelet locked around Farrow’s narrow wrist when Reid jerked out of Jordan’s grasp.
“What the hell,” Farrow snarled, pulling out of Ethan’s confining embrace. “You two set me up.”
“Nope,” Ethan said. “You were dumb enough to come over here knowing Muncie had been taken into custody.”
“You can’t prove anything,” he spat, waving an arm in the air, the handcuffs dangling from under his suit jacket.
“Oh yes we can,” Jordan agreed, grasping for the dangling half of the handcuffs and missing.
“Yeah, well you have to take me in before you can press charges,” he said, bolting down Main Street.
“Shit,” Jordan said, “I wasn’t expecting that.”
But Ethan had been. He knew that Reid had to have some clue that shit was about to go down. Also, having known Reid for as long as he had, Ethan knew that his ex wouldn’t ever go quietly. So, when Farrow sprinted off towards the direction he’d come from, Ethan had been prepared.
Reid had gotten the jump on him, but Ethan was smaller and lighter and had always been quick on his feet. The soon to be ex-district attorney hadn’t quite made it past the local bakery when Ethan caught up to him. Pushing off with one foot, Ethan threw himself against Reid’s back, taking them both down onto the sidewalk, hard. Ethan heard the snap of bone when they hit the concrete and wasn’t sure if it was his or Reid’s, but he didn’t care either way. Wrangling Farrow’s flailing arms behind him, Ethan managed to secure Reid’s free wrist in the handcuffs.
“Nice tackle,” Jordan said, jogging up to the pile of bodies outside the bakery. He held out a hand to Ethan. “Let me help you up off this waste of space.”
Thankful, Ethan reached out and grasped Jordan’s hand with his own, crying out in pain when Alex gave it a tug. “Shit,” he hollered. “I guess that confirms exactly whose bone I heard break when we landed.”
Jordan reached for his phone and called for backup and EMS. “I’ve got someone on the way to look at your arm,” he said, looking down at Ethan. “You want to try and get up again?”
“No,” Ethan laughed. “I’ll sit my ass here in the gutter until the medics arrive, thank you.”
With a sharp yank, Jordan hauled Farrow to his feet and handed him over to the uniforms fast approaching. Someone at the station must have sent half the available patrolmen running his way. “Here,” he said, handing Reid over to the unis, “take him to the detention center for processing. They’re actually expecting him. Oh,” he said, pointing at their captive, “and don’t let him out of your sight. I do not want any chance he’ll get away from you. Understood?”
The uniforms nodded and hauled Reid off towards the detention center and his new life as an inmate.
“Couldn’t happen to a nicer person,” Ethan muttered.
“Amen to that,” Jordan agreed. “Hey, I see the medics are almost here. Let’s see what that dickhead did to your arm.”
**
“Let me at that son of a bitch,” Travis growled. He was stomping around Ethan’s hotel room packing up everything that needed to go back to White Pine. “All I want is to punch his face, just one.”
“Travis, no,” Ethan laughed. He wasn’t sure if it was Travis’ anger at Reid or the pain medication they’d given him in the emergency room, but it was still funny to think about his sweet and kind husband popping anyone in the mouth.
“Man, why not,” he whined. “The jerk deserves it.”
“True or not,” Liam interjected for the first time, “the jerk is in jail and you can’t reach him to hit him, even if Ethan had agreed.”
He frowned at his father. “I hate it when you’re right, you know.”
“You hate it when anyone is right,” Ethan laughed, the giggles pouring out of him in an unstoppable wave.
“I think they gave him too much,” Travis said, watching Ethan hold his belly as he cackled with glee.
“And I think we need to finish up here so we can get back on the road,” Liam insisted. “You know how worried your mother is right now. Even if you don’t want to stay long, she’ll want to see him with her own eyes before she’ll be satisfied.”
Travis gave Ethan another look. “Maybe we should get the doctors to give him another shot of the happy juice?” Ducking his father’s playful swing, Ethan sat on the couch beside Ethan. “I think I’ve got everything, you ready to head home?”
“Yeah,” Ethan said, coming down off his giggle high. “I’ve never been readier. Would someone grab my muffins? Jordan got those for me while the medics were checking me out. Said they’re chocolate and just for me.”
Travis rolled his eyes and helped his husband to his feet. “They’re already in the car,” he said. “It was the only way I could be sure I wouldn’t eat any of them before we got home. Can’t risk you breaking your other wrist trying to stop me, can we?”
Continues here.
Fandom: White Pine original fiction
Pairing: Travis Murphy/Ethan McDowell
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,302
Summary: More justice is served. And so are some muffins.
Author’s Note: Written for the A to Z Challenge at 1_million_words. I had originally thought to go with Xanax for this chapter because Ethan, Travis, Jordan and anyone still reading probably needs one right about now. But a thought early this morning had me changing my mind.
Continued from here.
“We’re going to play this cool,” Jordan said to him, “until we know whether Farrow’s been tipped off or not.”
“If he was alerted,” Ethan said, making a face, “and he’s out here walking right towards us, then he’s not half as smart as I thought he was.”
“If he wasn’t such an arrogant asshole, I might agree with you,” Jordan laughed.
Alex had a point. “Reid,” Ethan said as his ex-husband approached the two of them. “We missed you this morning.”
Reid gave Ethan a condescending look. “I find that hard to believe, ducky. All you’ve done since you’ve come to Garret is insult me and avoid me.”
“That’s only because you refused to accept that I was happily married and no longer interested in what you were selling,” Ethan countered. He took a deep breath and reminded himself not to let Reid get under his skin. They couldn’t risk pissing him off right now.
Farrow turned to Jordan. “I heard there was a bit of a hullabaloo at the station this morning. One of your officers was caught up in something nasty.”
“You could say that,” Jordan said, understating the matter. “Officer Gary Muncie has been arrested on charges of running a prostitution ring here in Garret.”
“He had help, too,” Ethan added.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Reid looked from one man to the other. He was relaxed, at ease, enjoying their little chat it seemed. “That’s very interesting. How did something like that ever happen on your watch, Jordan? I thought you were better than that. I guess I was wrong.”
“Yeah, I’ve gotta admit, I’m rather ashamed that I never put two and two together before now,” Jordan grimaced. “But thanks to McDowell here, it’s been brought to my attention and we’re working on dismantling the operation and getting the girls to a safe place.”
Ethan pushed back his chair and stood. Moving closer to Reid, he held out his hand. “I’m going back to White Pine tonight, but I wanted to say goodbye.”
Reid glanced down at the hand waiting in front of him. A look of curiosity and confusion passed over his face, quickly replaced by the usual indifferent mask. Hesitant, he reached out to take Ethan’s hand. “I really have missed you, ducky. I don’t know what you see in that neurotic recluse of a writer, but I’m glad you’re happy.”
“Aren’t you sweet,” Ethan sighed, taking Reid’s hand and pulling him into a tight hug. He slapped him against the back once, for emphasis.
Moving quickly, Jordan came up behind Reid and grasped a wrist. He’d barely gotten the metal bracelet locked around Farrow’s narrow wrist when Reid jerked out of Jordan’s grasp.
“What the hell,” Farrow snarled, pulling out of Ethan’s confining embrace. “You two set me up.”
“Nope,” Ethan said. “You were dumb enough to come over here knowing Muncie had been taken into custody.”
“You can’t prove anything,” he spat, waving an arm in the air, the handcuffs dangling from under his suit jacket.
“Oh yes we can,” Jordan agreed, grasping for the dangling half of the handcuffs and missing.
“Yeah, well you have to take me in before you can press charges,” he said, bolting down Main Street.
“Shit,” Jordan said, “I wasn’t expecting that.”
But Ethan had been. He knew that Reid had to have some clue that shit was about to go down. Also, having known Reid for as long as he had, Ethan knew that his ex wouldn’t ever go quietly. So, when Farrow sprinted off towards the direction he’d come from, Ethan had been prepared.
Reid had gotten the jump on him, but Ethan was smaller and lighter and had always been quick on his feet. The soon to be ex-district attorney hadn’t quite made it past the local bakery when Ethan caught up to him. Pushing off with one foot, Ethan threw himself against Reid’s back, taking them both down onto the sidewalk, hard. Ethan heard the snap of bone when they hit the concrete and wasn’t sure if it was his or Reid’s, but he didn’t care either way. Wrangling Farrow’s flailing arms behind him, Ethan managed to secure Reid’s free wrist in the handcuffs.
“Nice tackle,” Jordan said, jogging up to the pile of bodies outside the bakery. He held out a hand to Ethan. “Let me help you up off this waste of space.”
Thankful, Ethan reached out and grasped Jordan’s hand with his own, crying out in pain when Alex gave it a tug. “Shit,” he hollered. “I guess that confirms exactly whose bone I heard break when we landed.”
Jordan reached for his phone and called for backup and EMS. “I’ve got someone on the way to look at your arm,” he said, looking down at Ethan. “You want to try and get up again?”
“No,” Ethan laughed. “I’ll sit my ass here in the gutter until the medics arrive, thank you.”
With a sharp yank, Jordan hauled Farrow to his feet and handed him over to the uniforms fast approaching. Someone at the station must have sent half the available patrolmen running his way. “Here,” he said, handing Reid over to the unis, “take him to the detention center for processing. They’re actually expecting him. Oh,” he said, pointing at their captive, “and don’t let him out of your sight. I do not want any chance he’ll get away from you. Understood?”
The uniforms nodded and hauled Reid off towards the detention center and his new life as an inmate.
“Couldn’t happen to a nicer person,” Ethan muttered.
“Amen to that,” Jordan agreed. “Hey, I see the medics are almost here. Let’s see what that dickhead did to your arm.”
**
“Let me at that son of a bitch,” Travis growled. He was stomping around Ethan’s hotel room packing up everything that needed to go back to White Pine. “All I want is to punch his face, just one.”
“Travis, no,” Ethan laughed. He wasn’t sure if it was Travis’ anger at Reid or the pain medication they’d given him in the emergency room, but it was still funny to think about his sweet and kind husband popping anyone in the mouth.
“Man, why not,” he whined. “The jerk deserves it.”
“True or not,” Liam interjected for the first time, “the jerk is in jail and you can’t reach him to hit him, even if Ethan had agreed.”
He frowned at his father. “I hate it when you’re right, you know.”
“You hate it when anyone is right,” Ethan laughed, the giggles pouring out of him in an unstoppable wave.
“I think they gave him too much,” Travis said, watching Ethan hold his belly as he cackled with glee.
“And I think we need to finish up here so we can get back on the road,” Liam insisted. “You know how worried your mother is right now. Even if you don’t want to stay long, she’ll want to see him with her own eyes before she’ll be satisfied.”
Travis gave Ethan another look. “Maybe we should get the doctors to give him another shot of the happy juice?” Ducking his father’s playful swing, Ethan sat on the couch beside Ethan. “I think I’ve got everything, you ready to head home?”
“Yeah,” Ethan said, coming down off his giggle high. “I’ve never been readier. Would someone grab my muffins? Jordan got those for me while the medics were checking me out. Said they’re chocolate and just for me.”
Travis rolled his eyes and helped his husband to his feet. “They’re already in the car,” he said. “It was the only way I could be sure I wouldn’t eat any of them before we got home. Can’t risk you breaking your other wrist trying to stop me, can we?”
Continues here.
