I want to thank Cherylann Rivers for taking the time to send me a review of my last chapter. Your words are encouraging and help he continue to write this story. and I also want to thank elven buddy my beta reader for helping me with improve my story. And thank you to everyone else who are following along. Here's my new chapter hope you like it.
Pressure Chapter 14
"That man flat out lied to me."
Fenton stood outside the room where Ryan Hayden was currently being held. Fenton tried to calm himself down before entering the room. He was livid. Not long after Johnny and Brett had left the station alongside their parents, Chief Collig had dropped another bombshell on him.
Chief Collig sighed wearily. "I'm sorry, Fenton I should've told you about this sooner. But, once we found out about this, I had to be sure. Then when this thing with Joe and Henry came about, it brought everything to a head".
In spite of all his years of being in law enforcement, seeing the faces of abused children, whether in person or from pictures was still the hardest thing for him to do. Even now, as chief of police he had to stay professional and do his job. When he was alone at home, that's when he'd cry out his frustration. How could anyone abuse a child? He'd always taken a special interest in those cases, as he was once an abuse victim himself.
His personal childhood experiences were essential to who he was today, Chief Collig knew, as they'd been the driving force behind him wanting to be a police officer. Chief Collig always saw it as a personal victory, not for himself, but for every abuse victim when he managed to put the "animals" as he called the abusers behind bars where they belonged. "Once we have Jack Hayden in custody and behind bars where he belongs, my town will be a lot safer."
Fenton replied, taking a calming breath. "I understand your reasons for not saying anything Chief. I know that you were just doing your job and I thank you for being honest with me. You're not the one I'm angry with it's that piece of trash sitting in that room". He nodded at the door behind him. "That man flat out lied to me. Mr. Ryan will never again set foot on any school property; I'll make sure of that."
"Do you want to tell the boys this bit of news before we go in?" The Chief advised, "It's going to be a shock to them."
"No, they'll know soon enough." Fenton gave it some thought. "Now, let's go in and see what Mr. Ryan has to say about all of this."
"Are you sure you're ready to go in?"
"Oh, I'm ready. I just hope you're ready to hold me back, because I'm about ready to tear into this guy."
"Let's try to stick to the plan." The police chief replied, "Don't forget we still have an animal to catch. Save all your energy for Jack Hayden."
"Dear God, give me the strength to do this." Fenton prayed aloud before taking another deep breath. Looking up he saw his sons approaching them; he suddenly felt the strength he needed to do this. With the blue folder in hand and his other hand on the doorknob, Fenton replied, "Now, I'm ready." With that they went inside.
"What do you suppose they were talking about?" Joe asked his brother. "Dad looked like he was ready to kill someone."
"I don't know. I think we're about to find out." Frank said. He was curious to know that himself. Whatever his father and the chief of police had been talking about, he was sure Hayden was at the center of it. The brothers stopped and stood before the two way mirror, ready to watch the show.
"Mr. Ryan, we're sorry to keep you waiting." Fenton started as he and the Chief entered the room causing the principal to sit up in surprise. "We've had a lot going on."
"Not a problem, I'm just a little curious as to why I was brought in here?" Mr. Ryan said rubbing his hands together. Fenton noted the man's nervousness.
"We need your help," the Chief stated.
"What do you need my help with?" Mr. Ryan raised an eyebrow in response and placed a hand on his chest. "I'd be glad to help you any way I can. I don't see…"
"We're looking for a Jack Hayden, who we've been told is a teacher at your school." Fenton cut in. "Do you know where we could find him?"
"Jack… oh, uh, I don't know." Ryan cleared his throat. "I heard he was released from the hospital sometime yesterday morning. "Why are you looking for him? Has something happened?"
Last night one of your students was attacked at home. Jack Hayden, I understand, is one of your staff members; he's one person of interest. We really would like to talk to him."
"Oh, I can't… that is terrible! I can't believe Jack would do such a thing." Ryan said, reacting to the news. "I-I'm just in shock. Who's the student?'
"I think you know who the student is." Fenton wasn't buying the principal's poor acting job. He threw the folder on the table of the man. "Monday morning, I came into your office with my family and asked to see Jack Hayden's file", Fenton started. "Do you remember that?"
"Of course; you got so defensive and said something along the lines of 'thoroughly screening your staff'. I've never had any complaints about Mr. Hayden behaving inappropriately towards a student".
"Well, guess what, I now know the reason," Fenton said, slamming his hands onto the table, making the principal jump. "You are Ryan Patrick Hayden younger brother to Mr. Jack Michael Hayden." Fenton said, staring at the man until he had no option but to gaze back at him. "Am I right?"
Y-yes." Ryan gulped. He said abruptly, "I don't know where Jack…."
"Save it, Ryan, we know you're lying."
"I don't know." Ryan Hayden said, swallowing a lump in his throat.
"Where is he?" Fenton pushed.
"I don't know." Ryan said through gritted teeth.
"Where is Jack Hayden?!"
"I told you I don't know!"
That was all Fenton could take. In a flash, he was out of his seat, grabbing the front of Ryan's shirt, knocking the chair to the floor as he shoved the man against the wall. Standing nose to nose with the detective Ryan could see the pure anger gleaming in his eyes.
"He's crazy! Aren't you going to stop him?" Ryan cried out, his widened eyes staring right at the Chief.
"No, I am not." The Chief countered, trying to keep his anger under control. "Detective Hardy isn't crazy, he's angry. And, so am I. If I were you I'd answer his question, because if you don't I'm going to leave the room and lock you in here with him."
"You can't do that. This is police brutality." Ryan hissed. He was suddenly getting defensive again. "I know my rights. I don't have to tell you a thing without my lawyer present."
"What's the matter, Ryan? Do you feel threatened? Don't like being grabbed or shoved against a wall. Maybe having objects thrown at you in a fit of rage is more to your taste".
"This is exactly how your brother, who is also a teacher at your school, treats his students." Fenton fumed, releasing the man's shirt and doing his best to stay in control for the sake of his boys.
Ryan remained quiet while straightening out his shirt.
Fenton took a step back, to cool his temper. He was more than ready to thrash this man around the room. "I am not just an angry detective; I'm also an angry parent. I think I can speak for every parent in the school when I say; we put our trust in you to care and protect our children. You sir, failed to do that."
"You are the principal at a school where a claim of abuse has been made. Joe then made another report about the same teacher. Your first priority Mr. Ryan should've been the safety of the students. Instead, before getting all the facts straight, you immediately took the side of the teacher. You basically called my son a liar".
"There is something else Mr. Ryan, you don't know, that we do." Chief Collig chimed in, "Joe Hardy wasn't your only student who reported being abused. I can tell you right now that we've had at least ten kids from your school coming into my precinct with their parents to report being abused by their teacher Mr. Jack Hayden."
"What?!" Frank and Joe's jaw dropped in shock at hearing this new piece of information. They couldn't believe what they'd just heard come out of the police chief's mouth.
Just then Con came up beside them. "I'm afraid it's true." The officer confirmed.
"What-when, did all of this happen?" Frank asked, finding his voice.
Con cleared his throat to answer. "Frank, do remember when the two of us were sitting out here when Joe was being questioned by Chief Collig? And I told you that we believed Joe was telling the truth."
Frank nodded his yes. "Where are you going with this?"
"Yeah, where are you going with this?" Joe chimed in right at that moment. "I can't believe this." He said in disbelief. "What didn't you tell us this before?"
"We had to be sure. This all started before this incident with you and Henry. We'd had a young man come into the station a few weeks ago with his parents to report being assaulted by Hayden. A week went by before another kid came to report being assaulted by a teacher. They said they'd gone to their principal to report the matter. They were told by Mr. Ryan that he'd look into it but they never heard any more about it. Soon, we had a total of ten kids reporting abuse. By that time, we knew something was up".
"And then the incident with Joe happened. I had orders to go to the hospital to get a statement from Hayden. Hayden told me that he wanted to press charges against Joe for attacking him and that he had witnesses who'd saw it happen".
"It wasn't long after that Johnny and Brett came in giving us their statements that matched with Hayden's claim." Con shook his head, "I have to tell you, when I was listening to Mr. Hayden give us his side of the story, I thought he seemed arrogant; maybe a little too arrogant, as if he knew he'd already won. Almost as if he knew he was getting away with something. So the chief and I got talking about this and decided to let everything play out. And, now we know the truth."
"That makes sense." Frank brought up. "That's why Hayden was so forthcoming with information at the hospital when I confronted him. He told me his side of the story. He was practically gloating at the fact that he'd land Joe in jail."
Con nodded, continuing. "We didn't know anything about Henry until Joe was brought in and gave us his statement. When your father gave us a copy of Sam Radley's report from the Southport police, Chief Collig contacted Chief Lansky himself about the report. While they were talking Chief Collig found out that the Southport police had also had reports from five students reporting abuse by Hayden. At the time Ryan Hayden was also the principal of that school. He, along with his brother disappeared before anything could be done."
"Right around the time Henry and his mother moved here." Joe concluded. "The Hayden brothers were probably with them. Mr. Ryan was covering up for Hayden and that's why nothing was done about the claims."
Con looked straight at Joe. "I am sorry Joe. I still feel bad about having to arrest you, but I had no other choice I was just… "
"Doing your job," Joe finished Con's sentence. "I know, it's okay, no hard feelings." He smiled, "Besides, I owe you after that little favor you did for me".
"Yes, you do." Con said, grinning thinking back to their secret of him helping Joe escape from jail. "Just keep yourself out of jail and we'll call it even."
"We can call it even, but I can't promise you the first part."
"What favor is that?" Carl asked his client curiously.
"Let's just say Con helped me with a magic trick." Joe answered.
"I can't believe this." Frank suddenly had a new found respect for the Bayport Police department, mainly Officer Con Riley and Chief Ezra Collig and the fact that they'd always believed that Joe was innocent. "So will this make a difference in Joe's case with other kids reporting abuse?"
"It could make a huge difference. With all those statements of abuse, it doesn't look good for Hayden." Carl said. "The pictures your father has of Henry's injuries could be used as evidence, if and when this case goes to trial".
"Henry wouldn't have to testify, would he?" Joe brought up a disturbing thought.
"I don't know." Carl said honestly. "I haven't been given the case, so I can't really give you a definite answer because the trial hasn't happened yet. Mr. Hayden's not even in police custody. It's too early to tell."
"But, you could represent Henry if it came to it…" Joe said slowly. "I mean he needs someone he can trust; someone who would do right by him".
Carl's heart went out to his young client and the concern he had for his friend. "Yes, Joe if it came to that. I would gladly represent Henry." He said to ease the younger Hardy's troubled mind.
Frank saw the worried look in his little brother's eyes. He put a hand on his shoulder, "Joe, we can't worry about that right now. Henry's not ready for that. He needs time to heal above anything else. Let's just concentrate on finding Hayden first."
"Okay." Joe nodded; he still couldn't shake the thought out of his head. Still, he forced himself to push it away for now. "You're right Frank; we have to find Hayden first. Where do you think we should start?"
"I'm sorry Joe, you'll have to sit this one out." Carl said, regret clear in his face and voice. "You're still in police custody."
Back in the room, the interrogation of Ryan Hayden was still going on. "Mr. Ryan, tell me." Fenton opened the folder and took out the pictures of Henry, picking them up to showed them to the principal. "Does this student look familiar to you?" Ryan's face paled, but still said nothing in response. So the Detective went on, "This is Henry Jacobs. This is the student, my son, Joe was trying to tell you about, in your office the other day". Fenton pointed at the pictures. "This is the student who Hayden verbally and physically attacked."
"Henry is also your nephew."
Again Ryan remained silent.
"Last night, your brother Jack beat Henry repeatedly with a belt before dragging him into the kitchen and beating him again, this time until he blacked out. Henry almost died." That last part sent chills down the detective's spine. "Thankfully by the grace of God that boy is alive."
Again, Fenton defended his son. "Joe didn't attack Hayden over a stupid homework assignment; he was only defending himself, his brother and a friend, who also happens to be your nephew, against Hayden".
"Your brother Jack hasn't thrilled about the idea of his son hanging around with my son because he didn't want anyone finding out about his dirty secret. Then Joe went to confront Hayden about the tutoring session last Friday and the abuse that took place the following Monday. Hayden knew right then that Joe knew and so he attacked Joe and threatened to hurt my other son, Frank."
"Hayden also knew Joe would be the wrong person to expose his dirty secret, because of him being my son. So, after the incident between Joe and Hayden, you decided to have Joe arrested to get him out of the way."
"We are also aware of what really happened that tutoring session; it also occurred in Southport when both you and your brother were there". He had to force himself to stay calm as he could feel his anger level rising. "Basically, Hayden would encourage other students to bully his own son. He had it all planned out".
"This was all to teach Henry to fight back like a man and to use his head. He tried to fight back only he'd be outnumbered. If and when he failed in defeating the bullies, he'd be in trouble with Hayden when he got home".
"Tell me Mr. Ryan, am I right?" Fenton asked hotly.
Ryan finally replied. "I knew Jack had gone too far when he went after your son. I told him to press charges on Joe and that I would take care of the rest."
"By having Brett and Johnny bully Henry into keeping quiet."
"Yes. Okay, maybe Jack took things a bit far. Henry is not all that bright. He has to learn to be a man and toughen up."
"'Maybe Jack went too far?' He almost killed his son!" Fenton shouted, shoving a picture of Henry's bruised face, in Ryan's face. "He used other students to bully him!"
""He even threatened to kill my son!" He pointed to the two-way mirror. "I have two teenage boys right outside this room watching, everything I do, and listening to every word I say. I do not expect them to be perfect, they know the difference between right and wrong, and are still learning. I do not want them, thinking, it is okay to raise a hand to their wives or kids."
"There is still a lot I need to teach them. I will not raise my hand or turn myself into a bully to make men out of them".
"Well, we're not all as privileged in getting to have such a doting father, like you 'Detective'. You don't know what it was like, growing up in our home!" Ryan fired back. "Jack took the brunt of every punishment our bastard of a father dished out. He always took the blame for me even when it wasn't his fault!"
"Those who are smart and strong survive in this world; the weak and stupid get trampled on. That's what Jack was trying to teach his son. Hopefully now Henry will survive".
A smothering silence then filled the room, as they all waited for someone to break it. Fenton took a step away from the man, fearing what he might do to him otherwise.
"Let's get back to why we're here." Chief Collig spoke up first. "Where can we find Jack Hayden?"
"I don't know." Ryan said firmly.
"This is hopeless." Joe stepped away from the window. He couldn't watch this anymore. A sickening feeling came over him. "Ryan's not going to give Hayden up; Cindy Hayden won't give him up." Joe slowly sat down in a chair next to him. "They're all protecting that jerk!"
"We'll never find Hayden now. I'm going to jail and the worst part of all of this is Henry will never get justice."