Jean's heart was racing. What were the police planning to do to Lucien that they wanted to conceal?
She was afraid to touch anything on her phone for fear that she might inadvertently erase the video of Lucien's interaction with the deputies. She reached for the landline to call Patrick.
Thankfully he picked up at once. "Good morning. What can I do for you?"
"Patrick, it's Jean Beazley. Lucien was just pulled over by the Sheriff's Department. They made him get out of the car, broke his taillight so they had a reason for the stop, then they smashed his phone. He was streaming his phone's video to me at the time."
"Be sure to save it," said Patrick. "Did he say where he was?"
"He said he was on the PCH, about four miles north of Sunset. Patrick, they've been following him for days. I think they wanted to get home alone."
"All right, I'll see what I can do. Please send me that video as soon as you can."
"Thank you, Patrick." She hung up as soon so Patrick could work his magic. Then she called Mattie, hoping she was home.
"Ugh, it's too early," came Mattie's sleepy voice.
"I'm sorry to disturb you," Jean began, a hitch in her voice.
Immediately Mattie was more alert. "Jean, what's wrong?"
"Lucien was on his way to get a haircut, and he got pulled over. Mattie, he sent me a video of what they were doing before they smashed his phone."
"Can you bring it over?"
"Amelia is here with us. She's eating her breakfast."
"Yes, right, we'll be right over. Ned is here with me."
"Thank you, Mattie, please hurry."
As good as her word, Mattie arrived within just a few minutes, a bit disheveled in appearance but fixated on the situation at hand.
"Your phone?" she asked.
Jean handed it to her. "I was afraid to do anything in case I wound up deleting the video."
"The first thing we'll do is back it up," said Mattie. She took care of that, then she opened the video to play it, with Jean and Ned watching over her shoulder.
Mattie was horrified. "This goes on YouTube right now," she pronounced.
"I promised to send it to Patrick Tyneman," Jean told her.
"All right, we'll do that first," said Mattie. "Ned, what format do you think?" she asked, glancing behind her. When she saw he wasn't there, she murmured, "Now where did he get to?"
Just then they both heard a car start and pull away. Mattie ran to the door shouting, "Ned, dammit!"
Jean gasped. Ned was going to find Lucien. The trouble was that Ned presented an even bigger target for the police. If he tried to intervene, it would only increase the danger for both of them. "Maybe I should go, too," she suggested. "Would you mind staying with Amelia?"
"No, no, no, no," Mattie said forcefully. "Lucien would have my hide if I let you go. Let me call my father, get him to call the sheriff."
"Do it now, then," Jean said sharply.
As instructed, Mattie made the call and sent the video for him to see what happened. Jean could only hear Mattie's end of the conversation.
"Yes, I know you said it would put a target on him when he started that fund, but you know as well as I do that it was right thing to do. And it doesn't make what they're doing legal, does it?"
Jean held her breath, waiting for Martin O'Brien to make up his mind whether to help. If not, she was going to find Lucien, even if she had to bring Amelia with her.
"Thank you, Dad. Right away, yes? Give Mother my love."
"He'll help?" Jean asked.
"He's calling the Sheriff right now," Mattie assured her. "And he's going to insist the harassment stop or he'll ask the State Attorney General to open an investigation of the whole department."
"Good. Someone should be investigating them. Using their badges to carry out personal vendettas." Jean knew her fear for Lucien was making her overly emotional. She tried to calm herself, knowing it wouldn't help him. "When you were speaking with your father you mentioned something about Lucien starting a fund that made the police unhappy. What fund is that?"
"The one for the victims and their families," said Mattie. When Jean continued to look puzzled, she continued, "I guess you don't know. Aside from the family foundation, Lucien tends to keep the bulk of his philanthropic works under the radar. A while ago he created this fund for those killed in encounters with law enforcement officers. Covering funeral expenses, helping their family members, paying for college for their kids, things like that."
"And I suppose the police think they're being disrespected by him helping people."
"Even though, as I understand it, several children of slain police officers have also received scholarships from the fund, but since he doesn't publicize just who he's helping, they can ignore that part of it. And, of course, when he stepped in while they were going after Ned, well..."
"Yes, I see," said Jean. She might need to have a talk with Lucien about what other charitable endeavors he supported that might be of a sensitive nature. She just prayed they would be able to have that conversation.
She nearly jumped when her phone signaled an incoming call. She glanced down at it. Patrick Tyneman. "Patrick, what's going on?" she asked, holding her breath.
"Jean, he's going to be fine," Patrick was quick to assure her. "They roughed him up some, but thankfully nothing worse. The attorney, Noel Foster, lives right near there, so he was able to get to Lucien's car in a matter of minutes after I called him. Young Simmons is also there filming everything, and apparently the Sheriff himself called his people and demanded to know what's going on."
"Thank God, and you, Patrick. Where is Lucien now?"
"He's on his way to the hospital to get checked out."
"Which hospital?"
"Cedars-Sinai. He probably won't need to stay overnight, Foster said."
"I have to see him," Jean insisted. "If nothing else, he'll need a ride home."
"All right, then. Please, ask him to give me a call when he gets a chance."
"I'll tell him. Again, thank you, Patrick, for everything."
As she walked into the hospital lobby, the first person she noticed was Doctor Alice Harvey, who walked over to meet her.
"Alice, I'm so sorry. I should have called you and Matthew."
"You had other things to worry about," Alice said dismissively. "Patrick called me."
"Have you seen Lucien yet?"
"Not yet. I'm told he's in Radiology at the moment, then they'll move him to a room for observation. For a few hours or overnight, depending on what the x-rays reveal."
"What are they afraid of?"
"A concussion, or even a skull fracture," said Alice. "It seems they hit him in the head several times with a baton as well as several blows to the ribs and back."
Jean gasped. When Patrick told her Lucien had been roughed up, she'd imagined some scrapes and bruises, not anything like this. Horrific images flooded her mind.
Alice touched her arm. "Jean, the good news, according to the report from the paramedics, was there is no sign of his PTSD despite the beating. He really has defeated it."
Jean couldn't help but be thankful that they didn't have to learn whether gunshots might still trigger it. Now she just needed to see him, to assure herself that he would recover from this.
When Ned Simmons walked in, Jean instinctively hugged him, so relieved was she that he had not been injured, too.
"Have you spoken with Mattie?" she asked him. "She was worried sick when you took off like that."
"I sent her a copy of my video," he said.
"At least she knows you're okay then. What did you see, Ned?"
Ned took a deep breath before he started speaking. "I could see all three of them when I was driving up, Lucien and the two deputies." He shook his head in dismay at the memory. "Lucien was on his knees with his arms up, trying to protect his head. One of them was aiming for it with his nightstick, and the other was kicking him in the back."
He paused to squeeze Jean's arm, but she only wanted him to continue. She needed to know what happened to Lucien.
"One of them saw me as I stopped the car about a hundred feet away. I held my phone up so they could see I was recording them. He said something to the other one, and they both stopped attacking Lucien. The first one started toward me, but before he got close, Mister Foster's car pulled up near me. He started to get out of his car, and just then the radio in the police car went off. Someone was ordering them to get back to the station."
"Mattie's father came through," Jean sighed with relief.
"Mister Foster called the paramedics. The deputies were trying to force Lucien into their squad car, but Mister Foster insisted he had to go to the hospital instead, and whoever was on the radio seemed to agree."
Jean was cringing, inside as well as out. "Please tell me he didn't arrive here in handcuffs," she begged.
"He didn't arrive here in handcuffs," Ned and Alice said in unison.
"They let him go," Ned continued. "Under orders to do it."
She offered up a prayer of thanks to Martin O'Brien, certain that his call to the sheriff was responsible, perhaps even saving Lucien's life.
"He's safe now. That's the important thing," said Alice, just as a nurse approached them.
"Doctor Harvey, Mister Blake is being settled in a room now. His doctor should be there shortly to discuss his condition with you."
"Thank you, Nurse. This is Mister Blake's fiancée, Jean Beazley. As you can imagine, she's quite anxious to know his condition as well."
"Of course, she can accompany you." And the nurse gave them the room number and directions to reach it.
Ned cleared his throat. "I'll just go back to the house, fill Mattie in," he said.
"Mattie is at our place, watching my granddaughter." Jean hugged him again. "Thank you, Ned. You're a good friend."
He shrugged. "Just returning the favor. Please give my Lucien my best, and let me know if there's anything I can do."
"He's going to need someone to fill in for him and Jean at the club tonight," said Alice. "If you're interested, give Matthew a call."
"I'll do that. Thanks." He gave them a wave as he walked toward the door.
When they walked softly into his room, Lucien was alone with his eyes closed. Jean studied him closely. Outwardly, it wasn't as bad as she'd feared. Either that or the bruises and swelling were still developing. One cheekbone was slightly discolored, and there seemed to be a lump rising over the eyebrow above it.
Carefully, Jean moved a chair close to his bedside so she could take his hand, and as soon as she did, he opened his eyes. Or rather, he opened one eye and tried to squint through the other.
"How are you feeling?" she asked quietly, figuring he probably had a substantial headache.
He closed his eyes again before answering, "Not too bad, considering."
"Considering you thought you might be killed?" asked Jean, lifting an eyebrow.
"There was that possibility," he admitted. He noticed Alice standing over Jean's shoulder. "Alice, what do the doctors say? How long will I be in here?"
"They're reading the x-rays now. If there's no skull fracture or concussion, I expect they'll let you go home later today."
"And if there is a concussion or skull fracture?" Jean asked.
"For a concussion, likely just overnight for observation. With a skull fracture, it would depend on the severity and if there's any bleeding on the brain." She peered more closely at his eye. "They'll want an ophthalmologist to take a look at you, in any case."
Jean frowned. "Can you see out of it at all?"
"I can see better if I close that one. I think it might just be the swelling around it."
"Yes, possibly," said Alice, "but no reason not to have it looked at while you're here."
At that moment the doctor arrived. The three of them looked at her expectantly.
She introduced herself to Jean, then gave her report. "First of all, there is no skull fracture. There is, however, a rather severe concussion, so you'll need to be here at least overnight for that, and we'll see if any complications present as a result. Also, your kidneys are severely bruised. We'll keep an eye on those as well. Ribs and spine also have some serious contusions, which I'm sure are making you uncomfortable, but we need to limit the type of pain medication we give you due to the concussion."
"I'd rather deal with the pain than the effects of the medication," Lucien told her.
The doctor looked to Alice, who nodded. "He doesn't deal well with opioids, and he does have a high pain tolerance."
"We can discuss how to best manage the pain and edema," the doctor told Alice. "As for now, just settle in and rest. I'll check back this evening."
"Thank you, Doctor," Jean and Lucien said together.
When the doctor had gone, Alice turned back to Lucien. "You withstood that beating without having an episode. Well done, but I have a lot of questions." She looked from Lucien to Jean and back again as they both stared at her. "Which can wait. Feel better, Lucien." And quickly she left the room.
Jean pulled Lucien's hand to her lips and kissed it. "You need to be more careful, Lucien. I thought I'd lost you."
"Yes, I know." He sighed. "I didn't have an episode, but I'm still not entirely sure of what happened, why they stopped when they did."
Jean explained everything she knew, including the calls to Patrick and Martin O'Brien, as well as what Ned had told her. "You have some very good friends," she told him in conclusion, "as well as some enemies, it would seem."
"Yes. I think we're going to have to do something about that. I suppose we should discuss our options with Noel Foster, once I get out of here. Jean, my darling, I'm exhausted. I'll probably sleep for most of the afternoon. Maybe you should go home, see to Amelia."
"Amelia is just fine for the moment, perfectly happy with Mattie's company. You, on the other hand, seem to need someone watching over you, at least until you fall asleep." She leaned over to kiss him gently on the forehead.
"It's a good thing I have you for the job, then," he said quietly as he closed his eyes.
Jean sat beside him, holding his hand and watching him sleep. She couldn't help but wonder where they went from here, how to deal with all of this. She was beginning to understand some of what people like Ned felt, always being targeted by the police. And most in that situation didn't have the resources or connections that Lucien had to help him deal with it. She decided she needed to know more about the fund Mattie had mentioned, to see what else they could do to help people caught in the criminal justice system, many through no fault of their own. It wasn't fair, and Jean wanted to do something about it.
A/N: For those following my story 'Freedom', I ran into an issue there, but I've found a way around it now. The next chapter is about half-finished.