Capture and Containment:
Walt could not believe what Vic had done to him. It was one of their rare days off and they intended to hang out together. But not like this. A bewildered Walt had somehow found himself in this predicament. Vic had his hands behind his back confined in handcuffs. She was frog-marching him through the saloon doors and into the back office of the Red Pony.
"I told you this was a serious matter," Vic said, yanking upwards on his thumbs momentarily, to drive home her point. Walt yelped in pain. Vic was trying hard not to laugh. "We ALL told you…but no…no…you had to let it fester unresolved. Now's the time to pay the piper," she said, laughing quietly behind Walt's back.
Walt, by now, was more than mildly puzzled and quite angry. His wrists and shoulders ached. He was also worried about who might see him like this. It was most unbecoming for a Sheriff.
Moments ago, he had played along with the proposal and had allowed Vic to fool around with her new set of handcuffs. What a mistake that was. She had told him it was merely to see if her new regulation issue cuffs would actually fit on a large suspect's hands. Ha!
And now in handcuffs and against his will, Walt was being dragged into the Red Pony.
"Vic, what the hell is going on? This is crazy. Get these cuffs off me. This is beyond funny," bellowed Walt, now starting to build a head of steam.
"We told you. Get in there, Buster," Vic said as she put both hands on Walt's back and propelled him through the bar to Henry's back office. It was only 10:30 am, and the Pony was not open for customers yet. Thankfully.
There inside the back office Walt was very surprised to see Henry and Cady. They were leaning against the desk, arms crossed in front of them, looking smug. This annoyed Walt even more.
"We told you," they both said in unison, with Henry wagging his forefinger for added emphasis.
"What the fuck are you guys doing," roared Walt, finally losing control. He didn't think he had ever used such language in front of Cady before. But this was beyond frustrating for him.
Henry rose from his position and grabbed Walt by the elbow. He helped him sit down on the couch. "If you behave and follow instructions, we may put the cuffs in front."
Cady, not particularly bothered by her father's language, rose and proceeded to bolt the office door from the inside. She rejoined Henry back at the desk. Vic joined them once it looked like Walt was not going to try and get out the door. All three looked at Walt, who was beginning to fidget on the couch. The cuffs chafed at his wrists, which were really too large to fit into the restraining device. For once in his professional life, Walt experienced a little bit of what it must be like for someone to be confined and arrested.
After a few moments of observation, the three sighed. Vic shook her head as if conveying disappointment. She sighed again. So did Walt.
Seeing Walt's discomfort, Vic was beginning to soften slightly. She walked over and crouched down in front of him, placing one hand on his knee. "Walt, just cooperate and we'll be through this in no time," she pleaded. "I'll undo the cuffs if you cooperate and participate," she added. Walt wondered why she kept using the term 'participate'.
Although Walt would never want to actually hurt Vic, he did ponder kicking her for a moment. But then quickly dashed that thought. "Vic, please. My arms are getting sore," Walt pleaded with a touch of whining in his voice. "Could you please let me out of these?"
"Ok. But you've got to help us here. If you don't, Henry has bear spray and a stun gun in his desk and is prepared to use either on you," she laughed a bit hollowly. She gave Henry and Cady a wink. She pushed Walt's torso forward on the couch to access his cuffs. "Here, lean forward."
Walt turned slightly forward on the couch to expose his hands. Vic unlocked the handcuffs and got Walt repositioned back on the couch. She did feel bad. She could see that his shoulder muscles ached and his wrists were red and chafed. He moaned and rubbed both shoulders, grateful to be done with the restraints. He flexed his wrists and rubbed them as well. Vic leaned down and whispered into his ear, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." She gave his shoulder a bit of a rub and looked over at Cady.
"Now, Dad," Cady said. "Are you going to cooperate with us?" She noticed the growing intimacy between Vic and her dad. She felt strangely pleased to see it.
"I guess so. Do I have any choice?" Walt asked, rubbing his sore wrists. He glared at the three of them, still angry, but not wanting to antagonize them. He could sense though, that Vic and the other culprits did not intend to hurt him.
He sighed. He still had no idea what this was all about.