Author's Notes: Hi, readers. Here's chapter twelve of "Ride the Wind II: Justice Unbound." I'm glad it took just six days to get out. This chapter has some Andros/Ashley. Brenda, Lilli, Izzy, and Jane make their first appearances in the next chapter. Stay tuned for chapter thirteen.

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Chapter 12: Preparing Food/Walk Around

Ashley molded the side of a burger in the kitchen thirteen minutes later. She had already made three and placed them on a platter that lay in front of her. Andros took four hotdogs out of their package and put them on a plate alongside four others. He grabbed another package and ripped it open. He proceeded to take two out.

Ashley placed the burger on the platter once she got to where she wanted it. She and Andros decided they wanted to prepare the burgers and hotdogs. Glen, Annie, Elvis, Zhane, and Karone said they wanted the former. The couple wanted that as well. Jesse, Dwight, Nadine, Missy, Randolph, and Nancy wanted the latter. Jesse, Missy, and Dwight told them they wanted two hotdogs each while Nadine, Randolph, and Nancy wanted just one each.

Jesse and Dwight decided they wanted to go on a walk around the neighborhood. They let Glen know. He said it was fine with him because dinner wouldn't be ready for a while. He encouraged them to take as long as they wanted. They thanked him and left the house. They hadn't been gone for very long.

Ashley got more meat and began to mold it into a circle. She made two pats on it and tapped the sides gently. She managed to form another burger and laid it on the platter. She moved her hand against the other one. She repeated her action twice. Andros couldn't help but smile. He titled his head a little bit before clicking his tongue.

"Nice work at making that burger," Andros complimented

"Thanks. I just love making burgers," Ashley responded and squeaked in joy. "It's fun molding them into circles."

"You want to make me into a circle?" Andros asked and wiggled his eyebrows.

She laughed. "I'll try to do that if you can find me some rope."

"Sure," Andros said and nodded slowly. "However, I have one condition."

"What's that?" Ashley wondered.

He snickered. "You have to let me tie your wrists together and hang you from a tree, so the rest of us can play piñata."

Ashley elbowed Andros in the arm. They heard excited chatter and made their way to the doorway. They watched Zhane and Elvis talk about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The young men were sitting on the couch.

"I enjoyed playing with my Ninja Turtles all the time. There was nothing better than flipping them off the arm of the chair or the coffee table," Elvis said warmly.

"I hope you kept your action figures," Zhane said and scratched his cheek. "They could be very valuable someday."

"I did keep them. I have them in a box in my closet," Elvis admitted.

"Great. I think Billy should invent a shrink ray. He could shrink us guys, so we can dance around with your toys," Zhane joked.

"Maybe he could invent something to bring them to life," Elvis commented with a laugh.

"How about he uses that device to bring everyone's hair to life?" Zhane suggested.

"No, thanks! I don't want my hair dancing!" Elvis blurted out.

"It was just a thought," Zhane responded while shrugging.

Andros and Ashley chuckled to themselves. They looked toward Nancy as she showed Rainbow Dash's pacifier to Annie, Karone, and Nadine. The women and the girl sat on the floor in front of the coffee table.

"Here goes Rainbow Dash's pacifier into her mouth!" Nancy announced. She made waves in the air with the pacifier. She imitated a plane engine as she stuck it in the baby pony's mouth. "Ta-da!"

"Aw. Skywishes likes her pacifier," Annie cooed.

"She looks so cute with it," Nadine squeaked and played with Rainbow Dash's hair.

"When are you going to feed her, Nancy?" Karone wondered.

"Later. She's not hungry right now," Nancy answered in sweetness.

"Don't let her eat too much. She'll belch loudly," Karone warned while crossing her arms.

"Loud enough to cause an earthquake?" Annie joked.

"No, I was thinking more like breaking the windows," Karone replied and laughed quietly.

"You should try singing like one of the opera singers, Grandma," Nancy suggested. "Everyone knows they have really high voices."

"I don't think I could sing as high as they could, honey," Annie said.

"It'd still be cool, though!" Nancy squealed and giggled. "Yes, ma'am."

Annie shook a fist at Nancy, who imitated her. Andros and Ashley smiled widely and headed back into the kitchen. They approached the counter. She got more meat and proceeded to make another burger. He grabbed another hotdog and laid it on the plate.

"Nancy really loves her new toy," Andros commented.

"Mm-hmm," Ashley agreed. "There's nothing like watching kids going gaga over new toys."

Ashley finished making the burger and laid it on the platter. She walked to the sink and turned on the water to wash her hands. She switched it off once she was done. She glanced out the window. She saw Glen scrubbing his grill with a brush. Andros joined her side.

"You're dead, grease stains!" Glen announced in a proud voice. "You're not getting me!"

Glen scrubbed a little harder, laughing in much joy. Andros and Ashley looked at each other while laying their hands on the sink's rim.

"Glen adores that grill. He's always thinking of something new to cook on it," Ashley said.

"Hotdogs and hamburgers aren't exactly new, but he's great at grilling them," Andros responded.

"I remember one time that Dad grilled burgers. He got distracted talking to Paula when she came over for dinner. He realized he lost track of the time and ran to the grill. He found the burgers were burned," Ashley mumbled with a quiet gulp.

"Rocky tried to teach Aisha how to grill food, but she kept burning it," Andros whispered.

"The same thing happened when Zack and Adam tried to teach Angela and Tanya how to grill food," Ashley answered.

"No matter how hard we try, there are some things we will never be good at," Andros said truthfully. "The bright side is the ladies tried hard at grilling."

Ashley nodded in agreement. She picked up the styrofoam and took to the trashcan to toss it in. She walked to the refrigerator and opened it to get the Worcestershire sauce. She grabbed the seasoned meat tenderizer from the cabinet next to it after closing it. She returned to the burgers. Andros turned around to lean his back against the counter.

"Not once did I ever expect to hear that Isabella might be alive and had been illegally caught from the wild," Andros whispered in awe.

"Me neither," Ashley agreed. "I would love to see Isabella again, but I fear facing disappointment that she and Lilli aren't one in the same."

"I fear that too, but you heard what Randolph said. We can use DNA testing to see if their profiles match," Andros pointed out.

She raised her eyebrows. "What if their profiles don't match?"

"Then we will accept that Lilli will spend the rest of her life at Northwest Adventure Park," Andros responded.

"If their profiles match, then I hope Dial is locked up in jail for a very long time. He had the gall to take a protected animal from its natural habitat without going through proper channels before. The possibility he did it for the second time makes me want to barf," Ashley hissed in anger.

He huffed. "You are not the only one."

Ashley removed the cap and sprinkled the tenderizer on the burgers. She put both down and grabbed the sauce. She opened the sauce as Andros bit his lip. She proceeded to squirt it on the burgers.

00000

Jesse and Dwight were walking down the sidewalk. They spotted three girls playing Double Dutch in a house's front yard on the other side of the street. The first and second girls moved the ropes while the third jumped in the middle of them. The men stopped to watch them. They listened to their excited chatter. They smiled warmly.

"Those girls are having fun playing Double Dutch," Jesse said and cupped his chin in his hand.

"They sure are," Dwight agreed. "I remember you trying Double Dutch when you were seventeen years old. You would make two or three jumps before the ropes would hit your feet."

"I never got good at it. Elvis and Missy tried it too, but they didn't do much better than I did," Jesse admitted.

"No one is good at everything, but everyone is good at something," Dwight commented, eyeing him.

"I know one thing I am great at," Jesse said in a prideful voice. He clapped three times. "It's playing the harmonica." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his harmonica. "I can't believe I've had this thing since I was a kid."

"It still works great," Dwight said as Jesse gave it to him. He looked it over. "I've read stories about elephants that were given harmonicas. When they started playing them by blowing air into them, they danced to the sound." He handed it back to him.

"I've read about them too," Jesse said while slipping it back into his pocket. "It's cool how they dance to the sound."

"What do you say we get back to our walk?" Dwight suggested.

Jesse chuckled. "I say that is a good idea. Just don't fall into any puddles while yelling, 'Yah-hoo-hoo-hooey!'" He smirked.

Dwight laughed sarcastically while rolling his eyes. "That was so funny that I died laughing. Let's go."

The men resumed walking. Neither of them noticed a teen boy riding his bike down the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Jesse slipped his hands into his pockets.

"I can't believe it's been twenty years since I came to live in this neighborhood. I was unruly and hostile toward Mom and Dad when I first met them," Jesse said with a slight frown.

"No one blames you for that," Dwight responded sympathetically. "You were badly affected by your birth mom's abandonment of you six years ago. I've seen a lot of that with many foster kids who came into my care over the last twenty-nine years. It wasn't always their mothers. Sometimes, it was their fathers. Even grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who were entrusted with their care abandoned them." He mumbled obscenities in Spanish.

Jesse huffed frustratingly. "Society doesn't care if fathers abandon their children, but it heaps scorn on mothers who do the same."

"Mothers are seen as the nurturing and caring parent. They are expected to raise their children," Dwight grumbled bitterly. "Some can't, so they give them up. They want them to have better lives. People call them selfish and uncaring." He rolled his eyes.

"How can a mother who knows she isn't fit to care for her children be selfish for letting them have a chance at a better life?" Jesse asked, his voice showing hints of anger. "My birth mother couldn't take care of me, so she gave me up. That showed she wasn't selfish. She cared about me enough to spare me additional pain and suffering. Unfortunately, it did mess up my mind. I thought it was my fault."

"It wasn't your fault. She just couldn't take care of herself," Dwight pointed out truthfully.

"I never gave up hope of her coming to get me," Jesse responded and cleared his throat. He wiped a tear from his eye. "That was dashed when you came to tell me she had died."

"I remember asking you when you would get that she wasn't coming back. I told you about the day she dropped off you on our doorstep," Dwight commented, sighing heavily. He bit his lip before swallowing hard. "You just didn't want to hear it."

"I was just upset at Willy blowing his first performance. I wasn't in the mood for lecturing," Jesse muttered regretfully. "I shouldn't have talked to you like that."

Dwight shrugged. "Hey, I don't blame you. I would've acted the same way if that happened to me."

Dwight patted Jesse's back very gently. They came upon a stop sign and halted themselves. They watched two cars go in opposite directions. They walked across the street. They picked up their pace once they got to the sidewalk.

"Now, look at you. You are an orca researcher. You have a wonderful girlfriend. You have a sweet but rambunctious four-year-old daughter. You have come a long way from the troubled kid you used to be. I am incredibly proud of you, Jesse," Dwight said, smiling warmly.

"Thanks, Dwight," Jesse replied and gave his former social worker a pat on the back. "I owe it all to you, Mom, Dad, and Willy for turning my life around. Befriending Willy was what started the turnaround."

"When I read in the newspaper that you busted him out of that tank with Randolph and Rae's help, I was so shocked. I never thought you would do something like that," Dwight said in amazement.

"It's not something you read about every day," Jesse admitted with a shrug. "What I did was a snap decision. Dial wanted to kill Willy to claim the one-million dollar insurance policy. What better way to do that than have Wade and several other of his men widen the hole in his tank?"

"It was the perfect way to make it look worse than it really was. Dial didn't just escape charges for the illegal capture of a protected animal. He also escaped charges of insurance fraud," Dwight mumbled while shaking his head in disbelief. "He should be rotting in jail right now."

"Unfortunately, he's not because the police wouldn't mess with him. He is running his park like he always has," Jesse said with a heavy sigh. He tried to suppress a yawn, but he couldn't help himself. "I am confident that Lilli and Isabella are one in the same. Isabella didn't show a single sign of illness prior to her disappearance."

"Many orcas don't. I am on your side about the possibility that Isabella was illegally caught from the wild. At the same time, we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that it isn't true," Dwight murmured in seriousness.

"I understand that completely," Jesse mumbled, sniffling. "Still, I want to know if Isabella is okay and can be returned to the wild. Once we prove she is Lilli, that is."

"Thank God for DNA testing," Dwight responded, his voice filled with relief. "It has helped prove prison inmates innocent of the crimes they were accused of committing."

"Who knows how many innocent people are sitting behind bars?" Jesse wondered in some disgust. "Some prosecutors don't care about getting justice for crime victims. They just want to win. If they put presumably innocent people behind bars, they act like it is no big deal." He mumbled inaudible words.

"But it is a big deal. The real criminals could still be on the loose," Dwight said and clicked his tongue. "Unfortunately, the system often refuses to even consider the possibility they put the wrong people behind bars."

"Diane Downs claims she is innocent of shooting her three children and killing one, but it is obvious she is guilty. Her story of sightseeing after dark made no sense. She keeps changing her story, though she denies it. Blood spatter was found on the outside of her car. Her daughter, Christie, said she was the shooter," Jesse explained.

"That bitch will never be paroled," Dwight hissed bluntly. He slipped his hands in his pockets. "She will never confess her role in the murder of her daughter, Cheryl. Nor will she ever confess she paralyzed her son, Danny, and caused Christie to suffer a stroke. She deserves to rot in prison." He nodded sharply.

"After she was denied parole in 2010, a new law was passed in Oregon that would keep her from reapplying until 2020. She is pure evil," Jesse growled fiercely.

"I agree with you," Dwight replied and snorted quietly. They picked up their pace somewhat as a jogger ran past them.