Author's Notes: Hi, readers. Here's chapter twenty-three of "Ride the Wind II: Justice Unbound." I'm glad it took just a week to get out. I can't believe I've gotten over one hundred reviews. I didn't think it would happen that fast, but I am glad it did. I want to give a shoutout to Ghostwriter for being the one hundredth reviewer. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. A special shoutout goes to Tasha Hill, Alex B Goode, Ghostwriter, brankel1, and Wolfgirl2013 for being continuous reviewers. Your support means the world to me. As for other readers, please don't hesitate to review. I'd love to hear what you'd like to see in this fic. I don't mind that at all. If you really like it, put it in your author alert and favorites lists. You'll be able to keep track of it better. Stay tuned for chapter twenty-four.

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Chapter 23: Stopping By

A middle-aged man drove his truck down the street four minutes later. He observed three young women standing on the sidewalk. He could tell they were chatting. He spotted a store with a white sign saying 'Clausen Sports and Fishing Store' in black letters on his left. Six kayaks leaned against the wall in groups of three on either side of the door.

The man brought his truck to a stop as he pushed down the blinker bar. The left blinker proceeded to flash. Four cars and three trucks passed before he could pull into the parking lot. He parked in a space near the entrance. He turned off the engine and tapped his hands on the sides of the steering wheel. He moved his shoulders with a slight grimace.

The man climbed out with a loud grunt. He blew a bubble in his gum as he went inside. He stopped in front of the door. The interior had clothes, fishing gear, climbing gear, hats, and drinking cups in their own sections in the front. Shelves with food happened to be in the middle. Cold drinks were in the back. So were the restrooms and employee break room. A counter next to the door contained pizza and hotdogs in a cooker and a coffeemaker.

Fifty-three-year-old Jeffrey Tamour walked toward the man. He was Asian and happened to be quite tall. His skin was rather tanned, though it had splotches of lightness here and there. He was lean with a muscular frame. His black hair was cut in the style of a crew cut. Scars could be found underneath his brown eyes. His face had some wrinkles, including lines around the mouth. He stopped before him.

"Good afternoon, sir. Would you like me to help you with anything?" Jeffrey greeted with a big smile on his face.

"No, thank you. I'm just here to something to much on," the man answered.

"All right then," Jeffrey said while rubbing his nose. He looked toward the door, seeing two young men walk past it. "Talk about a beautiful afternoon to be out and about, huh?"

"Oh, yes," the man agreed and peered over his shoulder. "Unfortunately, we're supposed to have three days of rain in a row starting next Sunday." He returned his attention to him, dejection showing on his face.

Jeffrey frowned and let out an annoyed groan. "My family and I love living in the Pacific Northwest. At the same time, we hate the rain one bit. Forks gets the most rain of any location in the United States."

"Imagine being a vampire. You could live in Forks," the man commented. "The constant cloud cover would help you so much there. No one would notice that you were different." He emitted a light chuckle.

"Have you read Twilight?" Jeffrey asked with much curiosity.

"I read it all the time," the man said, nodding rapidly. "I heard the series was boring, so I avoided it for the longest time. I decided to get the books. I read all four of them in three weeks. I found them to be very well-written."

"I know about it because I see my wife reading it all the time. Not once has she ever tried to get me to read the books. She can tell I am not interested in them," Jeffrey said, giving a shrug. "Don't shove what you are interested down my throat. I don't care what you like."

The man sighed to himself. "Me neither. It is annoying when people pull that crap, but we can avoid them. Anyway, I'm going to look for my snack."

"Watch out. A monster may be hiding somewhere in the food," Jeffrey quipped with a snicker.

"Okay," the man replied while heading for the back. "I will watch out for it."

Jeffrey went to the register while clicking his tongue. He loved helping people with whatever they needed more than anything. He remembered when he first started working here four years ago. He and his wife, Lindsay, were laid off at Foxworth Hospital, where they worked as doctors. They were devastated over it. Aiden and Kylie offered them jobs working at their store. They decided to take them. The owners were so impressed with their devotion to their jobs that they made them assistant managers within a year.

Fifty-four-old Lindsay joined her husband at the register. She was slightly shorter than he was. Her tan wasn't as dark. Her long black hair happened to be straight. It was up in a ponytail. Her left palm had a scar going across it. Her brown eyes had bags underneath them. Her face had some wrinkles of which included laugh lines. She laid her hand on the counter and proceeded to tap it with her fingers.

"Aiden and Kylie will be so glad to be back in here on Wednesday," Jeffrey said truthfully.

"No denying that," Lindsay agreed. "I have no doubt they had fun on their little trip and that they are looking forward to spending time with their daughter and granddaughter tomorrow."

"They, Glen, and Annie see their grandchild more often than most grandparents do. The families don't live very far apart from each other," Jeffrey pointed out.

"It is three hours to be exact. All three families have to travel by ferry to reach their destination," Lindsay explained.

"During the ferry ride, they see whales and dolphins playing around sometimes," Jeffrey commented, a big smile crossing his lips. "This holds very true for the famous Southern Resident orcas."

"It sucks that nine Southern Residents died last year. Two have already died this year," Lindsay muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. "Few people seem to be interested in helping them survive."

He frowned. "They are too wrapped up in protesting marine parks. They have been brainwashed into thinking that is the best way to save orcas."

She rolled her eyes. "It sucks, but it is what is."

Jeffrey gave a shrug before making a funny noise. Lindsay stopped tapping and placed her hand at her side.

"I find it funny people accuse circuses, zoos, and aquariums of animal exploitation, yet they turn a blind eye to fake sanctuaries exploiting their animals through begging for donations," he said irritatingly.

"They create these sob stories of the animals being abused. People donate tons of money to them. The thing is the money is not going toward the animals. It is going into the pockets of the owners," she replied.

"The Wild Animal Orphanage was shut down in 2011. Its owners and employees used donor money to make expensive purchases," Jeffrey said and cleared his throat. "At one point, the owners were building a swimming pool using equipment they bought with that money."

"When the supporters of these 'sanctuaries' are shown this, they act like it is no big deal. If zoo, circus, and aquarium owners did something like that, they would be all over them like bats out of hell," Lindsay said in much disgust.

"It is a double standard," Jeffrey commented in disbelief. "Fake sanctuaries are allowed to get away with deliberate abuse and neglect. Zoos, circuses, and aquariums would be penalized if they did the same thing."

"That's right," Lindsay said, hints of anger showing in her voice. "Owners justify the substandard conditions by saying, 'Hey, at least the animal is alive.' They tell visitors to move on and pretend like nothing is happening."

"These sanctuary supporters ignore the plight of wild animals," Jeffrey muttered and swallowed hard. "They would rather entire species go extinct than be saved by captivity."

"Captivity isn't exactly ideal, but it does allow for the preservation of threatened species, especially if they are critically endangered," Lindsay said matter-of-factly.

"It sure does," Jeffrey agreed. He saw the man walk up to them with a bag of Cheetos. He proceeded to type in the price after it was given to him.

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Jeffrey hit his hands on the counter in a rhythmic fashion five minutes later. He sang a scat while moving them apart. Lindsay moved her head from side to side. She hummed along with him. He brought his hands back together. He hit the counter three times. He became quiet while she grew still. Jesse and Randolph walked in, causing the couple to smile.

"Well, well, if it isn't the former trainer and Indian," Jeffrey said, happiness radiating from his face.

"Hey, Jeffrey, Lindsay," Jesse said, approaching the couple along with his mentor. "How are you doing this afternoon?"

"We happen to be doing great. What about you two? How is your vacation in Seattle going so far?" Lindsay asked with much curiosity.

"We are doing great this afternoon. Our vacation is going the same way," Randolph responded. "We came here because Jesse is getting Nadine a diet sprite. We went to get coffee at the Kenworth Café. We ran into Dwight and hung with him for a little while."

"Cool," Jeffrey said with much warmth. "I am sure you drank your coffee black because of your type-two diabetes."

"Oh, I did," Randolph admitted. "That's not to say I can't enjoy a little sugar once in a while."

"Diet soda isn't the best thing in the world, but it does taste good," Jeffrey commented. He formed a big frown on his face. "Lindsay, Aiden, Kylie, and I see overweight and obese people come in and buy three or four twenty-ounce regular sodas. Each bottle can pack two hundred sixty calories and sixty-five grams of sugar."

"Telling them to stop it wouldn't do a damn bit of good," Lindsay muttered while cringing badly. "It won't be our fault when they end up becoming diabetic due to all the sugar from those sodas."

"I've read stories about obese people suing McDonald's over their weight problems," Jesse said with a roll of his eyes. "I don't recall the employees pointing guns at people and demanding they buy their food or else. The customers made the decision to pig out on fast food on their own." He clenched his teeth and flared his nostrils. "People need to take responsibility for their own actions."

"Unfortunately, responsibility isn't something that is taught well anymore," Randolph mumbled in sadness.

"Yeah," Jesse said with a slow nod. "I will go get that diet sprite."

Randolph, Jeffrey, and Lindsay observed the young man going toward the back. They shifted their attention to each other.

"So, how is little Nancy doing?" Jeffrey wondered.

Randolph smiled. "She is doing great. She is demonstrating her knowledge of the Southern Residents very well."

"Did you see any orcas during the ferry ride to Anacortes?" Lindsay asked with raised eyebrows.

"We definitely did. All of them were J-Pod orcas. We saw Nessa and Kyle among them. They were looking very healthy and strong," Randolph commented in a prideful voice.

"What pride you have, Randolph!" Lindsay exclaimed. She looked at her husband with a smirk. "I know someone who loves showing pride a lot."

Jeffrey turned to her. "I believe that would be you."

Lindsay laughed in sarcasm. "Yeah, right."

Jeffrey waved his hand in front of his wife's face. He raised it high, jerking it downward in a swift motion. She gave him a slap to her cheek. He rushed two fingers forward, only to be blocked by her putting her hand sideways between her eyes. She pushed his downward and waved her fingers in front of his face. Jesse walked up to the register with a diet sprite and a diet coke.

"You two better stop goofing around before I make you," Jesse warned playfully as he put the sodas on the counter.

"We would love to see you try, Jesse," Lindsay said as she and Jeffrey looked at him.

"You decided to get yourself a diet soda, huh?" Jeffrey commented with a laugh.

"I thought I'd get one too," Jesse answered and rubbed his chin. "I don't want to have to come back and get a diet coke later on."

Jeffrey chuckled. "Good thinking."

Lindsay squealed in delight. "For sure!"

Jesse spoke gibberish before letting out a light laugh. Randolph gave him a punch to his arm. Jeffrey typed in the price and looked at the latter.

"That will be three dollars and thirty cents," Jeffrey announced with pride.

"Good show of pride," Lindsay teased while elbowing him in the arm.

"Why, thank you," Jeffrey replied, standing tall and proud.

"Okay. That is enough," Jesse said, getting out his wallet. He opened it to pull out a five-dollar bill. He handed it to Jeffrey as Lindsay placed the drinks in a paper sack. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Jeffrey said and typed in the amount given. He got the change and handed it to him. "One dollar and seventy cents is your change. Thank you. Have a good day."

"You too," Jesse replied, grabbing the sack. "We hope to see you again during our vacation."

"The same goes for you," Lindsay said, giving him a wink.

Jesse and Randolph headed out the door. They went to the van, which was parked at the end of the lot. They got on their respective sides, entering it. They buckled their seatbelts before looking at each other.

"I have to admit that I felt tempted to tell Jeffrey and Lindsay about our suspicions regarding Lilli, running into Brenda, and telling her what we knew at the Kenworth Café," Jesse said, feeling a little nervous.

"Me too," Randolph agreed. "However, it is best that as few people know about what is going on as possible. Someone with a big mouth could overhear us talking about the situation and blab it around. It would reach Dial eventually. He would fire Brenda in order to keep her from finding out if Lilli might be Isabella."

"It is likely he would make sure we couldn't set foot on Northwest Adventure Park's grounds by telling security officers what we looked like," Jesse added.

"That's right," Randolph said, sighing heavily. "If Dial had been convicted and sentenced to jail like he should have, we wouldn't be dealing with this right now."

"You'd think the police would've been for protecting endangered orcas. Unfortunately, they couldn't have cared less," Jesse muttered angrily.

"A number of officers knew Dial back then, including the chief. Almost all of them have been replaced by new ones. The chief is one of them," Randolph said in relief.

"That means we will likely nail Dial this time," Jesse said eagerly.

"Yeah," Randolph said, nodding sharply. "Anyway, let's get to your parents' place. We don't want to keep dinner waiting."

Jesse nodded in agreement. Randolph turned on the engine before emitting a soft snort. He pulled out of the lot and proceeded to go down the street.