Chapter 3 bunny boiler

Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute which, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.

Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing

There were no windows in the interview room and Jake was not sure he was allowed to leave yet. He just sat and waited patiently, he had faith in Charlie to do the right thing. He was very glad his future was not in the hands of the deputy.

The door opened and Charlie came in. He looked at the pad, pointed at the base of the last page. "Signature and date."

Jake signed it. Charlie took the pad from the table and left again without a word.

Jake thought about asking for a lawyer but he hadn't been charged with anything, so he just waited.

Charlie came back in and told him he was free to go. Jake asked if he could phone Embry to come collect him. The deputy made a comment about him being tired and couldn't he run back to his tepee from here. Jake and Charlie exchanged a look.

Jake made his call and asked Embry to collect him from the diner.

When he got outside he breathed more easily. He walked to the diner and sat on one of the seats outside and waited.

Embry drove past, parked in the car park and jogged over to him.

"What the fuck?"

"Did Charlie call you?"

"Yeah, he asked me what happened at the club last night. I could only tell him up until you left. I never saw you leave." Embry looked at him. "Jake what is going on?"

"I think that girl from last night tried to have me charged with something."

"Shit! The one you refused? She went all fatal attraction on you?"

"Guess so," Jake rubbed his face, "Maybe I should lay off the nightclubbing for a while."

"Yeah and protect your bunny."

Jake laughed. He needed a laugh. He put his arm around Embry's shoulder. "Take me home Embry, take me home."

When he got home he had a shower; he felt dirty. He assumed that Charlie would contact him somehow to let him know unofficially what was going on. He filled his Dad in with as much information as he knew himself.

Jake didn't have a job but he took in mechanical work for money. He was the cheapest and best mechanic in the area. It also allowed him to work whatever hours suited him. He was hoping to pool his money with Embry and Quil and maybe open a proper garage one day. He remembered telling Bella all about his plans for the future that day when he still had hopes for her being in his future too.

It was the only plan they had at the moment. Being in the pack meant their future would have to include staying near La Push.

It was early evening when Billy shouted out to him from the house. Bella was on the phone for him.

"Hey, Bells."

"Are you free, can you come over now?"

"Sure sure."

"Just so as you know, Charlie is here too. He said to tell you that but I have no idea why."

"Okay, no, I understand. I'll see you soon. Hey does that include dinner?" he asked eagerly.

"Only for you," she promised.

He eagerly made his way over to Paul and Bella's. His dad headed off somewhere else. He could smell dinner from the road. He let himself in and found them all in the kitchen. People often sat in the kitchen while Bella cooked.

Charlie actually leapt to his feet when Jake entered. He reached out and shook his hand.

"I wanted to apologise for that mess today."

"It's okay Charlie, it wasn't your fault."

"What the hell is going on?" Bella demanded.

"I got taken in for questioning," Jake explained, "in the patrol car and everything."

Bella looked at Charlie. "Dad?" He shook his head.

"Bunny boiler," explained Jake. Paul winced.

"A what?" Bella looked confused. "I don't understand."

"Jeez woman," Paul said, "I love you, but you have got to get more up to date pop culture references."

"What?" said Bella.

"Fatal Attraction?" Paul tried. No light dawned. He rolled his eyes. "It's a movie where this guy has an affair with a woman and she goes all psycho on him. In one scene she boils the family's pet rabbit on the stove."

"Eww," said Bella.

"I refused someone at the club and she complained… to the police," Jake finished.

Bella glared at Charlie.

"Look I didn't believe it," he argued, "but it had to be investigated. As it was none of her story matched up with anybody else's. I have no idea why she thought she could get away with it." But then he squared his shoulders. "And besides, young man, what were you doing in licensed premises at that hour of the evening when you are underage?"

"Attracting the attention of the wrong kind of women?" Jake suggested.

"Humph," said Charlie.

"So what was the clincher?" asked Paul. "What proved Jake was telling the truth?"

"Oh, the car. She said they drove to her place in the Rabbit but Jake left the keys with Embry and," he paused for emphasis, "ran home."

"Jeez you have to lose that car, Jake," Paul argued.

Charlie was looking confused as to why nobody had questioned Jake's ability to run 70 miles in a night.

"Besides which, you are so tall now it looks like one of those little red clown cars when you get out of it. You look ridiculous, man. No wonder she remembered the car."

"Yeah I know. I just can't afford anything else right now."

"Sell it and stick with the motorbike."

"The guys use it too, you know. Are you going to be lending them the red truck when they want to go clubbing?"

"Hey, that would work. Throw a mattress in the back and you would be good to go," Paul suggested.

"Eww," said Bella again, "No one is having sex in the back of my truck." Paul gave her a look and she jerked her head at Charlie and frowned at him. He just grinned. "Everybody go and wash your hands while I serve dinner," she instructed.

During the meal, Charlie commented, "well at least one good thing has come out of all this," he paused, "That deputy is on the forced transfer list; he is gone. I don't want someone like that in this area. He could cause far more problems than he would solve."

"His behaviour today gave me enough reason to get him out of here, but," he shrugged, "Now I am down a man."

"What…?" asked Bella.

"He is a bigot and a racist and to top it all off, he is an idiot," Charlie explained.

"Sam," Jake cut in.

"Excuse me?" asked Charlie.

"Sam Uley," Jake looked at Paul. "He'd be perfect! He is smart, strong, he does not take shit from anybody, but he has this amazing sense of self control. He is eternally patient and he would be your instant community liaison officer."

Charlie looked thoughtful. "You know that would work. Do you think he would take the job?"

"Ask him," from Paul, "you never know until you ask."

They continued eating.

"It's your fault she has no pop culture references, Charlie," Paul pointed out.

"Oh no, her mother is responsible for that. I took care of the sports statistics training." He sounded pleased with himself.

"What?" argued Paul, "She knows NOTHING about sports!"

"Hey! Sitting right here," from Bella.

Later when Charlie had gone, Paul and Jake had a discussion over the washing up about just how useful it would be to have a wolf in the police force.

"Imagine," crowed Paul, "He'd be first on any gruesome murder scene; he'd still be able to scent vamps so he could tell instantly if it was an 'animal attack' or not as the press is always fond of referring to them as..."

"Yeah," Jake agreed," he could smell vamp before the scene got all trodden over by everybody else; plus with the tracking skills he has learnt…"

"Will he take it?" asked Paul "I mean policing is a dangerous job."

"Compared to being a werewolf and fighting vampires; piss easy. And if he keeps even a fraction of his strength and speed he is going to be strong and fast enough to stay out of trouble…"

"Or take trouble down before it hurts him."

"And he gets to wear a uniform," put in Bella in a dreamy voice. The boys had almost forgotten she was at the table reading a manuscript.

Paul's eyes narrowed. "Humph," he said.

She caught his look. "It's genetic," she blustered, "my father is a cop…"

"Eww," said Jake and Paul.

FF_2154210_ - 17/11/2010 03:18:00 AM