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Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run
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Chapter 395 Call Out
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Normally the police chief and the deputy police chief alternated weeks for call outs. Charming being the safe city that it was, call outs were only necessary a couple of times a month. Since Unser's battle with cancer, Hale had been taking all call outs to help him out.
When he got the call out that there had been a shooting and then was given Tara's address, his heart stopped for a moment. He was relieved to find out the body was Joshua Kohn and not Tara.
He took the piece of pizza on his plate and returned it to the pizza box. He gulped down the last of his Pepsi. He would have preferred an icy bottle of beer, but the downside to being subject to call out was not drinking. There was no way he would ever arrive to a crime scene with alcohol on his breath.
He immediately responded not bothering to change from his jeans and red plaid cowboy shirt. There was a little touch of the Old West in Hale's heart. Sometimes he longed for a day without all the complications of modern life. This was going to be one of those times.
Officer Candy Eglee, a blonde blue-eyed police officer who was hands down the prettiest of the two female officers working in Charming PD, was waiting for Hale when he rolled up to the crime scene in his police cruiser.
"Sir, before you go inside, I want to show you something I found," she said.
Hale followed her around to the back of the house. She turned on her flashlight and showed him the broken window.
"Looks like he gained access to the house through the window."
"Good work," Hale said.
He was relieved that Kohn had broken into Tara's house. He really wanted the shooting to be self-defense. He would hate to arrest Tara for murder. He felt guilty enough over the way he'd handled the Kohn situation. Obviously something had gone wrong.
He walked into the house and headed for the bedroom. The officer there explained what he found when he responded. Kohn was slumped against the wall both eyes open.
He looked at the bed and felt cold chills run up his spine when he saw the holster for Kohn's gun on the nightstand and blood on the bed. He saw a blood trail that showed him standing up, walking before slumping against the wall.
From the blood in the bed it looked to him like there was a struggle over the gun and a shot was fired. A second one was fired sometime later.
After looking at the crime scene for a few more minutes and talking to the officer, he was ready to talk to Tara. There was no way getting around it, he would have to bring her down to the station for a formal interview. He needed to handle this perfectly to avoid a charge of bias. Tomorrow, he would talk to Unser about it.
When he put Tara in his car, he let her sit in the front seat and not in the back seat cage area. Her face was deathly pale and she looked scared. With a little effort, he could find himself falling for her all over again. He'd had a two year crush on her back in high school. Unfortunately, she was already going out with Jax.
He put her in a small gray painted interview room with a small rectangular shaped table, a couple of chair and a small gray plastic trash can.
"I'll be right back," he said.
He returned carrying two bottles of water, a box of Kleenex and a tape recorder. It was going to be difficult interview.
"I'm going to record the interview, but first I'm going to read you your rights just to protect you and the investigation," Hale said. He pulled the Miranda warning card from his wallet and read the warning letting her know she was entitled to an attorney.
"Was that really necessary?"
"It's for your protection so that you know that you can have an attorney with you. It doesn't mean you're going to be . . ." his voice trailed off.
"I feel like I'm going to throw up," she whispered.
Swiftly Hale picked up and thrust the hard plastic trash can in her hands barely in time for her to throw up.
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Author's Note: The Old West and cowboy reference with Hale is a tribute to Taylor Sheridan and his hot career. His new TV series which he helped create, write and direct (like KS) Yellowstone on the Paramount network is returning for its third season possibly in May. Like Kurt Sutter, his role is largely behind the scenes. It's set on a modern cattle ranch. Some of those that worked on SOA are working mostly in behind the scenes roles on this show.
He's written the well reviewed movie Sicario as well as the Oscar nominated movie Hell or High Water set in the contemporary West. He also did a reality show The Last Cowboy.
It's ironic that his career is on the rise while other SOA cast members including Kurt Sutter have faced some serious setbacks.