Pushed Too Far

False Blame

Summary
Jeremy is taken hostage by Jeff and Tony. Jessica the love of Jeremy's life is beaten by Paul. Barry saves Jeremy and then he and Jeremy save Jessica.
In retaliation, Jeremy beats Jeff and put him in the trunk. He then hits Tony with Jeff's car. He and Barry decide to take Jeff to Barry's cabin leaving the car, Tony, and incriminating evidence for the police to find.
Paul was attacked by the wild boar. Barry shoots him with plans to frame Jeff and Tony for his death.
The police arrest Barry, Jeremy, and Jeff. They're released. Joe discovers a discrepancy in their story

Jeremy's hands tremble, his face turns ghostly white. He wipes the sleep from his eyes as he reads Jessica's text again.

The intruder bangs louder than before. "Berryville PD, open the door, now."

Barry anxiously snatches the phone away.

"I didn't know you were going to do what you did," Jeremy explains as tears swell in his big brown eyes.

There's pounding again. "The place is completely surrounded so come out with your hands up."

A terrified look spreads across Jeremy's face as he nervously shifts his weight. "What... What are we going to do?"

"Stall them as long as you can."

"But I..."

Barry pats Jeremy's back. "Don't worry, son, I got this." He darts down the hall.

Jeremy looks towards the door and then back at Barry not sure what he should do. Horrid images suddenly come to mind. Jeremy first imagines being tossed in a cell. He then pictures brawny men beating him up. The way they did in the movies. He glances towards the bolted back door and then the small windows. There's no way to escape. Tears stream down his pale face.

The intruder bangs again. "This is your final warning. Open the door or we'll break it down."

Jeremy anxiously glances down the hall.

"Go ahead, son, I'm done. We came in at a quarter till one." Barry winks.

Jeremy's entire body quivers as he trudges to the entryway. He turns to find Barry closing the office door.

A large hand grabs Jeremy's collar and pulls him through the door. A second set of hands tosses him on the lawn.

Air explodes from his lungs when he lands. Jeremy looks up to find Paul's brawny gang over him.

***
Joe finds Jerry and Kirk at their desks when he races through the door. He zig-zags around the assortment of furniture to their small section of the station.

"Jerry, find Barry's statement for me."

"Sure thing, boss." He shuffles through a stack of papers. "Is something wrong?" He asks as he hands it over.

"I'm not sure." Joe scans through the report. "It's not here." He tosses the paper on the desk.

"What isn't boss?"

"What time he and Jeremy claim to have made it home."

Kirk glances up from his computer. "He said around midnight I believe, sir."

That's what I thought too. "Do we have his security footage, Kirk?"

"Didn't think we needed it since he and Jeremy were in the clear."

"Has our suspect said anything?"

"Not a lot, boss. He claims he's not sure what happened. Said he recalls he and Jeremy having it out over on Main Street and then waking up in Barry's cabin. Said Barry told him he'd called and asked for a tow, but he doesn't remember making the call."

"Is Jeff in the interrogation room?"

"Yes, sir. Sir, the blood on the clothes found in the trunk belongs to Jeff and the blood matches Paul's."