Diluted

~29~

Jim walks out onto the balcony of Ember's apartment.

He has a leather jacket, a black t-shirt and some blue jeans on.
His boots are laced up and he's physically ready to go down to the police station.
Mentally though? Not so much.

Jim pulls a cigarette between his lips.
His hands are shaking and he feels itchy.
Jim only smokes on occasion but tonight the urge is strong.
He inhales the toxins and breaths out as he feels himself relax.

Ember left thirty minutes ago to go boxing.
She told him that since she's not going to the station with him, that she wanted to do something to keep herself busy, that way she didn't freak out and have a break down.
Jim agreed that she should stay busy until he was done.

Jim stares out into the dark sky as he exhales.
His eyes travel down to the cloud of smoke and he sighs as he takes a deep breath of the cigarette and then puts it out with his boot.

Jim stuffs his hands into his pockets as he walks to the front door.
He puts his hand on the door knob and he's about to open the door when suddenly Kevin starts jumping up his leg excitedly.

"Hey boy," Jim smiles as he kneels down to pet him.

Kevin barks and nips playfully at Jim's hands.
Jim chuckles and rubs his belly as he rolls over.
Jim's eyes look down the hall and he sees Blackbeard sitting calmly watching them.
Jim chuckles. Blackbeard is always calm and collected.

"Come here Blackbeard," Jim says as he waves to him.

Blackbeard stands up with his nose pointed high in the air as he trots over to Jim.

"Hey," Jim smiles as he rubs Blackbeard's ears.

Blackbeard lets his tongue slide out as he licks Jim's hands.

"I'll be back babies," Jim smiles as he stands up.

He opens the door and motions for Kevin to sit snd stay still.

"Watch over him Blackbeard," Jim smiles.

Blackbeard huffs as he looks over at Kevin but then he nuzzles him and gets him to walk away from the door.

Jim chuckles and locks the door behind him as he walks down the hall and onto the stairway.
His feet walk quickly down the stairs as he walks over to one of his motorcycles.
He swings his legs over it and puts the keys in the ignition.
Jim revs up the engine and then drives quickly down the road towards the local police station. He can feel his nerves coming back and he sighs as he takes a couple deep breaths.
He turns down the lit road as he sees the police station come into view. He can feel himself become hot with anger and he swallows it down.

Jim pulls into a parking spot and turns of the engine to his motorcycle. He sits there for a moment as he collects himself.

Suddenly, Jim's phone buzzes and he looks down at it realizing it's a message from Ember.
He smiles as he opens it.

Ember: I think I've broken a couple of bags already. Love you baby, I'll be home by the time you're done.

Jim chuckles. He's seen Ember box before and she definitely gets aggressive.

Jim sends her a quick message back and then stuffs his phone into his pocket.

He can feel his heart leap into his throat as he walks up to the station and pulls open the doors.
He's aching for a smoke but he knows he probably won't be allowed to smoke inside.
Jim looks around the station and notices it's pretty dead. He walks up to the front desk and a lady smile up at him.

"What can I do for you sir?" She smiles up at him.

"Officer McConners told me to come down this evening," Jim tells her as he scratches the back of his neck.

The lady nods.

"And what is your name?" She asks.

"James Root," Jim tells her.

She presses a button on her com and speaks into it.

"Officer McConners. James Root is here to see you," she speaks into the machine.

The lady motions for Jim to have a seat. Jim walks over to the cheap and dirty looking chairs and sits down on the cleanest looking one.
Jim pulls out his phone to keep him distracted while he waits. He opens up his messages and sees that Ember sent him a picture of the bag she broke.

Jim chuckles.

"James Root," A man's voice says.

Jim looks up and his eyes travel over to the officer.
He stands up and the officer nods and motions for Jim to follow him.

"Mr. Root, thank you for coming down on such short notice," Officer McConners speaks.

"No problem," Jim says as he tries to hide his nervousness.

Officer McConners opens the door to his office and motions for Jim to have a seat.
Jim sits down and Officer McConners takes a seat behind his desk.

"So. The man we were looking for. Matthew correct?" The officer asks.

"Yes that's correct," Jim says.

The officer passes some paper work over to him.

Jim hesitantly picks it up and looks through it.

"In there you will find all the info we have on him and the claims you and your girlfriend have made against him. If you could confirm them that would be great and point out anything that you don't agree with," the officer states.

Jim nods as he reads all the details.
Everything seems right. He's from London. He's 6 feet tall.

Jim looks at the photos and mug shots they have of him.

"Yup this is him. This all looks right," Jim says as he nods his head and pass the file back over to him.

The officer puts the file away.

"Perfect. Now that he is confirmed we need to discuss the terms and conditions of his arrest," McConners states.

"Go ahead," Jim tells him.

"Since he is from out of country we are allowed to hold him until his country claims him. If his country decided to take him back he will face a different set of punishments that will be decided by the laws in his home country. Now we are able to put him in prison for ten years. This is a tricky case considering he's not from here, we will do all we can to keep your girlfriend safe and lock him up but we cannot guarantee anything," the officer explains.

Jim nods.

"If his country does decide to take him back are we able to put a traveling restraint on him so that he can't come back here?" Jim questions.

"Oh of course. In fact that's already been done. He's one then no fly list for this state," the officer tells Jim, "now when he goes to trial, more of this will be up to the judge. He will certainly be going to jail but the judge will have to decide whether he gets bail or not."

Jim nods as he takes everything in.

"Well thank you for catching him," Jim sighs.

The officer nods and stands up.
He reaches out his hand and Jim shakes it as the officer leads him to the door.

"Now we have placed a restraining order on him and Ember so for the time being she will be safe," Officer McConners tells Jim as he opens the door for him.

"Perfect. Thanks again," Jim smiles as he walks out of the building and out to his bike.

Jim's so relieved that he didn't have to actually see Matthew again in person. He doesn't know if he would have been able to keep himself under control.

Jim let's Ember know that he's on his way home. He starts up his bike, speeding off down the road.