Branded by the Badge

Chapter 3

Russell Randall was silently fuming. No one touched his property without his permission. He had already planned to take Leilland down, but now, he had other plans. The judge would suffer. He would end the man's career completely for touching want didn't belong to him, for daring to think that he could push the boundaries of their agreement. Russell had taken the stairs while Leilland and Marlena took the elevator. He'd reached the floor of their room at the same time as they did, standing outside the elevator with both hands on his service weapon, at the ready as the bell dinged and the doors opened, revealing Marlena pinned to the wall of the elevator, her dress hiked up, Leilland's hand in her hair and his face in her cleavage. It was clear on the woman's face that his advances were not welcome. Thinking quickly, Russell pulls his phone out of his chest pocket and snaps several photos, catching one as well when Leilland backhands Marlena for trying to get away. "I suggest to back the fuck away, Leilland. You see, I was simply going to send a little message. Tell you to stop messing in things that were none of your concern, but now, I think I'll kill two birds with one stone." He holds out his hand to Marlena, an unfamiliar protective instinct rising inside of him as he looks her over. She looked mostly unharmed except for the bruise on her face from the judge's backhand. Luckily it seemed he had gotten to her before anything else had happened. He pulls her behind him and winks at her. "Nice touch, Doll." He chuckles. He couldn't let her think that he cared. He couldn't let her realize he had actually for once second worried about her. He hears footsteps coming down the hallway and has a split second to decide between two choices. One, he could keep this quiet and use the photos as blackmail, making sure that Valenciano had the judge in his pocket for a good, long while. Two, he could slaps cuffs on the judge, play the hero, let his photo get taken "saving" the damsel in distress. The latter would boost his votes and draw any unwanted attention away from him. No one would dare look too deeply into the local hero that saved an innocent woman from a lecherous judge with a list of abused women a mile long. In the blink of an eye, he made his decision, pulling his cuffs from his belt, and gripping the judge by the arm, turning his around and shoving him into the wall face first, kicking the man's legs apart and cuffing his hands together. "You have the right to remain silent you piece of shit. You want to take advantage of defenseless women? Not in my fucking county!" He barks out, making sure it's loud enough that the couple coming down the hall to their room could hear. He grins behind the judges head when he notices them recording on their phones. Perfect. 

Marlena was shocked by what was happening in front of her. She had to bite back a laugh at the irony once again. Here was a man that used his power, his position, to extort sexual favors from her, to have her run drugs and money for him constantly, arresting Judge Leilland and condemning him for doing the same. If she wasn't so shaken from everything that had happened that evening, she would have walked up to Russell and slapped him right across the face, but she couldn't move. Her legs were shaking too badly. She felt someone cover her with a coat and looked up to see Russell standing there, his County issue coat being draped over her shoulders as he rubs her arms. "It's alright, Miss De La Cruz. As soon as my deputy comes, I'll get you home. Judge Leilland's going straight to county lock up. He won't be able to hurt you again." He says in a soft, sugary sweet voice that she wasn't use to hearing. It made her feel sick. Almost sicker than the feeling of Leilland's lips and hands on her. This whole night had her mind threatening to splinter. Her body was shaking. She couldn't take anymore of this. She looks up at Russell with tears in her eyes. "I can't. I can't Russell." At that exactly moment, Russell's deputy comes down the hall, and Russell breathes a sigh of relief. He could sense that Marlena was at her breaking point. He needed to get her out of here before she started to spill secrets that didn't need to be spilled. As soon as he briefs Keith on the situation and is sure that the younger man has the judge under control, he wraps his arms around Marlena and picks her up in his arms, carrying her to the elevator, holding her close. To her credit, she doesn't fight him, all of the fight had left her at this point. He has a brief moment of weakness as the elevator closes and leans down, placing a soft kiss to her lips. "You did good, baby. Just a little more and we'll get you home." He gives her a soft, almost genuine smile. As the elevator door opens on the bottom floor, they're greeted with the a reporter from every news and television crew in the county. They sure respond quick. He carries her out, glaring at them as they block his way. "The Sheriff's office will have a full press release in the morning. At this time, Presidio County Sheriff's office will not be making a statement." He states firmly, his voice monotone as he carries her to his SUV. He buckles her in and hits the lights, speeding off to her apartment, grinning as he watches the townspeople waving and clapping as he drives by. Two birds with one stone. He'd just firmly secured the Sheriff's seat for the next several years and sent a very clear message to Leilland and anyone else who would think about opposing Valenciano. Not bad for a night's work.