Dean's pov
"Are you serious?" Alex scoffed. "You gotta be fucking joking."
"When it comes to my job, I don't joke," I replied sternly, slapping a pair of cuffs on him.
"What the fuck?" Alex protested. "You're seriously gonna arrest us just for goofing around and havin' some fun?"
"You're not under arrest," I calmly informed Amy's oldest, as I cuffed Daniel too and escorted both of them to my patrol car. "Not yet anyway. You're currently just being detained and taken down to the station for questioning. And watch your mouth," I added. "You're speaking to an officer of the law right now, not your mom's boyfriend."
"Mom's gonna be pissed, ya know," Alex informed me, as I told him to watch his head while guiding him into the backseat.
"You should've thought of that before you put yourself in such a dangerous situation by going along with your stupid friends as they drove like maniacs down the highway," I retorted, without an ounce of sympathy.
"I mean, she's gonna be pissed at you, moron," Alex sneered smugly, as I slammed the backdoor.
I swear this kid is gonna be the death of me. It's taking every ounce of restraint harnessed in my hot body right now not to throttle this kid, but I don't want to be charged with police brutality. That comes with a whole mountain of paperwork, amongst other Internal Affairs headaches and desk duty. Sure as Hell don't want that. I couldn't stand being in such close proximity to my boss day in and day out for my entire shift. Yikes! I shuddered, imagining that nightmare scenario.
I'm pretty sure whipping him with my belt while on duty would not be considered using acceptable force either. When I get off duty, however, that's a whole 'nother story. Alex's behavior today certainly crossed a line. Amy's not gonna be able to save his ass this time. Nah ah. It's been a long time comin' and tonight that kid's gonna get his just desserts as my leather belt leaves an indelible impression on his cocky, belligerent, wise crackin' behind.
I radioed for another car to come pick up the kids who were currently waiting nervously in the backseat of Daniel's mom's car as Cass kept an eye on them. Flipping through the radio stations, I finally settled on the only one playing classic rock, making myself comfortable since I knew we were gonna be here for awhile. The other deputies are most likely still tied up pursuing Daniel and Alex's friends. Hopefully nobody gets injured when all is said and done. That's the best outcome I can wish for.
"You really gotta have us handcuffed for this?" Alex asked in a snotty tone.
"I thought I told you to keep your mouth shut," I replied, not in the mood to put up with anymore of his pissy attitude.
"Whatever," Alex replied dismissively.
"No, not whatever," I said, raising my voice. "Just do it and keep quiet."
Thirty-eight minutes later, we were back at the station and my patience had worn paper thin.
"You each need to get your mother on the phone and tell her to come down here to pick you up. Now!" I sternly ordered Alex and his friend, pointing them toward Becky's desk after I uncuffed them.
"You really want me to call my mom, your girlfriend, right now and tell her you handcuffed her oldest son and dragged him and his friends down to the sheriff's station for absolutely no good reason, other than the fact you want to flex your muscles like a big man?" Alex asked, with an incredulous look on his face.
"Did I stutter?" I asked facetiously, parroting my annoying boss. Picking up the phone receiver on Becky's desk, I reiterated, "Call your mother."
"Your funeral," I heard him mutter under his breath.
I exhaled slowly, running my hand down my face before placing it on my hip as I glared at my soon to be step-son. Amy won't be mad at me. Will she? Great, now I'm second guessing myself thanks to Alex. I shouldn't let the kid get in my head like this.
"Mom, I'm at the sheriff's station. Dean says you have to come and pick me up," I heard Alex say into the phone. I couldn't hear Amy's response though. "I didn't do anything, Mom. Dean's just being a jerk. He handcuffed me and my friends and dragged us down here for no reason," Alex stated, frowning in my direction. "Alright fine," he replied, to whatever Amy said. Holding the phone out to me, he said, "She wants to talk to you."
"Hey," I said, greeting my lady in a weary tone to match my mood.
"Dean, what the Hell is going on? You handcuffed my son!" she shouted at me in an even mixture of disbelief and anger.
Sighing heavily before responding, I thought to myself, I knew this wasn't gonna be easy but for some reason I held onto the tiniest bit of hope anyway.
"I don't appreciate your tone, Amy. If you'd..." I started to say before she cut me off.
"You don't appreciate my tone?" she shouted back in an accusatory, aggressive manner. "You arrested my son for chrissake, Dean. I think I deserve an explanation. Don't you?" She was pissed, beyond pissed really and it wasn't helping my mood.
"Just get down here and pick up your son, ma'am. When you arrive, I'll have a deputy explain why he was detained as you complete the required release forms," I stated, in the most professional, non-confrontational tone I could muster.
Ignoring Amy's repeated shouts of, "Dean, Dean!" I hung up the phone. I didn't want to give Alex the satisfaction of seeing me lose my temper with her because then he'd think she was taking his side over mine, plus I needed to save face in front of my colleagues. I can't have my woman yelling at me like that. They'll think I'm weak and then they won't respect my command.
Twenty minutes later, Amy arrived.
Bursting through the door, she immediately begins screaming at me, "Dean, what the Hell? You arrest my son! You hang up on me and then ignore my calls and texts! What the Hell is the matter with you!?" Now noticing her son sitting in a chair by Becky's desk, she greets him, saying, "Hi baby, are you alright?" in a sickeningly sweet tone of voice.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Mom," Alex grumbles, briefly acknowledging his mother before turning his attention back to his cellphone.
Taking advantage of the distraction, I grabbed my lady firmly by the elbow and growled lowly in her ear, "Get in my office now!" It's not really my office but they dont need to know that. I share the office with a couple other deputies who thankfully are out on patrol right now, allowing us some much needed privacy to have this conversation. Glaring at her son, no longer concerned about losing my temper, I said, "Both of you," as I pointed angrily toward the door.
Thankfully they both kept their mouths closed as they reluctantly complied.
Slamming the door shut, pointing to two chairs in front of one of the desks, I barked, "Sit down! Both of you!" When Amy started to protest, I quickly silenced her by sternly ordering, "You're gonna listen to me now!" In hindsight, I shouldn't have slammed my door. Sheriff Crowley doesn't like that. Luckily, I don't think he's here right now.
"Dean, would you please just tell me what is going on?" Amy asked in a much softer and calmer tone than she was using previously.
After explaining everything to Amy while silencing her son's interjections multiple times, I think I finally got my point across, making it known this was not done without cause.
"I can't believe this, Alex!" Amy stood as she angrily confronted her son. "How long have you and your friends been drag racing and driving like maniacs on route 30?"
"I didn't know that's what he was gonna be doin', Mom," Alex replied, pretty unconvincingly in my opinion.
"That's not the story Daniel tells," I lied, pretty convincingly, I think. I have no idea what Daniel told my colleagues but Alex doesn't know that. "He said this has been a pretty regular thing for awhile now."
"How long have you been doing this, Alex?" Amy asked, quite incensed by her son's appalling lack of good judgment. "Answer me!" she shouted impatiently, when he didn't immediately respond.
Sighing, still unconcerned, her son replied, "It's no big deal, Mom. We were just having fun and goofin' around and then your boyfriend went all ballistic and totally freaked out on us." Rubbing his wrists, which held no marks from the loosely placed cuffs by the way, he tried to garner her sympathy, saying, "Like full on police brutality stuff, cuffin' us and shovin' us in his patrol car. Completely ridiculous. This is bullshit," he grouched, slumping down in his chair.
"Watch your mouth and answer your mother's question," I ordered her brash son.
Alex rolled his eyes at me and crossed his arms over his chest.
"How long, Alex?" Amy questioned sternly, as she stood before him, tapping her foot impatiently.
"I don't know, Mom. A month maybe. What's the big deal anyway?" he replied, clearly angry and annoyed.
"A month!?" Amy shouted in disbelief. "I can't believe you've been doing something so beyond stupid and reckless, not to mention incredibly dangerous, for a month now. What were you thinking?" she asked rhetorically, knowing he obviously wasn't thinking, or he wouldn't have gone along with his friends on their idiotic escapades.
"Whatever," Alex grumbled. "Can we go now?"
"Ugghhh!" Amy yelled in frustration, as she threw her hands up in defeat. "I just don't know what to do with you anymore. I don't know how to get through your thick skull how badly you could've gotten hurt. What you did was against the law, Alex! You could've gotten yourselves or some other poor innocent people on the road killed because of your stupid shenanigans!" Pacing the floor agitatedly, she shook her head sadly and reiterated, "I just don't know."
"I have a pretty good idea what might get through to him," I replied, firmly grabbing my belt buckle with both hands as I locked eyes with the boy.