Keep You

~Jeff~
“Hardy, you have a visitor,” a police officer said. I glanced up to see it was Matt, Mark and Paul beside him.

“I’m not saying what I did was wrong,” I said, leaning my head back and covering my eyes with my arm.

“We’re not saying it was,” Paul replied, causing me to look back up at him. “We’re here to tell you that. We all know why you did it, you was protecting your family. You had every right to shoot that bastard. We just have to get the story straight so we can prove it was defense and not premeditated.”

“The guy broke into my house to attack my wife. He had a fucking gun to my daughter’s head when I looked in. I had the gun hidden in the kitchen where the kids couldn’t get to, so I grabbed it and fired it at him. End of story.”

“There’s gaps in that story Jeff,” Matt said, as another officer brought them three chairs to sit on. “Why did you have the gun in the first place?”

“Do you honestly think that after what happened to Riley in the hospital that I was going to go without backup protection for them? Fuck no I wasn’t. I got the thing from Dad, telling him exactly what it was for.”

“Why did you think you would need it though?” Paul asked.

“I don’t fucking believe this,” I muttered, standing up and facing a corner of the cell. “You do fucking realize you’re sounding like you’re interrogating me right now. I did nothing wrong! I just protected my fucking family, something these assholes here was never able to do!”

“Jeff, we’re on your side,” Matt said, standing up and leaning his arms against the bars. “Come here Jeffrey,” he said. I just looked over at him, not wanting to get to close because I knew my temper was at boiling point. “Get over here Jeffrey,” Matt repeated.

“No, you don’t want me near you right now,” I muttered, throwing myself back on the cot they called a bed.

“Just get your ass over here, you won’t fucking touch me because that’ll be another charge against you.” Matt snapped. I knew he was right, but I still didn’t want to be near him with my temper on high.

“Jeff,” Mark’s voice was calm, way more calmer than I’ve ever heard it. Somehow my temper died a little with it. I looked over at him, seeing the steadiness he had in his eyes, and compared to Matt’s frustrated gaze, I found more calm in Mark’s eyes than my own brother’s.

“We’re all on your side.” he said, sitting forward in his chair. “Do you know what your wife is doing right as we speak?”

“No fucking clue,” I replied, throwing my hands in the air.

“She’s talking to lawyers to find the best one to help you with your case. Your kids are willing to testify, fucking eight years old and William is willing to sit on the stand, if it means helping you get out of here. No eight year old should have to be willing to do that, or would even be willing to.”

“You got those kids through nearly losing their mother Jeff,” Paul said, almost as gently as his brother. “They don’t want to only have to visit you with you being behind a bulletproof glass. We’re here trying to find out what we can to help, we’re not accusing you of anything. We’re just trying to get the facts.”

“I just told you all of the facts,” I said, letting my head fall into my hands. “I got the gun from Dad so I could have it handy in case I needed it. With what happened to Riley in the hospital, I knew he was bound to show up at the house. I found him threatening my wife and my children, so I grabbed the gun just to scare him off. When I came back he had the gun to Kylie’s head. I reacted the only way I could think of. I fired the gun at him, only wanting to wound him. I didn’t want to kill him, but it’s what happened, now my wife is safe. I don’t care if I spend the rest of my life in prison, I at least know my family is now safe from that fucking prick.”

“That’s all there is to it?” Paul asked. I nodded, rubbing my forehead with my hand.

“Hey, time’s up.” the officer that brought them back said.

“Jeff, come here,” Matt said. Since my temper was down, I walked up to the bars. He grabbed my hands and looked me straight in the eyes. “We’re going to get you out of here. You’re not going to be locked away for the rest of your life. We’ll prove you justifiable in this, and you will be home with your family. I promise you that bro.” If it wasn’t for the bars in between us, I would of hugged him as hard as I could. But all I could do was nod as a tear fell from my eye.

“I love you bro, we’re going to help you.” Matt said before leaving. Mark and Paul quickly said goodbye before they were forced away from the cell. I watched them leave, my breathing uneven as I sat back down on the cot. The only thing I could think of before I somehow drifted to sleep was my wife and kids, and how much I wished I could see them again.

~Riley~
“Can we go visit Dad?” Will asked me as I rubbed my eyebrows. I glanced up at the clock on the wall, and sighed.

“Sorry buddy, not today. Visiting hours are over,” I told him. He pouted slightly, but accepted the answer. Kylie walked into the room, followed by her cousin Jason.

“Hey Aunt Ri, I was going to take Will and Kylie to go see a movie, do you want to go?”

“No, I have stuff to do here. You three go, have fun.” I replied, shuffling through the papers on the counter in front of me. I heard the door shut and Jason’s car pull out of the driveway before I let myself break down. I cried harder than I ever have, and it scared me. With fear, my thoughts turned bad, so I quickly grabbed the phone and called Matt’s house. He arrived a few minutes later, finding me in a corner of the kitchen with my knees drawn to my chin.

“I can’t keep thinking like this Matty, but I can’t stop it,” I cried as he kneeled down beside me.

“Where’s the kids?” he asked in reply, looking around.

“J-Jason took them to see a movie, to get their minds off of everything.” I replied, rocking back and forward as Matt grabbed my hands. He forced me to stand up and sit on a chair at the counter, making sure I was facing him.

“Riley, you can’t lose it like this. I went to see Jeff with your father and uncle remember? He’s bad, he’s going to end up losing his mind in that place if we can’t convince the DA that all he did was protect you and kids. He was losing his temper very easily with me, and that’s not him. We need you to stay strong Riley, so that we can bring Jeff home.”

“I know, I know you need me to not have a freak out, but Matt, what if we can’t convince the DA? I’ll lose my husband, the kids will lose their father, I that can’t happen Matty, it can’t. I’ll die if that happens.”

“It’s not going to,” Matt replied, even more gently. “It’s not going to happen Riley, you know why? Because we have a former police officer on his side who knows what happened. We have three eyewitness accounts if it comes to it. He’ll get off, he’ll come home. Just wait and see.” I nodded, but I still couldn’t help but think that he might now get off as easily as Matt was claiming. I knew this was going to be a long drawn out battle, and I could only hope I was strong enough to go through it all.