Jason Hood

As Jason Hood approached the highway, they met him and several county police officers head-on.

— What happened to you? —Hood asked when he saw Emmett's appearance, with immediate concern in his eyes.

—I'm fine, they just hit me a little. Nothing to worry about Boss. — Emmett replied, trying to downplay the matter.

Seeing Hood, Emmett sighed with relief, as if seeing a necessary backup, and then said to Ethan:

—Ethan, you lead the way.

Ethan nodded as he watched the flashing police lights approaching. He shook hands with several county agents without wasting time on formalities and, accompanied by some of them, began to advance. As they walked, Ethan noticed that the policemen had stayed a few meters behind and, quietly, asked Hood:

— Could you speak to Hood's son?

Hood looked back briefly before answering:

—Yes, he was living in Portland, he got into some trouble and came looking for his father. But when he found out that his father was dead and that I took his identity, he didn't care in the least. I think they didn't get along. In exchange for keeping my secret, he asked me to help him get a new identity.

Ethan pulled some branches out of the way and thoughtfully continued:

— What is your plan?

Some people have a strong sense of family, while others, such as Jason Hood, did not take family ties seriously unless something serious happened. 

—Take the life and identity of your father. I will help you get a new identity, at least I owe you a new beginning.

Ethan looked at him askance.

—Do what you want, but keep in mind the risks, I don't want to get more involved in this than necessary.

—I get it —Hood replied seriously.

As they advanced through the woods, they encountered Brock, who had come together to support them. They soon discovered that the Indians who had gone to the Amish gathering place had already retired, leaving the area completely empty.

They also came across Proctor, whom Ethan reported on the attack on Rebecca by a stranger. After sharing the details, everyone continued the search for the man, although after twenty minutes of unsuccessful tracking, they returned to the starting point, exhausted and without clues.

Hood, frustrated by the lack of results, looked at the forest and, with a sigh of resignation, decided to abandon the search.

Back on the road, Emmett was sitting behind a police car, holding gauze out of the corner of his eye. Ethan raised his hands, clearly impatient.

— Has the ambulance not arrived yet?

Emmett shook his head, visibly upset.

—I don't know what's going on. Alma said they have already been notified, but it seems they are very busy today.

—Forget it, I'll take you myself —Ethan said without hesitation.

Without further words, he put Emmett in the patrol car and took him to the hospital.

When they arrived, he helped Emmett take a seat in the ER. Siobhan appeared from the hallway, worried to see Ethan.

— Are you hurt?

—No, Emmett was hit and slightly injured, but we couldn't find the attacker. —Ethan replied, and then immediately asked — Did Rebecca give you any information?

He knew that Siobhan had taken Rebecca to the hospital, but was not aware of her condition. Siobhan shook his head and handed him a notebook. Ethan flipped through the pages only to find confused and fragmented words. Annoyed, he returned the notebook to Siobhan and, after asking for directions, went to the stairs to find Rebecca's room.

Proctor was standing by the door of the room, his hands crossed and a grim expression. Seeing Ethan, he raised his head.

—Morgan, thanks for saving my niece. — Proctor greeted.

—It is nothing, it is my duty. Can i talk to her — Ethan said, watching Rebecca through the glass window while resting in the hospital bed.

Proctor hesitated for a moment, but then pulled away, allowing him to enter. Ethan approached the bed. Rebecca's face was swollen, but seeing Ethan, her eyes lit up.

— Did you catch that guy? —asked hard.

—No, —escaped, Ethan replied thoughtfully — But maybe you can give me more clues. Why were you alone in the forest? Did the one who suddenly attacked you say something?

Rebecca clenched her teeth in frustration before shaking her head slowly. Ethan looked at Proctor through the glass, his face adopting a serious expression.

—We still can't find your brother, think carefully about what you're going to say.

Rebecca hesitated a moment before speaking, with evident difficulty:

—Okay, but I don't know if it makes sense. When I get to my parents' house, I looked at one of Solomon's friends to see us in the woods, since they can't speak to me. But when I got to the meeting point, there was nobody, and that guy in balaclava came out of nowhere and attacked me.

After saying this, Rebecca took Ethan's hand hard.

—Please don't tell anyone else about this, especially the people at your police station. It's hard enough getting Solomon's friend to speak.

— Do you think it was she who did this to you? —Ethan asked quietly.

Rebecca shook her head.

—No, she is just a little girl.

Ethan, pointing to his clothes, insisted:

—Tell me her name, I'll talk to her.

—No, I can't tell you —Rebecca replied firmly — You don't understand. If they know that she got involved in this, she will be punished. Even if you ask her, she won't tell you anything. But if I accompany you, she will tell me.

—It is getting dark. Early tomorrow we will go together to look for her —Ethan proposed. — What about your injury? —asked, concerned.

—Not a big deal, it's just a few scrapers. —Rebecca said with determination.

Ethan was only able to agree.

That night Ethan went to Bar Davis. He greeted Sugar before looking around the corner of the bar, on a table there was Jason Hood drinking, he was nervous and his leg kept moving. Seeing Ethan, he raised his bottle of beer in greeting.

Sugar, nonchalantly, placed a glass of whiskey in front of Ethan.

—You should already know what's going on, right? —Sugar said.

—I know something. — Ethan replied, taking a sip before walking to Jason Hood's table.

Jason saw him approach and said quickly:

—Sorry, someone is sitting here.

Ethan ignored him, pulled out a chair, and sat down. Slowly he lit a cigarette before taking a drink of his whiskey.

—I saw you today at the police station. You are the police officer, right? —Jason asked, uncomfortable with the silence.

Ethan did not respond immediately. He took a drag from his cigarette, exhaled the smoke slowly, and finally spoke.

—What are you doing here Jason.

Jason, nervous, held his beer bottle with both hands.

—I'm just passing through, I'm not coming to cause trouble.

—Wrong answer —Ethan said, taking another sip of his whiskey before continuing — I know who you are, don't worry, you're among friends.

Jason looked at Sugar, who nodded. Finally, Jason relented.

— A while ago, I did some work in Portland for dangerous people. Something went wrong, and you can only run and come all the way here.

Ethan stared at him.

— Who are they? What went wrong?

—I don't know, I only met a couple of them, but they were part of a gang. I screwed up and now they are looking for me to settle accounts.

Jason looked down, visibly distraught.

—I don't want to cause any more problems. I just want to change my identity and get out of the United States.

Ethan tapped the table with his fingers. This Jason Hood spoke vaguely, his eyes were evasive; he must be hiding something.

—If you are smart, you will stay on the sidelines and in silence. Hood will help you get a new identity, so don't get in trouble until then.

—I know —Jason nodded quickly and showed his palm with a Bondi sticker — The old man has already warned me. You three are in this, right?

—That is none of your business. But if I were you, after drinking this beer, I'd just go back to the motel and stay there until I could leave this place.

Ethan got up, stared at him, and then returned to the bar.

— Do you think it will be a problem? —Sugar served Ethan another glass.

Ethan calmly took the glass, looking at Jason who looked like a lost puppy.

—I know he told me the truth halfway and something is hidden. But I can see the fear in his eyes, whoever is behind him has him terrified.

—He's just a boy, I think he deserves a second chance, not all of us have been in his shoes. —Sugar nodded.

Soon Jason greeted them and left the bar.

After drinking for a while, Ethan's cell phone vibrated in his pants pocket. He pulled out his phone and looked at the screen. A red pop-up window appeared with an exclamation point.

Ethan arched his eyebrows. The security system that Job installed was useful. After closing the popup, you clicked on the monitoring software. The hidden cameras installed by Job had a night vision function, and the various divided screens clearly showed every corner outside the house.

He clicked on one of the split screens to enlarge the view on his phone.

A long-haired woman, dressed in a black suit that girded her figure, appeared on the screen, walking home.

Ethan turned the screen to zoom, he could see the face clearly of the intruder.

— Nola?

Ethan was surprised to discover that the woman who had sneaked into his home was Nola Longshadow. He had a cane on his back and walked cautiously toward the door. After playing with the lock for a while, he opened it and entered.

As if watching a reality show, Ethan suddenly became interested and quickly switched to the inside scene. After Nola entered the house, she touched nothing. After looking around the room, he walked to the sofa on the side of the wall and lay directly behind him.

Seeing his furtive gaze, Ethan couldn't help but laughwhat a spiteful girl. He simply provoked her today and she came to ambush him at home at night.

Fortunately, after approaching the camera, he saw that he only had a retractable cane. She probably didn't want to murder him, she just wanted revenge on the last time I hit her.

Sugar saw Ethan looking at his phone and letting go of an unknown laugh, so he asked curiously:

— Did something interesting happen?

Ethan drank the whiskey in the glass in one gulp, took some bills out of his wallet, and put them on the bar with a smile.

—I'm leaving, I have a date with a beautiful woman tonight.

— Use protection.! 

Sugar shook his head, accepted the money by keeping it at the cash register, and watched Ethan walk out the door with his middle finger raised. On the way home, Ethan kept looking at his phone screen. Nola was really able to maintain her composure and lay hidden behind the sofa, with her round buttocks raised.

Ethan parked the car in front of the house, took out his patrol service Taser and opened the door normally. He watched the movement across the sofa out of the corner of his eye, then walked into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of beer.

He sat on the middle sofa, turned on the television, and tuned in to the sports channel. After a while, Ethan deliberately leaned back on the couch and pretended to snore, while the Taser in his hand pointed at the sofa on the other side.

After the snoring stabilized, Nola quietly rose from the sofa and looked down on him, walked slowly toward him, but just before jumping on him, Ethan suddenly opened his eyes and with a smile on his face pulled the trigger.

After a flurry of electric shocks, Nola fell to the ground trembling in disbelief on her face.

Ethan laughed and jumped off the couch. He took the handcuffs off his belt, turned Nola around, and handcuffed them, then lifted her up and took her out of her house. Nola wanted to fight to free herself, but her entire body was so weak from the discharge that she could only breathe with difficulty.

Ethan came to the tree by the lake, where he had long ago placed a swing, then played with the handcuffs and chained it directly to the swing.

—Fuck you, let me go damn.

Nola fought weakly and stared at Ethan. He patted his butt nonchalantly and entered the house. After a while, he came out with an ice chest and a chair ..

At that time, Nola had regained some strength and was trying to break free, but to no avail. Hearing footsteps approaching, she looked at Ethan angrily, wondering how she had been exposed. 

—This bastard had been waiting for her with a Taser, she knew she's here— Nola thought quickly.

— Do you want a beer? —Ethan opened the box, took out a bottle of beer and offered it to him —

Seeing Nola's fiery eyes, Ethan laughed, withdrew his hand, unscrewed the lid of the bottle, and drank with an arrogant smile.

After drinking half a bottle of beer, he said:

— Do you want me to remind you of the consequences of transferring private property and trying to attack a police officer?

Nola clenched her teeth and said fiercely:

—And what are you going to do, are you going to murder me?

—Please, I'm not that kind of person. — Ethan shook his head, put the bottle down, and took off his shirt.

Nola saw Ethan throw his pants aside. He fought desperately, clenched his teeth thinking the worst — Bastard, what are you going to do ?! If you dare touch me I will kill you!

—Don't worry, I won't do anything to you, it's just a little punishment for entering my house without permission. But is this how you treat whoever saved you in New York? —Ethan winked at Nola, then turned around, ran a few steps, and jumped into the lake with a dip.

— New York? —Nola was stunned for a moment at Ethan's words. Seeing an eye wink at him, something flared up in his memory. Soon his memory traveled remembered the time he saw him on the Amish grounds, when that man had waved, simulating pistols, a pair of pistols. Suddenly, his entire body froze as he put the pieces together.

After a long time, he came to himself. Impossible. Absolutely impossible. How could this guy who had humiliated her several times be the mysterious masked man who got her out of prison?

Nola was still mentally denying, looking at the man swimming in the lake with bright eyes.

After removing the last trace of fatigue in the moonlight, Ethan clung to the small pier and jumped out of the water. He shook his wet and messy light brown hair and stood up, as drops of water fell from his muscular body.

Nola looked at the giant in front of her and her eyes strayed for a moment. Then he thought of something, unceremoniously raised his chin and looked him straight in the eye, but obviously his annoyance and the tone in which he spoke had relaxed.

— Are you usually that rude? You always undress in front of a strange woman.

Ethan took the bottle of beer that was on the cooler and took a sip.

—Well I still have my underwear, right? But you can watch as much as you like.

Nola choked and looked at him with bright eyes.

— What did you mean you saved my life?

—I think you already know that. You know I didn't expect to find you there, tell me how long had you been incarcerated in that place? — Ethan said smiling, showing two rows of white teeth-

After hearing what Ethan said, Nola's pupils shrunk violently. She did not expect the bastard in front of her to actually be the man who saved her from prison, it was a great revelation that this small-town police officer was the mysterious masked man who carried out a massacre in New York.

Nola looked at Ethan and couldn't help but murmur:

— How is it possible?

Ethan bent down to pick up his pants and get the keys out of the handcuffs inside.

—To save your life, could you stop wanting to hit me once and for all? It has been a very long day and I don't feel like continuing to deal with you.

After he removed the handcuffs, Nola moved the sore wrists, but did not attack him but moved to the cooler and took out a bottle of beer, after discovering that he was the one who had saved her, Nola had no intention of continuing attacking. He sat next to her while he had his gaze on the lake in front of her with a complicated expression.

Ethan next to her turned to look at her, and couldn't help but notice the Indian jewelry necklace on Nola's collarbone and asked curiously:

— What is this on your neck? Does it have any special meaning?

Nola could feel the heat radiating from her body and couldn't help but feel a little nervous

—It has a special meaning.

— Can I know what it is?

—Which is a nice accessory.

Ethan spat out the beer, not expecting this cold Indian beauty to make a joke. Seeing Ethan's embarrassed gaze, the corners of Nola's mouth rose slightly.

— Why did you save me in New York?

Ethan dried his mouth and said:

—I just wanted to do it, there was no particular reason. 

—You and I are not friends, I don't think you risked your life just on a whim. —Nola raised her head and took a sip of beer, her jaw was still perfect.

—I also don't think we are enemies.

Ethan answered him casually and took a cigarette out of his pants pocket.

— Do you want one?

—No, I don't smoke. —Nola said shaking her head.

—Thank you.- whispered.

—Sorry, didn't I hear what you said clearly? —Ethan deliberately mocked her.

Unexpectedly, Nola pursed her lips, turned her face, and said seriously:

—Thank you.

This left Ethan a little puzzled:

—You're welcome, it was nothing, don't take it so seriously.

—Maybe it is for you, but not for me. I owe you my life and I will pay for it.

Nola grabbed her long, silky hair back and then handed her the bottle. Ethan understood and touched the edge of the bottle with her toasting both, now they were at peace.

— How were you jailed?

— What are you doing in New York?

The two asked in unison and then extended their hands at the same time. Another coincidence made them both smile and the atmosphere on the scene became harmonious.

Nola asked leaving the other topic behind, since apparently none wanted to talk about it:

—You caught Tommy Littlestone today, did you manage to get something out of him?

—No.

Ethan dried the water droplets from his body and said:

—Tommy is not a murderer. I have questioned him. He doesn't seem like a person who can commit murder.

Nola looked at him and smiled.

—You also captured Chayton. It must have taken a lot of effort, right?

—Okay, is he your friend? —Ethan shrugged.

Nola jumped off the swing and said:

—No, he can do many things, but he did not murder Lana.

— How do you know?

—Just think of him as a purist, he would never kill a girl from the tribe.

After Nola finished her sentence, she walked into darkness with her long legs.

Watching his figure drift away, Ethan quietly drank the beer in his hand.

The next morning, as soon as Ethan entered the police station, he saw Chayton taunting Emmett.

—These white people enslaved your ancestors and plundered your land, but you put on their uniforms. Great black man, can I ask you how you face yourself when you wake up every morning?

Ethan walked directly into the iron cage with no expression on his face, threw his cane and hit him hard, causing the cage to emit a loud "ding" sound.

—If I were you, I'd keep my mouth shut.

Chayton looked at Ethan with a smile and spat aside.

Saying nothing, Ethan immediately took the keys around his waist, but Emmett hugged him.

—Not worth Ethan, just leave it.

He smiled again and said to Chayton:

—You know, I wake up every morning, and I feel very happy when I think about locking up trash like you in prison.

Chayton grabbed the iron cage and shook it with a somber expression, then lay on the bed breathing deeply.

—How you feel — Ethan slapped Emmett on the shoulder.

—Okay. I'm already used to it.

Emmett smiled at him, gauze still attached to the corners of his eyebrows.

Ethan asked:

— Why didn't you take the day off the Chief gave?

—Okay, it's just a few points. I used to be on the school soccer team, so this is nothing.

Emmett showed off his big white teeth and flexed his biceps.

At that moment, Hood leaned out of the office.

—Everyone come in, I'll assign your homework for today.

They all cheered up, got up, and entered the Sheriff's office.

— Has there been any progress? Give me good news —Hood applauded.

After a moment of silence, Brock coughed.

—From yesterday's statement, you know that Solomon has a friend who was expelled from the tribe and now lives in an old building in Delafield. If Solomon hides, he could have sought refuge with his old friend.

—All right, you and I will go find that person later.

Hood nodded; this was at least one direction.

Ethan raised his hand and made a gesture:

—I'm looking for Rebecca today, maybe you can tell me more about who attacked her yesterday. 

—Okay, do you need someone to come with you?

—No, I'm fine on my own.

Ethan shook his head and rejected Hood's proposal. Rebecca originally wanted to do it alone today, and if she carried someone, it would have the opposite effect.

After Siobhan and Emmett expressed that they had no new discoveries, Hood asked them to stay at the police station and dismissed the meeting.

Ethan took his equipment, got into the police car, and drove to Rebecca's house.

After waiting for a while at the side of the road, Rebecca hurried out of the house in a black dress and got in the car. After a restful night, the swelling on his face had almost disappeared.

After sitting firmly, Ethan stepped on the gas and advanced.

They soon arrived at the Amish meeting place. Under Rebecca's command, the police car parked next to a bush, with a wooden house far from the sight of the Amish

—Stay here, I'll go see her, if she sees you she'll be scared.

After Ethan nodded, Rebecca opened the car door and ran forward with light steps.

He ran near the house and hid behind a carriage.

After Ethan smoked some cigarettes out of boredom, he looked at his watch and saw that more than half an hour had passed.

This is an Amish girl wearing a traditional black dress and a white gauze scarf that came from the side of the house.

Rebecca took the girl by surprise and pushed her behind the carriage.

Ethan straightened, drummed his fingers on the wheel and looked expectantly.

After Rebecca spoke to the Amish girl for a few minutes, she turned around with an angry expression on her face, grabbed her cell phone, spoke for a few seconds, and then ran to Ethan.