Free All or Nothing by Natalie Ann

him, but Jake was belligerent. And big. I mean really big, like six foot five, two-sixty maybe. Another officer came down to help, but Jake was causing quite a scene and got even louder when the second officer tried to escort him from the building.”
    “So what’s new there?” Lucy asked.
    “Just that Ben Harper was called in. I heard from Cindy, who heard from Sue, that he must have been out, because he looked really good. They almost didn’t recognize him. He had some fitted shirt on that had half the girls fanning themselves over him.”
    “Focus, Jane,” Presley interrupted, trying to fight the annoyance creeping in over others staring at Ben. “So what is so different from this situation than all the others we’ve seen here? Besides the fact that Ben came in.” Which had to have happened almost immediately after he left her house, since he was still dressed from the date by the sounds of it. And thinking back, that was about when visiting hours were ending.
    “Oh, just that Jake turned more belligerent when Ben showed up. And when Ben approached the situation, one of the officers reached for Jake to try to pull him aside. That is when Jake pulled his arm away, turned and threw a punch at Ben, obviously not realizing who Ben was.”
    Presley tried not to show any reaction. “Did he actually hit Ben?” she asked, praying her voice wasn’t raspier than normal.
    “Yeah, landed a punch right in the jaw.” Jane laughed. “I know I shouldn’t laugh. But that’s why this is such a big deal, at least the story is.”
    Lucy was eying Presley. She knew but refused to make eye contact with her friend. And she was trying not to lose her patience with Jane but really wanted to know what happened to Ben. “And?” Presley asked.
    “Oh, sorry,” Jane said. “Anyway, yes, Jake landed a punch. And Ben barely flinched. His head didn’t even turn. There was dead silence when it happened. Like one of those scenes you see on TV when time freezes and you could hear a pin drop. Then as the story goes, Ben’s eyes turned a whole different shade of mean, though all he did was calmly—but quickly before anyone knew what he was doing—reach out, grab the guy’s arm and had his face up against the wall with an arm behind his back. If you blinked, you missed it,” Jane said, almost excitedly. “The Police Department was just arriving on scene and they cuffed Jake.”
    Trying to control her racing her heart, Presley asked, “Then what?”
    “What do you mean?” Jane asked, confused.
    “What happened to the drunk?” Presley asked. Not that she cared, but she was afraid it would look suspicious if she asked what happened to Ben.
    “Oh. I guess the police took him away after Ben told them to let him get sober in the cell for the night.” Jane stopped and looked at her watch. “And now I need to get back. Talk to you later,” she said, dashing away.
    Lucy looked at Presley. “Are you okay?”
    “Yeah, why?”
    “Your face is white.”
    Presley ignored that comment. “I better go punch in. I’ll talk to you later.” She stood up and walked away before Lucy could ask another question.
    On her way out of the cafeteria she pulled out her phone. She’d had no intention of talking to Ben today, or approaching him. She liked the waiting game they were playing with each other. The unexpected was working for them. But after what she just heard, no, she wasn’t waiting.

Don’t Ask
     
    Ben pulled his phone out of his pocket midstride on his way into the hospital. He was just returning from the police station after filling out more dreaded paperwork. In the end, he didn’t file any charges.
    He knew Jake was distraught. His wife had taken a turn for the worse earlier yesterday. Ben had looked at all the information he could before going to the Police Department. One too many beers, mixed in with grief just aggravated the situation. Not that it was right, but Ben understood.
    Jake had sobered up by the time Ben