Free Savage Rage by Brent Pilkey

Ted’s blubbering. But he decided to stay put. Fuck this cop and his crisis team.
    Juliet must have sensed the tension growing in the room. It wasn’t hard to miss, with two cops glaring at each other. “C’mon, Jack. Let’s give them some room.” She had to tug on his arm to get him moving.
    Once away from Ted and his two holier-than-thou babysitters, Jack relaxed. He blew out a deep breath and some pent-up frustration in the process. “Those guys are supposed to help us out?”
    Juliet shrugged, heading to the kitchen. “Seems like everyone’s in a foul mood,” she declared, looking pointedly at Jack.
    â€œWhat’s that supposed to mean?” First the cop with the fire-hydrant head, then the chubby nurse, now Juliet? As he’d told Ted, this wasn’t right, not by a long shot.
    â€œNothing much,” Juliet explained, crouching to pick up the frying pan and sandwich. “I guess Ted likes grilled cheese.” She tossed the pan into the sink, adding to the unwashed stack. She found the garbage under the sink and dropped the charred bread in. She went to wipe her gloves on the dish towel, thought better of it and used her pants.
    â€œWell?” Jack asked, impatient.
    Juliet joined Jack by the couch, where they could keep an eye on the bedroom door. Officer Hydrant Head had deliberately shut the door. Closing it had not been the wisest of tactics but Jack grudgingly admitted to himself that he might have done the same had the roles been reversed.
    â€œYou tore quite the strip off Ted and it seemed a little excessive. Harsh.”
    â€œHe pissed me off,” Jack defended.
    â€œObviously.” When Jack didn’t answer, she blunted the edge of her words with an open smile. “You could have toned it down some, that’s all.”
    Jack wasn’t so annoyed that he was invulnerable to her smile. “Okay, I guess I was a bit offside, but come on! He was going to kill himself over bad cooking?”
    Juliet grinned in agreement. “Some people are just perfectionists, I guess.”
    Jack snorted and they settled in to wait for Hydrant Head and his nurse to deem the lowly uniforms worthy of notice. It didn’t take long. A few minutes later the bedroom door opened and Ted came out, bracketed by Nurse Little Manny and Officer Hydrant Head.
    â€œTed’s agreed to go to the hospital with us, so we won’t need you for transport,” Hydrant Head announced.
    All five of them left the apartment. The ride down in the elevator was quiet. Even Ted was silent, his sobbing all dried up for the moment. With nothing to say, Jack studied Nurse Little Manny and decided that, other than the shaved head and goatee, the man looked nothing like Manny. When Juliet had explained the CIT to him, Jack had just assumed the nurse would be some soft-hearted tree-hugger, but this guy — Aaron, was it? — didn’t come across like that at all. Jack noticed that Aaron kept a wary eye on Ted and the slight downturn to the corners of his mouth suggested he wasn’t the biggest smiler. Not at work at least.
    Aaron was also wearing a jumbled uniform. Unlike his escort’s royal blue jacket, the nurse’s was a dark blue, almost black, emblazoned with CRISIS TEAM across the back. He wore a ballistic vest over his T-shirt and there was a radio on his hip. Jeans and running shoes completed the outfit.
    Semi-casual and pretty comfortable looking.
    They left the building and Hydrant Head placed Ted in the rear of the CIT car, an unmarked Crown Vic, plain white but with a caged back seat. Then the cop headed for the driver’s side before Jack could say anything, so he spoke to the nurse. Aaron stood in the V of the open door with one foot already in the car. He did not look impressed.
    â€œListen, I just wanted to . . . apologize for overreacting up there. I guess I’ve been a little stressed out and Ted looked like a good target to