Free The Hunt Chronicles: Volume 1 by Leo Bonanno

everything
just occurred.  “I am sorry, ma’am.”  He turned on his heels and
left, shutting the door behind him.  The rest of us stood there in silence
for what seemed like forever as Donald McCune sat in the back of a cruiser on
his way to the station.
    “What the hell just
happened?”  Maddie asked.  “How did they
get here so fast?”
    “The guard,” Thomas
answered.  “The guard at the gate must have saw Donald arrive and called
for the others.”
    “Can they just
arrest him like that?”  Nona asked.  “He didn’t do anything but get a
little drunk.  How can they do that?”  All of a sudden, all eyes were
on me again, as if my eyes held the answers to all of their questions.  I
said nothing.
    “I don’t believe
it,” Thomas finally announced.  “I don’t believe any of this.  This
can’t be happening.”
    “I don’t know what
to believe anymore.  It’s all so complicated.”  Nona’s voice
trembled.  I looked over at Cheryl, who hadn’t budged, seemingly paralyzed
with shock.  She looked up at me, and it was then I realized what had
happened.
    “Cheryl?”  I
asked.  Her eyes started to water.  She then exploded into an
eruption of tears and sobs.  She began rambling incoherently, blurting out
everything she had told me earlier.  She blubbered about Donald coming
home drunk and how he damned his father.  When she was finally done
replaying the scenario, the rest of the people in the room were crying too.
    “Oh my God,” Richard
muttered.  Then he looked at me.  “He did it, didn’t he?  Oh my God.”
    “Now wait just one
minute,” I announced using my official professor tone, drawing all of the teary
eyes in the class to the front of the room.  “We still don’t know about
the other staffers, do we?  Walters was in and out so fast, he didn’t
mention anything about them.  Maybe he hasn’t gotten around to meeting with
all of them yet and he’s using Donald as an excuse to look busy.  I know
it looks bad, but I refuse to believe anything until everyone’s cards are on
the table.”  My tone returned composure.  The air was filled with the
sound of deep breaths and sniffles.
    “So, what do we do
now?  How do we help Donald?”  Cheryl cried.  I ran my fingers
through my thinning hair and scratched the back of my skull.  Then I
looked back at her and smiled.
    “Now,” I said, “we
make some calls.”
     
    I went to the
kitchen and stuck my head in the sink.  I turned on the water and let the
coolness wash over the back of my neck.  It was heavenly.
    The others followed
me into the kitchen and crowded around me like I was going to pull the murderer
out of the sink drain.  “Who are you going to call?”  Cheryl asked.
    “I’m going to call
Walters at his office and find out about the other staffers.  If he isn’t
finished with them yet, I’m going to raise hell on the grounds of circumstantial
evidence.”
    “Well, what should
we do?”  Asked Thomas.
    “You and Cheryl go
down to the station and keep an eye on Donald.  Make sure he keeps his friggin mouth shut!” I ordered with a finger digging into
Thomas’s chest.  “Make sure any statements you give are thought out before
you open your mouth.  People like your father always have a lawyer on
retainer.  Call him and get him there too. Remember, you don’t have to
answer any questions, and neither does Donald.  Everybody just shut your
yaps, got it?”  They nodded.  “I said you got it, Paul Bunyan ?” 
I repeated.
    “ Yes .” 
Thomas replied, finally waking up.  He and Cheryl turned and left the
kitchen.
    “Nona, why don’t you
do something about a meal?  By the time they get back, everyone is going
to be starving.”
    “Will they come back
with Donald, Reevan?”
    “I hope so.  Richard, you alright?”
    “Yeah,” he said,
staring at the floor.  “Yeah, I’m fine.”
    “You don’t look fine.”
    “I said I was
fine.  What do I have to do?”  I