Peter arrived at the station with Sonya around two in the afternoon. Jacob had volunteered to watch the girls while they took care of the situation with Nathan and the van. Since the car was in Sonya’s name, she decided to take care of that while Peter took care of his son. Divide and conquer was always her favorite move, and Peter couldn’t argue with past results. They strolled into the station and could hear the lady at the reception desk call out to him as he strolled closer.

“Mr. Anderlini,” she called out, “What a pleasant surprise!”

“I wish it were under better circumstances, but it’s nice to see you again,” Peter admitted as he arrived. “Is Ray still in?”

“Right over there, taking a nap.” She replied while making a gesture towards his office. “He always sleeps before lunch after doing the night shift.”

Peter wandered over to Ray’s office, and the big man was lying down in his office chair with his feet up on his desk. He had a big cowboy hat that he never wore but only used it to cover his eyes whenever he wanted to catch a nap in the office. He looked like a cowboy that was catching a siesta under a tree in the afternoon. Peter softly knocked on the door.

“Hey there, space cowboy,” Pete called out, “How goes the crime fighting?”

Ray was a light sleeper, so he opened his eyes and groaned softly as he removed his feet of the desk. He smiled as he took the hat off his head and tossed it on the desk.

“Usually, I only have a light nap after a long night shift.” Ray replied as he got up from his chair. “That way tonight when I hit the sack tonight I’ll sleep like the dead.”

Ray walked over and picked up his gun and holstered it.

“Let’s go visit that good for nothing boy of yours” Ray mumbled, “I’m sure he’s a good bit of time to think things through.”

Peter followed Ray down the stairs to the basement where the cells were. He had never been down here before, and while he never really expected it to be the Ritz, the cells were intimidating enough to make someone not want to come back which was likely the impression Ray wanted it to give people. Not having the best of accommodations might convince someone not to re-offend. Ray held the door open for Peter and as he walked in, he could see Nathan sitting on the bed. He had eaten most of his lunch and on has scraps left there. Ray closed the door behind him and stayed in the room. He felt having the bad cop in the room might make the kid a little more polite with the good cop, the role Peter was taking apparently with Ray too.

“Nathan.” Peter called out as he walked over.

Nathan picked his head up to realize who was there. He heard the door open but assumed it was just Ray or a deputy. He wasn’t expecting his father and almost jumped off the bed because there was a moment when he actually thought he was going to get out of there. When he realized Ray was with him, hopes of that started to fade.

“What do you want?” the young man replied.

“Well, my minivan back would be a good start.” Peter said as he folded his arms. “Do you have an idea how much trouble you are in right now?”

Nathan didn’t answer the question and started to again exercise his right to remain silent. Ray didn’t appreciate this disrespect as he took out his club and banged it against the bars with force.

“In case you don’t already know,” Ray barked at him, “You’re in a whole heap of trouble!”

“Do you really want to get away from us that badly?” Peter asked. He really wanted to get an idea of where Nathan’s head was at.

“I just wanted to get away from it all. It was changing so fast.” Nathan replied without looking back up. “I didn’t want too much change.”

“How does a few years a juvie sound, punk?” Ray cracked back at him, “I can assure that’s a huge mountain of change you want nothin’ to do with!”

Ray looked over at Peter who seemed to signal that was too much. He grinned and then quietly backed away.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“I would prefer you come back to the summer house.” Peter said with complete sincerity. Sonya might kick his ass for it, but he still wanted a chance to mend things up with his son and not sabotage what he needed to do with him that summer.

“How do you figure that?” Nathan asked. “I kind of committed a few crimes.”

“Well, it’s our car.” Peter replied, “Sonya and I could drop the charges.”

Nathan stood up as that took him by surprise.

“You can do that?” Nathan asked.

“We could,” Peter confirmed, “But I’m only going to do that if you agree to lose the attitude, lose the criminal behavior, and just make an effort around the house to fit in at the house with everyone else.”

“Maybe I don’t want to fit in.” Nathan snapped back, “That’s not my family.”

“I am your father.” Peter said in response to that. “And even though Jacob is only a step brother, those two girls are your sisters. That makes us the only family you have left right now. I’m not asking you to kiss the ring or kneel in complete obedience. I just want you to do your own thing within the same boundaries that everyone else has to follow. I’d like to think that you would rather spend your time with Sonya and I with the kids rather than go to jail have a record that might stick with you for the rest of your life.”

“And you’d do that for me if I agreed?” Nathan asked again, suddenly appearing to be in a mood to negotiate.

“He can drop the biggest charge.” Ray said, stepping back into the conversation. “That being the theft of his car. The other charges still stick because you were on the road without a license or insurance.”

“Really?” Nathan said, sounding rather defeated.

“Well,” Ray said, as his tone change a bit, “Before I took my nap, I made a call to the judge who happened to be in a good mood this morning as caught a few good fish. He says if the grand theft auto is dropped, he would be willing to dismiss the other charges on one condition.”

“What is it?” Nathan asked.

“One hundred hours of community service.” Ray said with a grin. “Considering what you’re being charged with, that’s quite a gift. Some people do hard time for what you’re getting out of, so I’d take it if I were you.”

“That’s up to you.” Peter said, doing his best to keep a straight face. He couldn’t believe it, but his good cop/ bad cop routine was actually working on the young man. Staying at the summer house with Peter would definitely seem a lot better than being behind bars for who knows how long.

“Alright, I’ll do it.” Nathan said as he stood up. “Does that mean I get to go home now?”

In that split second, Nathan was no longer the rebellious teenager, but the young boy who just wanted to go home and that was the point of letting Ray keep him there all morning. Peter nodded his head and smiled.

“I already asked Ray to drop the charges.” Peter informed him, “Sonya is upstairs finishing up the paperwork, and then we can leave.”

Peter watched as Ray opened the cell for him and Nathan walked out and followed Peter up the stairs back to the main offices. There in the lobby talking with the receptionist was Sonya who already finished the paperwork and was informed the van would be returned from the garage after it was repaired.

Peter could tell from her posture that she wasn’t a happy camper. “Nathan, you might want to take a moment to apologize to Sonya.”

Nathan could tell why as he walked up to where she was standing.

“I’m very sorry for taking your van.” Nathan said, not looking her in the eyes.

“Well, that’s a start.” Sonya said with a sigh. “At least there’s no damage so I can’t be too angry.”

“Very mature of you, Mrs. Anderlini.” Ray agreed.

“Sonya.” Peter started, “Can you take Nathan out to the van so I can speak with Ray for a moment? It will only take a moment.”

“Of course, dear.” Sonya said as she made a gesture towards the door. “After you.” She called out, and then watched Nathan exit before following him out.

Peter turned back to face Ray. “Community service?”

“That’s right,” Ray said with a wicked grin, “There are some projects that need to be done. Mr. Downs needs to paint the store but he’s getting old, and I wouldn’t want him to fall off that ladder. There’s also a whole whack of things to do that will help out and it will give him something to think about the next time he even considers doing this again.”

“Shouldn’t he be afraid of me rather than you?” Peter replied.

“That would make things easier,” Ray conceded, “But I know you Peter. You were never good at being the bad cop, and you need to get back to work on that new book. If my sister finds out all of this is delaying the release of the next sequel, I’ll never hear the friggin’ end of it.”

Ray padded his friend on the shoulder.

“I was happy to help,” Ray also added, “And I really hope Nathan’s time here helping out the community will settle things down there for you at the house.”

“Thank you very much.” Peter said, turning to walked out of the station.

He knew Ray was a true friend, looking out for him like the big brother that he never had. They always looked out for one another since the first day they met and had been best friends ever since. Ray didn’t have many friends, but those he had were treated like kings. Peter knew what he had, and words couldn’t express how he felt about their friendship. As Peter left the station, he could see that Nathan was in the back of the spare car. He looked whipped, and considering the kind of day he had it was to be expected. Peter hopped into the passenger side of the car and Sonya drove them back to the summer house for what was likely going to be Nathan’s second round with his new surroundings and family.