

# Teen Cops

### A Time for Redemption

D Rossmaur

Illustrations by Alex Gray

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Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 David Rossmaur

License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ISBN No: 978.1.906542.42.9

Publishers: Barny Books

Hough on the Hill

Grantham

Lincolnshire

NG32 2BB

Tel: 01400 250246

www.barnybooks.co.uk

Cover design by Kevin Stickings

Cape of Disappointment photograph provided by Carol Zahorsky

Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

# Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

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With special thanks to my father Stanley for all his support

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Visit www.funbeach.com for information on the Long Beach Peninsula, home of the Teen Cops and www.teencops.co.uk for the latest book news

# Chapter 1

My name is Scott Hunter and boy has my life changed over the past 7 months. I was sent to a youth correction centre to serve a two year sentence for computer hacking. That was just the beginning. I wasted my God given IT talents when I hacked into the US treasury web site and got caught by the feds. Not the brightest idea I know. Sure I was guilty, but in my opinion, the punishment far exceeded the crime and I was feeling bitter about life, because it sucked. I'd let my parents down, especially my father and if I could change anything I would. I had thought that getting a second chance was impossible, but I was wrong.

After 3 months incarcerated in a California Correction Centre, I heard about a new trial scheme for the first mixed sex correctional centre in the US to be located in Gresham Oregon. I wanted in, big time, so I applied for a transfer. Because of my exemplary behaviour, along with my exceptional IT skills, it seems I made a suitable candidate for the scheme. You never know, perhaps my skills could finally be put to good use teaching other inmates how not to get caught. Or rather, what I meant to say is how not to do the crime in the first place. I thought of myself as the Mark Zuckerberg equivalent of crime book and not Facebook, which has a nice ring to it.

The man in charge of the new correctional centre, Warden Ellis, was travelling the country selecting a shortlist of candidates for his new scheme and I managed to get an audience with him. My first impression of Warden Ellis was fairly accurate, he was certainly no push over. His previous job was head warden at one of America's toughest prisons and something told me he'd be running this new project with the same iron fist. I prepared myself and made sure I said all the right things, especially about how much I wanted to help other inmates with their rehabilitation. It was all a load of hot air and I guess I was willing to say pretty much anything to clinch the deal. The gift of the gab was another one of my so called skills which usually managed to get me out of sticky situations.

My outlook changed when I won a golden ticket to join the new scheme. I was to be transferred to Gresham in a few days. I was just as excited at the prospect of sharing a prison with girls as I was about getting out of California. No offence to California, it's just that I had a few bad memories that were better left behind.

# Chapter 2

Aged just 17, I was saying au revoir to my native California and boarding the prison bus, carrying what little possessions I had in a rucksack. My ride to Gresham was certainly an experience. The bus was full of mature criminals being transported to various prisons across the state of Oregon and it was just my luck Gresham was on route.

One of the toughest looking criminals I'd ever seen, a man by the name of Victor Martinez was sitting directly opposite and kept staring at me. I tried hiding my face and pretended to be asleep for most of the journey in the hope that he would leave me alone. I avoided eye contact at all cost, but it was proving to be too difficult and I thought please don't try to strike up a conversation Mr Martinez.

'Hey pretty boy, what you doin on my bus?' Martinez asked with a gravelly voice.

'Oh terrific,' I sighed.

I ignored the question at first as I was in no mood to make small talk with a psycho.

'Don't ignore me boy. I asked you a question,' he repeated.

He was clearly agitated and kicked out at my leg with his heavy prison issue boots. Thankfully the strong chains tethering his lower half to the bench seat restricted the height of his kick to my knee area only. Any higher and I might have needed to protect my prime assets. I sat up and stretched my arms out to make it look like I'd just woken. The pain in my leg was killing me but I had to pretend otherwise. I looked away again, which was obviously error number two in the 'book of prison bus etiquette.'

Now Martinez was staring straight at me with a really ticked off expression. The commotion made some of the other hard nosed criminals sit up and take note so now I had an audience. Suddenly Martinez bellowed out a loud bear-like roar of frustration and I could feel the bus rock from the after shock. The guard sitting at the front of the bus finally decided to stroll back towards Martinez to try to quieten him down.

'Would you two cut it out before I throw you both off the bus,' the guard threatened.

'You two,' I said with indignation.

Martinez growled for a second time and the guard tapped his gun holster as a warning to calm down.

'Behave Martinez and leave the kid alone,' said the guard.

'Poor kid, are you missing your mummy?' Martinez snarled as he sat back out of the guards' view.

I tried to stop myself from reacting at that point, I had a pretty mean temper, but I felt something had to be said.

'That's very funny big guy.'

Martinez went quiet for a moment, but I knew this wasn't the end. He looked out the window, obviously contemplating his next move. I looked around at the other prisoners and smiled cockily as if to say 'who's the daddy'. Then Martinez looked back at me and went to spit. Thankfully the guard ran back down the bus and stopped him.

'Martinez, you still causing trouble?' the guard asked with his stick pointing at Martinez face. 'I think it's best if I move you to the front of the bus, where I can keep a close eye on you.'

Not the brightest move, I thought as I leant back to avoid the inevitable reaction from Martinez. And sure enough as the guard unlocked the chains around Martinez legs, it felt like the devil beast himself had just been unleashed. Martinez sprung up off his seat, knocking the guard over in the process and lunged straight for me with both hands stretched out in the strangulation position.

'I've already killed two men with my bare hands and now it's your turn boy,' Martinez screamed.

Bad time for a confessional I thought. Somehow I had to make sure I wasn't victim number three. Unfortunately for Martinez he had no way of knowing I was once California Junior State Wrestling Champion. Money well spent by my father on expensive wrestling lessons. Martinez continued to lunge forward as I ducked to one side, causing him to miss and land face down in my seat. I quickly grabbed his head from behind, put my arms up and under his chin and lifted Martinez off the seat in a half nelson lock. It was time I'm afraid for what is now known as 'the Martinez slam dunk,' and Bam! He was out cold lying lifeless on the steel floor of the bus.

'It's all over,' the commentator's voice said in my head and I could almost hear a roar from the crowd.

I helped the guard to his feet and dusted him off to make sure I was still in his good books. After all I didn't want to be sent straight back to California on the next bus.

'Thanks kid,' said the guard.

'My pleasure,' I said still trying to ingratiate myself with him.

I took a bow as the other prisoners applauded from the rear of the bus and hopefully now no one else would dare to mess with me for the remainder of the journey. It was better for everyone if we left Martinez to sleep it off on the floor.

# Chapter 3

It was a relief to hear that my stop was next. I grabbed my things from the luggage shelf before making my way to the front exit. As we drove along North Main Avenue Gresham, I spotted a great looking café called Café Delirium nestled amongst the neat row of store fronts and boy what I wouldn't give for a good cup of coffee right now. I made myself a promise to visit the cafe when I got released.

'And on your right you can see the beautiful snow capped Mount Hood,' said the driver in a really sarcastic sounding tour guide voice.

'How's the skiing?' I asked, but somehow doubted there would be free time for that.

The bus turned off the main street and onto an unmarked road and I thought this must be it. I tightened the belts on my back pack, took one last look around at all the serious criminals on the bus and thought there was no way I wanted to end up like them.

'Hold up who's this?' I whispered.

There sitting right at the back of the bus was a lovely young lady, crouched with her legs up under her chin and a hat pulled down over her eyes, trying not to be noticed, I knew the feeling. I did a double take wondering how the hell I'd missed her before. She looked up and I decided to walk back down the bus to say hello.

'Hi there, just let me know if the big guy wakes up and gives you any trouble,' I said with bravado as I pointed my thumb at Martinez.

She tipped her hat and smiled but I doubt she was that bothered. She looked pretty streetwise to me and could probably look after herself.

'Scott Hunter, it's your stop,' the guard shouted from the front of the bus rudely interrupting our conversation.

'Well this is goodbye I guess,' I said as I started to walk towards the exit.

'Nice to meet you Scott Hunter,' the girl replied.

The door opened and I was escorted off the bus and right up to the front gates of Mount Hood Juvenile Correction Centre, as the sign said like a dude ranch blazoned across the front archway entrance. At this point I was handed over to one of the Mount Hood guards with my transfer documentation. I took one final deep breath of freedom and stepped inside for the start of my new life.

'Welcome to Mount Hood Juvi Centre,' said the guard as he locked the gate behind me.

'Thank you,' I replied.

The guard took me to the inmate processing area or check in desk, as I preferred to call it, where I completed a bunch of registration paperwork. It was a shame this part couldn't be done online. I'm sure I could write a new piece of software for their IT department to handle this... just a thought.

Back on the bus more excitement was happening as it seems my new best friend Mr Martinez had woken from his beauty sleep and was hurling abuse at me from the bus window.

'You're dead boy if I ever see you again.' He was shouting as the guards tried to restrain him.

Thankfully I was oblivious to the whole thing and besides which, what did I care? It was hardly likely that I'd ever see Martinez again. Even if I did, I knew how to take care of myself.

# Chapter 4

Finally, with all the paperwork completed, I could join the rest of the juvi population, only there was no one else. I was the first guest to arrive.

'Wait here Mr Hunter please, while I welcome our other new arrival,' said the administration clerk.

'At least I'll have some company,' I whispered to myself.

I was curious to see who it might be and looked back over my shoulder to have a peek. To my utter surprise it was the mystery girl from the bus.

'What the hell was she doing here?'

I offered a friendly smile as she approached which was acknowledged with a simple nod. Hey, it was more than I expected. The guard escorting her explained to the desk clerk that the bus driver had missed the girls name off the list and had to turn back. I bet Martinez was thrilled. As soon as she was checked in, we were both escorted to our respective cells. I looked around at the empty hallways hoping the place would come alive when the other inmates arrived. I was disappointed to learn that the boy's cells were on the top floor, while the girls had the second floor. Damn it!

I called, 'See you later,' to the back of our mystery girl as she disappeared into her room.

I followed the guard up to my accommodation, where to my surprise, I was greeted by Warden Ellis.

'Welcome young man to Mount Hood Juvenile Correctional Centre,' said Warden Ellis as he shook my hand.

I did wonder if he'd be greeting every inmate in this fashion or was it because I was the first to arrive. We had met before during my interview but I couldn't remember the warden being such a tall man. He virtually blocked out the sunlight as he stood in the cell doorway. The cells themselves were actually more like hotel rooms with a relaxed modern layout, minus the TV and mini bar naturally.

'How do you like your new accommodation?' he asked.

I jumped on the bed to check the mattress out before replying. 'It's fine thank you, sir.' I could hardly complain.

'I heard someone had a little fun during their bus journey to Gresham,' he remarked with a sideways glance.

'Yes sir. Nothing I couldn't handle though,' I replied shrugging my shoulders. Boy, does bad news travel fast.

'I'm sure it was self-defence, Mr Hunter, but please make sure you confine that sort of boisterous behaviour to the gymnasium or sports fields in future,' the warden said in his deep southern accent.

'Yes sir,' I replied.

I suppose it was his way of welcoming me. The Warden strolled off to begin his rounds, which was more of a dress rehearsal really as he walked past rows of empty cells before heading downstairs to welcome guest number two. I unpacked my things, which took all of thirty seconds, then stretched out on the bed to stare at the ceiling for a few minutes. I soon got restless and as my cell door was open, I decided to follow directions to the inmates lounge area, located in the west wing. The TV was already switched on inside and the guards were watching ESPN. Monday night football was on and I sat to watch it with them for a while, despite being more of a baseball man myself. I doubt the inmates would be permitted 24 hour access to the lounge area once the place got busy but, for now, nobody was asking me to leave. It did feel more like a holiday camp than a correctional centre on first impressions but I wasn't naïve enough to think this was going to be an easy ride. No doubt every inmate would be assigned daily chores as part of their rehabilitation. I doubt Warden Ellis was someone who tolerated slackers.

One of the guards announced that dinner was ready over the PA system. I'd noticed that the canteen area was closed on my walk about, probably because it was hardly worthwhile opening up for just two inmates. Instead I was handed a plate of sandwiches and some chips to eat in the lounge area, but I still had to sit up at the table as there were standards to be set at Mount Hood. I assumed our mystery girl was eating in her cell as there was no sign of her.

Once the football game had finished the TV was switched off and it was time for lights out. I headed back to my room, washed and got into bed. It was only 10pm and I found myself lying awake for ages thinking about what the future might hold. The first night was very lonely with just me on the boys' floor. Fingers crossed that things would improve tomorrow with the new arrivals. I started to wonder what my family were doing right now and felt sad that I was missing out on so much home life but it was far too late for regrets. I had to start looking ahead. My mother had sent me a new book to read all about advanced computer coding and, after a few chapters, I managed to fall asleep.

# Chapter 5

My prayers had been answered when a spate of new inmates started to arrive bright and early the next morning. I watched out of my window as a procession of prison buses pulled up outside the main gates, each brimming with fresh faced juvenile delinquents. An announcement was made over the PA system to say that the canteen was now officially open and breakfast was being served. Certainly news worth jumping out of bed for and I just loved this place. Warden Ellis joined us for breakfast and I watched as he mingled, eating toast with inmates at one table and drinking coffee with his staff at the next. One of the guards handed the warden a microphone and I was half expecting him to break into song. Warden Ellis got up on his chair to say a few words about what was expected from us all at Mount Hood and to outline some of the more important house rules. What was impressive was the fact that everyone had stopped to listen and it was obvious that the warden commanded immediate respect. He went on to say how important the trial scheme at Mount Hood was to both himself and the Governor of Oregon.

'This correctional facility was built for the sole purpose of helping inmates to complete their rehabilitation and to go on to better things,' said the warden quite profoundly.

We applauded both the words and the sentiment. As I walked about speaking to some of the inmates, it was evident that the majority had been selected for their special skills like me. I guessed we were here to teach as well as learn from each other, which was all gravy to me. Classes had been scheduled to commence that same afternoon, as the last few inmates should have 'checked in' by then. In total there would be 125 inmates at Mount Hood, all from very different backgrounds and with a variety of criminal offences to boast about. Nothing to be proud of I know. I took the dim view at first, that we were all here to take part in a giant experiment in juvenile correctional techniques. Who wouldn't want to be a guinea pig for the penal system I thought?

No doubt because I was the first to arrive at Mount Hood, the warden gave me the mundane task of greeting the last few inmates as they arrived and escorting them to their cells. I was desperate to do a first class job at being concierge just to get into the wardens' good books. I was right about the inmates having to do daily chores and mine included cleaning the IT classroom and maintaining the equipment (hey why pay a professional when you can get an inmate to do it for free). I also had numerous reading assignments, workouts in the gym and computer science lessons, which was all very tiring. When I wasn't working, I could be heard tapping away on pretty much anything around the compound, as I used to be the drummer in a local band. We were doing pretty well on the local concert circuit, until I managed to screw up and got myself arrested. I was busy drumming away one morning on my mop handle, when the mystery girl walked past. Not being one to give up, I tried to start a conversation and this time things went a little better because I actually managed to get her name, Jordan.

'Goodbye Jordan,' I said as she walked off to her class.

'Goodbye Scott,' she replied. Finally the ice queen was starting to thaw. I continued to mop with a smile for the rest of the morning.

With 21 months of my sentence left to serve, things had actually gotten off to a good start and I thought I could be happy at Mount Hood. The place was pretty amazing after all. We had a music room, an Olympic size swimming pool and gym. A giant sports room with a TV, pool and table tennis tables, indoor and outdoors basketball courts, plus a running track. It was too nice for teenage criminals like us and I actually thought it was a bit like being back at high school, but with one difference, you weren't allowed home after class.

The Warden encouraged every inmate to sign up for extra classes and I chose the music class as my extra curricula activity. As I mentioned, I could already play the drums, but a few extra free lessons couldn't hurt. At the end of the first music class, I felt the sudden urge to show off and played a 45 second drum solo. This got me a loud cheer from everyone in the class except Jordan, who rolled her eyes in disgust at me for time wasting. I did start to wonder what her problem was.

Our music teacher Mr Gardner asked the class for volunteers. Anyone who thought they could actually play an instrument should stay behind after class for his new project. There were just five volunteers including myself and I was shocked once again to see Jordan picking up a bass guitar. This girl was full of surprises, although a little moody at times. Mr Gardner gave us a few minutes to have an informal jamming session which helped him gauge how well we could play. There was definitely some musical chemistry between us which the teacher was keen to nurture. His idea was to form a band, a sort of 'junior jailhouse rock,' and I figured it might be cool to be in a band again. Mr Gardner suggested we stay behind after classes every night for the next week or so, to practice under his supervision. We introduced ourselves to each other and on lead guitar and vocals we had Brandon Jackson, me on drums naturally, Josh Mackenzie on guitar, Molly Carter on keyboards and percussion, while our mystery girl Jordan Taylor played bass guitar.

We just goofed around during the first few practice sessions without any real direction before Mr Gardner suggested it might help if we met up one evening to properly get to know each other. It was a great idea and we arranged to meet in the basketball hall that night.

We got to talking straight away about our life stories, which is usually a good ice breaker and boy did we have some interesting tales to tell. Brandon went first, telling us how he could have had a promising future in basketball before it was all taken away. Unfortunately after one of his high school games he got himself involved in a fight with two players from the opposing team who both wound up in hospital. The boys' parents pressed assault charges, leaving Brandon's school with no alternative but to expel him. He ended up in juvenile court and received an 18 month sentence for assault. I did feel sorry for Brandon as he continued to protest his innocence. It sounded obvious to me that he'd been racially provoked, but it was the testimony of 'two white boys,' as he put it, that swung the judge's decision. All I cared about was that Brandon had a fantastic singing voice and could play a mean guitar. A bit selfish I know.

What was Josh's story? Here was a young man who loved cars and it sounded like he could fix anything on wheels, but sadly he also had a compulsion for stealing them. His last car boost came at a high price, after being pursued by the police in a stolen Porsche 911 at 130 mph, he lost control and managed to flip the car head first into a lake. The cops hate a long car chase and more than that, hate having to rescue a suspect from the river. It's a paperwork thing I'm sure. Josh earned himself a two year sentence for this and no doubt countless other vehicles he had not been found guilty of stealing. Naturally I had to ask if the Porsche made it, but 'sadly no,' Josh replied with a wry smile. He did feel some remorse for his reckless behaviour, which is a good start.

Molly had a shoplifting habit, which had totally spiralled out of control and she was serving 18 months. She partly blamed her delinquent behaviour on her father who was absent for the most of her childhood, serving in the US military. The other part she blamed on getting in with the wrong crowd. No excuse, but it can be a catch 22 situation. Jordan, our mystery girl, was caught in possession of Class A drugs and her sentence was two and a half years, which sounded like a lifetime to me. You know my story by now, rich kid gone bad and all that. There was one thing we all had in common though and that was the amount of heart break we'd caused for our families. We'd already been given community service for previous misdemeanours and various 'second chances,' but not learnt our lesson, so juvi centre was the best place for us. Now here we are, five teenagers thrown together by chance.

That was enough dwelling on the past for one night and we headed down to the court to shoot a few hoops. I made sure Brandon was on my team and it was truly mesmerising watching him play. With that much talent he would have made it all the way to the pro league, but I wasn't gonna be the one to remind him about lost opportunities and all that.

# Chapter 6

It was rare for the inmates at Mount Hood to receive visits from friends or family because Gresham was so far from all our homes. Warden Ellis had found an alternative and as a reward for good behaviour we would be granted 20 minutes Skype time to converse with our loved ones. Naturally for security reasons, the Skype sessions were carefully monitored by the guards, after all we don't want escape plans being discussed online. In any case this initiative was greatly appreciated by all.

I'd earned some points for good behaviour and it was my turn to enjoy quality time on Skype to speak to my family. It was heart breaking speaking face to face with my mother and sister who seemed so far away. Dad didn't participate in these little chats as he was still refusing to speak to me, so Mum would tell me a small white lie and say he was busy working, but sent his love. I introduced my new friends to Mum as they were conveniently hanging around in the background and she immediately picked up that I seemed to have a soft spot for Jordan. It was something about the way I lingered longer on her name she said and naturally I denied it when the others had gone.

'Big kiss and hugs to you all,' I said as the session ended.

Mum crossed her heart and blew a kiss back before the screen went blank. It was these special moments that helped to get me through the loneliness of confinement and made me even more determined not to be a repeat offender.

The band practised hard after classes each day and I thought we were starting to sound pretty good, but we were still the band with no name. The Oregon 5, the Mount Hood Rockers or Kids from the Hood were just not cutting edge enough, but we had plenty of jail time to work on a name. Things did seem to be going well for a while, until one day I noticed something strange. A few inmates started to show their resentment about what they called the 'band's special treatment' by making nasty comments as we walked past in the hallways. Things came to a head during one lunch break, when a fight almost broke out in the canteen between Brandon and two inmates. I stepped in to even the numbers as Brandon was being pushed around in the food line.

'Come on guys, we're all in the same boat. Let's try to get along,' I said standing in the middle of things, holding the two fighting fractions apart.

Thankfully tempers managed to calm down before the guards noticed. If a fight had broken out, no doubt more inmates would have joined in and Warden Ellis would have gone ballistic. It would have meant either a loss of privileges for the guilty parties or worse, extended jail time, which nobody wanted. We needed to work the problem out amongst ourselves.

Part of our daily prison routine included physical fitness and I kept myself in good shape by running, swimming and taking more wrestling classes. Dad would be proud I said to myself every time my body was being slammed down on the wrestling mats during training. I volunteered for IT teaching duties as well, which was a shock to both me and my friends. What was I thinking doing extra work! Brandon was like- minded and he kept himself busy by coaching players for the Mount Hood basketball team. The team idea was another of the governor's initiatives and I also played in the team, but my skills were limited in comparison to Brandon's. With his talent the team were proving to be unbeatable. The Mount Hood Bulls as the team were called, were now sitting pretty at the top of the Correction Centre league. Not a great achievement in the grand scheme of things I know, but it meant a lot to us.

By the end of the season it was time for the league play offs and, as this would be in a few days, Warden Ellis felt Brandon needed a few days rest beforehand. This R & R time also meant no band practice and no daily chores for him and me, which was sweet. The rest of the band members used the break to relax, although they still had chores to do.

The day of the big game between the Mount Hood Bulls and Portland Juvi Centre soon came around and the two teams were out on court warming up. I looked up into the stands to see Josh, Molly and Jordan sitting amongst our fellow inmates ready to watch the game. It was good to see everyone getting along so well. With Brandon back to full strength and with a little help from me, Mount Hood Bulls were crowned league cup champions after we won by a narrow two point margin. Although I only managed to score two of the 61 points, I do like to think that these made all the difference.

Warden Ellis was in a wonderful mood after his team's victory and to show his appreciation, treated everyone at Mount Hood to a movie night in the sports hall after the game, with popcorn thrown in too. It was a shame the movie was The Shaw Shank Redemption and how bitter sweet I thought. No doubt the warden saw the funny side.

# Chapter 7

After the excitement of the basketball season had died down, the Warden turned his attention to the Mount Hood band project which he'd been hearing so many good things about from Mr Gardner, the music teacher. The warden had the bright idea of assigning one of his guards to help develop the project, as a kind of mentor he put it and not a babysitter as I said. The guard's name was Luis Villa and Luis had previous experience of working in the music business as a young and hungry A & R talent scout for a major label. That was before he got busted for drugs possession, putting an end to his music career. It was while serving his community service sentence working at the local prison that Luis realised this was the vocation for him. Luis had been a prison guard for 8 months now and his new life had kept him away from the temptation of drugs. He was only 21 and would make a good fit as the sixth member of the band. Luis still had plenty of contacts in the music industry, which could come in useful when we got released. We welcomed him on board.

Luis and Warden Ellis sat through band practice that evening to observe us. We kicked off the session with a cover version of Jailhouse Rock to amuse the warden, followed by a couple of chart favourites, then one of our own songs to mix it up. Yes we'd been busy writing our own songs as well and the Warden was very impressed.

'Thank you very much,' I said in a poor Elvis impression.

'Well done all of you,' said the warden as he applauded.

Luis sat beside him making notes. Suddenly Warden Ellis jumped out of his seat with excitement at what he called a 'eureka moment.'

'I've got a great idea. Why don't we take the band out on a tour around Oregon's other correctional facilities, a sort of break out tour, but with a difference?' he said.

It would certainly provide the warden with the ideal opportunity to showcase just how successful the Mount Hood project had become and it was also kind of exciting for us.

'How do you all feel about the idea?' the warden asked.

As the tour would include both juvi centres and prisons we stopped to think about the implications. How would the more hardened criminals take to a teen band? I guess we would just have to suck it and see. Besides I doubt we actually had any say in the matter as the warden's mind was already made up.

'Good, that's settled,' said Warden Ellis as we all nodded and smiled.

The warden congratulated Mr Gardener on a fine job and was leaving the room to discuss the tour with Luis before he stopped and stuck his head back in the room;

'I'd like to invite you for dinner in my office this evening,' said the warden and we graciously accepted his offer.

Jordan and Molly started to fret immediately about what to wear and I put them straight by saying the standard issue orange jump suits would be just fine. No need to get a new outfit is there? Dinner was at eight and we made sure our uniforms were pressed for the occasion. During the meal, which I must say was delicious, Luis and Warden Ellis discussed their tour plans with us. The two men had already liaised with several correctional facilities across the state to confirm dates and it seems most places were excited about the event. The tour itself would start at the end of the week and last for seven days, so there was little time for extra band practise.

'Why the big rush?' I asked.

Luis explained that the Warden wanted the tour to be finished before spring break weekend, something about the correctional facilities being short staffed during that period and I wasn't about to question his decision any further, especially after such a nice meal. We thanked the warden for dinner and headed straight back to the music room to continue rehearsals. Luis joined us later to help select the song list for the gigs. Band practice would start at 8am every morning and last most of the day. By the Friday I thought we sounded more like we'd been playing together for years, not weeks. It was a gruelling schedule but at least we managed to avoid doing daily chores for a while.

The thought of gaining freedom for a week, albeit under the watchful eyes of a prison guard and Luis, kept us going. If the tour proved to be a success then perhaps the warden might want us to visit other states. Maybe one day we could even release a track. There I was getting carried away again.

After lunch on Friday we were packed and ready to set off. I for one felt very strange as we drove away from Mount Hood, almost home sick. I don't know if the others felt the same way, but perhaps we had come to accept Mount Hood as our temporary home. We knew the road trip was certainly no holiday and that the warden had his hopes pinned on us to fly the flag for Mount Hood, so the pressure was enormous.

'FREEDOM,' Josh shouted as he stood up with his arms in the air. That managed to break the tension that we were all feeling.

The other prison guard who was driving the bus asked Josh to calm down. We had to laugh, before getting told off ourselves. This guy was certainly no fun. The warden thought we might need a second guard to help Luis with the driving and to keep an eye on us in case we tried to make a break for the Canadian border. This would look a little embarrassing on the warden's CV, but he had nothing to worry about as we weren't going to screw this opportunity up for ourselves.

To kill the boredom during the journey to our first gig, Brandon started a sing along and as usual Jordan managed to surprise us all with an impromptu rap version of the song. We had our very own Eminem onboard and decided to include the rapping in the shows.

'Sweet,' said Jordan.

When the singing finished I noticed Jordan staring out the side window in a daze and wondered what was troubling her, but didn't like to pry. No doubt she'd tell us what was wrong when she was good and ready. It gave her that air of mystery that I liked. I turned my attention to the tour schedule that Luis was reading and could see we had gigs booked right across the state for the next 7 days. I crossed my fingers hoping the band would receive a warm welcome at each venue.

The first gig that night at Portland Prison went very well, gauging by the audience reaction and so too did the following three venues. However our luck soon changed when we reached Albany Prison as the whole jealousy issue reared its ugly head again. A crowd of irritated inmates started throwing chairs up at the stage during our performance.

'Where the hell is security?' I asked looking around.

It was time to take cover as the place erupted in violence with inmates trying to storm the stage and fights breaking out amongst them. Luis shouted from the side of the stage for us to get off straight away, but it was too late. From out of nowhere, a massive fist flew through the air to connect with my face and the force of the punch knocked me clean off my drum stool. I wobbled my jaw making sure it was still attached, as I lay dazed on the stage. Then I looked up and it was not the sight of pleasant birds flying around my head that greeted me but my old friend Victor Martinez. He'd recognised me up on stage and just had to say hello in his own special way. I bet he couldn't believe his luck.

'I told you boy, you'd be dead if I saw you again,' Martinez ranted as he went for a vicious kick to my ribs.

Luckily for me Brandon saved the day as he smashed a guitar right across the back of Martinez's head. He was out cold and how embarrassing I thought, a second knock out blow for Martinez. While he lay motionless on the stage next to me, Brandon helped me up and I managed to hobble off.

'Thanks man,' I said patting Brandon on the back with my drumsticks still in hand.

'You can thank me later,' he replied ducking to avoid a chair flying across the stage towards us.

We literally fell out the rear exit of the building and headed straight for the safety of the van. The prison guards managed to contain the eruption inside long enough to bring out most of the equipment, which we quickly loaded in to the van before making our getaway.

'Was it something we sang?' Josh asked.

The girls were for once trembling with fear and Brandon tried to comfort them with a hug. Luis was furious that part of our equipment had been damaged during the riot and also because one of his band members nearly got killed. Although I'm not sure what was more important to him, me or the guitars. We headed straight for the highway and the nearest motel to assess the damage.

'That was lucky,' said Molly.

'I know,' said Brandon.

We stopped in a motel car park to catch our breath, while Luis went inside to book three rooms for the night. He handed out the keys and I rushed in the room first to check my facial injuries in the bathroom mirror. A wonderful black eye was starting to form.

'Terrific!' I said.

Thankfully Nurse Jordan was on hand to apply some ointment to bring out the bruising. I won't pretend it didn't hurt, but I had to be brave in front of her.

'Nothing a little make up can't hide,' said Jordan as she bathed it.

We were all still a little shaky and decided to stay together in one room while Luis reflected on the evening's events. Luis said that there was no way any of us could have predicted what had just happened and asked if we wanted to cancel the remainder of the tour. This was out of the question. We all agreed on that and besides none of us wanted to let the warden down.

'Hey Scott, who the hell was that crazy guy that was trying to kill you?' Brandon asked.

'Let's just say we've met before and hopefully won't meet again,' I replied not wishing to expand further.

I did wonder if Jordan recognised Martinez from the bus journey when we first arrived at Mount Hood and if she did she was keeping it to herself.

We ordered pizzas and relaxed watching TV together before it was time for lights out. Luis was sleeping in the van to look after the equipment while the other prison guard whose name was Ralph, slept in the room between us and the girls. If anyone had a nightmare that night it would be understandable.

The warden called to speak to Luis on his mobile, checking that everyone was OK after the incident in Albany, which he'd just heard about.

'Good evening sir,' said Luis as he answered the call.

Luis explained what had happened and put the warden's mind at rest by confirming that everyone was fine, apart from being a little shaken. He focused on the incident between Victor Martinez and Scott, which the warden promised to investigate. He would not allow any of his inmates to be victimised, which was nice to hear. They agreed that the tour should continue as planned and then Luis went on to mention that two of the guitars needed to be replaced after the violence at Albany. He left the part out about Brandon smashing a guitar over Martinez's head, just to be on the safe side. The warden agreed to the purchase of two replacement guitars and said good night.

In the morning during breakfast at the motel, Luis asked if anyone had an Ebay account and naturally I put my hand up. Although it had been a few months since my last transaction due to my incarceration, my account would still be active.

'OK then we need two guitars as cheap as possible please Scott. Can I leave this with you?' Luis asked.

I nodded and grabbed the laptop to jump straight onto Ebay. Make, model or colour were not an issue, we just needed instruments before the evenings gig. I am a bit of an Ebay Jedi master and managed to grab two guitars at ridiculously low prices. Even better, the items could be collected on route to the next gig. Luis would have to pay cash on collection though due to my current financial predicament. With new guitars in hand the remainder of the tour continued without incident, which was a big relief to everyone, especially Warden Ellis.

The last gig on our tour was scheduled for Springfield Prison and it was going to be very special because Luis had been keeping a secret. Unbeknown to us, Warden Ellis would be attending the Springfield Prison gig as a surprise, but what Luis didn't know, was that our families had also been invited. I suppose if we had known, it would have just added to our already nervous state. As soon as we arrived at Springfield Prison, Luis jumped out of the van and started to unload the equipment.

'Is it me or is Luis taking this last gig a bit too seriously?' Josh asked.

'I guess so, but maybe he just wants everything to go smoothly,' I replied.

It was certainly a strange feeling knowing this could be our last gig for some time and the thought of returning to Mount Hood to resume our sentences. Before we went inside the prison we wanted to congratulate Luis on doing such a fine job of looking after us and for treating us to take away food most nights. We hoped this would be the start of good things to come. There was time for one final group hug before we went out on stage and we even managed to include Ralph. You should have seen the expression on his face.

'Good luck guys,' Luis said from the stage side.

As the curtains opened we were shocked to see Warden Ellis walk up on stage to introduce us to the audience. He nodded at us before he started to speak.

'Ladies and gentleman, I would like to introduce you to five remarkable young people who I think have achieved great things during their time at the Mount Hood Juvenile Correction Centre in Gresham.' Good plug for the place I thought.

'Their dedication and hard work should be an inspiration to us all. Now please put your hands together to welcome five teens from the Hood,' said Warden Ellis with great pride.

Not a bad impromptu name for the band, but still not cool enough. We'd have to put our heads together to come up with a name as soon as possible if the touring was to continue. We started to play at which point I had a quick glance out into the audience just to make sure my buddy Mr Martinez hadn't managed to slip past security, but it was safe. The crowd were really supportive and thankfully no chairs were being thrown, which is a good sign or perhaps it was because they were bolted to the floor. It felt so right performing up on stage with my friends and I wish it didn't have to end. We gave it our all during that performance and were close to collapsing from exhaustion after the very final encore.

As we started to leave the stage I looked down at the audience one last time and was startled to see my Mother sitting there in the second row with my sister. What the hell were they doing here? Molly was also shocked to see her Dad sitting in the same row. Luis pushed us back on stage to take one final bow and we were in for another surprise when the Governor of Oregon, Governor Williams walked on to say a few words of praise. I smiled at my mother and she smiled back while Governor Williams spoke.

'I would also like to thank the members of the band, Scott, Molly, Brandon, Jordan and Josh for all their hard work. It's a real credit to Warden Ellis's leadership at Mount Hood. Thank you to Luis Villa for his help and guidance,' Governor Williams said before he went on to thank the audience for their kind support.

At this point the speech was going on a bit too long for me, although the sentiment was greatly appreciated. When we did finally manage to get off stage we were joined by our families for a very emotional reunion. Luis provided coffee and donuts for everyone which he'd paid for out of his own money. He's the best. I think even the Warden had a tear in his eye as he watched the family reunion from a distance, although he would never admit to it. I was in for yet another shock when my father pulled back the stage curtain and walked over for a hug. He told me how proud he was and for once I was left speechless. Mother inspected my black eye and asked how I got it. I dismissed it as nothing more than an argument with a door to hide the truth, otherwise she'd only worry.

We introduced our families to each other before I sat alone to talk to my father for a few minutes. I felt the time was right to apologise for the way I'd let him down and I hoped we could finally start to move forward.

'You are my son and I will always love you,' Dad said and it was time for more tears.

Molly came over with her Dad, Lieutenant Mitchell Carter who greeted us in full police uniform and I quickly wiped my eyes before standing to attention.

'A police officer,' I gasped as she'd kept that a secret.

It turns out Molly was Mitch's only child. Her mother had died when she was five years old and Mitch had tried to bring her up alone. Although for most of her childhood she was cared for by a string of nannies as Mitch was frequently away serving for his country as she mentioned before. Mitch decided when Molly reached fifteen, to give up military service and to join the local police force to be closer to home. Very admirable I thought. Mitch reminded me of the Bruce Willis character from the Die Hard Movies, you know the type, very tough, but handsome. Don't get me wrong I'm not having a man crush or anything just admiration. Mitch was getting on well with all the band members, perhaps due in part to his police uniform and our renewed respect for the law.

'I guess you'll be straight back in the gym when we get to Mount Hood, Josh?' Brandon said pinching the puppy fat around Josh's stomach. Josh had eaten one too many donuts and too much pizza during the tour.

'You know it,' Josh replied as he continued to eat.

Governor Williams and the warden joined us for what they called quality time but it was really because of the free donuts. I noticed Mitch go over to speak to Governor Williams about something in private and soon after the Governor invited Warden Ellis to join their conversation. Now I really was intrigued. It wasn't long before the three men went off to find privacy in one of the side rooms to continue their meeting. Luis was the next to join them as the warden beckoned him in. I could see a whole lot of nodding going on through the window of the room. I continued to observe. Luis shook his head to disagree at one point about something and then suddenly the meeting was over. The four men rejoined the celebrations as if nothing had happened and I quickly looked the other way.

My father startled me as he put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Spying again son?'

It was no good lying as I was caught red handed and fortunately I was saved by Josh shouting; 'HERE'S TO ONE LAST NIGHT OF FREEDOM.' as he held up his coffee cup to celebrate.

We replied with a unified 'CHEERS.'

'Hey dad, what was that secret meeting about?' Molly asked as Mitch stood beside her.

'Oh nothing for you to worry about sweetheart,' Mitch replied trying to dismiss the matter.

I'm glad somebody else had noticed the meeting, but it would be a few days before we found out the truth. Right now it was time to say goodbye to our families.

'Good luck son,' said Dad as he shook my hand firmly.

'Thanks Dad,' I replied wiping another tear from my eye.

We climbed on the bus and started the 200 mile journey back to Mount Hood. I waved to my family from the back window, before returning to sit with my friends as they discussed the evenings surprise events.

'Did anyone else notice the secret meeting taking place between Governor Williams, the Warden and Mitch?' I asked.

But it seems only Molly and I had witnessed it. Luis was pretending to be asleep in the front seat to avoid being quizzed, while Ralph the prison guard drove the first leg of the journey home. Brandon thought our imaginations were getting the better of us, but I defended what I'd seen and knew something was happening. As we were all feeling tired, the discussions soon ended and we crashed out on the bus seats. We slept for over six hours during the journey back to Mount Hood and were only woken by the brightness of the sun shining through the bus windows. Luckily for Josh we had arrived back in time to enjoy a nice big prison breakfast.

After breakfast we had to get straight back into our daily routines which meant more lessons and more cleaning duties for me. We arranged to meet up in the canteen for dinner after classes. I felt like a zombie for the remainder of the day and by dinner I was ready to drop. A cup of thick black coffee was required and I sat perched at a corner table sipping this while I waited for the others. Josh was the first to shuffle in to the canteen and the others were close behind, walking like zombies from the Thriller video. It was funny to watch and as soon as everyone had sat down, I launched straight back into my questioning about the secret meeting.

'Please not that again Scott,' Brandon groaned, convinced I was still imagining things. But Molly and I knew something was going on.

'What do you think they were discussing then Scott?' Jordan asked.

'I'm not sure, hopefully something to do with the band,' I replied.

'It could just be something very innocent, like concerns over our welfare or education,' Jordan added, but I doubted that.

At that moment Luis entered the canteen and started walking towards us, so we quickly changed the subject.

'The warden would like the band to perform for the Mount Hood inmates on Sunday night. Do you feel up to it?' Luis asked knowing we probably needed some rest, but how could we disappoint the warden or our fellow inmates. We had to say yes.

The warden gave us special permission to use the music room for late night band practice and excused us from cleaning duties. So there was a plus side. The discussion about the secret meeting with the governor could wait at least until after the concert on Sunday.

# Chapter 8

Luis introduced the band on Friday night, which made him feel very proud. We kicked off with a very appropriate song 'The Boys are Back in Town' by Thin Lizzy and Brandon was doing his best Phil Lynott impersonation. The home crowd gave us a warm welcome and it was good to see that the feelings of resentment were no more. It was becoming a habit of mine since the Martinez incident at Albany Prison, to have a quick look out into the audience as we started to play. This time I spotted Mitch sitting in the front row between Warden Ellis and Governor Williams. Now I was really convinced that something was happening and it bugged me throughout the concert. It was also making me feel nervous for some reason.

The concert finished and the crowd continued to whistle and applaud. Warden Ellis came up on stage to quieten things down and to announce that a surprise barbecue had been laid on for everyone outside.

'With your help we have created an important milestone in the history of juvenile rehabilitation, now it's time to celebrate, so get yourselves outside and start eating,' he shouted.

'How cool is that, free barbecue food?' said Josh as he took off his guitar and handed it to Luis like he was some roady.

'Hey, put this away yourself, Josh,' said Luis and he gave it back to Josh.

'More food eh Josh, remember that waistline,' Brandon said as we walked off stage kidding with Josh, who thankfully was not the sensitive type.

'Well what are you waiting for?' Luis asked as he ushered us off stage.

The barbecue gave the members of the band a nice opportunity to catch up properly with our other friends and to relax after spending the past week on the road. I helped myself to food and drinks while I looked around at some of the other faces. I could see their smiles and knew that every inmate at Mount Hood had been working very hard towards their rehabilitation. We deserved a second chance in life, but I had no idea just how big a chance we were about to be offered.

Jordan wondered if perhaps the secret discussions with the Governor had been about the possibility of opening another youth correction centre similar to Mount Hood, but she was way off the mark. I spotted Governor Williams mingling amongst the crowd and shaking hands as he made his way towards us. I was half expecting him to announce an award for the most valuable inmate of the year. He stopped when he reached Luis, who was standing beside us eating a chicken wing.

'Could I have a word please Luis with you and the band members when you've finished eating?' The governor asked quietly.

'Absolutely Governor Williams, we'll see you in 20 minutes if that's OK?' Luis said.

'That'll be fine Luis thank you,' the governor replied as he continued to mingle.

'Right finish your food and straighten your uniforms, the governor wants to see you,' said Luis.

We lined up, stood to attention and asked why, but Luis was still refusing to tell us what this was all about.

'You'll just have to wait and see,' said Luis.

'You might want to wipe that barbecue sauce off your chin Josh before we see the governor,' Molly suggested as she pointed to the blob beneath his lip. Josh wiped his chin on his sleeve like a typical boy.

'Lovely,' said Molly in disgust.

We followed Luis to the warden's office, where Mitch, the governor and Warden Ellis were waiting inside. It was all very strange and we still had no clue what was going on.

The Governor spoke first and formally reintroduced Mitch as Lieutenant Mitchell Carter from the Washington State Troopers. We already knew who Mitch was, so why the formalities? I thought. The governor went on to explain. It seems Mitch had come up with the idea of creating a special youth police unit which would be known as 'Teen Cops.' My mouth was wide open with shock at this point and I looked over at my friends to see their reaction. It was pretty much the same. Mitch took over to fully explain his crazy idea.

Brandon, Josh, Jordan, Molly and I would be released from Mount Hood on a special warrant. After completing police training we would be relocated to Long Beach Washington and placed under Mitch's guardianship. The Teen Cops unit would not be the usual type of police unit, more a specialist undercover team. The idea was for us to travel undetected as members of a band, a band still without a name I might add. Mitch came up with the idea to use the band as a cover when he watched our performance at Springfield Prison, hence the secret meeting with the governor soon after.

The Chief of Police for Washington State, Chief Garrett Kelly, who was Mitch's boss, had pledged his full support for the new unit. They wanted a team of officers who were street smart and could blend in with the local teen population. That was us. The warden and Governor Williams had also given their support to this crazy scheme. At this point I did have to wonder if it was a joke, but was afraid to ask.

'Although I'll be sorry to see you all leave, I know the work you'll be doing will be of paramount importance to the youth community in Washington State and indeed across the country,' said the warden.

'But there is a catch,' he added with a grin.

'Screw up just once in any unlawful way and you'll all be sent straight back either to Mount Hood or worse, split up across Juvenile Centres in different states to serve your full sentences. Do I make myself clear?' said the warden.

'YES SIR,' we answered.

'Well are you in or out?' Mitch asked.

'This is a big decision for us and we need some time to think it over please,' Brandon requested.

'I need to leave in 30 minutes for an important fundraising event. Take this time to discuss it,' the governor sternly responded.

Surely this wasn't long enough to make such a big life changing decision but it was all we had.

'Wow, this is totally weird. What if we encounter danger, what happens then?' Jordan asked.

I was busy gloating over the fact that I was right, something big was being planned.

'Yes OK Scott you were right, now get over it,' said Brandon.

Jordan did have a valid point and what if we did end up in a dangerous situation? We certainly had a whole bunch of questions that needed answers, but the clock was ticking. Although we weren't opposed to the idea in principle, after all it would provide us with a fast track to freedom; it was the fear of danger that was the big worry. The alternative was to serve the remainder of our time in Mount Hood and not be shot at, which did sound a little more appealing right now. Josh preferred this option.

'Man up,' I said hoping he wouldn't retaliate.

'Do you think our families have been told?' he asked, but this was a question for Mitch.

Molly said she had hoped we'd try to pursue a career in music when we got released, but this would have to be put on hold if we became undercover cops. Time was ticking and with only a few minutes before Governor Williams had to leave, we needed to make a decision one way or the other. Brandon volunteered to speak for the band when we returned to the meeting.

'Have you made a decision?' Governor Williams asked.

'Yes sir, but we have some questions first,' Brandon replied.

The governor nodded and said 'Go ahead.'

'First of all, what will happen to our criminal records?'

'Police Chief Kelly has agreed to wipe your records clean from the moment you sign up to the unit, but screw up and you know what happens,' Mitch replied.

'And before you ask, you'll receive intensive police training at the FBI Training Centre in Quantico, Virginia,' Mitch added before Brandon had a chance to ask the question.

'Will we have to carry guns?' Brandon asked.

'Yes Brandon, you will be carrying the usual standard department issue revolver, plus a little extra fire power,' Mitch replied with a glint in his eye.

'Oh and naturally you will receive a wage each month, but I need to agree an appropriate amount with the police chief,' he added.

'Double sweet,' said Josh.

'Luis will stay with you at all times, not only to keep you on the right track, but to also nurture your music career,' said the warden.

'What about our parents. How much do they know?' Brandon asked.

'Governor Williams has already briefed them on the outline details and further information will be provided strictly on a need to know basis, for obvious security reasons,' said Mitch. It all sounded very James Bond like to me.

'OK now if that's it for questions, are you in or out?' the governor asked abruptly as he started to walk toward the door.

Brandon looked at us for approval and we nodded, 'OK we're in.'

'Excellent news, the warden and Mitch can take care of the finer details. I wish you the best of luck with your new venture. I'll check in with Mitch from time to time and hopefully I won't see any of you back at Mount Hood,' said Governor Williams as he paused by the door.

'Thank you sir,' said Brandon and with that the governor was gone.

Mitch asked how we really felt about the idea and I said that we were still in partial shock, which was the truth. 'Think of this as your get out of jail card and believe me you'll have earnt it by the time you've completed police training,' said Mitch, which sounded ominous.

Luis had a question.

'When we're out on the road playing gigs etc, do we get to keep the ticket money?' It was a cheeky question I know and Luis glanced over at the warden as he asked it.

'That's a good point Luis. Part of the money you make will have to be used to pay for food and accommodation, but you can keep any profits,' Mitch replied.

'Think of it as having two jobs, cops by day and rock stars by night,' said the warden.

'Come on guys it'll be fun,' said Luis trying to be positive.

'No one outside of these four walls and that includes the other inmates, can ever know about the plan,' said the warden and we nodded in agreement.

The warden would concoct some story about how we received an early parole for good behaviour and convey this to the inmates, in case anyone did miss us. Due to the top level secrecy of our assignment, we would be leaving for the FBI Training Academy before breakfast. Mitch suggested we return to the barbecue to enjoy the rest of the evening with our friends. We shook Mitch's hand and left still in a daze about what had just happened. For the rest of the evening we laughed with our friends till the music stopped and the food ran out. We would certainly miss some of the more colourful characters including the guards. It was better that we didn't linger too long so that no one would be the wiser about our imminent departure.

We arranged to meet at the main exit around 7.30am before going our separate ways to start packing. As far as belongings go, none of us really had much to pack, but this time alone would give us an opportunity to say our own personal goodbyes to Mount Hood. Brandon said goodbye to the basketball court; Josh had one final look in the mechanics garage and gymnasium; the girls had a final swim while I fixed a laptop that needed attention in the IT lab.

# Chapter 9

The morning arrived and we all felt guilty about leaving under a veil of secrecy without saying goodbye to our other friends, but it could not be avoided. Warden Ellis escorted us personally to the main gates, in case the duty guards started asking too many questions. Luis was waiting for us in a van. We loaded our belongings and were ready to start our new lives.

Warden Ellis whispered 'Good luck,' to us and closed the door gently to avoid making a scene.

'Don't forget if any of you screw up, you'll be sent straight back to jail. That includes you too Luis,' said the Warden with a smile as he stuck his head in the driver's side window.

'Thanks Warden,' said Luis as he started the engine.

The Warden waved as we drove away heading for the highway to Portland Airport. As the van turned the corner we had a final look back at Mount Hood to say farewell. No offence, but we hoped it would be the last time we'd see the place. I'm sure the warden's good work would continue without us and he should be very proud of what he'd achieved so far. We promised to make him proud.

There was one thing I'd promised to do when I got released and that was to have a good cup of coffee at the café in Gresham. I passed it on the prison bus when I first arrived at Mount Hood, but what was it called? I pleaded with Luis to make a detour on to North Main Avenue as I remembered the street name. Finally he relented after nagging like a spoilt child in the back seat.

'OK Scott, but one quick cup of coffee then we have to leave for our flight,' said Luis.

I could have kissed him right at that moment, but managed to refrain.

'STOP, THERE IT IS. CAFÉ DELIRIUM,' I shouted and, as we drove along North Main Avenue, Luis pulled the bus over to park and I jumped out. I could already smell the rich coffee aroma wafting along the side walk. I checked my pockets and realised I was penniless.

'Err sorry Luis, but could you sub me a couple of bucks from my allowance?' I asked with sad puppy dog eyes. It was pathetic I know.

'Here take twenty five bucks and order coffee for all of us,' said Luis as he handed me the money. I took everyone's order and went inside.

'And I'm watching you Scott, no funny business like trying to escape out the back door,' Luis warned and he meant it.

I put my hand up to gesture that I understood, opened the café door and stepped inside to savour my first taste of freedom. 'Mmmmmm,' I whispered dropping my shoulders with pleasure as I approached the counter to inspect the coffee menu.

'Can I help you sir?' a young server asked shaking me from my coffee trance.

'Sure, I'd like a good old fashioned steaming hot cup of coffee please, not one of those double mocha choca woka latté things, that's what my friends want,' I said pointing outside to the van.

The server recommended a local Oregon brand, Caravan Coffee.

'Then I'll have a large cup of that please. Oh and to go,' I ordered.

I handed over the list of coffee requests for my friends, paid then sat to wait for my order. I signalled to the others that the coffees would only be a minute and Luis tapped on his watch impatiently. He would have to wait as good coffee can't be rushed. Looking around I noticed the sign on the wall that read 'Café Delirium, your home away from home,' and that pretty much summed up the moment. I felt that Mount Hood had been my home away from home and the biggest turning point in my life so far. My order was ready and I took the coffee out to the van.

'Jesus, his first taste of freedom is a stop for coffee,' Josh groaned from the side window.

I opened the door and jumped in.

'I love that place guys, just smell these coffees and it even has free WiFi,' I said excitedly handing round the cups.

Josh rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, 'Well that should be really handy given the fact that we'll be living over a hundred miles away in Long Beach.'

He was such a spoil sport but I had my wish and sipped the coffee as we pulled away.

'Feeling better now?' Luis asked.

'Much better thank you,' I replied with another sip of my coffee.

Luis had managed to grab a bag of bagels from the Mount Hood canteen before we left and these tasted good with the coffee. Just as well as our next meal would not be until we reached the FBI Training Academy.

We were soon on the highway and picked up a little time as the roads were clear that Saturday morning. Because our identities had to remain a secret and since we still had criminal records on file, it meant we couldn't fly with a scheduled airline for fear of alerting the local authorities. So Mitch had arranged for a charter flight to take us from Portland to Virginia. We weren't complaining about flying in our own private jet although it did remind me a little of the film Con Air, only without the mass murderers onboard.

The flight arrived on schedule at Turner Field in Quantico Virginia, which is the nearest military airbase to the FBI Training Academy. As soon as we disembarked we were met by a military truck which Mitch had also arranged.

'What no limo?' Molly exclaimed as she walked down the aircraft steps, but sadly not.

'Welcome to Virginia,' said Corporal Ruben Shields who was our driver. We avoided too much small talk with the driver as loose lips sink ships and all that.

It did feel slightly overwhelming at first, leaving a prison one minute and arriving at the FBI Training Academy the next. The hard work started the moment we arrived at the academy. We were separated and assigned to different specialist training teams by the drill sergeant. I said a quick goodbye to my friends as we were whisked away by our team leaders. We were informed that it was a requirement for each cadet to participate in daily sports activities and, lucky for me, wrestling was on the rostrum so I had the easy option. Not so easy though, were the advanced computer studies and surveillance techniques classes that I'd been signed up for. I had to learn a whole bunch of new stuff about bugging devices, infra-red camera systems, code breaking and how to hotwire a vehicle, which was really Josh's bag. The technical stuff was obviously chosen to be my specialist field in the new teen cop's team and I wasn't complaining. On top of our specialist training there were the boring bits too, like the mountain of paperwork that goes with the job, learning about the law and the latest law enforcement techniques. You'd think we already knew a bit about the law having gone through the judicial system a few times, but this was all very new. We had homework too and law books make wonderful bedtime reading. Not. The hand-to-hand combat and riot training exercises made Fridays the most interesting day. In fact everyone needed to let off a little steam by the end of the week and this was just the thing.

Mitch arrived at the academy on the Friday and watched us train. He looked pleased with what he saw, although I'm sure our skills paled in comparison to his own, being ex military and all that. He stuck around for a few days to speak with our instructors and to spend a little quality time with Molly. Our daily routines were very hard. Up at 5am for a team jog with the other cadets, followed by breakfast, a full day's lessons or specialist training and then homework. It made me realise just how luxurious life had been back at Mount Hood, not that I'm complaining. Mitch joined the Saturday morning jog and arranged to meet up with us at the shooting range after lessons for a little target practice. So it wasn't all work and no play. I doubt Mitch realised just how much Molly's shooting had improved during her intensive training sessions as they had a friendly father, daughter shooting competition. I had a little side wager on Molly to win, but lost because Mitch was still the best sharp shooter, although it was close.

Brandon could also handle a gun pretty well and confessed the reason for this was because he used to go hunting with his grandfather every weekend. Jordan was another one as she'd carried a gun during her 'drug lord' days as I called them. As for me, well I preferred the Xbox version to the real thing, but also seemed to be a pretty good shot and let's put that down to Modern Warfare 2. Luis was afraid of guns at first, but soon got into the swing of things. Josh on the other hand had no real interest and was the weakest marksman amongst us. He preferred the greasy oil of the police garage to the shooting range.

Josh spent most of his spare time in the police garage learning a few new motor repair skills and advancing his driving technique. He managed to teach the more seasoned officers a few driving tricks and would have made a great stunt driver, just what the team needed. It was ironic really, after spending most of his teen years boosting cars for fun and getting involved in high speed chases with the police, Josh was now racing police cars and improving their performance all in the name of the law.

Mitch had to leave after dinner, but promised to return to check on progress at regular intervals. We continued to train hard in his absence. During wrestling lessons I had to take on some of the biggest opponents I'd ever seen, managing to defeat all but one, my instructor. He was a tough looking guy by the name of Al Svetina, built like a train and affectionately known as 'the muscles from the Bronx'. While I sweated it out on the wrestling mats, Brandon was relaxing with a leisurely game of Basketball each day. It was immediately obvious to the other cadets, that here was a guy who should be playing professionally and not training for the police force, which started to raise a few questions. Brandon headed these off by telling the cadets he'd suffered a career killing knee injury at school which prevented him from turning pro. Even I started to believe the cover story.

# Chapter 10

Mitch had some special news for us during his next visit; our criminal records had been erased and this included Luis's, which was an even bigger surprise.

'Thanks Boss,' I said as it was greatly appreciated.

Luis was exhausted from all the training exercises and asked Mitch when his nightmare would end. We could sympathise as the training was a big strain on us all.

'You need to hang in there as we only have 10 days of training remaining,' said Mitch as he checked his calendar.

'WE?' exclaimed Luis as he sat sweating in his grey training suit.

'Hey I'm there with you every step of the way, Luis,' said Mitch as he put his arm around Luis.

Failure was not an option for any of us including Luis. By the end of the training course we would have completed 18 weeks of gruelling punishment, both to our bodies and souls. I kept telling myself it was all for the best and thankfully we'd been excused from the normal 22 weeks training course because the chief needed us out on the streets preventing crime.

With all this going on we still had to find time for band practice. To keep it a secret from the other training cadets, Mitch had arranged for the band to use the back room of his friend's bar in town and wanted to hear how we'd progressed. He watched the practice session that evening and was encouraged by what he heard. From the combination of daily band practice and the gruelling police training schedule our backs were killing us. I for one could do with a holiday when this was over. This is one luxury item you missed out on when you're behind bars and I asked Molly to broach the subject with Mitch, as she would have more luck. She promised to ask Mitch when the time was right.

The final few days of training flew by in a haze of body pain. Graduation day was almost upon us. We'd managed to pass the written exams and only had the weekend left to polish our shoes, press our dress uniforms and smile ready for the big occasion. Thankfully target practice, wrestling training and lessons had all finished. Now it was time to enjoy the ceremony.

The police cadet graduation ceremony was everything you would expect from such a special occasion, full of pomp and ceremony. It would probably be the only graduation ceremony we would ever participate in and it was made all the sweeter by our families being able to attend, thanks to Mitch. It was obvious how proud our parents were as they sat together in the middle aisle. Sadly Josh's father had passed away a year back, but his mother was in the crowd of well wishers waving with great pride as Josh walked up to the podium to collect his credentials. It was my turn next and I shook the captain's hand before leaping in the air to celebrate. I could see my poor mother's face as she tried to hide the embarrassment but I didn't care, I'd earned my moment of glory.

Mitch certainly looked the part during the ceremony, dressed in his best uniform with his chest blazoned with a string of medals for bravery. What was even more impressive as we discovered from Molly, was that Mitch had served in the Marine Corp Special OPs unit, so he was an extremely serious bad ass. I made another mental note never to mess with him. After the class photo with the other graduating cadets, it was time for the now traditional, family group hugs and kisses. Mitch offered to buy dinner for everyone at his friend's bar and asked if we wouldn't mind performing after the meal.

'I'll have to check with my manager,' said Josh as he looked over at Luis and smiled.

What better way to show off our much improved musical talents and we certainly made it a night to remember.

There was a brief opportunity to say goodbye to our families before leaving for the airport in the morning and my father wanted to say a few words as I loaded my things on the bus.

'Try to be careful son and certainly no computer hacking, unless it's in the name of the law of course,' he warned with a grin.

'Yes Father', I replied.

We waved goodbye as the bus set off for the airport. Things were different this time as we got to fly with a scheduled airline, no more private jets as the criminal records were wiped clean. When the flight arrived in Seattle, we boarded the transfer bus to the terminal to collect our luggage. Mitch travelled back with us and wanted to say a few quiet words.

'After we get the luggage, there will be a green bus waiting for us outside the terminal marked with a Long Beach visitor sign. This will take us to a motel in Long Beach where you'll be staying until your new house is ready to move into,' said Mitch.

'Wow our own house, party time,' said Brandon.

'You should all be very proud at how much you have achieved so far, but now the real work begins. Remember the Washington State Troopers motto at all times, 'Service with Humility,' said Mitch.

We would come to appreciate the importance of these words during the hard days ahead.

'Oh, one other thing,' said Mitch as he glanced over at Molly. 'The chief has very kindly agreed to give you a few days off to relax before work begins on Friday.'

Obviously Molly's words of persuasion had worked. Mitch would be picking us up at 0630 for work on Friday and warned us not to have too late a night beforehand.

'Yes Boss,' we said in unison.

Brandon and I both assumed it would be party time when we got to the motel, but sadly none of us had any energy left. In fact the most we could manage during the next few days was to crash out either by the pool or on the beach. It was pathetic really for teenagers to be so exhausted, but we were just content with being free for now and the partying could wait.

# Chapter 11

Now rested and ready for action, Mitch picked us up outside the motel at 0630 sharp Friday morning. He thought it might be better if we entered the precinct separately on the first day, so as not to create too much interest from the other officers and parked the van round the side of the building. After all, five very young rookies arriving at the same time might cause a stir. Mitch said he would meet us in the chief's office at 0815 after roll call, for formal introductions. We got out and entered the precinct one by one to report to the desk sergeant for duty.

'Officer Scott Hunter reporting for duty sir,' I said with pride as I looked down at my shiny new badge.

'Welcome rookie. Put your things in the locker and report for roll call,' said the desk sergeant as he handed me a locker key and pointed to its location.

I found my locker and put my personal items inside. Brandon was next to join me and the others arrived soon after.

'Morning,' said Josh as he opened his locker and we said good morning back like we'd not met before as there were other officers in the room.

This was all very grown up stuff and I started to doubt whether I could pull it off as the butterflies started to set in. What was I thinking? But Mitch knew what he was doing and I'm sure we were in capable hands. After roll call we slipped away upstairs for the meeting with the chief. Brandon knocked on the door first and a deep frightening voice said 'ENTER.'

'Good morning everyone I'm Garrett Kelly the Chief of Police for Washington. Welcome to my precinct,' said the chief who was impeccably dressed.

He reminded me of Gordon Gecko the main character from the movie Wall Street but with crushing hands and piercing blue eyes. I thought to myself, now here's another guy not to mess with. Mitch watched our reactions and smiled as the chief shook our hands, almost breaking them in the process. It was time for the first pep talk.

'May I first congratulate you on your great success at the training academy, I realise what a culture shock this must have been. Joining the police force is a wonderful opportunity for you to wipe the slate clean and to get a second chance in life, but believe me the road ahead will be a tough one. Mitch may have already mentioned that you'll be given full access to the department's resources and please use them wisely. We want the teen cops division to make a real difference to the lives of teenagers in the local community and indeed across the United States. Good luck and now I'll hand you back to Lieutenant Carter,' said the chief.

'Wow that was scary,' Jordan whispered.

'Spoken like a true politician,' said Brandon sounding a little sceptical.

'I'll introduce you formally to the desk sergeant in a few minutes and hand you over to him to conduct the precinct walkabout, but first let me introduce you to the District Attorney, Ms Alexis Logan,' said Mitch and, with that, a tall very striking woman opened the door and joined the meeting. She was a real head turner and I was already smitten.

'OK focus please,' said Mitch as the boy's eyes fixed on the DA.

'Hello,' said the DA as she walked along the line and shook our hands.

I wasn't sure whether to curtsey before this princess or give her a high five.

'Ms Logan and I will be responsible for your case assignments,' said Mitch.

'And we hope to have you working on the first case as soon as possible,' the DA added.

With those final few words the meeting was over and the chief dismissed us.

We followed Mitch from the office and headed over to meet Sergeant McGregor on the front desk. The sergeant would be accompanying us around the precinct to meet the rest of the officers.

'I'll see you in the operations room at 1030 for weapons briefing and after lunch you have a training session booked with the good sergeant on how to complete your case work files,' Mitch said as he wandered off. Oh how I hate paperwork.

It was all sounding very military, 0600, 0815 and now 1030, but we had to get used to it.

'Nice to meet you kid' and, 'Hey kid, welcome aboard,' were the sort of welcome comments we got from the other officers. It made us feel more like school children on a precinct visit than qualified police officers. Hopefully this would change once we got a few successful cases under our belts. I was tired after walking around the precinct smiling and shaking hands with everyone. Trying to remember names was also proving difficult and I needed some coffee to recuperate. We got a well appreciated ten minute coffee break and sat in virtual silence while we gathered our strength. It was a lot for us to absorb on the first day.

After the coffee break we thanked the desk sergeant for his guided tour and he pointed us in the right direction for the operations room. When we entered the ops room, we were greeted by an array of weapons and all kinds of electronic gadgets scattered across a long boardroom table. The chief wasn't kidding when he promised to provide the full resources of the law. Mitch had arranged for Sergeant Wright from the technical department to explain what each object was for. Now we had our very own weapons geek, so eat your heart out CSI. At the end of the weapons briefing our brains were totally frazzled and Mitch could see we were starting to fade fast. He suggested a coffee break before we turned into zombies.

'Make mine a black coffee please,' I requested as Mitch did the honours.

Mitch sat with us during the break and although he tried to sympathise with us about the amount of information that there was for us to take in, he really needed us to get on with it as it was going to get worse.

'It's only day one for Christ's sake, I can't cope,' I said acting the fool. 'One thing's for sure, they need to improve the coffee around here and a good tin of Caravan Coffee might do the trick.'

The weapons briefing continued and Mitch explained some of the security issues, such as access to personal emails and phone calls. We weren't allowed to call or email family or friends without supervision from either Mitch or Luis. A secure phone line had been installed in our new accommodation and calls would be kept to a minimum. Potential security leaks could jeopardise both us and our families, which made perfect sense.

Lunchtime finally arrived and we walked across the road to grab a taco from the food wagon. We sat outside with some of the other officers, but this mixing did raise a few questions, like 'how come you guys look so young' which we had to fend off without giving too much away. After lunch it was time for the dreaded paperwork briefing with Sergeant McGregor, who was a real stickler for detail. Dealing with a mountain of forms, sitting through weapons briefings, roll call and fending off questions about who we were had taken its toll. I for one was genuinely relieved when the first shift finished.

'Man that was tough going and that paperwork was mind numbing,' Brandon said as he sighed by his locker.

We got changed quickly and clocked off for the day.

Mitch was waiting outside to take us back to the motel so we could collapse on the beds and watch TV. Luis had been absent all day and finally showed up bringing gifts of pizza with him to the motel. He's the best.

'Good day at the office?' he asked with a chuckle and we just groaned. 'Suck it up. There's more of the same on Monday and this time I'll be joining you,' he added with a cold shudder.

At least we can watch Luis suffer for once, so it wasn't all bad. An early night was called for and I crashed out before 10pm or 2200 as I should say. Thankfully tomorrow was Saturday so I could get a reasonable lie in bed.

# Chapter 12

It was only Josh who got up early Saturday morning to go jogging and by the time I was up and pulled back the curtains, it was almost 1030. I stepped out onto the balcony to breathe in the wonderful sea air and spotted Josh making his way back along the beach. I watched him for a while and gave a supportive wave, although I'm sure he could have done with a lie in this morning like the rest of us.

We'd been living in the motel for the past four nights and were due to be moving in to our new permanent residence later that day. We were waiting for a text from Luis to confirm what time we were supposed to be leaving as he was out inspecting the property. Suddenly my new Blackberry phone went off with the arrival of a text. It was from Luis and it said, 'Can you all please be ready for me to pick you up at 1130?'

I didn't think the girls would be awake yet and I went to knock on their door.

'Go away Scott.' Charming, I thought.

I shouted back that Luis was on his way and they needed to get ready. I shook Brandon awake in our room and jumped in the shower first so at least I'd be ready. As I got out the shower Josh came back in the room with a surprise.

'Here you go Scott, I bought you a cup of real coffee from Coffee Roasters, I found the place while jogging and I think you'll like it. Oh and they even have free Wi-Fi,' said Josh as he handed the coffee to me.

'Thanks man I appreciate it,' I smelt the aroma, lifted the lid and took a mouthful. It was heavenly and I promised to visit Coffee Roaster when we next had some free time.

I threw my bits into a small holdall as Brandon literally rolled out of bed and fell face down on the carpet, which had to hurt. He got up washed his face, cleaned his teeth and brushed his hair without a word almost like he was sleep walking. You had to smile. The boys were ready on time as usual, but the girls were still trying to decide what to wear. Luis sounded the horn outside the motel entrance and stuck his head out the rental van's window to call up.

'Hurry up ladies or you'll have to walk.'

Jordan hopped out to the elevator with just one shoe on, while Molly sprinted behind with the curling tongs still hanging from her hair.

'Got everything girls?' Josh asked.

'Hope so,' Jordan replied.

'After you,' I said as the elevator door opened.

Brandon finally managed to liven himself up and seemed the most excited about the new pad, probably because Luis had mentioned something about a basketball hoop. It was a relatively short drive from the motel to our new place and we stopped at the Maccy d's drive thru on the way for a late breakfast.

'Close your eyes, we're nearly there,' said Luis as we drove north along the coastal road.

'OK you can open them now.'

The van stopped and when we opened our eyes, there in front of us was a magnificent house, very futuristic with a diamond shaped roof and tall side walls. The beach was less than 50 yards from our front door and as I couldn't see any close neighbours, I assumed we could play our music as loud as we wanted. Brandon spotted the basketball hoop and jumped out the van with a ball under his arm. He was like a big kid and he wasn't the only one.

Luis opened the front door of the house and because we were huddled so closely behind him, he was nearly crushed as we pushed past trying to be the first to get inside.

'Sorry Luis,' said Josh as he squeezed past.

The house was spacious and full of light. Molly and Jordan rushed around checking each of the rooms and were first to shotgun the two rooms located on the east wing. We boys weren't bothered as closer to the TV and kitchen was our preference. We opened the door to the balcony on the first floor and stepped out to admire the beach view. It felt like Christmas had come early. I looked down and saw Mitch pulling on to the driveway in his flashy Dodge Challenger.

'Nice view guys?' he asked as he looked up at us.

'It's OK,' I replied being coy.

Brandon was busy out front beating himself at basketball and looked up momentarily to say, 'Morning Boss,' as Mitch walked past.

'Good morning Brandon,' Mitch replied.

Luis was making us feel guilty by trying to unload the van all by himself so I ran down to help. Meanwhile Mitch headed straight for the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee and I was shocked to see he was using my new favourite brand 'Caravan Coffee.'

'They sell it at one of the local stores,' said Mitch as I quizzed him about it.

With sunglasses resting on his head and old jeans cut off at the knees to make shorts, Mitch was definitely the cool cop.

'Well, what do you think of the place?' Mitch asked as he gave Molly a hug.

'Love it Dad,' said Molly as she twirled around.

With everything unpacked from the van, Mitch gave us the official tour. It was an awesome place, loaded with the very latest gadgets designed to keep us occupied when we were off duty. The house was equipped with a surveillance room for the IT geeks amongst us, weapons lock up in the basement for everyone, a gym for Josh, and that wasn't all. A situation room as Mitch called it had been built behind the garage for private ops briefings. Eat your heart out CSI I said again. Mitch even made sure we had a place to practice our music with our very own recording studio and we had new instruments for the band. Sweet!

'Ah there's nothing like bringing your work home with you,' said Brandon as he inspected the weapons lockup.

There were a few more surprises in the garage. We had our very own custom built van, dirt bikes and two off road vehicles to share, which looked fantastic.

'WOW,' said Josh already holding a spanner in his hand.

He was happy and immediately started to strip down one of the dirt bike engines to improve its efficiency he said and we left him to it. It felt a bit like a cross between Teen Cribs and Tracy Island from Thunderbirds, what with all the crazy gadgets and secret rooms.

'NO WAY - A SWIMMING POOL,' Jordan screamed as Mitch opened the patio door to the rear garden.

'Yes way and one of you will need to take responsibility for cleaning it every day and someone else to cut the grass,' said Mitch.

'I guess there was no budget left then to pay for a pool guy or a gardener?' I said as I volunteered for pool cleaning duty. We could work out a rota amongst ourselves for the other household chores. I did start to wonder just how much all this had cost the fine tax payers of Washington State. It was obvious that so much was expected of us and I hoped we wouldn't let anyone down.

'Welcome to your new home,' said Mitch as he handed each of us a set of keys.

Now we really did feel like grown ups with our very own front door key.

'Look after the place and enjoy it because work begins on Monday,' said Mitch as he was leaving.

Molly had a quick chat with her dad outside by the car while the rest of us quickly unpacked our clothes. Then it was time for some fun at Casa Teen. I slid down the banister on my belly like a big kid and managed to pull off a perfect dismount right by the front door as Molly walked back in. This would have easily earned a nine score at the teen Olympics. Brandon was out front again playing basketball, so he was busy. Josh had finished working on the first dirt bike and was taking a break in the home gym of all places. Luis was spread across the lounge sofa watching sports on TV with a big bag of crisps and the girls headed for a dip in the pool. I decided to join them and announced my arrival with a dive bomb, much to their displeasure. I soon got bored, jumped out to dry off and headed for a walk along the beach.

'See you at lunch,' I shouted to everyone, but there was no reply.

I found a small wooden pier along the beach and sat to admire the view. With my legs dangling above the water I sat back and took a deep breath 'Ah,' it was perfect. I kept thinking just how lucky I was to be free and then things got even better. A very tall attractive young lady walked past and I said 'hello' so as not to appear rude. We struck up a polite conversation and I asked her about the best local places to eat. At that moment I remembered another one of Mitch's little house rules, no relationships and I hoped this surely didn't mean forever? I thanked the young lady for her restaurant tips and said goodbye.

'Goodbye Scott,' she said walking off along the beach like a top model, damn Mitch and his rules.

'Ciao,' I replied which is a bit lame I know, but I had been out of the dating game for a while now, due to my circumstances.

Another one of 'Mitch's ground rules' meant no guests back to the house in case our cover was blown. I think we were all cool with this one for now, but at some point we would need to have a small house warming party surely, perhaps when Luis was out the way.

By the time I got back to the house, Josh was in the garage again working on the van engine.

'Hey Scot take a look. I managed to double the fuel intake on the flim flam valve,' Josh said very excitedly. Well that's what it sounded like to me any way.

'You lost me at hello, buddy,' I said.

Brandon was cooling down in the pool after wearing himself out playing basketball, so I decided to sit on the grass and listen to some music.

Luis would be living with us 24/7 as part of the agreement struck with Warden Ellis and we were all cool with this, especially because Luis seemed to be the best at finding fast food restaurants wherever we went. We would enjoy regular treats of chicken, pizza and Chinese takeaways during the next few months all thanks to Luis, but as we were on a tight living allowance we couldn't go crazy on the takeaways. We took a vote to see who would cook the first Casa Teen home meal and I won or lost, whatever way you look at it. Luis went food shopping with the two girls, while we boys took care of the household chores. I was cooking one of my mother's favourite recipes, Spanish meat balls and pasta followed by four cartons of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, the perfect meal.

After clearing up the dinner things we all went up to the balcony and sat to admire the first sun set at Casa Teen. We talked about how eager we were to get stuck into our first case and how nervous we were at the same time. Luis suggested we take our minds off police work for one night and do a little band practice, as we hadn't done any since leaving the training academy. Although we groaned at first after consuming such a big meal, we realised it was a necessity and went down to the studio. The studio was fantastic and it inspired us to practice for a couple of hours at full volume as there were no neighbours around to upset.

# Chapter 13

During the first two weeks of active duty we behaved like model rookies, reporting for work early and getting on with the job without complaining, until today. Brandon was fed up at being restricted to either routine ride along assignments with the more experienced officers or boring paperwork. It was not what we'd been trained for and we needed a case to sink our teeth into. Mitch could see how frustrated we were getting and thankfully this was all about to change. It was Friday afternoon and as things were starting to wind down for the weekend I thought I'd put my feet up on the chair and rest. Not a good idea as DA Logan entered the precinct at that very same moment.

'Comfortable officer Hunter?' she asked.

Damn it, there's nothing worse than being caught with your feet up on the job and I spun round quickly to get on with my work. The chemistry between the DA and Mitch was obvious to everyone, apart from Mitch. I watched as she walked past Mitch to the coffee machine and glanced back to see if he'd noticed. Molly had tried to encourage her Dad to start dating again but, for all we knew, he may already have a girlfriend, so we kept our noses out of his business.

'Now cut that out Molly this is a work place,' said Mitch as Molly nodded at him to go speak to the DA.

'Morning Lieutenant,' said the DA.

'Good morning your highness,' Mitch replied sarcastically.

'We've got important business to discuss,' said the DA.

They headed to the ops room for a private discussion and soon after Mitch stuck his head out the door to ask Luis to join them.

'More secret discussions,' said Josh as he sat down at the desk next to me and drank precinct coffee. Yuck!

'This might be it, our first case,' said Brandon with excitement.

'Anything's got to be better than doing paperwork,' I groaned as butterflies started to fly round in my stomach.

'Mitch, I think we have our first assignment for the Teen Cops,' said the DA as she explained the details to Luis and Mitch. 'There have been several recent carjackings at the Long Valley College campus and the problem needs to be addressed right away. I can't have the parents turning into vigilantes, thinking the police aren't interested. More importantly a number of the students come from wealthy homes and their parents have donated very generously to the police charity fund over the years,' said the DA as she emphasised the importance of the case.

At that moment Josh walked slowly past the meeting room trying to listen to what was being discussed, but couldn't hear much.

'Well, what are they saying?' I asked.

'All I heard was something about a local college and cars being stolen,' said Josh.

'Sounds like your kind of job Josh,' Brandon added.

'Funny,' said Josh.

The meeting continued for a good thirty minutes before Chief Kelly was called to join them. Suddenly without warning, the meeting room door burst open, so we quickly put our heads down to pretend we were working. Mitch smiled as he walked over to invite us to join the meeting. Our eyes lit up with excitement. DA Logan explained the situation and why she felt the Teen Cops were the ideal candidates for the assignment.

'Something to sink your teeth into, should be nothing too dangerous,' she said which were famous last words.

'We're ready, Mam,' said Josh, not really sure how to address the DA.

'I know, but I want you all to be very careful as this is your first case,' Mitch said, adding his words of caution.

'Because the carjackings have usually been taking place at night, the college students are too afraid to venture out after eight o'clock and we have to put a stop to this,' said the DA as she slammed her hand down on the table. I was impressed.

'We have formulated an outline plan and Mitch will explain the details,' she added.

'Luis will book the band to play at the college concert music festival, which starts next week. It's the ideal cover for you guys and prior to the concert you'll be enrolled as temporary students, living on campus to investigate the case. Accommodation will be arranged for you and cover stories provided before we leave for Long Valley. You shouldn't have any problems fitting in with the rest of the students and it might even give you a chance to catch up with your studies,' Mitch said with a grin.

'Cool, I finally get to go to college,' said Brandon.

'We don't have to attend classes, right?' Josh asked.

'Yes I'm afraid you do Josh,' Mitch replied.

'I suppose we'll need fake ID's?' I enquired.

'Yes Scott and I know just the person for the job. Luis can provide you with the necessary cover names after the meeting,' Mitch replied as he looked at me.

All I needed was a laptop and some assistance from my good friend Mr Photoshop. It would actually feel quite strange creating fake ID's for the right reasons and not just to gain entrance to a bar for alcohol. I suppose there's a first for everything and I knew Dad would be proud. Mitch handed each of us a case file to read.

'Make sure you study this during the weekend,' he ordered.

We nodded knowing full well that we wouldn't bother reading it until Monday morning. Hey it's the weekend and time for some fun.

'Good luck to you all and make this assignment a real success,' said the chief clasping his hands in a victory style as he left the meeting.

No pressure then, I thought. DA Logan, Luis and Mitch continued to discuss the finer details and to prepare our cover stories while we got back to work. The mission itself was scheduled to start at 0600 hours Monday morning, so any late night Sunday fun was out for us.

As soon as our shift had finished we got changed, left our uniforms in the lockers and headed home. Luis insisted the band practised over the weekend and that we help him pack the equipment in the van Sunday night, ready for the early start on Monday. Would there be any time left to squeeze in some fun?

Josh had found a local amusement arcade during one of his jogs and after I'd dragged everyone to my new favourite coffee bar, we headed there. Luis accompanied us as always and bought pizza at Chico's on the way home. This helped to release some of the tension we were feeling about the case.

Sunday night soon came around and it felt like we'd had very little time to relax. Right now everyone was busy either packing or trying to chill. I included a few colourful shirts for the week ahead as I'd been saving these for just such an occasion. It might help to brighten things up around the campus.

'Brandon I doubt we'll need the shotguns,' said Jordan as Brandon carried two shotguns from the weapons lockup to the van.

'You never know Jordan,' Brandon replied as he secured the weapons inside the vans secret compartment.

Once the van was packed with all the bands equipment it was time for a late evening swim. I ran straight for the pool first, stripping off to my underwear on the way. It took a few minutes for the others to 'stop being so boring,' and join me.

'Where's your party spirit?' I asked as I careered down the slide, but there were no witty replies and I guessed everyone was feeling nervous about the case. It was 2200 before we left the pool, dried off and got ready for bed. As I headed for my room I noticed Molly sitting out alone on the balcony with a blanket wrapped around her,

'Mind if I join you?' I asked.

'Not at all,' Molly replied as she pulled the blanket tighter round her to warm up.

We sat talking for a while about her childhood and how different life might have been if her mother was still alive. Molly had been brought up by a string of nannies because Mitch had been away for long periods of time serving for his country. At least now Molly could be much closer to her father, albeit under strange circumstances. My childhood was very different, having been raised for most of it in Silicon Valley with the other IT brats and look how I turned out. OK apart from the stint in jail, I wasn't so bad. But then again I'm no shrink.

It was almost midnight and Luis walked round the house to remind us it was time to get some sleep. I hugged Molly goodnight before going downstairs to turn off all the lights. I stopped for a moment by the pool and took a deep breath to relax. On my way back upstairs I shouted out goodnight to everyone like the Waltons used to do and received a unified reply.

'GOODNIGHT SCOTT BOY.'

I had to laugh.

# Chapter 14

I doubt any of us got much sleep that night, which can't be good for the start of our first case. There was just enough time for a quick breakfast and coffee before we had to load the final few essentials in the van. Josh was already outside fussing around the van, insisting he needed to achieve the correct front to back weight ratio in order to maximise engine efficiency, one of his minor OCDs. I just handed him my bag and left him to get on with it. Josh managed to leave enough room to squeeze a dirt bike in the back of the van, 'because you never know when it might come in handy'. His words not mine.

Once everything was loaded, Luis locked the house securely and set the alarm. There was a direct CCTV feed from the house to a secure server in the precinct, so hopefully we had 24hr surveillance. Just as well when you consider how much expensive equipment there was inside. Luis drove the first leg of the journey and was taking it nice and easy to give us time to 'panic read' through the 'important' case file that Mitch had given each of us before the weekend.

Josh drove from the halfway point while Luis sat in the back with us, to go over our cover stories. As soon as these formalities were out the way, it was time for a good old fashioned sing along. Josh tuned the radio to the local rock station and we did a little radio karaoke to pass the time. I looked out of the window to admire the sheer beauty of the Washington State landscape. We had everything from lakes to mountains, ancient forests to wonderful beaches. No offence to California, my home state, but this is way better. We reached Long Valley College just before 0815 and the place looked pretty cool with plenty of pretty girls. I was first out of the van to admire the local scenery, if you get my meaning.

'Hey Scott, a little help here please,' Luis asked as he started to unload the band equipment by the rear entrance of the concert venue.

I took off my sunglasses and lent a hand. Luis wanted to store the equipment in the concert venue. This would give us an opportunity to have a few private rehearsal sessions before our gig on Thursday. Unfortunately we couldn't hang around for too long as classes were starting soon. We arranged to get our personal things from Luis at lunch time.

'OK you guys go and do your thing, I can manage,' said Luis.

Luis was posing as both the band's manager and as a mature student for his undercover activity, so he could wander round campus to conduct his own private investigation. Mitch was supposed to be meeting us at the college, but there was no sign of him yet. I'm sure he would show soon enough.

'Hey you know something I don't miss?' Brandon asked as we hurried to class.

'No, what's that?' Jordan replied.

'Facebook and all those other social networking sites that used to completely consume my life,' said Brandon.

Brandon was right, our lives had been taken over by the social networking sites and it was actually a relief when Mitch told us we had to stay off the social radar for a while. No more ridiculous tweets for me. We were also barred from having any social media presence for the band, but we couldn't prevent anyone else from setting up an unofficial site.

'See you at lunch guys!' Molly shouted as she disappeared into one of the buildings for the start of her first class.

DA Logan had arranged our classes with the College Dean and he was the only one who knew about our operation on the campus. But what he didn't know was that we were also the headline act for Thursday night's concert as this was our little secret. Josh made his way to the vehicle mechanics class. Hog's heaven for him, while I attended advanced computer science classes. What a geek. Brandon was studying sports therapy (yawn), Molly was studying journalism and Jordan was on the film study course. This way we had a better chance of meeting a wide variety of students in the hope of finding some positive leads in the case.

Although the morning's lessons were OK, we were really only going through the motions as we had no intention of doing any homework. We skipped a meal during lunch break in order to go and get our things from Luis. He was already waiting by the van and as we approached, we looked around to make sure nobody was watching before taking our bags. We made our separate ways to the dorm rooms to unpack. I was sharing a room with Brandon and Josh, while the two girls shared a room down the hall. Luis was in a room by himself between both. I hung my clothes up and peeped out the dorm window to get my bearings. The room had a perfect view of the main car park and concert venue, which could prove to be useful.

The afternoon's class schedule was pretty light for all of us and we arranged to meet outside the campus library at 1530 to kick start the investigation.

'See you there at 1530,' I said as we went our separate ways to class.

We decided it was best to split into pairs as we began the afternoon's investigation. I was paired with Molly, Brandon worked with Josh and Luis joined us to be paired with Jordan. The finishing point for the day would be the campus cafe at 1830 so we could have dinner together. Our weapons remained safely locked away in the van for now. Mitch had given us strict instructions not to carry any weapons unless it was deemed 'absolutely necessary.'

We used our Blackberry phones to communicate with each other. These were meant to be used strictly for work purposes only but as the monotony of the days investigative work wore on, I received a video of Brandon shooting a few hoops on the basketball court. Hardly work I know. I sent him a quick text back to ask a question.

'Something I just thought about Brandon. We've only performed in front of friendly crowds before, apart from Albany Prison. Do you think paying guests will like us?' I asked.

'Try to think about all those screaming girls,' Brandon replied.

'And the gorgeous guys,' Jordan added as she joined the text discussion.

'Naturally,' Brandon replied.

Jordan was sitting on the grass by the library talking with some of the students while Luis inspected the car parks for anything he thought might appear suspicious. We were all gathering Intel in some shape or form, although it might not seem like it. Molly and I headed for the library, not to read a book, don't be silly, but to find Jordan and Luis as it was almost 1820.

'Did you find out anything interesting?' Molly asked Jordan.

'Not really, just that most of the students I spoke to were reluctant to venture out at night because of the carjackings, which we already knew about from the DA,' Jordan replied.

We met the others at the cafe to compare what little notes we had. Josh was hungry and needed to eat before we could do anything so we joined him in the food line.

'Boy I actually miss school life,' said Molly as she stood behind me.

'Hmm and I really miss school food,' said Josh as he piled his plate high.

'Where's Jamie Oliver when you need him,' I said as the food looked fairly unhealthy to me although, having said that, it actually tasted pretty good.

Luis grabbed a table for us by the window and we joined him.

'How's your day been?' Luis asked as we sat down.

It had been pretty fruitless really with nothing of any significance to report. Brandon it seems managed to get phone numbers from two girls, much to Jordan's disgust.

'Kudos dude,' said Josh as they banged knuckles. Molly whacked him on the arm for leading the girls on.

'Old habits die hard,' said Brandon as he defended himself.

'Do you guys know how many party invitations I've had to turn down, all in the line of duty?' I said trying to get in on the conversation. Molly laughed as she'd been with me for most of the day and knew the answer was none.

'Oh thanks,' I said feeling hurt.

'I found out from asking one of the lecturers, that two thieves were seen in the stolen vehicles,' Luis added as he'd obviously been talking to the right people.

This information was useful as it could mean that we were dealing with a gang and not a lone carjacker. Josh thought he might have a lead as well, 'I did see a couple of older students hanging around the car park looking at the cars. I only noticed them because I was doing the same thing,' Josh said.

He'd managed to take a photo on his Blackberry which he circulated amongst us.

'We should forward this to HQ for them to analyse on the facial recognition software,' said Luis, which was a good idea.

It was highly unlikely that these two suspects were the actual carjackers as the real ones were far too clever to be caught hanging around car parks. But to be thorough we decided to follow up on every lead and Josh volunteered to take point on this one.

'To recap, we must assume that there are at least two carjackers involved in the thefts and we might also have a couple of suspects living here with us on campus that Josh has spotted,' I said stating the obvious.

This was enough to share with Mitch when he finally showed up, but where was he? Molly was starting to get a little concerned as Mitch should have been with us by now. We finished our meal and walked back to the dorm to try to contact him.

# Chapter 15

'All this police work is killing my feet,' said Josh as he bathed his feet in a bowl of steaming hot water.

'You're such a big girl Josh,' said Brandon.

Their bromance moment was soon interrupted by a knock on the door and Brandon asked cautiously who was there.

'It's the janitor and I need to check the bathroom plumbing,' said the person on the other side of the door. The plumbing seemed OK to me and, as this request seemed a little suspicious, Brandon opened the door very cautiously, while I stood behind it holding a frying pan at the ready for protection. Josh was stuck with his feet in the bath so he was no use.

As the door opened we were relieved to see Mitch standing there in the corridor.

'It's the Boss,' said Brandon.

'Can I come in?' Mitch asked.

Mitch had grown stubble and even gone without washing for a couple of days to get into character as the campus janitor, which was impressive.

'Nice look, Boss,' Brandon said as he closed the door behind them.

I sent the girls a quick text to let them know Mitch had finally arrived.

'Great disguise Dad,' said Molly as she walked in and gave her dad a hug. 'Phew you stink,' she added pinching her nose.

'If only DA Logan could see him now,' I whispered to Molly out the side of my mouth, only not quietly enough, as Mitch glared at me. Oops! I thought.

'Do you have any relevant information about the case that you'd like to share with us Scott?' Mitch asked trying to catch me out.

'Yes sir,' I replied feeling very self-conscious at being caught whispering in class again.

I explained about there being two carjackers according to Luis's investigations and the two suspicious characters that Josh had seen snooping around the main car park.

'Thank you Scott.' Mitch said smirking because as usual I'd managed to talk my way out of a tricky situation.

'We've only got two days before the start of the music festival to try to solve this case. The car parks will be overflowing with vehicles during the festival, making it easy pickings for any carjacker and that's when we need to grab them,' said Mitch as he punched his fist into his palm. This got our attention.

Mitch suggested we work in pairs again and patrol the campus grounds during the night, if we really wanted to get on top of the case. It was my turn to go on the first patrol duty with Molly. Mitch and Jordan would handle the next three hour shift, Brandon and Josh the last. Somehow Luis had managed to avoid patrol duty altogether and got a full night's sleep.

'Oh and make sure you tidy your rooms please before the real janitor returns from holiday,' Mitch added as he sat down on the couch for a cup of coffee.

So that's where the real janitor was. I had started to worry.

When I stepped outside in the cold night air, I started to wish I'd brought my surveillance equipment and warm clothing. I could have done with my night vision goggles as well, because trying to see anything in the dark was proving to be very difficult. We sipped coffee from a flask to stay awake while we patrolled the grounds, paying particular attention to the main car park where the two suspects had been spotted by Josh. Unfortunately all we managed to observe during our shift was a family of rabbits eating the grass. We nearly jumped out of our skins when Mitch and Jordan crept up behind us and went 'BOO.'

'Very funny guys, you could have given me a heart attack,' said Molly.

'Did anything interesting happen?' Mitch asked.

'Nothing but a few night time creatures moving about I'm afraid' Molly replied.

'OK, you two go get some sleep,' said Mitch patting me on the back and taking the coffee flask for himself and Jordan.

The night patrol idea turned out to be a complete waste of time. The carjackers were obviously tucked up in a nice warm bed somewhere which is exactly where we should have been. Mitch had a hunch that the thieves might be waiting to strike when the festival began and insisted we continue the patrols.

The next day was pretty non-eventful. We attended lessons, ate lunch with the other students trying to pick up possible leads, patrolled the campus grounds until 0530 before we gave up. Nothing had happened. We thought perhaps the carjackers had moved on to a new target, but we were about to be proven wrong as all hell broke loose at 0600.

I'd just got to bed after my shift and had to jump straight back out again when the loud sound of screeching car tyres thundered in from the car park below our dorm.

'What the hell?' Josh asked as he sat up in his bed.

I pushed the window open and got a face full of car fumes, making it almost impossible to see what was happening. One thing's for sure, it was a real carjacking in progress. Mitch was first on the scene and started to chase after the thieves bare footed. It was funny to watch, but naturally I wouldn't be the one to tell him that.

'Don't bother Boss, they're long gone,' Brandon shouted from the window but Mitch was relentless.

Josh took a big breath of the burning rubber breeze and it was one of those Apocalypse Now moments, you know when Robert Duval says 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning.'

Brandon suggested we might want to help Mitch, but it was better if we just left him to it. Mitch did finally give up the chase as the thieves cleared the main campus gates and were gone. His feet were cut and sore from running bare footed and he hobbled back to our room to soak them in a bowl of hot water. I had a hot cup of coffee waiting for him as he collapsed on the couch.

Mitch was furious that the thieves had managed to get away so easily. I heard another commotion from outside the window and went to take a look. A crowd of students had gathered in the car park below and I went down to join them. They were bitching about the lack of police support. If only they knew the truth but I couldn't say anything. I asked if anyone had witnessed the incident, but once again the thieves had been too clever as nobody saw a thing. I left them to their complaining and returned to the room.

Mitch confirmed what Luis had said earlier, that there were two suspects in the stolen vehicle and both wore racing helmets, which was fresh information, but there was no way of making a positive ID.

'If we want any chance of catching them, we need to come up with a plan. Something that might lure them into a trap could work,' said Mitch as he sat and thought.

Josh stood up and said, 'I've got an idea Boss. It's simple really. What we need is a vehicle to use as bait, something sexy and expensive looking,' said Josh.

'Apart from the van, what else is there?' Molly asked.

'What do you drive Mitch?' Josh asked as if he didn't know already.

'No. Not my Dodge Challenger. You can't use that for bait. I love that car,' said Mitch protesting strongly.

'Is that the SRT8 392, sweet, but not the convertible right?' Josh asked.

'Yes and no,' said Mitch knowing he was trapped.

'For all you non petrol heads, the Challenger has a 470-hp Hemi 6.4 engine,' Josh added.

'Thanks for clearing that up,' said Jordan.

'Where's your team spirit Mitch?' Molly asked as she turned on him.

'OK I give in. Let's say we go with Josh's plan and use my car as bait. My own gut feeling though, is that the thieves are unlikely to strike again so soon,' said Mitch.

'At least if the Dodge does get stolen it's fitted with a tracking device, so we can follow the thieves,' Mitch added knowing this would probably be his worst nightmare.

We voted in favour of the plan, ate breakfast while we discussed the finer details then left for the days classes.

At lunch Mitch drove the Dodge round to the car park outside the concert venue and left it in plain sight for all to see. Josh insisted on inspecting the Dodge to make sure it would actually entice the carjackers.

'It's all good, Boss,' said Josh, which was really no comfort for Mitch.

Mitch looked very nervous and had to prise himself away to speak to the two security guards standing at the main gate about something important. Mitch asked if it would be OK for them to close the gates once the concert started that evening. He explained the reasons and they seemed happy to oblige. Now the trap was set, but would the thieves come out to play?

# Chapter 16

The music festival started at 1930 that evening and Mitch insisted on taking the first shift so he could guard his precious Dodge. Brandon and Molly patrolled the surrounding car parks while Josh and Jordan rested in the dorm before their patrol duties started at midnight. As for me and Luis, well we had the best job, watching the concert, which naturally was still part of our investigative work. There were actually a few good bands playing that evening and I know the others would have loved it. I did step outside a few times to see if anyone needed my help, but as there were no new developments in the case, it was hardly worth the effort.

Mitch had been right about one thing, the campus car parks were overflowing with vehicles that night, all parked for the festival, which surely provided easy pickings for the carjackers. Unfortunately they were a no show. The car parks started to empty out after the concert and Mitch moved the Dodge back to the staff car park before heading off to get a few hours sleep.

'We can try this again tomorrow,' said Mitch as he walked away.

Mitch would have to manage without us the next night, as we'd be busy performing on stage from 2000.

After their night shift duties, Josh and Jordan got to spend the morning in bed, in separate rooms I might add quickly. The rest of us elected to skip morning classes to concentrate on the investigation. Luis received a reply from HQ regarding the photo identities of the two suspects that Josh had seen lurking around the campus car park and both men were college lecturers. This could be a good lead or was it simply two guys worried about their vehicles being stolen, either way Josh would continue to investigate. He'd seen the two men having lunch in the canteen the day before but there seemed to be nothing unusual about that.

When Josh and Jordan woke up around midday, they came straight out to find us. By now we were all feeling really tired from a combination of the wasted night patrols and a general lack of sleep. The thought of having to perform on stage that night was already making me feel weary and with no firm leads in the case, it was a big disappointment to everyone.

DA Logan had already been on Mitch's back about the case as she was eager for a quick resolution but there was no good news for her. Now the pressure was on.

After a full day's undercover activity we decided to head back to our rooms for something to eat and to freshen up before the gig. At 1900 we made our separate ways to the venue to meet up with Luis who already had coffee and donuts waiting for us. This was becoming a bit of a concert tradition.

I was wearing one of my more colourful shirts which actually looked quite hideous. Even Brandon, who was partial to the odd piece of bright clothing, had to cover his eyes and pass comment.

'Wow Joseph, leave the dream coat behind next time please.'

How insensitive I thought, but laughed it off.

We had 30 minutes before our performance and sat talking in the dressing room when Mitch interrupted us, He burst in carrying a giant box full of wigs, beards, make up and absolutely ridiculous items of clothing from God knows what era. It looked like he'd just raided the time tunnels lost property cupboard.

'You can't go out on stage without wearing a disguise because the students and teachers will recognise you. Remember you're supposed to be undercover,' Mitch said tapping his head.

Good point I thought.

'I can't stop long as the Dodge is parked outside waiting for the carjackers to snatch it, so pick something from the box,' he said hurriedly.

'You're kidding us right Mitch?' Josh said as he peered in the dressing up box.

'I have to draw the line at wearing a ginger wig,' said Brandon as he pulled out the contents.

'OK shall we just agree to get on with it,' said Molly as she emptied the contents onto the dressing room table. Like father like daughter I was thinking.

Mitch wished us a quick good luck before dashing off with a cheeky grin. OK the disguises weren't perfect, in fact they were hideous, but they'd have to do for now. We'd have more time to prepare for the next concert. Josh put on what he felt suited him best and I did the same before all the good stuff was taken. We were in hysterics looking in the mirror.

'What do I look like?' said Brandon wearing a fuzzy wig and flared trousers like someone out of the Jackson 5 cartoon series.

Poor Molly was a cross between Hannah Montana and Kiss, but without the make up.

'OK guys, you're on in five minutes,' said Luis as he ran into the dressing room.

He stopped for a split second to do a double take making sure he was in the right room, then shrugged his shoulders and left. I guess he'd seen pretty much everything having worked in the music industry, so five teens in virtual drag was nothing unusual.

I had a scraggy goatee beard glued to my chin and a lime green suede jacket draped over my shirt, which made me look like a 1970s' pimp. At least the jacket went with my loud shirt. As if we weren't feeling nervous enough already, now we had these makeshift disguises to contend with up on stage.

'Right let's get out there and wow the crowd,' said Brandon looking for a high five, so I obliged not wanting to leave him hanging.

The head of the student council was waiting on stage to introduce us, but stopped to ask what the band was called.

'Good question and I guess we're still the band with no name,' said Brandon as he led the way.

'OK guys, I'd like to welcome on stage our headline act, the band with no name.'

What's in a name, I thought, apart from merchandise and endorsement opportunities? We sprinted out on stage with the lights still dimmed and I was hoping nobody would laugh when they saw the costumes. The adrenalin was pumping as the stage lights came up and the music started. Our first two songs were Kings of Leon covers, which really rocked the place and I doubt the crowd had any time to notice what we were wearing, what with all their jumping about, thank goodness. The audience loved it and our next set of cover songs included 'Pretender' by the Foo Fighters, 'Vertigo' by U2 and Train's 'Drops of Jupiter' to name but a few. I don't think we felt confident enough to try one of our own songs in case it dampened the crowd's mood - may be next time.

It was a great feeling performing on stage with my friends and it was made all the better when the crowd chanted for a second encore. We nailed it with a Red Hot Chilli Peppers track to finish and took a real showbiz bow before leaving the stage. Luis was waiting to greet us with high fives all round and a cool glass of Pepsi.

'Well done, you sounded awesome,' Luis said probably wishing he'd charged the college a little more for our performance.

Molly wondered how Mitch was getting on guarding the Dodge so we all went out to check. Josh led the way as he was keen to see if the van was OK as this had been parked next to the Dodge. In our hurry we forgot to get changed out of the stage costumes and Mitch was very gracious by not mentioning it when he saw us approaching.

Because the van was also fitted with an alarm, it was highly unlikely anyone would try to steal it, well, that was the theory any way. We split into pairs to resume our patrol duties while the concert continued. Josh and Brandon positioned themselves over at the far edge of the main car park to observe while Mitch took a short break. Everything seemed very calm but, just as Mitch was returning, a vehicle alarm suddenly went off. Josh recognised this immediately as the van.

'NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NOT THE VAN,' Josh screamed as he started to run back across the car park. The van was his pride and joy, stealing it was really going to tick him off big time, but it was too late. Josh had to watch in horror as the thieves sped off in the van with rubber burning from the rear tyres. It was like a scene from the Hulk and making Josh mad was a big mistake. He was about to give chase on foot, but Mitch stopped him.

'HERE TAKE THESE JOSH,' Mitch shouted as he tossed Josh the keys for the Dodge.

Josh looked at him for a split second as if to say 'Are you sure boss?'

'GO GO GO,' said Mitch as he sprinted off down the hill to give chase, hoping to head the carjackers off at the front gate.

Luis all of a sudden remembered something important as he stood watching the scene unfold.

'The weapons are still in the van and what if the thieves find them, there could be all kinds of trouble,' he said.

'Not all of them,' said Molly as she pulled back her jacket to reveal the departments standard issue Glock 17 revolver hanging from her sling holster.

I had to laugh because we'd all thought of the same thing holding our weapons at the ready and thank God Mitch wasn't here to see. I did feel however, that it was an absolute necessity to carry a firearm at this moment, which would overrule his directive.

Josh pulled up alongside us in the Dodge and said, 'Quick get in.'

Molly, Jordan and I dived in head first through the two side windows. Unfortunately, there was no room for the others.

'You go, we'll find some way to catch up!' Luis shouted as he waved us off to go chase the thieves.

The Dodge screeched away with both my legs still hanging out of the side window, only slightly less embarrassing than the fact that my head was resting in Jordan's lap.

'Head for the front gates,' Mitch gestured to Josh as he continued to run down the grassy hill.

Josh hit the accelerator as we clung to the seats or the door in my case. We managed to close the gap between us and the van, but it would be impossible to get to the gates ahead of them without damaging one of the vehicles. The main gates were closed as Mitch had requested and he was standing defiantly in front of them with revolver in one hand, police badge in the other. Josh looked the most nervous as Mitch stood his ground and the van careered towards him. Nothing was stopping these guys.

'WHAT THE HELL IS MITCH TRYING TO DO?' Molly shouted as she watched in horror.

Mitch wasn't able to get a clear shot off at the van for fear of hitting the students who were sitting on the grass verge beside the road. He also knew that Josh would kill him if he put a scratch on the van. All Mitch could do was to close his eyes and pray. It was pretty obvious to us that the van wasn't stopping for anyone even an officer of the law, Josh also started to pray.

'GET OUT OF THE WAY MITCH,' Molly screamed as she waved frantically from the window, but Mitch wouldn't budge.

Thankfully one of the campus security guards took the initiative and rugby tackled Mitch off the road to safety, while the other guard opened the gates to let the speeding van pass. We were all relieved and Josh hit the brakes to stop for Mitch.

'Damn, that van can move,' said Mitch as he picked himself up, shook the guards hand for saving him and jumped in the front passenger seat next to Josh.

'Well what are you waiting for Josh, we've got thieves to catch!' Mitch said as he pointed forward.

You had to admire Mitch for his Captain American bravery, although he was a little crazy. Molly brought him back down to earth by thumping Mitch hard on the arm as punishment for being so reckless.

'Ouch, what was that for Molly?' said Mitch as he rubbed his arm.

'You know darn well what that was for Dad,' Molly replied.

Josh hit the accelerator to the floor and we were off like a rocket.

'I have a question, why take the van when there's a very attractive Dodge Challenger parked right next to it?' Josh quizzed.

'These guys must be stealing to order Josh and it's just unfortunate the van was on their shopping list for today, it's nothing personal,' Mitch replied.

'It is to me,' said Josh as he gripped the steering wheel tightly.

I'd managed to right myself in the back seat and regain some of my dignity, although Jordan was still giving me one of her disapproving looks.

'It was an accident, I promise,' I said defending myself while she just huffed.

Mitch said he'd seen two thieves in the van and both were wearing racing helmets like before, so it had to be the same gang.

'Stay close, but not too close Josh otherwise we might scare them off,' said Mitch.

Josh eased back on the accelerator.

'We can follow the van using the tracking device,' said Mitch as he leant into the glove box to get out the tracking monitor.

'Hang on a second. You had a tracking device fitted to the van? Why?' Josh asked.

Mitch was put on the spot.

'Just as a precaution in case any of you decided to skip the country and because the van is such an expensive department asset,' Mitch explained, although I'm sure he was more concerned about our escape than the value of the van.

'Now there's a thought,' said Josh as he pondered the escape options.

'Don't even think about,' Mitch warned.

Mitch turned the tracking monitor on and it picked up a good signal from the van.

'We can ease back a little more Josh,' said Mitch as he checked the van's direction on the monitor.

Josh dropped back to three hundred yards behind a line of cars, hopefully fooling the thieves into thinking they'd lost us. Meanwhile back at the college Brandon and Luis were trying to figure out a way to join in the fun. Brandon clicked his fingers as he thought of something.

'I know, I'll get the dirt bike and follow while you wait here and call the local PD for assistance Luis,' said Brandon.

'Perfect,' Luis said as he dialled 9 1 1.

Brandon ran back to the concert venue, unchained the bike from the railings, started her up and drove back to Luis.

'Do you want a lift or are you OK waiting?' Brandon asked, but Luis preferred to wait.

'You go ahead and be careful Brandon,' said Luis waving him away.

As Brandon headed for the main gates he dialled Molly on his Blackberry while driving with no hands, the crazy fool. Molly gave directions and described some of the landmarks they were passing on the highway so he could get his bearings. He could also track their progress via the Google map on his phone. It should only take Brandon a few minutes to catch up.

'Damn that was quick,' I said out loud as Brandon drove up alongside the Dodge and waved at us.

Mitch thought it best to communicate with Brandon by shouting instructions out of the car window for now and that way he could keep both hands on the handle bars. Brandon nodded as Molly shouted to him. 'Stay close to us, we're tracking the van on the monitor.' He looked just as shocked as we'd been at hearing the van was fitted with a tracking device.

'Get over it,' said Mitch as he continued to watch the tracking monitor.

Mitch gave directions to Josh as we headed east. By now the pursuit had gone on for over thirty minutes. Surely the thieves would reach their destination soon.

# Chapter 17

According to our map, the van seemed to be heading towards a large industrial park located close to the edge of the next town. We continued to follow, mindful of maintaining a safe distance between us and the carjackers. Molly rolled the window down to give Brandon an update and he mouthed 'OK' to confirm that he understood. Suddenly Brandon started pointing frantically ahead at the flashing railway crossing signal, which could only mean one thing: a train was approaching. Mitch was on his mobile speaking to the local sheriff's office requesting back up and hadn't noticed the signals otherwise he would have made Josh slow down

'Looks like we're on our own for now as the local sheriff is short on officers and can't provide assistance,' said Mitch.

'There's a railway crossing ahead and the lights are flashing Mitch. What do you want me to do?' Josh asked as he pressed down on the accelerator.

'Damn it we'll have to stop,' said Mitch, but Josh had other plans and so did Brandon.

Brandon did a wheelie as he accelerated straight for the railway tracks. He aimed at a small bank to the side to give him maximum lift and soared over the tracks about fifteen feet in the air Evel Knievel style. I'm sure if Brandon had looked back at that moment he would have seen the horrified expression on Mitch's face but it was pretty cool to watch.

'He's mad,' said Jordan, but not as mad as Josh who went next.

We hung on for dear life as he weaved through the two railway gates moments before a freight train came roaring passed with its horn blowing. That must be one truly hacked off train driver I thought.

Josh screamed 'YEE-HA,' in celebration while Mitch let out a huge sigh of relief.

'This isn't the Dukes of Hazard you know, Josh,' Mitch said.

The industrial park was directly ahead of us and we watched as Brandon disappeared between the buildings. Mitch shook his head because Brandon knew darn well he should be waiting for back up. Mitch looked at the monitor again and could see that the van had parked in front of a large warehouse situated in the northeast of the industrial park. We parked the Dodge on the southwest side and continued on foot to avoid detection. Hopefully we'd run in to Brandon before anyone else did.

'Send Brandon a quick text Molly, to say hold position and wait for back up,' Mitch asked.

'You guys wait here for the local PD to arrive and I'll go check out the warehouse,' said Mitch trying to keep us out of harms way.

Mitch checked his weapon and set off. We waited until he was completely out of sight before drawing our weapons and checking for ammunition.

'You know we need to provide back up for Mitch guys?' I said and everyone nodded in agreement. Fantastic, first mission and possibly the first shoot out.

We split into two teams to approach the warehouse from the left and right flanks. I paired with Jordan this time to work the left flank, while Josh and Molly went to the right. We proceeded with extreme caution in case the thieves had posted lookouts.

'Where is Brandon any way?' Jordan asked because he hadn't replied to Molly's text and there was no sign of the dirt bike.

I could only assume Brandon was observing the situation from a vantage point and would be ready to assist when called upon. Mitch had already entered the warehouse when Josh insisted we stop so he could inspect the van for any damage. 'Phew no scratches, lucky for them,' Josh whispered as he touched the van for good luck.

'We should get the flack jackets from the van while we're here,' Molly whispered as she looked about for any sign of the carjackers.

It was a good call and after she'd slid the side door of the van open, I leant in to grab four protective jackets from the weapons compartment.

'Grab the two shotguns as well while you're at it,' Jordan said as she leant against the side of the van.

'Expecting trouble are we?' I said tossing flack jackets to the others and pulling out the shotguns for us to share. Jordan held the shotgun to provide cover fire as we proceeded towards the warehouse entrance.

'OK, let's do it,' Josh said as he ran towards the right side of the warehouse entrance, while Molly followed quickly behind covering the rear.

We edged forward to the left side and with both teams now in position, it was time for one final deep breath before making the next decisive move. We'd rehearsed entering a hostile building on several occasions during police training, so this should be easy. I went first and positioned myself behind a stack of wooden boxes just inside the entrance doors. I gave the all clear for Jordan to follow while providing cover for Molly and Josh to enter on the right flank. I could see Mitch crouched down behind a piece of heavy machinery just ahead of us as he assessed the situation. We heard voices coming from the rear of the warehouse and assumed it must be members of the gang, but how many were there? It was hard to tell.

Josh and Molly checked in the roof areas above our heads for surveillance cameras or snipers, but it was all clear. Suddenly without warning, Jordan stood up and shouted;

'MITCH, LOOK OUT.'

She'd seen someone holding a gun, trying to sneak up on Mitch's blind side and had to warn him. Without any hesitation she followed the shout with two shots, which pushed the suspect back. It was impressive, although the scream nearly deafened me, but now we'd lost the element of surprise. Mitch immediately swivelled round and opened fire winging the suspect in the shoulder before he could escape behind the labyrinth of boxes. Mitch turned to glare at us, mouthing something very rude I might add. Then it seemed like World War III had started, with bullets screaming past our heads from all directions as the gang opened fire. I tried to determine how many gang members were firing and where the shooting was coming from. It sounded like either five or six suspects to me, gauging by the different gun sounds, so we were pretty evenly matched and I bet Mitch was glad we'd ignored his orders now.

Mitch acted quickly and rolled across the floor firing two shots in retaliation and managed to wound another of the suspects shooting at us from the stairwell. Molly grabbed the suspect as he tumbled down and cuffed him. It was scary stuff, a bit like the shootout at the OK Coral with Mitch playing the part of Wyatt Earp. The shooting stopped just as quickly as it had started and Mitch used the gap to race across to our location to check that we were OK.

'No injuries here,' I said. Molly and Josh signalled that they were both OK, which was a big relief for Mitch.

'Thanks Jordan,' Mitch said as he caught his breath.

'I see you decided to ignore both of my orders then,' said Mitch referring to the weapons in our hands and the fact that we'd followed him into the warehouse.

We didn't bother to reply.

'There should be four suspects left by my count, so keep your heads down and stay here this time,' said Mitch like he really meant it.

Mitch proceeded towards a large container truck that he could see parked at the rear of the warehouse, while we waited to provide cover if required. Mitch opened the rear doors of the truck and checked inside. He found a large haul of expensive looking cars parked on two levels of the truck, which he presumed must be stolen.

'Jackpot, these guys have been busy,' said Mitch to himself.

'Yes, jackpot indeed my friend,' said a voice from behind him. It was the gang leader who was now holding a gun to the back of Mitch's head.

'Drop the gun and tell your friends to do the same.'

Mitch did as he was told and dropped his gun, but only because he was concerned more for our safety than his own. For his cooperation, Mitch received a sharp blow to the back of the head from the carjackers gun. Molly screamed when she saw what had happened. Thankfully it looked like Mitch was OK, apart from the bleeding as he fell to his knees. You just know someone's going to pay for that mistake, I thought.

'Don't worry, we'll get him,' Josh said as he surveyed the situation.

Thankfully back up finally arrived outside in the form of two squad cars from the local sheriff's department.

'At last,' I said.

One of the officers made a foolish attempt to get the carjackers to surrender.

'COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP. YOU'RE SURROUNDED,' said the officer on his megaphone.

I raised my eyebrow with disappointment at their feeble tactics.

'Amateurs,' I said forgetting this was still my first case.

'No you put your weapons down or the officer here gets it,' the gang leader shouted back as he pressed the gun tighter to the back of Mitch's head.

Although blood was trickling down the back of Mitch's neck, he was still of sound mind enough to look about and assess his options. He glanced over at Molly to gesture that it was OK for her to surrender. Molly understood and put her weapon down on the ground. She urged Josh to do the same and although he hesitated at first, he reluctantly followed suit. They both walked out with their hands in the air, which left Jordan and me in a difficult position,

'Do we surrender or try to fight our way out?' I asked Jordan.

It looked as though the fight was over and we were the losing side, but before Jordan had a chance to give me a reply, the dynamics of the situation were about to change dramatically. The loud crashing sound of breaking glass and the roar of a motorbike engine thundered above our heads, making everybody look up to see what the hell was happening. For a moment I thought the building was collapsing, but no it was that crazy fool Brandon. I did wonder when he'd show his face and now was the perfect time. He came crashing through the skylight window on the dirt bike and flew over our heads while firing his revolver in one hand and steering with the other. Although his shooting was a little off target, the distraction was enough to provide Mitch with a chance to swivel round and take his captor out with a karate chop to the neck.

Mitch retrieved his weapon and sprinted towards Molly to protect her from the hail of bullets that ensued. Josh grabbed his revolver from the ground and opened fire at two suspects who were walking towards them. That was two more bad guys off the list. I immediately took cover and looked around to see what had happened to Brandon. Luckily he'd managed to crash land on a pile of cardboard boxes and was still in one piece.

With the stunt show over and the gun fire continuing, we needed to focus on trying to take out the three remaining suspects, alive if at all possible. I spotted one suspect just a few yards ahead of my position and carefully crept up behind him as he reloaded his weapon. I took him out with a whack to the head with my revolver handle, which I thought was justice for the injury to Mitch. This left just two bad guys by my count.

I proceeded forward in the direction of the gun fire coming from a small office situated in the centre of the warehouse, weaving in and out of the boxes to stay undetected, while Jordan followed. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my back and fell to the ground in agony. I'd been hit by a bullet and thought this is it Scott, it's all over. My relatively short and squandered life flashed before me as I rolled onto my side. I looked up and tried to return fire at the coward who'd shot me in the back, but Jordan beat me to it.

I watched with open mouth as she jumped from one box to another above my head, then swooped down feet first onto the unsuspecting carjacker below her. She grabbed him by the hood of his sweat top and flipped the guy headfirst onto his back. BAM! Doubly impressive I thought, before passing out in shock. I was only unconscious for a minute or two while the shooting continued and when I awoke I could see that Josh had the last suspect lined up in his sights. The guy was trying to make an escape through the new skylight window that Brandon had so spectacularly created.

'STOP OR I'LL SHOOT,' Josh warned.

But the suspect ignored the warning and started shooting at anything moving below him. Josh had no alternative but to return fire and with a single shot to the head the suspect was taken out. It was game over. Not bad shooting from someone who was not exactly top of the police training academy shooting class, I thought.

Mitch stood up to free Molly who'd been pinned down beneath him. She was fine, although a little miffed at her Dad's over protectiveness. I guess there's no pleasing some folk. Mitch could only laugh as he walked over to check that Josh was OK after the shooting.

'Nice shooting kid' he said patting Josh on the back.

Josh was frozen to the spot in shock at having just killed someone. He quickly regained his composure as Mitch spoke to him, holstered his weapon and went to check the suspects pulse. To his complete surprise the guy was still alive as the bullet must have grazed the side of his head. Josh called for medical assistance and two paramedics from the ambulance parked outside came rushing to his aid with a stretcher. The suspect was taken out and rushed to the nearby hospital. He would live and what a relief for Josh.

'Hey what about me?' I groaned feeling unloved and close to death on the cold warehouse floor.

Jordan rushed to my aid and rolled me onto my belly to check how bad the wound was.

'Scott, are you alright?' she asked.

'Never felt better. Perhaps a little deaf in one ear and a sore back, but I think I'll live,' I tried to say pathetically as I opened my eyes.

Fortunately the bullet was lodged in my flack jacket and had not pierced the skin so I was still in one piece. Thank goodness for Molly's foresight to grab the protective jackets from the van when she did otherwise the band might now be one member short.

'Where did you learn those street moves?' I asked Jordan.

'Didn't I mention I was Florida State Free Running Champion?' she replied.

'Err no,' I said not really able to tell if she was joking because of her usual stern face. Anyway I was very grateful.

I was starting to drift into a state of unconsciousness again when Jordan slapped my face to revive me. Ouch! that worked. Mitch came over and carefully removed my protective vest as this would be needed for evidence.

'Did we faint bro?' Brandon asked as he stood over me and smiled.

'Funny,' I replied as Brandon held out his hand to pull me up. I limped outside to one of the waiting ambulances to be checked over by a paramedic.

'Looks like you survived the crash OK then,' I said. Brandon just nodded in his usual nonchalant way.

# Chapter 18

'Have I told you lately what a crazy mother fudger you are Brandon?' Josh said as he wheeled out the twisted dirt bike towards the van.

'Not today, no Josh,' Brandon replied as he inspected the bike.

'More work for me,' said Josh referring to the bike repairs.

'Sorry about that Bro. How are you feeling anyway after the shooting?' Brandon asked.

'I'm fine really, just dreading all the damn paperwork that goes with it and having to see the department shrink when we get back to HQ,' Josh replied.

One of the paramedics, a female I might add at this point, insisted on giving Brandon an examination after his stunt heroics. He really knew how to attract the ladies, typical jock, I thought as I lay on the stretcher beside him, being examined by a male paramedic. Where's the justice? No broken bones for Brandon, just a sprained ankle from the crash landing, which meant no basketball practice for a few days.

We were starting to get a few strange looks from the other officers, due to our ridiculous stage costumes, which I'd totally forgotten about. It must have looked like the Hair Bear Bunch had just saved the day. Mitch was busy speaking to the local sheriff about the incident and thanking him for his support, while the other officers went inside to check the building for forensic evidence. The carjackers would be getting tough sentences for theft, carrying lethal weapons and endangering the lives of police officers, which was sweet justice in my opinion.

Luis finally arrived in a taxi of all things. It pulled up beside the ambulance. He'd missed the action, but couldn't wait to hear all about it.

'I'll tell you all about it Luis during the ride back to college,' said Jordan as she handed Luis an armful of weapons to carry back to the van.

I was sitting on the grass by now, watching the local officers escort the prisoners to their squad cars, when something strange caught my eye. A shadow of something or someone flashed across the back wall of the warehouse and I immediately thought;

'Did we miss one of the suspects?'

Then the engine of the transport truck started up and I shouted out;

'I THINK THERE'S ONE MORE SUSPECT GUYS.'

Mitch looked behind him as the truck started driving towards the warehouse exit. Thankfully everyone managed to jump out of the way, although one of the unlucky ones, that was me, ended up face down in the drainage ditch that ran alongside the road. Yes it was funny, but both my stage costume and colourful shirt got ruined in all the thick black scummy ditch water. The big down side was that now I didn't have any dry clothes to travel back to college in. Time to go commando I thought, but this option was soon ruined by one of the paramedics who handed me a blanket to wear. Thanks pal!

More important than me not having any clothes to wear was the fact that the truck with the stolen cars was now getting away. I watched in horror as it careered towards our van that was parked across its path. Josh acted very cool, as he stepped into the road pulled his revolver, took aim and fired two rapid shots. He managed to burst one of the trucks rear tyres, causing it to swerve violently across the road narrowly missing the van, before ending up on its side in the ditch. Sweet justice I thought for my ruined clothes, while Josh was just relieved the van was safe.

Mitch and Josh ran to grab the driver before he could make his escape.

'And that makes six I believe,' said Josh pulling the driver out by the collar.

The driver wasn't wearing a racing helmet and Josh recognised him as one of the two college lecturers he'd seen hanging around the campus car park.

'So that's how the thieves avoided detection, it was an inside job,' said Josh.

'But why would they steal from their own students?' Josh asked.

'Easy money I guess. Once you start these things it's hard to get out,' Mitch replied.

Luckily the driver was too dazed from the crash to recognise Josh, but just to be on the safe side, Mitch suggested he go wait out of sight with the others. Mitch could take it from here.

'Lucky shot Josh?' I asked as he walked towards me.

'Pure skill Scott, pure skill,' Josh replied.

Well at least his aim was improving.

Mitch handed the final gang member over to the local sheriff and then came over to congratulate his team on doing such a fine job. He put his arm around Molly for a father and daughter cuddle prompting me to try to do the same to Jordan, until she gave me that stern look of hers. It was a relief that none of us suffered any real injuries, apart from me being shot in the back. We'd learnt some valuable lessons, which included always wear a protective jacket and make sure you carry a weapon, in spite of what Mitch might say.

We were dreading the amount of paperwork that needed to be filled in after this case and I'm sure Mitch felt the same way as he surveyed the crime scene.

'You guys may as well head back to the college,' Mitch suggested.

'OK Boss,' we said.

We had planned to head home to Long Beach that evening, but because it was so late, Mitch thought it best that we stay one more night at the college campus. There was no complaining from us and I do believe Brandon still had an invitation for one of the sorority parties. What better way to unwind after the first case? Mitch wanted us to report to Teen Cops HQ by 1100 the next morning, so there was no time for a sleep in after the party.

Josh was about to jump behind the wheel of the Dodge until Mitch gave him a glare.

'You can drive the van back,' said Mitch holding his hand out for the Dodge keys.

The DA should be pleased with the outcome of the case. With happy students that could venture out at night, there would be happy parents and bigger donations to the police charity. A win win situation for everyone thanks to us. We said goodbye to Mitch and, as we drove away, I looked back at the scene that we were leaving behind, like something out of a Terminator movie - total carnage.

After rushing back to campus, we could only manage to stay for an hour at the party before calling it a night. A bit light weight I know, but we'd been busy working on the case for the past few days without much sleep. As we were leaving the party, I literally had to prise the ladies off Brandon and drag him away. 'Call me' they gestured with their hands but there was no chance of that happening.

'Come on guys we could have stayed for a little longer surely,' Brandon protested.

Luis had a cup of hot chocolate waiting for each of us back at the dorm.

'You're the best Luis,' said Jordan as she sipped her drink.

'Yes, a regular Mrs Doubtfire,' Brandon added as he continued to sulk about leaving the party early.

'Great gig tonight guys, you should be really pleased with yourselves,' Luis said as he sat down to join us for hot chocolate.

'Thanks Luis,' said Josh.

It is a shame Luis missed most of the evening's action and I think he's the only one who didn't discharge his weapon. Better luck next time.

As it was almost 0100, it was time to get some sleep if we were going to make it up by 0800. Molly and Jordan said goodnight before heading off to their room while us guys stayed up for a few minutes longer to watch a bit of TV and to finish off the left over pizza from dinner time. The washing up would have to wait until morning.

# Chapter 19

Our silly faces appeared in the campus newspaper the next morning, along with the other festival acts and a caption which read; 'Fresh new band on the music scene. Great sound, but a real shame about the image.'

'What's the name of that reporter?' Jordan asked with that evil look in her eyes.

'Tom Braddock,' Josh replied as he continued to read the story.

'Well Tom Braddock, I'll be looking out for you,' said Jordan as she flicked the newspaper with her finger.

I was pleased that we'd been noticed by the campus paparazzi.

'Better wigs next time though, eh,' Luis said smirking.

'You're not wrong there,' said Brandon as he examined the discarded pile of costumes that had been strewn across the floor.

There was no mention of the carjackers being apprehended and perhaps this wasn't common knowledge yet, or may be the story had missed the print deadline. I'm sure the students would find out soon enough. By then we'd be long gone.

We had to help Luis load the band's equipment in the van before Josh could squeeze the mangled remains of the dirt bike in the back. This would have to be fixed when we got back and Brandon was feeling a little guilty about causing the damage. Let's not forget though that his heroics helped to save the day.

Before we could leave, Josh had to inspect the van all over and thankfully, apart from needing a new set of tyres, she was fine. We were on the road by 0900 which gave us plenty of time to get to the precinct, providing the traffic was clear. It was actually kind of sad leaving the college and hopefully this would not be our last taste of campus life. We arrived at Teen Cops HQ or TCHQ as it was now affectionately called, just before 1100 and Chief Kelly was waiting at the front door to greet us with a strong handshake. We even got a pat on the back.

'Well done,' said the chief with a big smile.

We followed the chief into the operations room where Mitch and DA Logan were waiting to congratulate us. All this adulation was getting a little too much, but we were soon brought back down to earth when the chief proceeded to scold us for disobeying two of Mitch's direct orders.

'Thankfully, in this case, it worked out for the best, but listen to what Mitch tells you,' said the chief wagging his finger at us.

Mitch looked slightly embarrassed after dropping us in it with the chief, but he could be forgiven.

'And remember you need to blend in when you're under cover, which means no weapons. We already live in a revolver nation and more guns just add to the problem,' said the Chief as he continued to discipline us.

We could only nod at that point, knowing we would probably do the exact opposite.

'Revolver Nation, now there's a great name for a band,' said Molly out loud.

She was right and by complete accident the chief had come up with the perfect name for the band 'Revolver Nation.' We adopted it straightaway and I could already see the name blazoned across the side of the van. I doubt Josh would be thrilled about the re spray, I'd have to work on him.

DA Logan said the parents and governors of the college were very grateful for the police department's intervention.

'This should mean bigger donations to the police charity fund and I thank you all for your efforts,' she added.

'Let's not overlook Mitch's part in all this,' said the chief.

Mitch nodded as he preferred to play down his heroics.

Luis took a ribbing from the chief for arriving late to the party and missing all the action, but somehow I think he preferred it this way. At least he wasn't getting shot at. The chief dismissed us from the meeting and we returned to usual police duties for the remainder of the day. Unfortunately this included a mountain of paperwork which needed to be started while our minds were still fresh about the case. Thankfully the boredom was broken up during the afternoon by the counselling sessions that Mitch had arranged for us with the precinct shrink. This was standard department practice after a shooting incident of this nature and I must admit I actually felt better after speaking to someone else about it. Josh might need an extra session or two just to be on the safe side as he fired the most shots and thought he'd killed one of the suspects in the process.

As soon as the shift finished we headed over to the shooting range as there's nothing like jumping straight back into the saddle. We had a small wager, but this time the winner's prize would be a whole week off from house chores, which believe me is a pretty big prize in a teenager's world. I don't know why we bothered, because Molly won the competition hands down with some excellent shooting, so she was happy about having a week off from cleaning.

On the way back home to the house, Brandon suggested we stop off at the Cape of Disappointment Beach, to relax and unwind. We still had the guitars onboard and could play a few acoustic songs while sitting around a cosy camp fire, which did sound good.

'I'll even throw in a few marshmallows to toast on the fire,' said Luis as we stopped at the local 7-Eleven to pick up essential beach supplies.

I was thinking as we sat there playing songs and laughing together, that this was our first official public performance as Revolver Nation, albeit unplugged. The impromptu gig even managed to attract a small local crowd and we earned some loose change for our efforts, which Luis put straight in the pizza kitty, always thinking ahead.

While we continued to play Luis's mobile rang and it was Mitch. He'd called to discuss something secret again as Luis was whispering.

'What now?' I thought, but when we got home all was revealed.

Mitch had left a laptop in the kitchen for us to Skype our families and let them know that we were all safe. So this was the secret. Sadly the only person who wouldn't benefit from this kind gesture was Molly, as she saw her Dad nearly every day and I made her join in with my family conversation. I shed a few tears when I saw my parent's faces and I'm sure the others would do the same when it was their turn. Naturally no details could be discussed about the case, but I think our folks were more concerned to hear that we were OK.

'Goodbye Mr and Mrs Hunter', the others shouted as I finished.

'Hey everybody it's the weekend and time for some fun,' Brandon announced as he turned the stereo up.

Although we were very tired we got ourselves in the party spirit and danced till midnight, then crashed out in the pool fully clothed. I noticed the water was getting dirty and promised to attend to this first thing in the morning. Keeping the pool clean was now my little OCD.

'Oh Nurse Jordan, could you please rub some cream on my back injury,' I pleaded pathetically as I lay on the sun lounger, but all I got in reply was a wet towel thrown across the pool by you know who.

Luis cooked a barbecue on the Sunday evening as a treat and the guys did the washing up after. We really were becoming quite domesticated, but didn't mind because life felt good.

We were under no illusion that things would get tougher for the next case, but we were prepared for anything. After all, what was the alternative, another year behind bars? No thank you. This was our time for redemption and we grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

# Coming soon

### Teen Cops 'On Sacred Ground'

In this new story the young officer's expertise is called upon to foil a series of terrorist bomb threats being made against the inhabitants of the Quinault Indian Reservation in north Washington. During their very dangerous undercover operation, the team discovers a web of deceit that goes far beyond the terrorist threats and people get hurt. Don't miss this gripping new story.

