S1, E6 | Inmate

“Hey!” Avon shouts, the water continuing to rise, now up to his kneecaps with no reasonable expectation for the water to voluntarily stop pouring into his makeshift grave. Feeling around for something to leverage himself upon, an accidental wave of his hands allows the short, yet noticeable sound of a jingling pair of keys in his pocket to sing to him like a flock of birds in the morning.

Running his thumb over the keyfob, Avon presses the button he knows to be responsible for sounding off his alarm to no use, running water still being the only thing he can hear. Having run out of options, Avon feels around the hole more in hopes of finding something more elevated than the ground he stands upon, a lone rock protruding from the wall behind him offering enough leverage to fit at least one foot atop of.

With a grunt, Avon refuses to acknowledge the pain of his injuries in hopes of greater survival, lifting his now-soggy feet from the pool of water beneath him, resting them atop this life-saving stone. Feeling his hands around for something to hold onto, Avon grabs at the smooth edge of yet another protruding rock, this one higher up than the one he clings to hope upon now.

As if the dark cavern were illuminated by the lightbulb going off in his head, Avon wears a smile on his face, the pain taking a backseat to the pleasure the man takes in his thoughts. With a few further grunts, Avon climbs atop the second protruding rock, a third and final boulder peering out of the wall a few feet further upwards giving him hope. Reaching up with his free hand, Avon presses his palm against the bottom of the manhole cover in a failed attempt to unearth his own grave.

When knowing his injuries to be too severe to make such an easy escape, Avon switches to a second plan, feeling around the manhole cover in an effort to find the water source. Fingers dancing along the limestone bottom, Avon punches at a rubber hose peering through the center of the cover, his hand reaching onto it for dear life as his second hand lifts from his side.

With his thumb still on the intended button, Avon aims his keyfob in the direction of his car and angrily shoves the button down, a blaring car horn going off in the near distance. Out of Avon’s sight, the figure just overhead shuffles his feet in the ground, the crunching leaves being thrown through the air as the man frantically fumbles around for a backup plan. Time no longer on his side, the figure remains stopped, affording Avon, sealed within the earth, the opening his survival depends on.

Clutching the hose with both hands, Avon lets one foot teeter off the edge of the rock before taking in a deep breath, preparing for yet another hard impact with the ground. In a moment, Avon’s remaining foot leaps from the rock, his hefty body dropping further into the hole’s depths with the hose still clutched between his fingers. With a metallic pop, the hose connected to a larger vehicle frees itself from the water spout, dumping gallons of water all over the forest above.

Impact softened by the larger pool of water below, Avon peers his head through the surface of the shoulder-high water with the hose still safely tucked between his fingers. The criminal above cursing with every forbidden word the English language has room for, his audible shouts become the only thing running through the forest quicker than the water. Just above, Avon watches the water trickle in through the hole, knowing his efforts to have, at least, bought him time.

After another minute, sirens begin to wail in the distance, and even through the thick fog, the criminal above can see the flashing red and blue lights from afar, serving as his signal to escape. Water still excessively pumping out of his vehicle, the criminal hops into the driver’s seat and drives the massive getaway vehicle through the dense forest. With a smile, Avon allows the trickling water just above him to run over his face, refreshing relief coming over him instantly.

= Remedy Hills is created by Zachary Serra, all rights to the series belong to Zachary Serra and his entity of Pacer1 from the start of Season 1 onwards =

“How bad is it?” Avon asks, his wife inspecting the wounds he’s suffered through the night, a look of great concern coming over her. “You’ve got some busted ribs and a few pretty bad bruises” Penny replies, “but on the lone bright side, no broken bones or fractures, which is a good sign.” With a nod, Avon lets his breathing calm, answers having been given to the severity of his wounds whilst remaining elusive over those of Beth.

“How is she?” Avon asks, his eyes laying over the unconscious woman in the hospital bed beside him. Looking toward the woman, Penny wraps her husband’s cuts in bandages, hesitant to tell the man much other than the basics. “She’s got a few cuts and some swelling, well, everywhere” Penny responds, a partial smile coming over her as she proceeds, “but she’ll be ready to go in a few days.”

Nodding, Avon conveys his joy in the news with a smile, silence falling over the pair in the short moment that follows. “Why didn’t you come with her?” Penny asks, her husband not having listened to her question when she first uttered it. Repeating her question, Penny watches her husband’s eyes trail off to the depths of the hospital, his head running with many different thoughts, Penny noticing this quickly.

“She has a piece of string tied around her neck with a note on it” Avon replies, the bandage being rolled over her husband’s arm slowing as her body becomes tense. “The person that attacked her left a note for her?” Penny asks, her voice soft and emanating without judgment, though it leaves her lips bustling with concern. “Not for her” Avon responds, head staggering back toward his wife and peering into her eyes, “for me.”

Her hands having stopped moving, Penny looks into her husband’s eyes and watches the trauma fill them in real time, his lip quivering as he quickly looks away, trying to hold back tears. Concerned in her own right, Penny rests the unrolled bandages in her husband’s lap and pulls his head toward her chest, holding both hands around his forehead amidst her embrace.

“I thought they’d go after you next if I didn’t” Avon says, his wife whistling gently through her lips in hopes of getting her husband to hush down. Tears continue to stream down his face as it puffs with emotion, Avon and his wife discard the sliding emergency room doors at first until the man entering through them walks around their curtain. Pulling apart, both Avon and Penny set their sights upon Beau, his posture carrying a content attitude as of yet unfamiliar to the pair.

“Have you come to suspect me of my own attempted murder?” Avon quips, refusing to allow his emotions to overtake his spite for the man before him, refusing to forget what he’s done to welcome him to Remedy. “No, I have not” Beau replies, his jacket held in his hands as he stands a few feet away from the pair, refusing to carry himself as anything other than a concerned spectator.

“Jake will be coming down to take your account of the events for, well, rather obvious reasons” Beau explains, watching Avon nod at the suggestion. “Good” Avon says, not wishing to say anything to the man that isn’t necessary, allowing Beau to speak as much as he wishes without feeling the desire to respond. “I figured that while I was in the area, I’d drop by and let you know that we’ve found security footage from the crash” Beau explains, “it’s not much, but it’s enough to clear you.”

Pleased, Avon nods further, stopping his response at a simple “thanks”, Beau giving the man a nod before turning to leave. Facing the way he entered, Beau has a change of heart, turning around to own up to his mistakes, much to the couple’s surprise. “I’m sorry” Beau says, Avon looking back at the man, assuming him to have left, “I’m sorry I had blinders on when I shouldn’t have, and I put you and the people you care about at risk. I was wrong for that and I apologize.”

Surprised, Avon’s lips part, the words to reply to such an unexpected gesture not coming easily. “I appreciate that” Avon responds, Beau’s head hanging after a subtle nod in return. “Jake and I will hold a conference at the sunrise to officially clear you as a suspect” Beau explains, his jacket drifting to the side in his hand as it moves with each word he speaks, “it may not be much, but I want to make sure you can be safe going back home as soon as possible.”

Again failing to find an adequate response to the gesture, Avon parts his lips with little to respond with, a simple nod of approval coming from his sore neck and bruised shoulders. With that departing remark, Beau turns around and exits the way he came, leaving Avon and Penny to tend to their prior conversation. “That was unexpected” Penny remarks, watching the man walk away as Beau stares on in silence, his eyes following the man’s frame until the moment it walks through the doors.

|

“The announcement went better than I had anticipated” Jake exclaims, shoving his car door shut as an energy-drained Beau emerges from the other side of the vehicle. “Let’s just keep our hopes up for the mob to dissipate” Beau replies, fixing a scarf around his neck as he and Jake fight through the fog toward the scene of the crime. “They’ve been cleared in the eyes of the public now” Jake exclaims, ducking beneath the yellow tape, “if they don’t, it’ll be a bigger problem.”

“They’re looking for someone to hold accountable” a third officer calls out from afar, approaching the pair of detectives with a rock in a plastic bag, “why not make the people that walked into this town with a chip on their shoulder play the villain?”

“I’m sorry, you are?” Jake inquires, a black gentleman in a raincoat offering a handshake to the officers. “Patrick Carver, everyone I know calls me Pat” the officer responds, continuing to hold the evidence bag in the air, “I’ve been transferred to Remedy from Concord.” With a smile, Jake takes joy in meeting someone new to the city, initiating their conversation with an apology for the weather conditions accompanying him to the town.

“Before we sit down and start chatting about last night’s Bruins game, let’s start with that” Beau says, skipping to business with his finger raised toward a bloody rock. “I’m assuming that’s blood and not remnants from someone’s dinner?” Beau inquires, his sarcastic comment agreed upon by Carver. “The rock was left near the victim’s head, tucked away beneath the porch” Carver replies, looking toward Beau, “from the looks of it, the perp didn’t want her dead.”

“So it was a message being sent?” Beau asks his partner, the elder detective looking toward him with a smile. “I’d argue it was a literal message being sent” Carver responds, approaching another bag of evidence left on the curb, a broken piece of string stained with dirt. “If I was a guessing man, I’d say that string came with a note” Carver explains, pointing the pair’s attention to a small piece of loose paper.

“And you said Avon King was the one that called the attack in?” Beau inquires, his head turning toward Jake the moment Carver’s head nods in agreement. “Will you excuse us, thank you?” Beau gestures to his precinct’s newest addition, head ducking down with his voice lowered. “I know keep bringing up Avon, innocent or otherwise, but there’s something he’s not telling us” Beau explains, Jake pulling his head back with amusement at the suggestion.

“I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t trust the cops that tried to pin a murder on him for nearly a week” Jake sarcastically quips, Beau’s expression becoming no more light-hearted than it was prior. “I’m serious, there’s gotta be something more to all of this” Beau explains, his eyes returning to the Ovorre residence with curiosity, “what if I should have been looking at Avon as the victim this whole time rather than the suspect?”

Pulling away once more, this time without a humorous reason behind it, Jake looks toward Beau with intrigue. “Are you trying to say Avon was the target for all of this?” Jake inquires, Beau shaking his head slowly, correcting the man’s thought. “What if the first crash was intended for Avon and didn’t get the job done?” Beau asks, raising the alarm bells in his partner’s mind, “they attack Beth, leave him a note, and try to correct their mistake at the scene of the crime.”

“It would make sense, sure… But that leaves us with more questions than we have room for” Jake replies, his mind returning to their only other suspect, “Kerryon’s locked up, who else would we be looking for?” Head shaking, Beau looks back toward Jake, pressing his hand against his own hip, suggesting they owe Kerryon another visit.

|

Losing himself in his own mind again, Avon stares blanky at the white-washed wall beside him, only paying the smallest attention to the ticking analog clock in the corner of the room. “He’s been like this since he came in?” Anne asks, her eyes peering around a curtain across the room from the man, Penny admitting that it’s been off and on. “If you can get his attention, he’ll interact with you” Penny explains, lifting a plastic cup of water to her mouth, “other than that, he blanks.”

“Is it medical?” Anne asks, her head turning back toward Penny, the woman shrugging without a definitive answer. “He just stops communicating at some point… Like he’s the only person in the world at that moment” Penny responds, “it’s not like he’s frozen in time or anything, he’s just drowned everything around him out.”

Nodding, Anne switches the conversation, intrigued by what she knows about the situation. “What did the officers say?” Anne inquires, Penny shaking her head out of exhaustion, taking a seat in an empty waiting room chair. “That they pulled him out of a well after someone tried to kill him” Penny replies, her hand lifting to her face, rubbing her temples as recalling the situation brings on a headache, “they didn’t want to tell me anything more than that without investigating.”

Eyes wide, Anne takes in a big puff of air before letting it escape her lungs all at once as she takes the seat beside her coworker. “How exactly did that come to happen?” Anne inquires, Penny’s shoulders lifting up before dropping down, no reasonable explanation coming to her mind. “I think he walked into the wrong side of town and someone tried to make him pay for it” Penny responds, Anne purposefully left out of the loop, vagueness the only response being offered.

“You’re still here?” Clark asks, rounding the corner to find Anne and Penny seated in the lobby, apologies being offered by Penny for being seated on the job. “Don’t apologize! Dear god, don’t apologize!” Clark exclaims, placing his clipboard beneath his arm, “We’ll work short one doctor for the rest of the night, you go home with your husband and get some rest.”

Refusing the offer, Penny finds her rejection to be discarded, Clark’s words insisting the woman take the rest of her shift off. “I’m not gonna make you work after the night you’ve had, seriously, go home” Clark persists, gently lifting the woman’s cup from her hand and setting it on the table, “come back in tonight after you’ve gotten a few hours for everything to settle down.”

Her efforts of refusal not serving to be effective, Penny gives into the kind gesture, voicing her appreciation for the man’s care for her. With a smile, Clark walks off with the woman’s clipboard in his hand, Anne covering a smile from the pair as Clark vanishes around the corner. “What are you all giggles about?” Penny asks, playfully swatting Anne’s hand away from her mouth, taking her cup back into her hands and beginning to return to her husband’s side.

“At least you have a backup plan in case Avon doesn’t work out, if you know what I mean?” Anne replies, her joke bringing about equal amusement as it does embarrassment over Penny. “Anne, I swear you are no good sometimes” Penny responds, refusing to look too far into the comment, returning the playful banter to the woman as she shakes Avon back out of his lost existence, ready to return home to a familiar environment.

|

Buzzing with a jarring screech, the reinforced doors of the inner prison area release from their locked positions, allowing a crew of security guards to escort Kerryon through the doorway. “No, I don’t wanna talk to these people!” Kerryon shouts, his cooperation vanishing into thin air immediately, his arms struggling to fight for freedom, legs trying to push the weight of his body back the way he came.

“No one will know we’re here as long as you sit down with us!” Jake blurts out, Kerryon immediately refusing to believe a word that leaves either officer’s mouth. “Why is he so stubborn today?” Beau quips, Jake confused as to what he means, reminding him of the struggle put up when they originally took him into custody. “No, that was a struggle… This is desperation” Beau remarks, leaving his chair and approaching Kerryon, his hands grabbing at the jumpsuit.

Concerned, Beau pops the buttons on the upper body free, revealing the bare torse of the undershirt-less man, burns scattered throughout his chest and stomach. “Jesus Christ!” Jake shouts, his hand slamming against the table in the center of the room as he leaps to his feet, standing beside Beau, watching Kerryon plead for his life. “They’re gonna kill me because of you!” Kerryon shouts, his feet flailing in the air as the young man tries to squirm out of the guard’s reach.

“What have they done to this kid in here!?” Jake shouts, the guards admitting that they haven’t seen any inmate-delivered punishment since Kerryon was booked. “Clearly, someone has been up to something!” Jake shouts, his hands extending toward the man’s scarred body, “either the inmates did it or it was one of you! Either way, we’ve got a kid who’s barely just turned eighteen with cigarette marks as far as the eye can see!”

“I don’t know what to tell you, detective” the foremost security replies, grunting as he continues trying to hold the kid’s arms back. “Start by telling me who the hell did this!” Jake shouts back, Beau stood silently by his side, angrily staring at the burn marks on the wounded kid’s body. Continuing to argue with the guards, Jake keeps the conversation moving as Beau takes matters into his own hands, eyes drifting away from the kid and onto the open door behind him.

Seeing red, Beau leaves Jake’s side and walks around the guards, squeezing through the opening between their bodies before venturing down the reinforced corridors toward the innards of the jail. “Sir, you can’t go down there!” one of the security guards shout, Beau refusing to ease on his pace, knowing those with higher authority won’t hold it against him for advancing further than he’s allowed.

“I wouldn’t suggest trying to stop me” Beau calls back blankly, reaching for the unlocked entrance to the common room and pulling in the heavily barred-gateway. Approaching the guard rail, Beau glances down at the sea of prisoners, all glancing back up at him, intrigued by the appearance of a common detective. “The law’s comin’ to get us!” one of the inmates shouts, earning Beau’s attention for a moment before another section captivates him.

As if his eyes were raindrops targeted solely on one spot, Beau stares toward one table, glaring at those sat around the circular base with disdain. Head turning to the side, Beau walks off to the side a short distance before descending the staircase, Jake trailing just behind him. “You got a death wish, pig?” one of the targeted inmates calls out, Beau angrily walking toward the man, who lifts himself from his seat and stares into the eyes of the younger officer.

“Detective, please back away from the hispanic scum right now!” Jake calls out to his partner, wrapping his hand around the ball of Beau’s inner elbow in an effort to restrain him. Pulling away, Beau brings his arm back to his side as he initiates the conversation, refusing to give up ground to the longtime inmate. “I know who you are, I know what you did, I know what you know” Beau says, inching his face ever so closer to the inmates, “play nice or I’ll stomp you out.”

With a chuckle, the inmate points to the number scrawled over his jumpsuit, running his finger from the first digit to the last. “In here, I’m 129845… But to you, I’m someone to look out for” the man remarks, challenging Beau to put his money where his mouth is, “I’m in here for life already, and I will do what I want. So either take your Barbie-doll looking ass out of here or I’m going to give you problems.”

Snickering at the man, Beau closes the distance between their faces even further, teeth peering through his parted lips. Making an attempt to speak, Beau is pulled back by Jake, the elder partner calling the man’s name once more, ending the conversation before it truly gets the chance to begin. “Detective, back away this instant” Jake exclaims, Beau’s face frowning toward his direction as Inmate 129845 laughs in the officer’s face.

“Do what daddy says now, Ken-doll” the inmate beckons, watching the angry face of Beau pull away from his own, both officers returning to the flight of stairs leading to the second level. Amidst a chorus of prisoners cheering the display of their fellow inmate’s actions, Jake scolds Beau for having put them in that position. “Settle your hot head down the next time you wanna throw a few days worth of work down the toilet” Jake orders, returning to the corridor they entered.

|

“Hello?” Avon answers the ringing phone, leaning in the chair he sits upon his hand over his eyes, the open computer screen splashing his face in an luminous white. “Hello, Avon King… This is Dr. Clark Kitts, I work with your wife” Clark responds, sharing a brief, but pleasant greeting with the man. “I was just calling to let you know that Beth Ovorre is signing herself out of care and needs someone to take her home” Clark explains, “she’s specifically asked for that person to be you.”

Pleased, Avon lets Clark know that he’ll be departing his home within the next two minutes to pick Beth up, a response that ends the conversation. Glancing at his screen, Avon reads over the latest six lines of his writing and shakes his head with disapproval, highlighting the text and wiping it from the face of the screen. Folding the laptop shut, Avon pushes his chair out and looks toward the backdoor, a paranoia beginning to settle in now that he’s seen how the town has welcomed him.

Playing with his car keys, Avon writes Penny a note and leaves it on the kitchen table for her to find, the woman still fast asleep in bed. Climbing into his vehicle, Avon fumbles with the keys before turning them in the ignition, his dashboard lighting up with a warm orange glow. Remedy Hills still draped in fog, Avon buckles himself in and places his hands upon the wheel and gearshift, neither hand moving either object in the moment following, Avon’s eyes falling on something else.

Left on the console for him, just in front of his odometer, a folded piece of paper sits in front of his eyes, prompting his hands to leave their original place, frantically reaching for the note. In a moment of overwhelming anxiety, Avon peers into the backseat to find nothing, his entire car empty other than the presence of himself and the note. Turning the overhead light on, Avon pulls open the folds of the paper, reading the brief statement left behind for his eyes only.

Frustrated, Avon tosses the note onto the floor of the passenger’s seat, remaining sat behind the wheel with his eyes placed upon the clock. In a brief moment, Avon adjusts from being sat in silence to hurriedly pulling his vehicle out of the driveway, beginning the drive toward his original destination. Walking through the sliding doors, Avon walks toward Beth’s bed, trying his best to calm his breathing the closer he grows to the curtain.

Reaching out, Avon slides the curtain on the hangers above, his eyes stumbling upon a surprising sight. Looking back, Beau and Jake find an equally-surprised Avon staring back at them, Beth climbing off the bed between them, wrapping her arms around Avon for a hug. “Is something wrong?” Avon asks the officers, both Jake and a still-cautious Beau brushing off such a suggestion.

“We hadn’t gotten to talk with her since she’s been out and needed to take account of her story” Jake explains, the pen in his right hand tapping against the notepad in the other. “Thank you for coming” Beth whispers into the man’s chest, a tear forming in the corner of her eye, both Beau and Jake feeling awkward, as if they stumbled into a moment they’re not meant to be in.

“We’ll be taking off now” Jake replies first, nodding to Beau as he walks for the door, the younger officer nodding to the man he’s gotten off to a rocky start with as he passes him. Following Jake, Beau feels a need to interject as he had earlier in the day, turning back toward Avon and presenting his hand. “Jake and I think the people that caused the crash are targeting you” Beau exclaims, Jake turning around at the sound of this revelation, Avon’s eyes firmly upon the young cop.

“Wh… What?” Avon says, confused, Jake walking up to the emotion-filled Beau, who continues to explain further. “The incident from last night, we think it was a way of cleaning up their mess” Beau clarifies, his partner standing by his side, refusing to interrupt, “we think the crash was meant to be you and they were trying to take you out last night.”

Surprised, Avon becomes suddenly overwhelmed with relief, answers to puzzles he didn’t know he was trying to solve all fitting neatly into place. Looking back to Beth, Avon watches the woman pull away from him, looking into his eyes with confusion. “What happened last night?” Beth inquires, Avon promising the woman that he’ll tell her on the ride home, his attention being returned to the pair of officers.

“So, you think they’re targeting me and the trucker guy they, I don’t even know, was supposed to be me?” Avon responds, Beau looking to Jake, who nods back. “They’ve failed twice now, I can’t see why they wouldn’t aim for a third shot” Beau responds, hands folded by his lap, “if you see anything out of the ordinary… Please, let us know.”

“I know we haven’t gotten off to the best start, that much is clear” Jake adds on, “but if something’s going on, anything at all, tell us so we can nip it in the bud.” Staring blankly into thin air, Avon looks back to the officers after a moment of thought, head nodding in agreement silently, ending the discussion. Having done what they could, Jake and Beau turn back and walk for the exits, Avon left holding onto a still-frightened Beth, his mind elsewhere.

“Wait!” Avon calls out, Jake and Beau both turning around with hope, Avon stood where they last saw him, an internal struggle going on inside his head. “Yes?” Jake replies, he and Beau remaining stood in place, their eyes falling upon Avon with the hopes that something more will come of this interjection. “You want to nip something in the bud right?” Avon inquires, both Jake and Beau replying in kind, returning to the man.

“Good” Avon responds, holding off the end of his statement until the detectives are within a few feet of him once more, the tension rising as a concerned Avon looks back to the pair. “I have a few things to tell the two of you” Avon remarks, lips closing as the nerves come over, both Beau and Jake silently leaving the floor open once more.

== Remedy Hills ==