“Here are bits of the net that was on ‘Buster’ as well as the tranquilizer dart they fired at him,” said Luc.
Sheriff Dobbs took the evidence and then looked over at the eight men boxed into the corner. Anytime one of them moved, ‘Buster’ growled. He shook his head as he keyed his mike. “Jeff, get your ass down to Sam’s. I gotta pick up for you. Yeah, eight stupid reporters,” he said. Then he turned back to Sam. “I take it you want to press charges?” he asked.
“I certainly do. I’ve told them to leave me alone more than once. This time, they can go to jail,” she said standing there with her fists on her hips.
Sheriff Dobbs nodded. “Boys, I hereby deputize you. There are some of them zip strip handcuffs in my car. Go get some and lets truss up these turkeys,” he said.
Luc smiled and Patrick went to get the cuffs.
“I’ll be in the kitchen working on breakfast,” said Sam. “Come on in and eat when you’re done.”
“I won’t turn that down,” said Dobbs.
*
Forty minutes later, the reporters were stuffed into an SUV and were taken to the county seat about twenty miles away. They’d been arrested for trespassing and attempted theft. Best yet, the local paper got the scoop, as all the big city reporters were amongst the arrested.
Luc, Patrick and the Sheriff went into the kitchen where everyone else had already started eating. Angie served them up and then went back to her plate.
“Sam, how much longer are you going to be able to keep closed down?” asked Meg.
“Not sure honey. This stuff just jerks my chain. You’d think by now it would be old news,” said Sam.
“It would be if that one guy would just shut up,” said Patrick.
“Well, he got his ass arrested today,” said Dobbs. “I’ll make sure he does at least a month down in the county jail. That way maybe he won’t come back.”
“Will Sam have to do much to keep them in jail?” asked Angie.
“No honey, the judge is a good friend and he’ll make sure that everything goes smooth. Besides, his son is one of the paramedics that messed up in the first place. That boy still ain’t sitting easy,” said Dobbs with a smile.
Everyone laughed.
*
The court took all of fifteen minutes to decide on the fate of the eight reporters. The charges were loss of revenue, trespassing, attempted theft of a dog, and general nuisance. The sentences handed out were $1000 fines and thirty days in the county jail. Three of the reporters tried to buy their way out and got hit with an additional week in jail.
Sam, Luc and Patrick walked out of the court room with smiles on their faces. The judge had read the reporters the riot act about making up fantastic stories and causing good people grief. They were almost back to Luc’s Subaru when the bailiff caught up to them.
“Sam! Sam! Slow down!” he was hollering.
“What is it Mike?” Sam asked as the three of them stopped in the middle of the parking lot.
Mike caught up with them and after he caught his breath, he handed an envelope to Sam. “Judge wanted you to have this,” he gasped.
Sam took the envelope and then opened it. Inside there was a check. The amount read $7500. Sam turned back to Mike. “Mike, what on earth?” she asked.
“Judge figured out what you’d lost because of all this. Our court costs are only $250, but he done doubled it. Then he added all the other stuff in and said this was to make up for all the hassle,” Mike said.
“But I can’t take this,” Sam protested.
“Judge said if you fuss, and he knew you would, he’d let those assholes go,” said Mike.
Sam uttered an exasperated sigh. “Fine. Tell the Judge thank you and I’ll see him at the B&B for breakfast on Sunday,” she said as she tucked the check into her pocket. She waved goodbye to Mike and got into the car with Luc and Patrick.
“What was that all about?” asked Patrick.
“The judge done fined those reporters and paid me for the trouble they caused. Let’s go to the bank before I get stupid,” said Sam.
*
Sam, Luc and Patrick walked back into the B&B with grocery and shopping bags. Angie, Ginny and Meg were sitting in the kitchen drinking iced tea. ‘Buster’ was laying across the door into the main part of the B&B.
“What took you so long?” asked Ginny.
“Well, we got an unexpected bonus,” said Sam.
“Oh?” asked Ginny.
“Yeah. The court fined the reporters and paid Sam for lost revenue,” said Patrick.
“They did?” asked Angie.
“Yes, to the tune of $7500,” said Luc. “So, we did some grocery shopping and Sam spent some money on herself.”
“Only after you two threatened to growl at me,” said Sam.
“Did you use sub-vocals on her?” asked Meg.
“Just a little,” teased Luc.
“Luc…” started Meg.
“Hold on Meg! They just talked me to death until I admitted that there were a few things I could use,” said Sam laughing.
That made everyone laugh.
“What did you buy?” asked Ginny.
“Well, enough steak to make George happy and lots of chocolate for Meg,” started Sam. “Then I went to Big R and got new jeans, a couple of shirts and a pair of boots,” she finished.
The women oohed and ahhed over the stuff and the guys put the food away. Sam hadn’t joked about the meat. Patrick stacked steaks in the fridge and roasts in the freezer. Luc handed Meg and Angie chocolate and gingersnaps to Ginny.
Sam went to put laundry in the washer and when she came back, they all sat and talked about the court case. George had shifted back so that he could be part of the conversation. When Sam got to the part where Mike had run over to give them the check, George stood up for a moment and then came back to where everyone was seated.
“Sam, I have a question to ask you,” he said.
“Go ahead George,” said Sam.