Published: 3 Oct 2024

From The Previous Chapter:

After a few smiles and hugs from each of the boys, ‘dad’ Ken walked down to his own retreat. As he sat on his bed, he thanked his lucky stars that he someone, such as Wayne, who worked for him. It was Wayne, himself, who proposed to stay back and watch over Chief and her litter of puppies and take care of them, while he and the boys were gone visiting the amusement parks and Ken Thomas didn’t know how he could thank him.

As he lay down, Ken Thomas was thankful for the life he’s had and he hoped that it would continue with the addition of Kate and her boys. The Cove was quiet the night through, even as it continued to rain.

When Ken Thomas woke that Wednesday, he noticed that the rains had stopped and the sun was shining brightly. He was happy about that, as the rain always seemed to put people, in general, in a bad or foul mood. He even thought to himself that he didn’t feel that he was at his best when it rained, or when the days were cloudy.

The owner of The Cove first got ready for his day, and then went out to the Kitchen Nook for his first few cups of coffee, a Momma Maria breakfast, and a chance to read his morning newspaper.

As he read his newspaper, Mr. Ken and Momma talked some about the nice change in the weather. She asked him if tonight would be a good day to have dinner at the Pavilion. Mr. Ken told her that if the weather continued to be clear,he would be happy to have dinner up there, as the last three were well received by him and the boys.

Momma Maria told him, then, she would plan it for just after the boys’ friends left for the day, and she would have Bill help, as she knows he likes to get involved with those things. Mr. Ken smiled and said that maybe Bill would become a chef once he graduates from college.

After he ate his breakfast, Mr. Ken thanked Momma for his wonderful meal, and soon he was out the door and on his way to the office. That gave Momma Maria time to clean up some and get breakfast ready to cook for the five hungry boys who were soon to arrive.

It was 8:30 when the five boys arrived at the same time in the Nook and they arrived hungry. Phillip, though, went down to the Great Room to get Chief’s two bowls, so he could fill one with her special kibble and the other with cold ice water. He then took them back to where the resident pet was taking care of her young family.

As soon as the boys presented themselves, Momma began preparing the boys’ breakfast. It wasn’t going to be anything spectacular, scrambled eggs, crisp bacon, toast and different jellies available for them to put on the bread, but it would be hot when she placed it in front of them.

As they waited for Momma to set their breakfast in front of them, the boys talked about the sun being out and how they would much rather have a day like today than what they had yesterday. Mr. Wayne was there now and Billy asked him if they should power wash today. The Estate Master told the teenager that they were just working on the concrete, so yesterday’s rain shouldn’t affect them at all.

After the boys ate, four of them went back upstairs to take their showers and get ready for their day. Billy just changed into his work clothes, as he knew he would be getting sweaty after working in the sun for six or seven hours.

After taking his shower and getting dressed, Phillip decided to practice his guitar lesson for that coming Saturday. He knew he should have used yesterday’s rain as the time to practice, but he wanted his friends to come over and have them play their music out in the Pavilion garage.

The young Cover knew he had a lot of time before his friends would arrive, so he picked up his acoustic guitar and began to practice his lesson. The thing he noticed as he began to practice his lesson was that the strings on the acoustic were thicker than the electric one and he had to press a little harder on the frets to get the sound he was after. It didn’t take him long to adjust, but it was something that was noticeable to him.

Later that morning, Ken Thomas called Amy Ozarker, Kate’s lawyer, to see if she could tell him anything more about what the police detectives were doing as far as contacting all of the men in the video pictures.

Amy told Ken that two of the four men were still local and they were going to volunteer DNA samples. The lawyer told the man, who was paying the bills, that the detectives were supposed to leave the area that week and go to where the other two men lived to interview them and request DNA samples from them.

Other than that, Amy Ozarker told the man that she didn’t have any new information for him. The lawyer did say she felt that it would be a few more weeks before the DA made any determination if he would file rape charges that she knew Kate would not cooperate with at any trial.

Amy also said that she didn’t know how the DA could get a conviction against them, as their faces aren’t visible, and unless Lane and they rat on one another there was no way he could, as even Kate can’t positively identify the men. Amy said the only man the DA could possibly get a rape conviction on would be the one whose DNA matches up with Rusty.

Ken Thomas thanked the lawyer for her update and personal observations on what she was seeing concerning the whole situation. He told her that he would be back that way in about two weeks and he hoped by then there would be some movement on the DNA and/or the men cooperating with the DA and owning up to what happened that fateful night.

After Ken Thomas got off the phone with Amy Ozarker, Rosemary Martin, his executive secretary, buzzed him. When the man picked up, Rosemary told him that the archbishop’s office called to tell him that they chose next Thursday as the day for the blessing and dedication of the Blessed Waters Academy High School’s new vocational building.

Ms. Martin asked him if that date would be alright for him. She told him that Friday was the only other day, when he was going to be available, that they could do the blessing and dedication before school starts. Mr. Ken told her to tell them that Thursday was perfect for him.

At The Cove, the boys’ friends came over and they made the best of that beautiful day. Some skated, those who were old enough and had passed the Texas Boater Safety Course took the personal watercraft(PWCs) out on the lake and those who had taken the sailing lesson and hadn’t gotten a PWC took a sailboat out on the lake.

The boys all knew that the summer was coming to a close and when their Cover friends went away for a week that was one week less that they had the opportunity to use those wonderful pieces of equipment that Mr. Ken had made available to them.

Since Mr. Ken OK’d Momma Maria cooking dinner up at the Pavilion that evening, she was getting everything together and realized that she was missing a few ingredients. Knowing that Billy liked to help her out, she rang his cell phone. When the older teen answered, Momma asked him if he could go to that new grocery store and pick something up for her.

Billy cleared his driving over to the new grocery store, for Momma Maria, down at Four Corners with Mr. Wayne. The Estate Master knew that the teenager didn’t need the money he was earning from the job he had, because of his recent lawsuit settlement, so he told him to go and get the list from Momma and hurry back.

Billy got Momma’s list and since he had gone with her there a few times before and had used her credit card, she gave him that Three Finger Cove credit card for him to use. The Cover teen called Phillip up and asked him if he wanted to go with him to the store for Momma.

Phillip told his older ‘brother’ that he was playing with his band. But Billy told him that they wouldn’t miss him for thirty minutes, and this would give them a chance to see how well they can play together when he goes back to living with his mom. Phillip thought about that for a few moments, and then he agreed he’d do that.

Phillip told his bandmates where he was going and why. His bandmates agreed that it would give them some idea of what the band would sound like without his instrument, the guitar, and for him to go and have fun with his older ‘brother. Phillip hurried over to the Main Gate.

Mr. Wayne thought that it was interesting that Phillip was going with Bill to the store. But this was really the first time that the teenager was taking the Taurus out by himself, and he guessed he wanted to treat his youngest ‘brother’, as he was only going down to Four Corners.

Billy made sure Phillip had his seatbelt on and Phillip made sure the dash camera was hooked up and plugged into the cigarette lighter. The two Covers drove out through the Main Gate and turned right and followed along the linear park that was still under construction along the way to Four Corners, where it would end at the new Marina that ‘dad’ Ken was building.

Billy drove the speed limit in the neighborhood, as he always did. But as he approached the area where he knew there was some construction, he slowed down. The teen knew there was a flagger who would stop traffic, so equipment could come out into the roadway, do what they needed to do, and then go back into the linear park they were working on.

As the Cover approached the construction area, the flagger did stop him about 500 feet, or more, away from where a front-end loader that was preparing to back out into the roadway and dump a load of dirt into a dump truck.

The flagger told Billy that it shouldn’t be long, as the driver was talking to the site supervisor. The flagger added that once the driver dumped his load, he would be flagged trough. Billy thanked him and told him he wasn’t in a hurry, as they were just going down to the new grocery store at Four Corners.

After a few minutes and the driver and site supervisor were still talking, the flagger, using his two-way radio, called to see if he could wave the traffic through, as it had been a while. He got the OK to do so and told Billy to drive on through. The Cover began to drive slowly through the area where the front-end loader was situated.

It was while the Taurus was just passing the front-end loader that the driver gunned his equipment and, without looking, he quickly backed up directly into the side of the Taurus. It hit directly at the pillar between the front and the rear passenger seats. The medium sized front-end loader, which weighed in the 25,000-pound range, bent the pillar and the roof over onto Phillip, who was seated in the front passenger seat. Phillip was knocked unconscious. Luckily, his body was pushed onto the open area between him and Billy.

Billy was dazed from the force of the hit and the Taurus was pushed at least 4-feet to the left and was now resting almost at the curb opposite the linear park. As the teen Cover began to get cognizant of what just happened to him and began getting his bearings, he heard the workmen asking him if he was OK.

Billy then looked over to Phillip and seeing that he looked to be unconscious, but still breathing, he pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial number for Mr. Wayne.

When Mr. Wayne’s cell phone rang, he looked at it and seeing it was Bill calling he kiddingly answered, “So, what did you forget?”

Billy didn’t let the man say anything else, he just yelled, “Mr. Wayne … we’ve been in a bad accident and Phil’s hurt bad. The construction equipment … they ran into us.”

“Bill, where are you?” quickly asked Mr. Wayne.

“Mr. Wayne, we’re down at the linear park construction site. You can’t miss us. We’re blocking the road! Please hurry!” said a now crying Billy Dirketson.

Wayne yelled to Dennis and seeing Charles had his quadcopter out, yelled to him to bring it in and that he needed them both to come with him. As soon as the three were in the six-seat golf cart, Mr. Wayne sped out the Main Gate and raced down the sidewalk. Dennis asked him what was the hurry. All Wayne would say was that the boys were in an accident and Phillip was badly hurt.

It didn’t take Wayne, Dennis and Charles long to get to the scene, and as they arrived, they heard sirens racing there, as well. Wayne jumped off the cart and went to the car to see for himself what damage there was to his ‘boys’. The men tried to keep him away, but he told them that he was their foster parent and to get out of his way.

Wayne then yelled over to Charles to fly his quadcopter and get as much of the scene, from all angles, and as close as he dared, and as quickly as he could before somebody tells him he can’t.

By then Dennis was talking to Billy to get his take on what happened. The teenager was telling him what had happened, and as he tried to tell Mr. Dennis his story the flagger kept saying that Billy ran the flag and that it was all his fault. Billy told the man that he told him that he could go. The flagger argued that he told him to stay there.

Billy looked around and saw that the windshield had been popped out of its frame. He told Mr. Dennis to grab the dash camera, so it doesn’t go missing. The flagger heard what Billy said and he tried to get to the camera first.

But Dennis Florkert, a retired military man who knew his way around a fight, grabbed the man and told him that it was private property, and that he better let go of it before he didn’t know what hit him. The man let go of the dash camera.

Charles had been flying his quadcopter the whole time and he caught the flagger trying to steal the dash camera. He also caught as much as he could of Phillip lying still on the front seat and still not moving, but by then the fire department and sheriff deputies began to arrive.

Mr. Wayne had looked all over Phillip and seeing that he would have to be cut out of the vehicle, he knew he needed to get in contact with Mr. Ken.

“Dennis … they’re going to have to cut Phillip out of the car. Do you think you could you drive over to the office and tell Mr. Ken about the accident, and explain what we have here?” asked the Estate Master.

Dennis said that he could, but it will take quite some time, and that by the time he and Mr. Ken get back both boys will probably be at the hospital. Wayne told Dennis that it might be best if they tell him in person, about the accident, rather than him hearing it over the phone.

Charles heard the two men talking, and he jumped in and said that he had already called his dad and talked to him. The teenager told the men that he told his dad what he saw and that Phillip was trapped in the car. The teen said that his dad was on his way home.

By then the boys from The Cove had made their way to where the accident was and they were aghast at what they saw. They took cell phone pictures of what they saw, and they called their other friends, who knew the Covers, and told them about the accident.

The news media then began to arrive. At first their helicopters began taking aerial shots while their news vans made their way to the accident scene. The scene brought out many onlookers and the sheriff’s deputies had to begin pushing the people back, as the fire department’s rescue squad was going to start taking the roof off the Taurus, and there needed to be a safe zone established.

The sheriff deputies also began interviewing everyone who were involved in the accident and anyone who saw what happened. When they tried to talk to Billy, Mr. Wayne told them that he was still shaken from the accident, and that he was not available to talk.

When the deputies told Wayne to stop interfering with their investigation. Wayne Mitchell told them that he was the teenager’s foster parent, and he was not going to allow the teen to talk to them without his lawyer present. Wayne then pulled out his cell phone and called Stewart Russell.

The rescue squad had begun to dismantle the Taurus. They used the Jaws of life, a hydraulic rescue tool that is used to cut through cars and rip open vehicles’ doors, roofs and frames to release stricken occupants, and they began cutting the roof off the vehicle to gain access to Phillip.

The rescue squad had placed protective coverings over Phillip, as they cut the roof off, and as soon as it was gone the EMTs rushed in and began to assess the young boy’s injuries. And, as of that point, Phillip still hadn’t awakened. The EMTs placed a neck collar on the boy and then they brought in a backboard to place him on to protect his spinal column against any injury.

During the time they were removing the roof off the Taurus, the EMTs were assessing Billy and they determined that he possibly had a slight concussion, after learning that he had one just last year. They placed him in a neck collar and told Wayne that he needed to be further assessed at the hospital. The whole time, Charles was flying his quadcopter, but the battery was beginning to wane.

Mr. Wayne asked that the teen not be transported until Ken Thomas arrived. At the drop of the name Ken Thomas, the senior EMT called over the Fire Chief to talk to Wayne. The Fire Chief, after talking to Wayne, then went over and talked to the on-scene sheriff deputy commander and told them who was in the accident, and who was on his way to the scene.

By then Judy Turner had arrived and she made her way over to Billy and she wanted to talk to him about what happened. Wayne told her that he wouldn’t let the sheriff’s deputies talk to him unless his lawyer was present. By the tone in Wayne’s voice, and the way in which he said that Bill’s lawyer would have to be present, Ms. Judy knew not to press the issue in front of the sheriff’s deputies. But she did ask if Dan had been called. Then learning he hadn’t been called, she took the initiative and called him.

Ken Thomas raced over to the accident scene and made good time, arriving at the same time the rescue squad were taking Phillip out of the vehicle. He made his way over to the boy and saw that he was now barely awake, so he asked if he could ride with him.

The sheriff’s deputies said that a man named Wayne Mitchell was the boy’s foster parent and only he would be allowed to ride with the boy. Mr. Ken told the deputy that he is the primary foster parent and that Wayne Mitchell fills in when he is not available, which was the case up until now.

Judy Turner went over and presented her credentials as the Director of Children’s Protective Services and certified that Ken Thomas was actually the primary foster parent and that Wayne Mitchell was also a foster parent, approved by CPS, who works for Mr. Thomas for situations such as this. The sheriff deputies were confused. That was until Dan Fischer came upon the scene and talked to the on-scene commander and got things straightened out.

Ken Thomas rode with Phillip and Wayne rode with Bill. Dennis was asked to meet them at the hospital after he had asked all of the boys to have their parents come and get them, as The Cove was now closed for the rest of the day.

Charles had brought in his quadcopter, as the battery was now depleted, and rode with Mr. Dennis back to The Cove. The boys who were there at the accident scene made their way back there as quickly as they could.

Once at The Cove, Mr. Dennis filled Momma and Chris in more about the accident. Momma stopped fixing that night’s dinner and told Dennis that she would wait on dinner, until she heard from Mr. Ken.

In the meantime, Charles was downloading the quadcopters video that he had taken at the accident scene. Robert was at the Pavilion helping all of their friends get in contact with their parents, so they could be picked up. Mr. Dennis still had the dash camera in his hands and he didn’t know what he should do with it. So, he finally decided to place it on Mr. Ken’s desk in the study.

It took some time to get all of the Cover’s friends to be picked up and taken home. Of course, the parents wanted to know more about the accident, and the status of both boys, but no one had any information other than what had happened.

The news media was now outside the Main Gate asking to talk to Mr. Ken, so Mr. Chris went up there to talk to them. He told them that the man was at the hospital with both of his foster sons, and that he would have no comment until he knows the full extent of their injuries, and has a better understanding of how the accident occurred. Mr. Chris then walked away from the Main Gate leaving the news reporters open mouthed without anything to report back to their news stations.

Dennis had Chris help him get Mr. Ken’s vehicle, from the accident scene, back to The Cove. With that done he took the van over to the hospital with the three boys to see their ‘brothers’ and bring Mr. Ken and Wayne back when they knew the status of both injured boys.

The Cover teen had been assessed by the physicians in the emergency room, and they determined that he didn’t have a concussion, but was just stunned from the force of the hit by the front-end loader. They told Billy to settle down and get a good night’s rest. The doctors also figured the teenager would be sore on his left side from him hitting driver’s door from the force of the impact of the front-end loader. The doctor also recommended that the teen take some over-the-counter pain killers along with resting up for the next few days.

Judy Turner also went to the hospital in order to try to talk to Billy and Phillip about the accident. She sought out Ken and Wayne to find out where the boys were, so she could talk to them. She also saw that the sheriff’s deputies were there and she figured they were also there to talk to the boys about what happened.

Ms. Judy followed the deputies to see if they knew where at least one of the boys were. Soon, she saw the sheriff deputies walk into an examination room. Then she saw Stewart Russell arrive who had learned that Billy had been taken to the hospital, and had driven over there in order to protect his client’s rights.

The two met up and Stewart asked Judy if she knew where Billy was located. Judy told him she thought he was in the room right there, because she saw two sheriff deputies go in. Dan Fischer walked up just then and the three talked about why they were all there. Then they heard an agitated conversation going on within the room opposite them.

“We’re here to interview William Dirketson, the driver of the car who drove past the flagger,” stated one sheriff deputy.

“You can talk to him only when his lawyer is here and not before,” Mr. Ken matter-of-factly told the deputy.

“Why are you protecting that … that teenager who deliberately caused his passenger to be severely injured by ignoring the flagger and driving through the construction zone,” shot back the initial deputy.

“You are totally out of line Deputy … Deputy Rivera (Mr. Ken had to look at the Deputies name tag.) with that accusation. I am protecting my foster son’s civil rights … and I will continue to do so until his lawyer is present. If you don’t like the constitution then you should renounce your American citizenship and move to Russia,” bluntly stated Ken Thomas.

“Why you … I’ll teach you to talk to me like that,” yelled Deputy Rivera, who menacingly approached Mr. Ken. His partner had to restrain him.

“You would have liked to attack me wouldn’t you, Deputy? Well, believe me Sheriff Barnes … he will hear about your total unprofessionalism today, Deputy Rivera. He’ll hear how you had already made up your mind about who caused the accident, without you hearing or seeing all the evidence. And I guess you, Deputy Diaz … that you will lie for your partner when the Sheriff asks about what happened in here. Won’t you?” directly asked Mr. Ken.

“I hope you won’t lie, Deputy Diaz,” asked Dan Fischer, Sheriff’s Lieutenant, who was not in uniform, as he walked into the room.

“I was standing outside the room talking to Bill’s lawyer, Stewart Russell, and Judy Turner, the Director of Children’s Protective Services, both of whom also heard what was said inside here. You two can now go back to your duty station. The detectives will take over for now.”

Both deputes knew the man was a Sheriff’s Lieutenant and decided to leave and do as he had directed. As they walked out to their patrol cars, Rivera asked his partner if he would stand up for him. Diaz told his friend that it would be hard to do with the lieutenant, a lawyer and the Director of CPS, herself as witnesses also offering the Sheriff on what they heard.

Lt. Matthias and Sgt Roberts now came into the hospital room, where Bill was, and told him that they were there to interview him about the accident. They both apologized to him and Mr. Thomas for the attitude of the one deputy, and told them that he would be dealt with accordingly.

Stewart Russell and Judy Turner were now in the room with Bill and Mr. Ken. The lawyer told Bill that he should answer the detective’s questions honestly, and if he didn’t understand any question, he should hold up his hand and ask him about it.

That done, Lt. Matthias asked Billy to tell them what happened from the beginning. Billy told them all about stopping for the flagger, and that the flagger told him that it shouldn’t be long, but when it was about four minutes the man called ahead and asked if he could send him through.

The teenager said that the flagger told him that he could go and Billy said he began to drive slowly through the construction area. The teen added that it was as he got opposite the front-end loader, that he heard the driver gun the engine and then all he heard was the crash of the machine backing right into and over them.

Billy said that he was initially stunned from the force of the crash, but he also remembered seeing the windshield popping out of its frame, and the side windows glass flying all over and his feeling the car being pushed across the road. He told the detective that it didn’t feel real, at first.

The teenager continued and told Lt. Matthias that as he began to get the cobwebs out of his brain, he could hear some men asking if he was alright. Then he remembered that Phil was with him so he looked over and saw that his little ‘brother’ was lying on the seat and not moving, but was breathing. Billy said that he ignored the men and pulled out his cell phone and called Mr. Wayne.

The lieutenant asked Billy what happened after that. The teen told the detective that Mr. Wayne and Mr. Dennis came down from The Cove and Mr. Wayne went over to check on Phil and Mr. Dennis came over to check on him. He added that Mr. Dennis asked him to tell him what happened.

Billy said that as he tried to tell Mr. Dennis what happened, but the flagger was there and he kept saying that I had run the flag stop, and it was all my fault. But the teen had told the flagger that he told him that he could go, but the flagger continued to argue that he told him to stay.

Billy said that he looked around and remembered that the windshield had been popped out of its frame, so he told Mr. Dennis to grab the dash camera, off the windshield, so it doesn’t go missing.

Billy told the detective that the flagger went to the windshield and grabbed the dash camera first and was going to run away with it, but that Mr. Dennis grabbed the man and told him that it was private property, and that he better let go of it before he does something to him. The teen said the flagger let go of the camera.

Upon hearing that there was a dash camera, Sgt Roberts mentioned that none of the deputies ever mentioned anything about one. The sergeant wondered why no one ever said anything. Billy said that only he, Phillip, Mr. Dennis and the flagger knew about it, and the flagger wasn’t going to admit that there was the one because he was the one who told him he could go. Billy said his voice should be on the MicroSD chip.

Lt. Matthias asked how they could get a hold of that chip. Mr. Ken said that once he gets home, he could find the dash camera and make them a copy. The lieutenant said that they would like the original, so they could ensure that it hadn’t been tampered with.

Stewart Russell spoke up just then and told the lieutenant that the MicroSD chip will be a court exhibit against the construction company, front-end driver and flagger, and it will not be released to them without a court order. Lt. Matthias said that he will go and get one, and that he will be right back. Both lieutenants and the sergeant left the room.

Ken Thomas knew that Stewart was saying that as a stalling tactic in order for someone to make a copy before the Sheriff’s investigators got to it. Mr. Ken called Wayne and told him that he needed to get back to The Cove and find the dash camera and make a copy of the camera’s video before he is served a court order to surrender the MicroSD Chip. Wayne, Dennis, and the three boys, Robert, Charles and Matthew, hurried back to The Cove to do what the boss asked him to do.

It was then that Mr. Ken remembered that Momma was going to fix a special dinner at the Pavilion tonight, and she was probably wondering what she should do. So, Mr. Ken called her to let her know that he would just take the boys out for dinner, and for her to try to salvage what she could and serve it tomorrow if Phillip is released from the hospital.

Momma thanked the man for the phone call, even if it was already six o’clock. She told him that she had already done that, and all she wanted to know now was what injuries the boys had. Mr. Ken told her that Billy was just stunned, and all he needed was a good night’s sleep.

Mr. Ken told Momma that Phillip had a concussion, a dislocated shoulder, bruised ribs, a twisted knee and ankle, and that he will be sore for weeks to come. The man told Momma that Phillip will be hospitalized overnight and they will make the decision tomorrow, if he needs to stay another night. Momma thanked him for telling her what she wanted to know, and that she would see him tomorrow morning.

Mr. Ken and Billy were allowed to see Phillip for a few minutes, once he was settled in his pediatric room. The boy was sort of awake and he knew that his ‘dad’ was there, but the only thing that he was concerned about was if the accident would keep him and his mom from getting back together.

‘Dad’ Ken smiled at the boy’s concern and told the young Cover that it shouldn’t, and for now all he had to do was get better. The man told the boy that he was going to have to stay in the hospital overnight, and that he would be by tomorrow to see what the doctor had to say about his coming home.

‘Dad’ Ken then went to the boy and kissed him on his forehead and told him to rest and do what the nurses told him to do. Billy smiled at his little ‘brother’.

As ‘dad’ Ken and older ‘brother’ Billy were about to exit, ‘dad’ Ken heard Phillip begin to cry. ‘Dad’ Ken stopped and went back and asked him what was the matter. Through his tears, Phillip asked him if he was going to be just like his mom was after she had her concussion.

‘Dad’ Ken told the young Cover that his bump on the head was different than hers, and that all he would have would be some slight headaches for a few days and feel tired more until his brain gets all better. Phillip reached up to the man and pulled him to him so he could hug him. Mr. Ken thanked him for that special hug.

The nurse came into the room just then and told Mr. Ken and Billy that the young man needs his rest. ‘Dad’ Ken again told Phillip that he’d be over tomorrow morning and for him to get better and soon.

When Mr. Ken and Billy went to leave the hospital, they didn’t have a way to get home. Mr. Wayne, Mr. Dennis and the three boys had taken the van and hadn’t come back for them yet. Mr. Ken took out his cell phone in order to call Wayne to find out where they were, but Ms. Judy came up to him and asked him if they needed a ride.

As the trio walked out of the hospital, the news media was outside waiting to catch Mr. Ken for a comment on the accident that was caused by his foster son. Upon hearing the question thrown out by the news reporters, Mr. Thomas told them that he would have no comment until the investigation was completed. The man and Billy then walked over to Ms. Judy’s vehicle and got in.

Judy and Ken talked about the accident on their way back to The Cove. Judy asked Ken if he thought the dash camera footage would be important to solving who was at fault. Ken told her that it undoubtedly would, and that he couldn’t wait until he arrived back at The Cove to see it.

Judy then asked him what will he do when Matthias serves him with a court order to give up the camera’s chip. Ken told her that he would give it to him, but that he would at least have a copy of what was on it. Judy smiled.

When the trio arrived at The Cove, more news reporters were waiting to get a comment from Mr. Ken. But again, the man told them that he would withhold any comments about the accident until the Sheriff’s Department had completed their investigation. The three then drove down the house.

When the three walked into the house, Ken told Judy that they would be going out to dinner as he had sent Momma home because he didn’t know when they would be getting home. He asked Judy if she and Eric would join them. Judy said that they would, but only after she saw what was on the chip. Mr. Ken smiled.

Mr. Ken asked Wayne if he had copied the camera’s chip. Wayne said he didn’t have to as Charles had already done that while Dennis and Chris went to bring his car back from the accident site. Mr. Ken said that he wanted to view what was on it.

Wayne set the video up to play on Mr. Ken’s desktop computer. But he wanted Ms. Judy to watch it as well. Wayne said that they could all watch it in the Theater, if he wanted to do it there. Mr. Ken said they would have a much bigger view there, and he headed in that direction.

The only people not there to view what actually happened that afternoon leading up to the accident that injured Phillip and Billy were Phillip, who was in the hospital, and Eric, who was still at home.

Wayne set up the video to play in the Theater and as it was shown on the big screen in the Theater, they all heard Billy make sure Phillip had his seatbelt on and Phillip making sure the dash camera was hooked up and plugged into the cigarette lighter.

They watched as Billy turned right and followed along the linear park that was still under construction along the way to Four Corners. It appeared to the observers that Billy drove the speed limit in the neighborhood, and as he approached the area where there was some construction, Billy slowed down as he saw the flagger.

They watched as the Cover approached the construction area when the flagger stopped Billy about 500 feet, or more, away from where they could see a front-end loader that was preparing to back out into the roadway and a dump truck waiting for him to dump a load of dirt into it.

They all heard the flagger tell Billy that it shouldn’t be long, as the driver was talking to the site supervisor. They heard the flagger also say that once the driver dumped his load, he would be flagged through. They then heard Billy thank the man him and tell him that he wasn’t in a hurry, as they were just going down to the new grocery store at Four Corners.

They watched the video and during it they heard Billy and Phillip talking about the band and how Phillip thought they would do without him, when he goes to live with his mother. Phillip told his older ‘brother’ that Bryce would be a good leader for the band, and if they chose him, he thought that they could be really good.

Then the group heard the flagger talking on his two-way radio to see if he could wave the traffic through, as it had been more time than it usually takes to dump the load. The camera caught the return radio call telling the flagger that he could send the car through. The camera audio has the flagger telling Billy to drive on through and Billy begins to drive slowly through the area where the front-end loader was situated.

The watchers see how slowly Billy is driving and as he is perpendicular to the front-end loader, they hear the front-end loader’s driver gun his equipment and then they hear the unmistakable sounds of the front-end loader crashing into the side of the Taurus and they see the windshield fly off of the car.

The dash camera was set up to automatically save the current file when it experiences a G-force and then it continues to start another file. And as the dash camera was still hooked up to the cigarette lighter and had power it was still recording.

The camera caught the Taurus being pushed sideways, but it didn’t catch all of that movement since it had to save the original file and start a new one. What it did catch next were the men coming over and asking Billy if he was OK.

Then Billy’s voice saying, “Mr. Wayne … we’ve been in a bad accident and Phil’s hurt bad. The construction equipment … they ran into us.”

The audio continues with the construction men’s voices in the background asking about the other boy and for the front-end driver to move the equipment away from the car.

The next voice they hear is Billy’s, and he is crying. “Mr. Wayne, we’re down at the linear park construction site. You can’t miss us. We’re blocking the road! Please hurry!”

The dash camera picks up a lot of extraneous noise. The front-end loader is driven away from the car, so the men can try to get the boys out of the vehicle. They can hear someone else talking to the 911 operator and telling them about the accident. The construction men are trying to figure out whose fault it is and the flagger is heard saying, “I told him not to go!”

There is a lull and then they can faintly hear sirens and Wayne telling someone that he was their foster parent and to get out of his way. They also heard Wayne yell over to Charles to fly his quadcopter and get as much of the scene, from all angles, and as close as he dared, as quickly as he could before somebody tells him he can’t.

Then they heard Mr. Dennis talking to Billy to get his take on what happened. They heard the teenager telling the man what had happened, and as he tried to tell Mr. Dennis his story, they heard another voice, which they surmise is the flagger, because he kept saying that Billy ran the flag, and that it was all his fault. They then hear Billy tell Mr. Dennis that he told him that he could go. The next voice, they believe is the flagger, argued that he told him to stay there.

They next hear Bill tell Mr. Dennis to grab the dash camera, so it doesn’t go missing. They now see someone at the camera. It wasn’t Mr. Dennis. They see that the camera is being moved and then it stops because of the G-forces. A new file begins, but the G-forces again causes a new file to start.

But then on this new file they all hear Mr. Dennis telling the man who grabbed the dash camera that it was private property, and that he better let go of it before he does something to him that he doesn’t know what hit him. The next movement causes the file to stop because of the G-forces and then the camera loses its power source and turns off completely.

The group began to talk about what they had just seen, when Mr. Ken’s cell phone rings. When he answers it, he learns that Lt. Matthias is at the Main Gate and that he had a court order to serve on him. Mr. Ken told the guard to send him down.

“Matthias is headed down to the Foyer Door. Wayne … do you know where the original MicroSD chip is?” asked Mr. Ken.

The two men headed up to the Foyer with Mr. Ken going to answer the Foyer Door, and Wayne Mitchell going to retrieve the original MicroSD chip. The rest of the group made their way up to the Foyer to watch what happens when Lt. Matthias serves the court order.

“Lt Matthias … welcome. I’m sure you’re here for one specific reason, I trust,” offered Ken Tomas.

“Mr. Ken … you know why I’m here. I do have the court order for you to surrender the dash camera’s micro-card. Do you have the dash cameras micro card for me?” politely asked the lieutenant.

Wayne handed the chip to the man with a smile. The Sheriff’s Lieutenant then asked Mr. Ken if they’ve watched it. The owner of The Cove told the lieutenant that it is very revealing and that the on-scene deputies might have to arrest a few people for lying to them.

‘So, what Billy said is what really happened?” asked the lieutenant.

“See for yourself. But that flagger and whomever told him to let Billy go through will have a lot of explaining to do. That’s for sure. Oh, and I’m sorry for making you do all that leg work. We could have worked this out a better way, you know,” offered Mr. Ken.

“Yea, after I left the room … I realized I had made a mistake in judgment there. I should have just called you and made the easier arrangements by stopping over here and we all watched it together, as you made a copy. Oh, well, we live and learn,” offered the lieutenant, by way of an apology.

Mr. Ken asked Lt. Matthias, “After you watch the video … will you release a statement as to what really happened? Or, will I need to do that, to clear Billy’s name? You know the media … if they ever find out his name … they will connect him with the home invasion with this and make a big deal out of it.”

“I’ll talk with Barnes,” replied Lt. Matthias, and he was gone.

The Covers and their invited guests, Ms. Judy and her son, Eric, all headed out for a late dinner at the Four Corners restaurant. There were no rides taken at the amusement park afterwards and no meeting in the Study.

The Covers had a difficult day, so ‘dad’ Ken told the boys to relax and reflect on what happened that day, and he didn’t spend much time with them that evening. And when the Covers did lay down to go to sleep, they all thought about how they would have handled the accident if they had been involved.

The Cove might have been quiet that night, but not all slept well.

The saga of Three Finger Cove continues. Let Chowhound know you are reading his story: Chowhnd at Gmail dot Com

137,577 views