Regrets And Heartaches - 9. Chapter 9

Harold woke up very discouraged from the events of the day before. He cannot believe that Beth and Dominic continue to escape his grasp. Every time they get them, they wiggle their way out. Harold is hoping that they didn’t do anything ugly with Joey that cannot be fixed. He just wants to get Joey back in one piece. After that he will deal with the after math of getting Beth and Dominic behind bars.

He left the house before the kids woke up. Harold cannot stand seeing the hurt in his sons face. He has no answers and he cannot protect his son from what is going on. The only thing Harold can do is what he is doing. Promising his son, Fran and Alan that he will get Joey back and soon.

Just as Harold caught up with the work that his law clerk left on his desk, Detective Benson started to knock at his chamber door. Harold invited him and asked him to take a seat while he signs off on the final paperwork he is working on.

“So is there any news you have for me other than you are still looking. You know as well as I do. The more time passes the chances on finding Joey alive is very slim. His mother and uncle have no reason to keep him alive right now. They cannot get to his money and that is all they want from him. Man do I hate greed, I really hate it.”

“Your honor I agree with you on everything you just said. I don’t have anything more to report to you. I had hoped that maybe you found out something from Fran or your son that may helps us. We are at a dead end. Without getting Beth or Dominic to talk, we are going to be at a dead end.”

Harold got up and walked over to his little office refrigerator. He pulled out the cream and made him and detective a cup of coffee. He handed the cup of coffee to the detective and sat down in the seat next to him.

“I am so afraid Benson that Joey is gone. I know that I should not be thinking this way, but I am. They took him for his money and nothing more. Now that they know Al is involved, they know they cannot touch the money. There is no reason for Beth and Dominic to keep Joey alive.”

“They think they have us beaten your honor, but they don’t. I got a warrant to tap their phone line and to follow them twenty four hours a day. If they call someone and give the order, we will know about it. If they go out and carry it out themselves, we will be there. There is no way they are going to be able to give that order.

We are already on our third day looking for Joey. At this point the only way we are going to find Joey is by luck. I hate to say that, but it is true. In the past if we don’t find the kidnap person within the first forty eight hours, the chances decline greatly.”

“Let’s hope Joey is an exception to that rule. Because if he is not, I don’t know how I am going to tell my wife, son and his sister that Joey is gone. There is no way Fran is going to be able to take the loss of her brother, no way.”

Harold turned to his door when he heard someone knocking. “Your honor there is a phone call from a gentleman by the name of Gary Talbert. He says it is very important and he needs to speak with you now.”

“I don’t know any Gary Talbert. If he is a defendant he needs to call his attorney, not me. If it is a attorney he needs to set a appointment up with you and I will see him then. Please don’t disturb me unless the building is burning down.”

His secretary left, closing the door behind her. Harold continued talking with Detective Benson on the best way to find Joey. Once again the secretary knocked on the door and walked in the judge’s chamber.

“I am so sorry your honor, but Gary Talbert keeps calling. He will not stop calling unless he speaks with you. He says it is urgent. He isn’t am attorney or a defendant. He just needs to speak with you before he heads back to work.”

Harold looked at the time and didn’t realize that it is almost eleven. He and Detective Benson had been talking for almost two hours. He got up from the chair and walked back around his desk and sat back down.

“Tell this Gary Talbert unless he wants to get arrested, he will stop calling. I don’t know any Gary Talbert and he knows that. I think he is a defendant lying to you in order to talk with me about his case.”

The secretary left Harold’s chambers again. Harold thanked Detective Benson for the update before he picked up the phone to call home. Just as Detective Benson started too walked out of the chamber, the secretary popped her head back in.

“Your honor, Gary Talbert told me to tell you that he is calling with information concerning a Joey Alvarez. He says it is very important that he talks with you before anymore time passes.”

Harold hung up the phone as Detective Benson walked back in quickly. He sat down and waited for Harold to pick up the phone. Harold pushed the speaker button once everyone settled back down in their seats.

“This is Harold Evans; I understand you have information regarding Joey Alvarez. I would like to say before you say anything that you are talking with a district judge and in my chambers right now is the detective in charge of finding Joey Alvarez. If this is a ransom call, you better think twice.”

Harold and Detective Benson heard nothing but dead air. All of a sudden they heard the other person on the other line clear his throat. “My name is Gary Talbert and I work at a facility in Texas called Sunny Dessert for Troubled Teens. I am a janitor down here.”

Gary cleared his throat again. You can tell he is very nervous. “Mr. Talbert, you wouldn’t stop calling my office because you said you have information regarding Joey Alvarez. I am sorry if I scared you, but I am very worried for Joey. We want him home safe and sound where he belongs. So please if you have any information regarding him, let me know. That way I can do what I need to do in order to get home.”

“Sir, Joey arrived here several nights ago. You need to come and get him as soon as you can because if you don’t. He might not make it out of this place alive. They are really hurting him here. It is going to get worse until Joey does what they want him to do.”

“Okay son we are listening, you hear me, we are listening. I am Detective Benson, can you please tell us where this facility is actually located at. That way we can get down there and pull Joey out as soon as we get off the phone with you.”

“It is a big facility located outside of El Paso, Texas, between the border of Texas and New Mexico. I don’t know how you can get anything done since you are in New Mexico, but you do need to come down and get him. I will do what I can to help him, but that isn’t much because I am just a janitor.”

“Don’t worry about what we can do Gary. Please don’t get yourself into any trouble down there. We will be down there to get Joey out of there, Thank you so much for helping him. We owe a lot for doing what you are doing for Joey. Is there a number that we can reach you at so we can talk with you through all this and afterward.”

Gary gave Harold his address and phone number before hanging up. As soon as Gary hung up, Harold called Al and told him what he found out. Al told Harold that he will do what he can when he gets off the phone. They agreed that as soon as they get off of the phone they need to get up to this facility.

Harold got the address of the facility, grabbed a map and walked telling his law clerk to cancel all of his afternoon hearings. Detective Benson followed Harold and got in his car. Not even thinking, Harold drove straight home to get his wife.

When he walked in the door, Helen couldn’t stop thinking that he is here to give her bad news. She fell to her knees and started crying before Harold even said a word. He ran up to her, pulling up from the ground, holding her tight.

“We found him Helen, we found him and he is alive!” Harold whispered into his wife’s ear as he held her. “Detective Benson and I are on our way now to get him out of that place that Beth and Dominic put him at.”

“I want to go Harold! Joey is going to need to see faces he trusts. We need to pick up Fran from school. We don’t know what, if anything, they did to Joey in that place. No matter what, he needs to see faces that he trusts when he gets out of there.”

“I agree with you honey and we will go and get Fran and Caleb. By the sounds of it, they have done some ugly things to Joey. The person that called me said that if we don’t get Joey out now, he might not make it. I am scared that we are not going to make it in time.”

Harold and Helen walked out of the house in hurry. Helen locked up and joined Detective Benson in the car. They drove down to the school and only Harold got out getting Fran and Caleb. They agreed that only one should go in and get them where they could save time. They all know they are racing against the clock right now.

Harold waited for Fran and his son in the attendance office. The principle didn’t give Harold any problem pulling them out of school. When Fran and Caleb walked into the attendance office, they had a frighten looked on their faces.

“There is nothing to worry about. We know where Joey is at and we are going to go and get him. He needs to see faces he trusts and loves when we get him out. I don’t know how badly he is hurt, if at all. We will find out together. What ever happened to Joey in this place, we must show him support.”

Although it is somewhat good news, Fran nor Caleb didn’t smile. They walked with Harold to the car and got in. No one said a word the entire way to the facility. Harold didn’t care about the speed limit. He just floored his car in order to get to Joey as quickly as possible.

Almost halfway to the facility, a state trooper pulled over the judge. “Do you realize how fast you were going?”

Harold looked at the state trooper trying to think what to say. “Excuse, I am Detective Benson from Alamogordo. The driver is a district judge there. We are on our way to get a kidnapped minor. Time is not on our side right now. That is why we are speeding.”

“You should be in a marked car if you are trying to get somewhere in a hurry detective. I cannot just let you guys go without giving you a ticket. So please can you give me proof of insurance and you driver licenses your honor.”

Harold handed the state trooper his drive licenses and went to his glove box to get his proof of insurance. The state trooper walked back to his cruiser to call it in. Although it is only taking the state trooper minutes to do what he needs to do. To Harold and the others it seemed a lot longer.

The state trooper came back up and handed Harold his driver licenses and insurance card. He had Harold sign the ticket and asked him to slow down to the speed limit. As soon as the state troop walked back to his car, Harold got out of the driver seat. Detective Benson took his place. That way if they get pulled over again, they cannot get a ticket.

Almost two hours later, they drove into the parking lot of the facility. Detective Benson parked and everyone got out. They stood outside looking at the run own old brick building. It is a huge complex that could house hundreds of gay teens.

Harold made his way to the entrance, followed by his family, Fran and Detective Benson. They walked in to find no one sitting at the secretary desk. Harold looked right and then he looked left down the hall. He found it empty, no one to be seen. He walked over to Detective Benson and his family.

“I have never seen this before. There is always someone in the lobby of a company to greet their visitors. Do you think they found out that we know about this place and moved on? That is the only logical assumption to what we are seeing.”

“No they didn’t move on your honor. First their cars are still out in the parking lot. Second, there are way too many young kids in this building to move them this quickly. And finally third, it was the janitor that called us. Do you know who your janitor is that cleans your chambers ion the court room?”

Harold looked at Detective Benson and shook his head in the negative. They made their way down the hall to a set of double doors. To everyone’s surprise, they found the doors unlocked. Carefully they walked in and found themselves in a long hallway.

Before they took two steps in, they got greeted by a middle age woman. Before anyone could say anything, she escorted Harold and the others out the door and back into the lobby. She left them in the lobby informing them someone will be with them in just a few minutes and walked back in through the double doors.

No spoke, they just stood in the lobby waiting. Detective Benson kept his eye at the entrance to make sure that no one leaves the property. He doesn’t like what his gut is telling him. He knows there is something really wrong here.

The double doors open again and three guys walked out. They looked over at Harold with a smile they walked over to him. Detective Benson didn’t leave the window; he stood watching out the window and the three guys approaching Harold and his family.

“Hello, my name is Dale Pugh; I am the director of this facility. I normally meet with parents via appointment. But since you are here I will talk with you.” Mr. Pugh extended his hand to Harold, but Harold refused to shake it.

“My name is Harold Evans; I am a district judge from Alamogordo. The gentleman over there is Detective Benson. After arresting Beth and Dominic Alvarez, they informed us they put Joey Alvarez in this facility. They do not have custody of Joey and cannot make that decision. I am here to inform you that you need to release Joey immediately.”

Mr. Pugh stepped back to his staff members. “I know that you are aware that you are in the state of Texas, not New Mexico. Neither of you have authority this state. I don’t care if you are the head of your district court or he is the chief of police.” Mr. Pugh pointed to Detective Benson. “You guys cannot request anything from me or my staff.”

“You guys kidnapped Joey Alvarez and brought him to this facility against his will. You don’t have the right to keep Joey in this facility. You can do either the easy way and just let him out, or you can do it the hard way. I will leave Detective Benson at the entrance of this facility to make sure no one leaves as I go to El Paso and get a judge to sign a order to force you to release him.”

“You better go to El Paso and get a judge. That is the only way Joey Alvarez is going to leave this place. His mother and father gave us permission to pick up their son from school and bring him here. They signed over custody of Joey Alvarez to this facility. I have done everything legally.

Now you can leave my property on your own free will or I will remove you from the property. If you choose to leave your detective out the entrance of my facility, I have the right to have him removed by the police.”

Before Harold could say another word, Mr. Pugh started to walk back to the double doors he came out. Several more staff members walked out as Mr. Pugh walked over to the door. He whispered something to them and left. They walked over to Harold and his family. Harold just looked at them and turned to his family.

“Let’s leave so I can go to El Paso. I need to get a judge to sign the necessary orders to have this place release Joey. We will not do Joey any good being arrested ourselves. They can remove Joey from this place and we will never find him again.”

Caleb opened his mouth to say something, but his mother tapped him on the shoulder. They walked out of the building and escorted to the parking lot. They got to the car and Harold looked back at the building. He fears that if he leaves now, there is no why they will get Joey back alive.

With regret on not being able to get Joey out of there, Harold started his car and put it in reverse to leave. Just as he looked back to backup his car, Al drove up. He blocked Harold from getting out. Harold quickly put his car back into park and got out.

“Please time me you have some good news. We just got kicked out of there.” Harold walked over to Al as he got out of his car.

“Is Joey in this place Harold?”

“That is one thing we did get confirmed. A gentleman by the name of Dale Pugh runs this place. I really believe he owns it as well. He thinks he has the law behind him and he really does if we don’t get a order from a judge in this county.”

“My lawyers are still working on getting the legal orders from our friendly judges. When you called me, I right away called my lawyers after I hanging up with you. They couldn’t get to one judge because they are all in session right now.”

“Dam it, I am sorry Al! But without a order signed by a judge, this guy can keep Joey in there. He can remove us from his property and even arrest us if we stay here. In the mean time they can move Joey from this place and we may not find him again.”

“I didn’t put all my eggs in one basket Harold. I also called the governor. He isn’t a happy camper at all about what is happening here. He is sending his chief-of-staff and state attorney general. On my way down here, Rich called me to let me know they are landing. I don’t know if they are going to come down via car or helicopter, but they are on their way as we speak.”

As Harold and Al spoke, Mr. Pugh walked out of the facility. Helen spotted him and got out of the car to warn Harold. At the same time Detective Benson, Fran and Caleb got out as well. They walked to block Mr. Pugh from getting too close to Harold.

“I warned you to leave my property. Instead you bring someone else onto my property and talk in my parking lot. I just called the police and they are on their way. You no longer have the choice to leave. I am going to have you arrested.”

Harold and Al walked up to Mr. Pugh. “I know you don’t know me, but you just screwed with the wrong people. I am a senior advisor to Governor Lopez. As we speak I have the state attorney general and the chief-of staff to the governor on their way.

I am glad that you called the police because that will save me from doing it. The only difference here is that you are going to be taken out of here in handcuffs. The honorable judge Evans gave you chance to release Joey Alvarez and you refused. Now we are going to do it the hard way.”

Mr. Pugh just looked at Al not knowing what to do. He looked at his staff members and back at Al. He looked around to see if any other cars are driving up, but he doesn’t see any. Mr. Pugh is thinking that this old guy is just pulling his leg.

“I don’t know you from Adam and Eve. Anyone can walk off the street and say what you just said. I will not release Joey Alvarez to anyone except his parents. They are the ones that signed him in here, and they are the only ones that can sign him out. So you…..”

Mr. Pugh looked at the entrance of his facility to see lights flashing and hearing the sirens blaring. At first he thought these are the police he called to have Harold and the others arrested, but he saw it isn’t. Once the cars came into view, he realized that they are police cruisers from El Paso county, not state troopers.

The police cruisers drove into the parking lot, followed by several black SUV’S. The doors opened and Rich stepped out of the SUV. Al walked over to Rich to great him. As they shook hands, Mr. Anderson got out of the SUV.

After greeting Rich and Mr. Anderson, they walked over to Harold. “Your honor, my name is Rich Kewl, the chief-of-staff to the governor and this is Mr. Anderson, our state attorney general. We are so sorry that we have a facility like this in our state, Trust me when I tell you that this facility and others like it will be closed.”

They shook hands as they walked over to Mr. Pugh. “Who here is in charge of this facility.” Mr. Anderson asked looking at Mr. Pugh and his staff.

“I am and may I ask who you are?”

“I am the state attorney general and this is the chief-of-staff to Governor Lopez. Governor Lopez has sent us down here to personally take care if this problem. Do you have a minor child in this facility by the name of Joey Alvarez?”

“Yes I do and I have permission from his parents Beth and Dominic Lopez to have him here. I have not done anything wrong. I have the legal right to have him and you know that. I am sorry these guys think other wise, but I really don’t care.”

“You better start caring, because you broke the law. With your own statement, you just admitted on breaking the law. Beth and Dominic Alvarez are not the legal guardians of the minor child. They lost their rights and you could have seen that if you did your job correctly. You are required by law to make sure that those individuals claiming to be guardians of the minor child are the guardians.”

Mr. Anderson handed Mr. Pugh paper work signed by Governor Lopez demanding the immediate release of Joey Alvarez. He looked at the paper work and back up to Mr. Anderson. Not saying a word, he started walking back to the building.

Several state trooper cruisers showed up and were ordered to not allow a sole to leave this place. Harold and his family walked back into the building followed by Detective Benson. They waited in the lobby for Joey.

Mr. Anderson kept looking at his watch and finally got tired of waiting. He waived over several officers to go with him to get Joey. When they reached the double doors, Mr. Anderson saw Mr. Pugh and several of his staff members walking Joey out. He stopped them before they exited out the double doors. He cannot believe what he is looking at. He barely recognizes the young kid barely able to walk on his on is Joey.

“What he hell did you do this young man? He looks like he has been tortured in here.” Mr. Anderson walked over to Joey. “Joey can you hear me son? Can you tell me what these guys did to you in here?”

Before Joey could say anything, Mr. Pugh tried to talk; Mr. Anderson would not let him. “You shut the fuck up. I don’t want to hear a word coming from your mouth.” Mr. Anderson turned to a state trooper. “Place this man under arrest. Charge him with abuse and kidnapping to start with. I will follow with more charges. Also I want you to radio for more police cruisers and a ambulances. Arrest every worker in this place. None of them are allowed to leave.”

The state trooper followed Mr. Anderson’s instructions. He handcuffed Mr. Pugh and walked him out. As he escorted Mr. Pugh out to his cruiser, he radioed for the several ambulances and as many state troopers that they can spare. At the same time, Mr. Anderson walked Joey back into an office to see what they did to him. He doesn’t want Harold and his family to see him like this.

“Joey I don’t know if you can recognize my voice, but this is Mr. Anderson. Al, Jacob’s grandfather called the governor to get you out of here. You are going home, but first I need to get you looked out. It looks like what ever they did to you in here look really bad. Are you in any pain right now Joey?”

“Mr. Anderson, please help me. This pain will not stop, it hurts all over. My eyes hurt and I cannot see out of them. I just want to get out of this place Mr. Anderson. Please get me out of this place.” Joey fell against Mr. Anderson crying. He is hurting really bad, but at the same time. He is happy on being found and he is going home.

Al and Rich walked in to see what is going on. They cannot believe what they are seeing. Just like Mr. Anderson, Al could barely recognize Joey. This is not the same kid that left his grandson. He heard the stories about these places, but didn’t believe that they were all true. Al walked over to Joey and kneeled down.

“Joey everything is going to be okay. Harold, Helen, Fran and Caleb are outside waiting for you. They never gave up looking for you. I never gave up looking for you. No one deserves what had happened to you in this place. No matter what the person has done in their lives, they don’t deserve what this place did to you.”

Mr. Anderson got up supporting Joey until Al moved in and grabbed Joey. He walked out of the office looking back at Joey. Still not able to believe that this place did this to Joey! He turned and made his way to the exit. He looked out the window of the doors into the lobby where Harold, his family and Detective Benson are standing.

He knows that he is going to have to go out there and tell Harold and his family the news. The news that this place tortured Joey to the point that they might have blinded him and god knows what else. News that he knows Harold and his family does not want to hear.

As Mr. Anderson walked out the double doors, ten more state troopers walked in. Mr. Anderson walked over to them and instructed to lock down this facility. Don’t let anyone in or out of this place. Once they secure all the exits to let him know where they can start going from room to room.

“With all do respect sir, most, if not all, of these kids are legally here. If you close this place down, where are we supposed to take these kids? Their parents put them here to fix them. They believe in this place. They will not take them back if they are the same way they were when they were brought here. Maybe it is best that you just take the one you came for and leave the others.”

“Officer the owner of this place broke the law. I don’t care if it was just one or a hundred times, he broke the law. Since you have these feeling you will leave and I will be speaking with your boss before the day is over. This kind of hatred cannot or will not be accepted. If their parents don’t want to them back, I will put them in the system. At least they are safer there then in here.”

Mr. Anderson waived Detective Benson over. “Detective Benson, I know that you are a officer from New Mexico, but you can be put out on loan to another prescinct if that prescinct needs your help. Since this case is your and has landed up in this state. I am handing over control of this investigation to you. I will clear this with your boss.

This state trooper believes that the kids in here deserve being here.” Mr. Anderson patted the state trooper on the shoulder he was just talking to. “I asked him to leave and go back to his station. I don’t want people that believe in hate here. If you run into any more bigots, send them to me.”

The officer looked at Mr. Anderson and walked out of the building. Once he left, Mr. Anderson explained to Detective Benson what he has done and why. Detective Benson just looked at Mr. Anderson. He needs to see for himself. He walked over to the office where Joey, Al and Rich are at.

Once Detective Benson walked away, Mr. Anderson turned to Harold and his family. He knows he can no longer keep the information he has to himself. He walked over to them. He looked into their faces as he stood in front of them.

“I need you guys to understand that we are doing everything we can right now for Joey. There is really no easy way to say this, than to just say it. When I first walked back, the owner and his staff were bringing Joey up front. I stopped them and had them take him into an office in the hall.” It felt like all the air got sucked out of the room.

“Look it is bad, but as bad as you think. Joey is alive and he is walking on his own free will. But he looked like he was tortured in this place.” Helen fell against Harold trying to control her feelings. But Fran fell on the floor crying. Caleb pulled her up and held her.

“We are trying to get to the bottom of what actually happened to Joey. I have ambulances coming. I have instructed the state troopers to place the owner and the staff here under arrest. I am not going to lie to you all. Joey will not be going home tonight. He will need to go to the hospital to get his injuries looked at.

I am going to take you guys back to be with Joey, but you need to do one thing. Joey is in a lot of pain, he cannot see and he looks really bad. You cannot cry or get angry. He needs you to be strong for him. Don’t discuss what he looks like, just tell him everything is going to be okay. He needs strong people around him right now. It is going to be hard, I know. But you guys need to do this for him.”

Everyone shook their heads. Harold grabbed a hold of Helen’s hands as they started to walk to the back. Fran started to trip over her feet as they approached the office where Joey is at. Caleb supported her so where she wouldn’t fall. They walked into the room to see Al holding a broken Joey. They all just stood at the door stunned at what they are looking at. They didn’t even imagine it is this bad.

“Joey, we are here, all of us. Your sister is here as well are Helen and Caleb. We will not leave your side. No matter where you are taken, we will not leave your side.” Harold walked over to Joey and sat next to him.

With help from Caleb, Fran walked over and sat on the other side of Joey. She is already crying and unable to speak because of her crying. Al got up from the ground, letting Caleb take his place. Helen stood above her son, looking down at Joey.

No spoke until Caleb broke the silence. He placed a hand on each side of his face. “There is nothing anyone can do to make me stop loving you Joey. There is nothing anyone can do that will make any of us stop loving you. We are going to get you to a hospital and get you fixed up again. Then we are going to take you home. There is no way this is going to happen again. We will do what ever it takes to make sure of that.”

Caleb leaned in and kissed Joey on the lips. Joey wrapped his arms around Caleb and held him as tight as he could. He doesn’t want to let go because if he does. He thinks this place is going to come in and take him away again.

Al walked out with Mr. Anderson. “How much authority do you have when it comes to a place like this? I know you came down to help me get Joey, but how much authority do you really have. I would like to see this place closed for good. If they did this to Joey, can you imagine what they have done to others that have been here a lot longer?”

“Al, right now I am executing the law. I can arrest every employee in this place for abuse and kidnapping. Even if they didn’t do the action, they knew this kind of stuff was going on. There is no way you can walk down these halls and not know. I am pretty sure I will find more charges as we start getting into the back of this place.

These kinds of places are legal, but they must follow the law. This facility broke the law with Joey alone. I can shut it down no matter if I don’t find anything else. Once again I don’t think Joey is going to be the last person I find abused in here.”

Detective Benson walked up to Al and Mr. Anderson. “The entire facility is locked down. All the exits are covered. There is no way anyone can leave this place. We are now ready to go in and see what is back there. Do you want to go with us?”

“Yes I want to go, but I want us to stay in a group. We need to video tape every room and every thing we see. I want pictures taken as well. There is no way I am going to let the asses that run this place get off because we were in a rush to find out what is back there. So get ready, we are going to be here all night more likely.”

“I would like to join you guys as well. The case will not appear in front of me. More than likely it will be in a court in Texas first. Once you get done with these guys, we want a shot at them. They kidnapped a resident from the state of New Mexico.”

Mr. Anderson looked at Harold with a puzzled look on his face. “I have no problem with you going, but if you over step. I will send you back out. At anytime, any of you can leave if you want. I have no plans to go anywhere.”

“Sorry to interrupt you guys, but I just got off the phone with the Governor. He was already angry, but after hearing what we found here. Just let me say this. I have never heard that man this upset. He is ready to come down here himself and tear this place down with his own hands.

He told me what ever we need, we will get. He will make sure we have what is needed to close down this place. This place really screwed up with this governor. He not only has a gay son, but a place like this tried the same thing with his son. He closed them down before he even became Governor. Now imagine what he can do as Governor.”

“Thank you Rich for that, I really need the backing of the Governor. I have already stepped on a couple state troopers’ feet. I know they will not be the only ones.” Mr. Anderson patted Rich on the back.

Detective Benson went and got several state troopers and video cameras. They walked over to the staff in the conference room. As they walked in, some stood up and some stayed sitting down. That made Mr. Anderson and the others angry. It showed them disrespect. Mr. Anderson walked over to the table and pounded his fist on the table causing everyone to look up at him.

“I am not going to play games with any of you. You are all in trouble and more than likely will be arrested. I can tell you none of you will be going home tonight. You will be in an eight by eight cell, but treated with more respect than you treated the kids in this place. This place is out of business from this moment on

So that you know I am not playing, Governor Lopez is powering me to do what ever I need to do in order to send a message to the other places like this. I don’t care what you think you know or were told. I can charge each and everyone one of you with the same charges I charge the director with. You stood by and let it happen.

Now I need one of you, I don’t care who, to walk us through this place. I would prefer someone that has the keys to every room in this place. In my experience, that is normally the janitor staff. So who here is part of the staff?”

Harold remembered when Mr. Anderson said that. The only reason they are here is because of a janitor. He walked up to Mr. Anderson and whispered in his ear Gary’s name. Mr. Anderson shook his head in agreement. He pulled a file from his briefcase and pretended to read it.

“Since none of you want to raise your hand, let me just call out the day janitor. According to employment files, the janitor on duty right now is Gary Talbert. Mr. Talbert please stand up and go outside with Judge Anderson.”

Gary stood up shaking as he walked out into the hall. Harold walked out and waited to hear Mr. Anderson to start speaking again. He looked at Gary and realized that he would not have ever noticed him around the halls either. He doesn’t even notice the cleaning crew in his court room. That will change from this date forward.

“Gary there is no reason for you to be nervous. I am the one that you spoke with this morning. Thank you so much for calling me and letting me know where to find Joey. I cannot tell you how worried we were about him. You gave back to the family that cares a lot for him a gift. We will never be able to repay you back for what you did.”

Gary just stood there looking at the floor. He started to mumble, but not clear enough or loud enough for Harold to hear. Harold reached out and lifted Gary’s face where he could try and make out what he is saying.

“Will I be going to jail like that other guy just said. I thought I did the right thing. I never thought I would be going to jail for calling you.”

“Gary you of all people are not going to jail. You did do the right thing and for that you are going to go home. Although you don’t have a place to work anymore, but we will fix that for you! No good deed goes unpaid. My family and Joey’s family are in debt to you.”

Mr. Anderson and Detective Benson walked out of the conference room. They walked down to the doors that lead into the dorms of the facility. There Harold told Mr. Anderson who this guy is and what he did. Mr. Anderson confirmed what Harold told Gary that he will not be going to jail.

Gary unlocked the doors and they walked into what looks like death row. They went down a long hall with door after door that leads into other halls with doors on each side of the halls. They know those doors are rooms. That means in those rooms are teenagers that have been brought here to be brainwashed.

“Gary, can you take us to where they were keeping Joey?” Detective Benson looked down at Gary as he shook his head.

They followed Gary to the third door down, he unlocked it. They walked in but didn’t hear anything. They started to think that the rooms are empty. Mr. Anderson walked over to a door and slid the little door on the door open. He sees a young boy, cannot be no younger then fourteen, curled up naked in the corner of a very small cell.

“What in the world is this? There is no bed, toilet or lights in this room. Plus the young boy is naked in there. Are all these rooms filled and set up the same way Gary?” Mr. Anderson turned with disgust in his face.

“Yes sir, each of these rooms has someone in them. There are no empty rooms in this place. Mr. Pugh kept this place filled at all times.”

Harold and Detective Benson walked over to a room and looked in. They didn’t think they would see what they are seeing. They cannot understand why they are naked lying on the concrete floor in a room with no lights. How is this changing them?

They walked down where Joey had been held.. As they approached the room, they found the door open. They walked to the door in looked and they looked down and found fresh blood on the floor and walls.

“I need you to video tape every inch of this room. There is no light in there so you will need to talk what you are seeing and why you are using the light on the camera.” Mr. Anderson asked the state trooper with the camera.

As the kids in the cells figured out that the people in the halls are not staff members, but the police. They started to bang at their doors to get out. Before Mr. Anderson and the others knew it, the peace and quite got replaced with kids calling out for help.

“We need to get them out of these rooms. I know that we cannot just start unlocking the doors and letting them out. We need to id them and get clothes first. We need to have doctors here to look at them as we take them out of the cell. We need to take pictures of each of them. There is so much that needs to be done.”

“I know this is not going to happen over night. These poor kids are going to be stuck in these rooms for a little while longer Mr. Anderson. I don’t want that, but there is nothing any of us can do about it.” Detective Benson leaned against the wall trying to figure out what they could do to make this process faster.

“I don’t care if we have to get police from every county surrounding this place. Just get as many officers here as possible. I want these kids out of these closets, fed right and either home or in foster care.” Mr. Anderson barked out his orders.

Gary stopped them and pointed to the door next to Joey’s room. “The kid in here stayed in this building when he could have left long ago. He tried to help as many clients in here as possible. He is the one that told me to talk with Joey and I can trust Joey.”

“How many kids did you try to help in here Gary? Most of these kids are put in here by their parents. If you called their house, you are lucky that you were never caught.”

“I tried to help as many of them that I could. There were a couple of times I did talk with those that put the client in here. They called and spoke with Mr. Pugh, but Mr. Pugh thought it was higher staff. He never thought it was a janitor doing the calling.”

Detective Benson asked Gray to unlock the room. When Gary opened the door, they saw an older teenager, maybe seventeen standing walking back from the wall. Although he doesn’t have new cuts or bruises, they saw a lot of old ones.

“Hello don’t worry we are not here to hurt you. We are here to get you guys out of here. Please don’t leave the room until we can get you clothes. You will be one of the first we get processed and out of here. Will you please tell us your name son?”

Angelo just looked at Detective Benson. When he saw Gary behind the detective, he knew he is being told the truth. “My name is Angelo Feliciano sir!”

Detective Benson took off his over jacket and handed it to Angelo. Gary started to show them the other rooms in the place besides the dorms. Each room they walked into, they got disgusted even more than the room they were just in.

From the machines they had set up to try and change the way the person thinks to the tools they had to hurt them. When they walked into the room with the metal mattress and realized what it is. They couldn’t believe that they actually were never closed down before now. These things cannot be used in the name of therapy.

Gary told them what they did to Joey in this room. He told Mr. Anderson and the others about the screams he heard coming from this room. Then the staff members ordered him in to clean the shit off of the bed and Joey! Gary took them through what he did and what he saw not only with Joey but the others.

Harold couldn’t hear anymore, he walked out. He headed back down to where Joey and his family are at. When he reached the office, the EMT’S are already working on Joey. Harold stood at the door with Helen looking in as they try to figure out how bad the injuries are with Joey.

Harold wants to know where they plan to take Joey. He walked up to one of the EMT’S to see where they are from. Looking at the patch, he sees they are from El Paso. That means that El Paso is the closest county to this facility.

“Is there anyway you can take him to Alamogordo? If you can’t can you patch him up enough where we can drive him to a hospital in Alamogordo.” Harold asked one of the EMT’S working on Joey.

“His injuries are bad and he needs to be seen by a doctor. But by the looks of everything he has had some of these injuries for days. Let us finish looking him over and if we don’t see anything life threatening, we will release him to you with the understanding that you are going to take him to the hospital once you leave here.”

Harold agreed and let the EMT get back to work. He walked back to his wife and stood in the hallway waiting to hear what they are going to do. He thought to himself if Joey can make it to Alamogordo that would be great. But more important is Joey’s health. So if the EMT’S decide that he needs to go to El Paso, they will follow.

The EMT’S finished looking over Joey. The one that talked with Harold walked out to talk with him again. “Sir, this young man is in a lot of pain. He is hurting everywhere on his body. With what he told us they did to him in here, we are surprised he is still walking and talking. I think he might be over stating what had happened in here.”

“Sir if you don’t know what you are talking about, you need to keep your thoughts to yourself. I have been back there and trust me what that kid is telling you is the truth. I never knew these kinds of machines were ever used on kids. Can we take him to our hospital in Alamogordo?”

“I am sorry if I over stepped. The kind of injuries he has is severe, but not enough that he needs to be rushed into a hospital. We will give him something for the pain and you can take him. Just take him straight to the hospital when you get back.”

Harold nodded his head as the EMT walked back into the office. “Go out and bring the car up to the door. We need to get going so we can get Joey to the hospital. I will go and let Detective Benson know that we are leaving. That way, if he cannot get a ride back, he can come back with us.”

Helen walked out to get the car and pull it up. She got stopped on the way out and got stopped again on the way in by state troopers. When she walked up back in, she found Caleb holding on to Joey. The pain shot that the EMT’S gave him made him a little woozy. He can barely keep his head up.

Caleb held on to Joey and helped him walk out. As they reached the front door, Joey calapsed. Caleb picked him up and carried him the rest of the way. As they walked to the car, Joey mumbled, but because of the pain shot. Caleb cannot understand him.

Caleb gently put Joey in the back seat of the car and got in. Fran got in on the other side lifting Joey’s legs. Once she sat down, she put Joey’s feet on her lap. Caleb did the same thing with Joey’s head. They sat there in the car waiting for Harold to join them.

Not even five minutes passed when Harold ran out of the building. He jumped into the driver seat and drove off as carefully as he can on the dirt road. Once they got on the paved road, Harold hit the gas. Before they knew it, they started flying down the highway back home to Alamogordo.

Caleb kept rubbing Joey’s forehead, afraid to touch any where else on his body. He doesn’t want to cause Joey any pain although he is sound asleep. Every five or ten minute’s either Harold or Helen would ask how Joey is doing. Both Fran and Caleb would answer the same thing, he is sound asleep.

Halfway home, Joey woke up grabbing at the roof of the car. Yelling to be set free! It got so bad that Harold had to pull over and help Caleb and Fran settle him down. Once Joey realized that he is safe and he is with Caleb, his family and Fran he went back to sleep.

That scared everyone in the car. Harold got in and started to drive. He looked back in his review mirror and noticed how scared his son and Fran are. Fran once again started to cry as she looked down at her beaten brother. Harold could tell that his son is using everything in himself to hold back the tears.

“We are seeing what is going to be in the days, weeks and even months ahead. Joey is not going to be able to get over this over night. What happened to him in that place was horrible. The best way I can describe it is his three days there is like those scary movies you watch on television. But here Joey lived the movie. It will take a lot of time and talking with the right people to get him even halfway back.”

Everyone stayed quite to what Harold just said. They all know that Harold is telling the truth. They just wish this ugly monster never showed its face in their lives. But again hey don’t wish it on any other either. At least with them they have the connections to get something done. The others in that place had to suffer months if not longer in that place.

Caleb couldn’t hold back his tears any longer. He started to cry quietly. He doesn’t want anyone else to hear him crying. He doesn’t want his parents paying attention to him. Joey right now needs all their attention. He needs to get better.

Caleb started to rub Joey’s left cheek. Not realizing that his tears started to fall on Joey’s face. All of a sudden Caleb felt Joey’s hand grab his. He let Joey hold his hand as tight as he wants to. But Joey didn’t just want to hold Caleb’s hand, he started to caress his hand.

“You know that I love you, don’t you Caleb?” Joey whispered loud enough for Caleb and the others in the car to hear him. “Nothing they could have done to me would have made me stop loving you. I got through the few days in there because I thought back of you, Fran and the great times in my life. Thank you for coming to get me.”

Caleb started to sob really loud. He leaned down and started to kiss Joey on his lips and forehead. He couldn’t say what he wanted to say. Caleb couldn’t stop crying. He felt that he let Joey down. He thinks that he should have gone out with him that day, but he didn’t.

Joey reached up and felt around until he reached Caleb’s face. He felt around his face and started to wipe away his tears. He then wrapped his hand around the back of Caleb’s head in order to pull Caleb down to him.

“Don’t you cry for what those assholes did! They don’t deserve your tears. They didn’t break me or you. We are together and alive. That is all that matters, so don’t you dare let them do this to you. I love you and we will be together no matter what others think about it. They all can go to hell with their hatred.” Joey whispered into Caleb’s ear.

Caleb wiped his face and stopped crying. He held Joey’s hand the rest of the way home. Joey dozed off and didn’t wake up again the rest of the trip. Fran on the other side of the seat kept rubbing her brother’s legs. That is when she noticed the cut marks where they put the cuffs around his ankles. She couldn’t help but get madder every passing minute on what their mother did.

As they drove into the city, Fran remembered about Alan. “Harold we need go and pick up Alan. He has to be worried. We left and didn’t even tell him what is going on. I don’t want him to think that we abandoned him as well.”

“You know I completely forgot about him. Poor guy he has to be going out of his mind. I didn’t mean to do that. I was in a hurry to get you guys and get down and get Joey. I never thought of Alan until you mentioned it.”

“Honey we don’t have the room to put him in the car. Let’s do this, you drive to the hospital. You, Caleb and Joey get down and take Joey in. I will go and get Alan and bring him over. He deserves an explanation and he shouldn’t see Joey likes this. I am sure Joey doesn’t want too many people seeing him like this.”

Harold agreed with his wife and exited off the freeway. He drove into the emergency room entrance of the hospital and got down. He walked in and came out with a gurney and several nurses for Joey. The nurses opened the door and helped Joey out of the car. They put him on the gurney to take him into the hospital.

Helen drove off to get Alan and her daughter as Harold, Caleb and Fran walked in with the nurses. Harold explained to the doctors what had happened. They kept asking Harold how much he is telling them is the truth. That kept getting Harold mad. He finally told the doctors to do their job and treat Joey.

Since Joey could barely move, Caleb helped him to the bed. He gently took off his shirts, shoes, and pants. He put the hospital nightgown on Joey before taking off his underwear. All through this Caleb tried to be as careful as possible. But no matter how hard Caleb tried, the pain started to shoot up and down Joey’s body.

The doctor walked in with several nurses to look over Joey. They started to take pictures of every cut, bruise and black eye on Joey’s body. Harold walked in to find out what they plan to do as far as treatment for Joey.

“Look, he was looked over by the EMT’S before we brought him over here. He is in a lot of pain. He needs something for that pain before you guys do anything else.” Harold covered the camera to get the doctor’s attention.

“By the looks of his injuries, the EMT’S should have taken to the closest hospital, not let you drive him down here. Right now on what I can see, he has broken ribs, damage so bad to his eyes I don’t think he will see again, several deep cuts almost to the bone and not to mention things we will not see without an ex-ray. So we will give him something for the pain, but he will be going through a lot of tests before we can even start working on him.” The doctor walked out of the room ordering the nurse to give Joey a pain medicine.

After Joey got an IV put in, the nurse gave him pain medicine that knocked him out. Soon after that, they took him up to ex-ray. Caleb, Fran and Harold walked out to the lobby to wait for Joey to come back.

As they waited, Helen, Alan and Valerie walked in. Harold waived them over to where they are sitting . Right away Alan started to ask questions, but he is going so fast no one could keep up with him. When he finally settled down, he sat down next to Caleb.

“How is he Caleb? How bad did they hurt him in that place?”

“It is really bad Alan, really bad. But he is alive and in good spirits. He was actually consoling me on the way home. I should be the one strong enough consoling him, not him consoling me. They didn’t beat him Alan; they tried, but didn’t succeed.”

“By the time lunch was over at school, everyone knew something was up. There are crazy rumors floating around the school. I couldn’t think the rest of the day hearing everyone talking. All of the rumors ended the same way. They found Joey’s dead body. I cannot believe people would start rumors like that.”

“Don’t worry Alan, they didn’t take his life. They beat him really bad, but they didn’t take his life. When you see him please be strong. He doesn’t look good at all. His eyes are completely swollen shut, his……..”

Caleb sat there telling Alan and his sister what they are going to see. As Caleb described what they will see, neither of them could believe it. He was only gone for three days. They did all that damage in three days. There is no way Joey would have walked out of that place alive if they kept him any longer.

The doctor walked out and over to Harold. “We are going to admit Joey, for how long I don’t know. There is so much damage to his eyes; we cannot even open them to look in side. The scans are showing us that his eyes are damaged but hopefully he will be able to see once he can open them again. Only time will give us the answer to that.

Now he does have two broken ribs, but no other broken bones. He was electrocuted, and by the looks of the damage inside it’s not a lot. The human body heals itself and that is what is going to happen with Joey. There is nothing we can do about the electrocutions.

The reason I want to admit Joey is to keep an eye on him. We might have to cut into his eyes in order to release the blood. That is if his body doesn’t do itself. If his organs got damaged by the electrocutions, we might need to put him on a machine to help his body heal. Again all this could happen and it is best to keep him here in the hospital.”

Harold agreed with the doctor before he left to get Joey admitted. Harold and the others walked over to be with Joey. They don’t want him to wake up and get scared like he did in the car on the way back. He might hurt himself if he runs around the hospital.

When they walked into the room, they found Joey still sound asleep. Just the expression on his face is telling them he is having a nightmare. Caleb walked over and sat down at Joey’s side. He grabbed his hand and held it to let Joey know he is here with him. Fran did the same thing on the other side of Joey.

Alan and Valerie just stood there looking at Joey in the bed. They thought that they were ready to see Joey, but they were not. Valerie ran out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom. She started to throw up before she could make it into the stall. Helen walked in and held her daughters head above the toilet as she threw up.

“Mom how could anyone do something like that to someone? I don’t know what I would do if that was Caleb not Joey lying in that bed. I cannot understand why people hate things that they don’t understand mom.”

“Nothing like that will ever happen to your brother. Nothing like that will ever happen to Joey again. He has parents that don’t love him the way he is. They want to change him no matter what it takes. They will never get close to Joey or Fran again. Your father and I will make sure of that.”

Helen helped her daughter up from the floor. Valerie walked over to the sink to wash up. She looked back at her mother with tears rolling down her eyes. She really doesn’t know Joey, but she knows that her brother loves him. Because Joey is hurting, Caleb is hurting and that is something Valerie swore will never happen to her brother.

They walked back to the room to find the nurses pulling Joey out. They stood out of the way as they moved Joey. Harold grabbed Helen’s hand as they followed the nurses to the elevator. Everyone got on and road up with Joey to his floor. They all got off and followed Joey to his room. None of them left Joey’s side, because they were afraid that something might happen to him again.

Once the nurses settled Joey in, they left. Caleb sat next to Joey and held his hand not moving from the seat. Even when the nurses told him that visitation hours are over, he refused to leave Joey. Harold talked the nurses into allowing Caleb to stay with Joey by explaining to them what had happened. If he wakes up and doesn’t find someone he knows, he will start screaming and run around.

“You take care of yourself son. You get some sleep tonight. There is no way Joey is going to wake up through the night. I will be back in the morning to see how you are doing.” Harold leaned down and kissed Caleb’s forehead.

His mother, Valerie, Fran and Alan said their goodbyes. Fran asked Caleb to make sure that nothing happens to her brother over night. When he wakes let him know that she really loves him and she will be back to see him tomorrow. Caleb promised to pass on the message when Joey wakes up.

Before Harold left he handed Caleb some money to get something to eat. Caleb watched his family leave as he sat holding Joey’s hand. He looked back over to Joey and started to wipe Joey’s hair out of his face. The doctors rapped white bandages over Joey’s eyes. So Caleb cannot see what that place did to Joey.

He got up and crawled into bed with Joey. He made sure Joey’s arm that has the IV is free before wrapping his arms around Joey. He pulled the covers over them before he completely cuddled up to Joey. He wrapped his arms even tighter around Joey to make sure that no one can come in and take Joey away from him again.

Before dozing off to sleep, Caleb whispered to Joey. “I will protect you from those that want to hurt you. I promise you that nothing like this will ever happen to you again. I love you and nothing people can say or do will change that.”

Caleb kissed Joey on the lips before resting his head on Joey’s chest. Caleb tried to stay awake to protect Joey. He doesn’t want anyone to come in the middle of the night to kidnap him again. But the days events caught up to him and he went to sleep.

TO BE CONTINUED…............

WRITER’S CORNER:

{Welcome back everyone and thank you for reading another exciting chapter of Regrets and Heartaches. I know this chapter only covered a day, but I wanted to do justice to this day. I want you guys to be in each of the characters shoes as they go through what they are feeling through the day.

Since the chapter only went through one day, there is not really much to talk with you guys here. But let me summarize the chapter still and let you know what to look forward in the chapters to come.

Although I brought this plot to a close, it is really not over. It is going to take months if not years for Joey to get over what he went through in that place. Even after he heals, the emotional side is going to be there. Just look at what happened when he woke up in the car screaming. Harold said it best in the chapter. It is going to take time.

Al once again is in this story. Jacob’s grandfather has the connections to get things done. Beside the connections, Joey gave him power of attorney. He accepted that even after what Joey did to his grandson. When Al spoke with Joey when they first got him back, he somewhat told Joey he forgave him for what he did to his grandson. Even if Al hasn’t forgiven Joey, he knows how to put aside his personal dislike and get the right thing done, no matter who is involved.

Clearing out that facility is going to be written in the chapters to come. There are so many teenagers in there it is going to take time. Who knows, some of them might become good friends with Joey once they get out in the free, hint, hint, hint! For sure two of them will become permanent characters in this story.

Beth and Dominic are far from being safe. Now that Joey has been found and that they found out that they are the ones that put him there, the law can go and arrest them and charge them with all sorts of crimes. Trust me that no other judge is going to make the same mistake as the other judge did when he released them on bail. Once they are arrested, they will be locked up for good, I hope!

We saw the strength in Caleb in this chapter. He is not going to leave Joey’s side no matter what. Although it isn’t his fault on what happened to Joey, he will blame himself for a long time. I don’t think even if Joey tells him it isn’t his fault, he won’t stop blaming himself.

Joey is growing up also. He is becoming a man finally. He knows that he is on his own now. Jacob is not there for him to fall back on. He needs to sink or swim on his own. If how he acted in this chapter is any indication on how he has grown in such a short period. Joey is going to be just fine.

In the next chapters the story will get back to normal. Old plots hanging out there will come back. Characters that we really didn’t see in the last three chapters will be back. As well as new characters will be written into the story line! So don’t worry, sit back, and get ready for a roller coaster ride that is Joey’s life.

There is so much going on in this saga. I can keep writing, but I won’t. You guys are going to need to tune in to the next chapter to see what is going on. More plots are going to open and old ones will be closed. This story, like my others, will keep you on your toes. Don’t miss what is coming up in the chapters to come.

I do not want to say too much more and spoil the future chapters to come, so I won’t. I warn you though! Do not skip a chapter, or you will be lost. There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. Keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacobmillertex@aol.com, Thanks!}
EDITOR’S CORNER:

[This chapter has had a rather sharply focused single topic---the rescue of Joey and the closing of the "rehab center." I am glad to see so much accomplished and that so many different governmental units and agencies---even across state lines---were able to find ways to work together toward a common goal. Too often our nation has been unable to find ways to work together like this! This was much less of the "Do it the right way; i.e. my way!" which is unfortunately so common these days in politics and life!

I am anxious to see how Beth and Dominic are arrested and charged. I wonder if there might be charges filed in both states? I also am anxious to see the public's reaction to such torturous practices in the name of religion. Will some of the churches be forced to

"come clean" about their own practices? Will more state regulations be enacted and used to help clean up such inhumane beliefs and practices? Will at least some of the parents of the youth who were forced into this program be charged?

I am a life-long very active member of my church and have been married for 45+ years, but my Christian heart and beliefs reach out to those who are being persecuted by those who claim to follow the teachings of Jesus. He advocated forgiveness and care of our fellow man. He also told us to refrain from judging others. Too little of these core teachings can be found in some groups that use the name of a church! (Example: the tiny church that demonstrates at the funerals of service men/women killed in war with signs that read 'Thank God for dead soldiers.')

Grandpa Al has previously become involved in helping Joey protect his finances. He has been involved in this rescue action. Will Jacob be told about it? If so, how will he respond---with anger toward Joey or with the kind of forgiveness he has shown toward Alex? (He was never in love with Alex!)

I am very ready for Chapter 10. There are a number of questions that I hope will be answered then. Best wishes!

Kent D. (sw Ohio area)