Understood | Beau Arlen (Big Sky) S3

Cover

Kyla runs her eyes over her notes the next day. She's at Beaus office currently, sitting in his chair, which according to Pops, that makes her acting sheriff.

"Hey, boss we're headed to the sight. You want a ride?" He asks her as he peeps into the door.

"Yeah." She answers.
As they drive, she tells him and a few other officers her theories in the case.
When they arrive, Kyla is noticed immediately. Carla and Avery walk to her first.

"Hey sweetie, how ya holdin up?"

"Good. Where's Beau?" She asks. Carla shrugs awkwardly.

"You know this doesn't make me your kid or anything right?" Kyla assures her. She chuckles.

"Yes sweetie, I know. I just— you saw what my daughter saw, twice-"

"Three times. Luke." She stops in her tracks to look at the young girls in shock.

"Beau told me not to go with them but I did. That's why I was at the interviews last night."

"Oh my god." Avery says.

"It's a wonder you can just say you're good when you shouldn't be." She says. Kyla nods.

"I'm not good, but I'm dealing with it the best way I can, and I have pretty much the whole town to look after me so," she shrugs.

"So Beau had you on that walkie talkie?" Avery asks. She nods.

"He's very protective of you, sweetie." Carla teases. Kyla furrows her brows in confusion as to what that means.

Beau pov

I'm talking with Jenny about Avery's company. I feel pretty smug until Jenny and I walk out and see Kyla here. I nudge Jenny, pointing to her. She looks at Kyla in confusion.

"Wasn't she with Pops?" I ask as we see Pops wave to us from across camp. I put my hands up in disbelief as Jenny snickers.

Kyla pov

"I believe it's time for you two to be questioned again." I gesture to Beau and Jenny, who spot me talking to them.

"Kyla Marie Kiernan!" Beau yells, startling Carla and Avery, and I groan.

"You get your ass back home!" I look at Carla and Avery sheepishly, ignoring Beau's statement.

"I'll see you two later." I walk to Beau, who brings me into a hug.

"You need to stay away from this place, Kyla." He tells me. I shake my head.

"It helps to focus on something, Beau. You should know that. I want to help. I can help." I try to convince him.

"You and I are going to have a long talk tonight, okay?" He says sternly. I look at him in confusion. Is he going to send me away? Does he think this is his fault? Am I going to have to go into foster care?

"About what?" He ignores me as he turns away, gesturing to Avery.

"Did I do something wrong?" I ask Pops as he leads me towards the truck.

"No, kiddo. He's just worried about you. He wants to protect you. Ya know like a father protects his daughter." He says in a duh tone. I freeze at those words.

"I don't have a father." I say as we get to his car. He chuckles at me.

"Yeah you do, kid." He mumbles.

"He's gonna send me away, isn't he?" I ask as we walk back into the station, making our way into Beau's office.

"Did you not listen to a word I said?" He asks in exasperation. I sit in Beau's chair as Poppernac sits across from me.

"You're a mini Beau, Kyla. You already act so much alike, you're comfortable around him, he loves being around you. He just feels like he's not protecting you well enough."

"It's not his fault. Everything that's going on is just fucked." I sigh. He nods in agreement.

"Look. Now that they have a better handle on what's going on, he's gonna do better at protecting you and Emily. He doesn't want to lose you that's why he's so harsh right now." He tries to explain. I shrug. Suddenly, I hear a familiar voice.