“What do you mean?”
“I mean that he is here in town. I’m sorry Lucy. What I asked of you was unforgivable and I did it to save you as much as I did it to save myself. I have to do something, so I have to leave here but I ask you not to say here in this apartment. He knows where I live. And if he knows where you live a desperate man strung out on heroin can rationalize all kinds of evils.” He glares at the ground. “I want you to drive to Abbie’s,” he tells me.
“What?” I say incredulously.
“I need you to drive to Abbie’s. Don’t argue with me. For the love of God just do this one thing I ask of you please.”
I stare at him for a moment and consider asking him what he intends to do. I decide to trust my father once again though after the story he just told me.
Chapter Thirteen
KENTON
Kenton
* * *
I can’t believe I’m in this fucking situation. How the hell did this happen? How can I possibly have miss read her so much? I didn’t think she was like this I didn’t think she was like her father. Honestly, the whole thing makes no sense. I wish I had the sense to stay there and talk to her while I could. I was too angry though in the moment and unsure of how to process what I was seeing. I felt so betrayed by it all I let my anger get the better of me, even in my silence. When I drove back to her house later to talk to her I was completely distraught. I was ready to start yelling and breaking things because my heart felt broken.
Imagine my pain as I knocked on the door and she was gone. Where the hell could she be? This is a small town but still big enough for someone to get lost in if they wanted to. I drove to her work and she wasn’t there, and they hadn’t seen her all day even though she was scheduled to work from 12 to 6. She didn’t call in either.
I hope she isn’t in too much trouble. My gut tells me there is something worse, something more nefarious going on, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Yes Noah Knight is behind this, but to what extent though?
There’s only one way to find out.
I will need to confront the bold-faced bastard and demand to know where she is and why she is doing this. I don’t know how I’m going to get the answers out of him, but if I have to break every bone in his body you better believe that I’m going to get those answers. Storming out of my office into an empty police department. I turn the corner and walk smack into the very asshole I was getting ready to hunt down. Fucking Noah Knight. There are probably plenty of reasons why I shouldn’t be talking to him right now while I’m so mad but in this moment I can’t think of a single one that matters to me. Noah is on my shit list. He hurts the girl I love and now he is going to die.
“Kenton,” he says after stepping back a step and holding his head where ours collided a moment before and cursing. “I have to talk to you.”
“Damn right you do,” I snarl, my hands clenched at my sides as I resist the urge to yank him by his throat to the ground and cut it open.
“The last thing I need right now is an assault charge against a police officer. Especially in the midst of a drug trafficking investigation. Kenton, I know you know about the drop last night.”
I freeze for a moment. I was not expecting him to talk to me about anything remotely related to drugs. Honestly, I am still hoping for an opportunity to punch him in his stupid face. And the more he talks the harder it will be to justify in court. So this is a bittersweet moment of conflicting feelings.
“I do,” I admit, pausing to look at him. “How could you do this Noah?” I ask my eyes throwing daggers at her him. “Do you understand the situation that she is in right now? Do you understand That she may go to prison because of your actions?” I shake my head in disgust and resisting the urge to spit on him.
“Of course I know,” Noah says shaking his hand in front of him. “I know exactly the risky situation I put her in.”
“How could you do this to her? How could you hurt her like this again? You told her were done with drugs when you got out of prison. How many times have you told her that would be the last time only for it to not be the last time?” I yell realizing I’m talking in circles as rage fills my soul.
I don’t think I have ever hated someone more than I hate this man right now.
“You are her father,” I yell, my voice booming echoing through the police department. “It was your job to keep her safe. Your job to teach her right from wrong. Your job to set the example! And instead, you have led her down a road full of crime and drugs. You just got out of prison and now you want your daughter to go there too. Do you wanna share a cell? I’ll tell you what if you do that, if you go down this path with her you will never see her again. Neither of us will,” I choke on the words.
Noah’s face hardens. “I understand what I did, and I understand what is going on between you two too,” he snarls looking at me with a look of disgust. “But we will get to that later. First, we need to talk about last night. There’s a lot going on and we don’t have a lot of time. Lucy is in danger.”
That stops me cold.
“Why the fuck is Lucy in danger? What the fuck have you done?” I growl as I grab him by the collar of his flannel shirt and shove him against the wall.
“Do you remember my father?” Noah asks his eyes cold. Not even flinching even though I still have my right hook raised high and another hand clinched dangerously near his throat.
I pause for a moment thinking back. I do remember his father, I grew up here with Noah, though I left for a little while and move to a city. I came back here when I married my wife Charlotte and moved my family here because it was safer than Cheyenne.
“Yes,” I whisper, my eyes narrowing on him. “What about him?” I ask my voice slow and dangerous.
“My father is back in town. And he is a hundred times worse than he used to be,” Noah says his voice quiet.
I know it’s true. Not many people know about Conrad Knight. Those who knew about him knew it was best not to talk about him because his name was like summoning Satan. The last thing you wanted was Conrad in your face. Thankfully though he was rarely lucid enough to be in anyone’s face but Noah’s, unfortunately for him of course. I often wonder if Conrad is the reason that Noah turned out to be such a degenerate.
Noah, despite his flaws is an intelligent man, one who is fully capable of running a business, and making a gross profit. I know this to be true even though I am unable to track down the copious amounts of money he makes through the drug trade. I don’t know how he does it, and right now I don’t really feel like asking. He would probably lie to me anyways.
“Conrad is in town,” I repeat refocusing on the man before me. “What does he want?”
“What does anyone want?” Noah counters reaching for my fist and lowering it from where I clutch his collar. “He wants money. He wants a lot of it.”
“Have you given him money?” I ask my brow creasing as I wonder how this relates to Lucy. Did he take her hostage?
“My father knows of my success in the drug world. As you know I have quite a reputation for shrewdness and I am quite talented at making large packages disappear very quickly,” he says choosing his words carefully and watching me. “I have a lot of connections, friends in high places you could say. I am someone who most in my area of expertise respect.”
I laugh at that. I know it’s true, but the idea of Noah being a man worthy of respect just hits me differently.
“Noah, before we talk any further, I need to know. Is Lucy in danger at this moment or is she somewhere safe?” I ask before suggesting we discuss this further in my office. I feel like if Lucy were in immediate danger, Noah would be a little more fearful and less inclined to traumatic stories.
“No, Lucy is not in danger in this particular moment. I sent her somewhere safe. Close enough that I can keep an eye on her, but far enough that my father won’t be able to touch her.”
“Okay. Let’s go into my office. I’ll make you a cup of coffee and we can sit down and talk
about what exactly the hell is going on in this town.”
Noah nods his head and falls in step behind me. If anyone had told me that I would start my day off in the arms of the woman I love, imagining our life together, years from now, married with children, and then proceeded to tell me that I will have the greatest drug lord in our area waltz into my office, I would think you were crazy. But here we are. What a strange, strange world.
Walking over to my desk I gesture for him to sit down. “Alright have a seat, and I’ll get you that cup of coffee.”
“Thank you.” He nods his head at me. Whatever the story is, it’s bound to be interesting. Noah, in spite of his many flaws was never boring. Sighing heavily and closing his eyes he folds his hands in his lap.
“You know that my father is an abusive asshole.”
“Yes.” I confirm with a nod as I begin brewing the pot of coffee. “I remember him from our childhood. I remember you swimming in school and your back.”
“Ya,” Noah interrupts me, “You remember my father well enough.” He is clearly not wanting to discuss childhood memories right now. “Then it won’t surprise you to know that he hasn’t changed much in the last twenty or so years.”
I nod in agreement.
“Well, he got wind of my reputation and is now threatening me. He told me that if I do not help him with the shipment he is struggling with, then he will hurt my family.”
“What do you mean exactly?” I ask stepping forwards and passing him a cup.
“My father graduated from using to dealing shortly after discovering my success. He was hoping to build on my name, except the people I work with know my opinion of my father, know that he is not someone that I would encourage anyone to deal with. In fact, he’s probably the worst person you could probably go to for a sale. He is reckless impulsive and has absolutely no salesmanship,” he says.
“That’s funny. I wasn’t expecting there to be salesmanship involved in this, I joke, passing him the packets of creamer and sugar.
“Well, I am a salesman.” He grins quickly. “I sell drugs. You know it. I know it. Let’s not dance around the truth here. We don’t have much time, and I have already been pardoned for my past crimes.”
“And what about your current ones?” I ask while I rake my hair back from my brow.
“Allegedly I am back in business.”
“Are we talking hypotheticals here or not?” I ask taking a sip of coffee. “Fine. I agree we’re talking hypotheticals. So hypothetically what happened?” I ask with a roll of my eyes.
“Hypothetically, let’s say he demanded that I help him with the sale or pay him a hundred thousand dollars.”
A hundred thousand dollars I choke in disbelief.
“Are you fucking serious? Do you even have a hundred thousand dollars laying around?” I ask suddenly wondering.
“Allegedly,” Noah adds. “So let’s say he allegedly demanded a hundred thousand dollars from me that I allegedly have in an account that you can’t trace,” he says throwing a condescending look towards me.
Oh yes, now I remember why I hated him in high school too. He was always a cocky bastard.
“Let’s say he told me that he wants one hundred grand, and if I don’t pay up then he is going to hurt my children. He told me this in the middle of the night by showing up at my door pounding away, then told me they will go missing one by one until his demands are met. He said I have twenty-four hours to comply. If I don’t comply then…” he trails off his face hardening.
“Alright, so hypothetically you choose to be a part of this truck sale,” I say gesturing with my hands and choosing my words carefully so as not to scare him away from sharing the rest of the story.
“Yes. I must decide between the life of the upstanding citizen I have been leading or losing my children. That’s basically what it comes down to.”
“Why didn’t you just come to me for help?” I ask shaking my head in disbelief.
“Because I wasn’t sure who I could trust. I didn’t think you would believe me. We aren’t exactly friends Kenton.
That’s true. I arrested his ass only a few months ago and was openly against his early release from prison.
“Fine, but if you had told me that he was in town and threatening you, I would have intervened. I would have done something to protect you and to protect Lucy.”
His eyes darken at the mention of her name. But he says nothing about it. He merely watches me for a moment longer and then begins speaking again, clearly irritated.
“Well, it’s too late to go back and change anything. Believe me, there are a lot of things that I would do differently given the chance. But you know what they say about hindsight, so back to my story. I decide to help him with the sale. Everything was going smooth until Chip,” he pauses with a significant glance, “you know chip,” he says not bothering to wait for me to confirm.
I nod and he continues his story.
“So, everything was going smoothly until Chip got cocky and attempted assault on an officer,” he says gesturing towards me. “And then from there, I know that you got ahold of him. I assume you told him that if he was a sell out, you would give him a more lenient sentence.”
“Sure did,” I say with a grin enjoying where this conversation is going. I like the feeling of one upping the local drug lord. There is definitely some police satisfaction in it.
“Soooo I know that I am being watched by you. Clearly you don’t trust me or believe that I’m entirely reformed because you are, rather conspicuously I might add, keeping tabs on me. I can’t step the fuck out of line without you calling in fifty other cops and making my life a living hell and sending me back to prison. I need someone who I can trust. I can’t trust my lackeys like Chip for shit apparently because they’re more concerned about your offer.”
“Do you mean they don’t want to go to prison for someone else?”
“Oh shut up Kent,” he growls using my high school nickname. “We all do what we gotta do, and when it comes down to it and you gotta reward somebody when you call on them and they stand up and be loyal to you. I can’t reward loyalty if the kids gonna run around and be a rat. Regardless I had to ask someone for help. And the only person I can trust in this town is Lucy,” he says his voice breaking now. “Believe me I would not have ever called her if I didn’t feel like I had no other choice. I never wanted for her to get hurt or for her to be in danger for chrissake. She’s my daughter. Her safety and happiness is the most important thing to me, and since I knew that Chip was in charge of the drop off, I knew that she would be physically safe. Worst case scenario you would be tailing Chip because of his part. But instead you saw someone in a black hoodie and trailed them. I knew that she was fast. No one is faster than my girl,” he says with a quick grin of pride flashing across his face. “Years of track meets and training have made my Lucy one hell of an athlete, and honestly I couldn’t be more proud of her. So I knew that worst case scenario she would still be okay because she could out run your sorry ass,” he says smirking at me knowing it’s true.
“So you’re telling me you used your daughter, to save your daughter, and save your own skin?”
“Yes.” He nods. “And it is something that we all have to live with because in the process I have hurt my daughter, the person that I care for the most in the world.”
Nodding my head slowly in understanding I lean back in my leather chair.
“Lucy doesn’t do drugs. I would know if she did drugs because all the drugs that ran through this town ran through me. The only reason I’m telling you this is because I’ve already been pardoned for things that happened over a year ago. I know my kid. She doesn’t do drugs.”
Nodding my head, I watch as his face creases with lines of concern.
“Lucy has never had any part in the drug operation. None. I mean it. She has never so much as delivered or carried messages. I have kept that stuff as far from my children as possible. To my knowledge, my children couldn’t even have said whe
ther I was a part of this kind of business until I went to prison,” he says. “I’m sure they suspected like everyone else, but it wasn’t in their faces. Everything I did, I did to protect them or help them in some way. Even if it was stupid or selfish,” he adds frowning down at his hands.
I nod and let him know I believe him.
“Anyway, I called Lucy a couple of nights ago and asked her to meet me at my apartment. I told her it was important, and that I couldn’t do it without her. Which was true. You would have been all over me, and she is all there is. So when she came to the apartment, I gave her the assignment. I handed her the black sweatshirt, told her to keep her head down, where to go, and told her that she would find the package in the middle of the warehouse. After she picked up the package, the plan was for me to skip the money to my father and for it to be done quick and easy. My father would get the money that he wanted, and then he would leave town. And life would go on as it should be. But things went bad on so many fronts,” he sighs. Leaning forward he scrubs his hands over his face.
“For one, my daughter is incredibly upset because she knows that you know she is involved, even though she isn’t really involved because she didn’t even know what was going on until she saw you there. She did what she did out of loyalty to me because it’s who she is. And now she is terrified she will go to prison and wondering if she will lose her boyfriend in the process,” he says looking hard at me now. “I don’t like to see my daughter hurt.”
I nod for a moment watching him.
“Okay, so Lucy is relatively innocent in all this,” I say frowning at him and processing the information.
“No, she isn’t relatively innocent, she is completely innocent. Lucy had no idea what was in the package, nor did she know that my father was in town. I told her as a little information as I possibly could to protect her legally too. I know she suspects. She’s not stupid, but I believe we should allow her to claim ignorance in this aspect. I never confirmed anything for her. And as her boyfriend, wouldn’t you want to offer her some sort of leniency forgiveness. Especially since this is such a gray area of the law,” he says trailing off.
The Officer Page 13
