by Grey, Chloe
When he drove up to the shop, no one was there. Police tape was on the doors and bay entrances. David never showed up, and didn’t return his calls or text messages. After waiting for half-hour, Chase went back home to see if Meaghan was there. He walked into the apartment and called her name. She didn’t answer.
It was already dark. He was certain she wouldn’t go back to work. Maybe she went to see Debbie. Or she may have gone for a walk in the park. He left the apartment again on foot to look for her. He walked the entire path of the park and did not find her. He sent her another text and phoned her cell twice more. She didn’t answer.
He went by the restaurant, but the place was closed. He looked in through the windows. No one was there. He turned to go back home, wondering whether Meaghan had left her friend Debbie’s number anywhere. As he walked down one of the alleys near her restaurant, a hand reached out and pulled him into the darkness. The first thing he thought was it had to be someone from the shop. If they were trying to intimidate him, he wasn’t afraid.
When his eyes adjusted to the light, he found himself staring at David.
“David. What the hell’s going on, man?”
“We need to talk.”
“Yeah. And you never showed up at the shop.”
“It wasn’t a good idea to meet near there right now.”
“Okay. So why didn’t you text me so we could meet somewhere else?”
“They’re probably monitoring my phone. Maybe yours too.”
“You know that makes no sense, right? You texted me to meet you, so what’s the difference if you text me again?”
David looked over his shoulders as if they were being followed. When he saw no one, he continued. “You know what I’m gonna say, don’t you, Chase?”
Nodding, Chase brushed a hand through his hair. “Probably something along the lines of ‘I need to keep quiet or else’.”
“I wish it were that simple.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, you’re right, you need to keep quiet. But it’s the ‘or else’ you need to worry about.”
“What the hell are you talking about, David? Am I in danger?”
“Yes, and it’s not just you. These people don’t mess around. They take out families.”
“Are you threatening Meaghan too? She doesn’t know anything. She can’t tell the police anything about the shop.” Chase couldn’t keep the panic out of his voice. He should have known they were going to threaten her. He wondered where she was.
“They can’t take chances you might have told her something.”
“And I’m telling you I haven’t.”
“It’s obvious you care about her. If the bosses had put eyes out to watch you, they’ll know about Meaghan, and to them, it’s your weakness. The best way they keep guys quiet is to have leverage on the people they care about the most.”
“This is crazy.”
David studied Chase. “Look, Chase. I didn’t want to have to do this, but the big boss wants to make sure you don’t do something stupid.”
“And who is that? Mr. Moscov?”
“I told you never to ask about who runs things. It’s above your pay grade.”
“Maybe you should have let me stick to working day shifts in the first place.”
“Had I known you may have been a problem, I would have.”
Chase was losing his patience with the accusations. “How the fuck am I a problem? I haven’t been contacted by the police. I haven’t gone to them. And I haven’t told anyone. All I ever said to Oliver is if they open the shop again, I won’t be coming back.”
“Well, somebody talked, for the police to go through with a raid. And if you’re saying it wasn’t you, we all have a problem. Because now, I have no idea who it is.”
“How do you know anyone’s talking to the police? Think about it. What if they planted a bait car or something they could track? If they did, and it ended up at the shop, that would explain everything.” Chase didn’t know why he was helping, but he hoped it would keep them off his back for a little while.
“No. It can’t be that simple.”
“Why not?”
“Because stolen cars don’t come right to the shop. They’re taken to various abandoned locations around the city to have those kinds of tracking devices removed.”
“Well I don’t know anything about that. You’ve never told me any of this. And you know what? I don’t want to know anything more. I’m telling you it wasn’t me. Maybe you need to focus on someone else who knows more; someone who’s been with you longer, instead of picking on me just because I’m the new guy. And you definitely need to leave my girlfriend out of it.”
David shook his head. “Just be sure you keep your mouth shut. Now you know the consequences.”
With that, David was gone, and Chase was alone in the alley. He could not believe they had threatened Meaghan. This was the same man who told him to keep his head down and avoid all these underworld dealings when he first started at the shop. Now, this guy was the underworld spokesperson.
It was a shame. That warning from David had the opposite effect. Now, all Chase wanted was to tell the police everything he knew about the shop. At least he could get to the bottom of it in New York. If his mother and her husband were not involved, he would go to the police as soon as he returned to San Diego. He would tell them everything. Threatening Meaghan… that was a step too far.
Knowing Meaghan was possibly in danger… it made going back to work at the shop impossible. And just then, a thought slapped him in the face—she was already in danger right now. Chase bit his lip. Maybe they could leave San Diego behind and start fresh somewhere else… if Meaghan would agree to it. She had said the two of them could get through anything together, but this wasn’t going to be simple.
Unable to believe he was actually doing it, Chase phoned Jennifer.
“Chase?” she answered. “How are you doing? I haven’t heard from you for so long.”
“I’m sorry for that.”
“What’s going on out there?”
“You’re going to hate me for this. The place my mom’s husband owns turned out to be at a chop shop.”
“What?” she shouted. “I can’t believe it.”
“Me too. I needed a job. That was the only one I could find. I was so sure it would be fine. It started out like a regular job until the one time I agreed to work an overnight shift. And then it wasn’t.”
“You need to leave before things get bad. You’ll find something else.”
“The shop was raided a few nights ago.”
“That’s bad.”
“And now they think I know too much.”
“You need to go to the police, Chase.”
“I can’t.”
“And why not?”
“Well, I wanted to protect Mom. She’s in New York and I wanted to see how much she knew. But now it’s worse than that.”
“How so?”
“They warned me that if I say anything to the police, they’ll hurt Meaghan. And now I can’t find her.”
“Chase, I know this sounds harsh, but forget your mom. She’s not there right now. You need to look out for you and Meaghan. After you hang up from this call, go directly to the police. Witness protection exists for a reason. Please, be sensible about this. Don’t put Meg in any further danger because of choices you’ve made.”
‘Can I really trust them to keep us safe?”
“You have no other choice.”
“And what can I do about Meaghan?”
“Tell them what you know, and let them know she’s missing.”
“God, Jennifer, what have I done?”
Jennifer sighed out her angst. “You made a mistake. Things happen. Now, you can fix it before things get worse. Go to the police, Chase, and keep my niece safe.”
Jennifer hung up on him. Chase turned to walk back home to get his bike, hoping he could find Meaghan before the night was out. He was not going to New York without her
. If he couldn’t find her by morning, his next trip out of the house would be the police station.
***
Stepping into the police station wasn’t easy. When Chase tried to phone Meaghan the next morning, her phone went straight to voicemail. Something was very wrong. He glanced around, hoping he wasn’t being watched as he did what he knew he had to.
Jennifer had been right that this was the only way to keep Meaghan safe. Chase was tired of paying lip service to his statement that Meaghan came first. Now it was time he really put her first. Summoning up his courage, he walked up to the reception desk.
As the officer looked up, Chase cleared his throat.
“Hi. I need to talk to someone about the chop shop that was raided a few nights ago.”
To be Continued
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