by Jeff Shelby
“What for?”
He squirmed on the floor, stretching his legs out. His shoes were caked with dirt. “I came up here one weekend to camp. For real. I was hiking and I saw some of the other plants. I didn't take them or anything. But it made me think.” He paused. “That I could grow my own. And sell.”
“Alright,” I said, not surprised at all by his admission. “How did you get hooked up with these people?”
“I didn't,” he said, shaking his head. “I mean, I didn't try to. I'm not using their stuff or stealing from them, I swear. It's all my own.” He took another deep breath, blowing it out through his mouth. “So a couple of mine were ready. I harvested them. Then I took them down to the mall in Palm Desert to sell.”
“Why not back home?”
He shrugged. “I was afraid of carrying it that far in my car. I'd never sold before. I don't know. I was just trying it out. Seeing what would happen, I guess.”
It was dumb reasoning, but believable. If he was new to the industry, he wouldn’t have a clue what to do with it.
“So I went to the mall,” he said. “I'd checked the Internet, looked for a place to sell out there, and that was the place.”
“What do you mean you checked the Internet?”
He squirmed again. “There are sites you can check out for places to sell. Places that are safe and where you might find buyers.”
I nodded, my stomach tightening. Not unlike human trafficking and all of the other sick and twisted things people were willing to pay money for.
“So I went down and I sold,” he said. “It was easy. Super easy. And I made a bunch of cash.”
It was the worst kind of introduction to illegal commerce. It had been so easy for him that it had seemed normal, easier than waiting tables or taking drive-thru orders or digging ditches. Criminal empires had grown out of less. Not that I thought Aaron was on his way to becoming a drug lord, but it was a big first step on the wrong path. And he was endangering his friend and my daughter along the way.
“I did that twice,” he said. “And that's when I think they found out.”
“They meaning Nick and his crew?”
He nodded and wiped at his hair, brushing it off his forehead. “Yeah. I'm not sure if someone told or if they saw me or whatever, but the second time, about two weeks ago, they followed me from the mall back to the grow area. They grabbed me up there and brought me here. I had to give them all the money from what I'd sold. They said it was their area to sell, not mine. I told them I had no idea but they didn't believe me. Then they made me show them where my plants were. They ripped them up and destroyed them.” He shook his head. “They said if I came back it would be even worse for me. I told them I wouldn't. The one guy, that Nick dude, he hit me in the stomach a couple of times, then let me go.”
That sounded about what I’d expect from him. Rough up the kid, scare the daylights out of him, then send him on his way. It could have been much, much worse.
“But you came back,” I said. “Why the hell would you do that?”
His cheeks reddened and his eyes zeroed in on the wood planks he was sitting on.
“Because you didn't show them all the plants,” I said, taking a stab at a guess. “You either replanted or you had a few you didn't tell them about.”
He pulled his knees back to his chest and dropped his head. “The seeds were expensive. I didn't want to lose them all. I came back this weekend to see if I could pull the plants up and take them home. Figured maybe I could find a place to transplant them or something.” He looked up at me. “So, yeah, there were a couple I didn't tell them about.”
I shook my head, not bothering to hide the look of disgust on my face. “So we're all here because you were being greedy? And stupid. Let’s not forget stupid.”
He kept his head down, tucked between his knees.
I took a deep breath. I needed to keep my anger in check so I could figure out just what the hell we needed to do to get out of there. “What’s done is done. So this weekend, you were getting the plants? That's where you disappeared to?”
Aaron looked up and nodded. “Yeah, but then I got lost. I couldn't remember where they were.”
I frowned. “Didn’t you plant them?”
“Well, yeah. But it was like my secret stash and, I don’t know, I was a little stressed because Tim was here and I was worried he was gonna follow me. I brought him because I didn’t want to be up here alone, but I also didn’t want him to come with me when I went to dig them up. He hurt his ankle a little the first day so I was pretty sure he’d stay put at the campsite if I told him I was going out for a hike. I took a couple wrong turns on purpose when I left, just in case he changed his mind and decided he wanted to come, but then I realized I really was kinda lost.” He at least had the decency to look embarrassed by his admission. “I finally found them. But when I came back I saw Nick and the lady circling the campsite. Tim wasn’t there.”
That made sense. Tim had probably been waiting up in the parking lot by that point.
“So then what?”
“I took off and hid. I…I didn’t want them to find me.”
“Or the plants in your backpack.”
His cheeks flushed again. “When I came back, I saw you and Elizabeth and the lady with the gun. It was right when Nick got there. I didn't know what to do, so I just waited. When they started bringing you here, I just followed. I was outside by the tree line, trying to figure out what to do, when Nick found me.”
I rubbed my temple, trying to clear my head and think. The pain from Jillian’s blow was subsiding, replaced by a fresh ache as I tried to work out what we should do. His story made sense. It was full of dumb decisions and stupid mistakes, but I didn't think he was lying. He looked too scared to lie to me at that moment.
“So you've taken nothing from them?” I asked. “No plants, no money, no nothing?”
He shook his head. “I swear. Nothing.”
I wasn't sure that was going to make things any better because I felt like Nick had a handle on what Aaron had done. They'd warned him but he'd come back anyway. Depending on what kind of message they wanted to send, I wasn't sure it was going to be that easy to get back.
“Your ten minutes are up,” an unfamiliar voice said. “And so is my motherfucking patience.”
TWENTY FIVE
I turned around.
The voice belonged to a guy well over six feet tall and who looked like he lifted weights 24 hours a day. His black hair was buzzed down in a military cut on the sides, the top a little longer, and raindrops glistened on his forehead. I wondered if it was still raining. He wore a tight, long-sleeved black T-shirt that showcased all of the muscle in his chest and arms. White nylon wind pants clung to his thick legs. He in no way looked happy to be there. Nick and Jillian flanked him on either side.
“Who the fuck are you?” he asked, glaring at me.
“I'm guessing you already know that if Nick and Jillian did their jobs,” I said.
He practically growled at me. “So you know this kid?”
“Friend of my daughter's,” I said. “Who I haven't seen in about half an hour now and who better be alright.” I felt the stab of worry begin to gut my insides, but I knew I needed to stay calm. Focused.
The guy glanced over his shoulder at Jillian, who nodded.
“She's fine,” she said. She refused to make eye contact with me. “Back of the house.”
“You heard her,” he said gruffly. His eyes—eyes that were almost as dark as his hair—refocused on me. “What the fuck are you doing in our canyon?”
“Looking for him,” I said, pointing at Aaron. “He lied to us about coming up here to go camping. We had no idea what he was doing. If we had, we wouldn't have come.”
He finally looked at Aaron. “So, what? You just have a really bad memory or you're fucking stupid?”
Nick snickered off to the side.
“No,” Aaron mumbled. “I was up here camping, like I said.”
“He's lying,” I said.
Aaron looked at me, panicked. I stared him down. I was doing what I knew we needed to do to get out of there.
The big guy tilted his head to the side, waiting.
“He lied to you about his plants,” I said. “He left a couple in the canyon from when you caught him before. He came back up here to grab them and take them home. He wasn't just up here camping.”
The guy looked at Aaron. His brow was furrowed, his eyes narrowed. “You told us you gave them all to us. You swore that was it.”
“I…I forgot,” Aaron stuttered.
“No, he didn't,” I said, shaking my head. “He's scared so he's lying. He knew they were there. He didn't forget them. He's a dumb, stupid, moronic kid, but he's not a threat to you or anything you're doing.”
“Well, isn't that great to hear,” Nick muttered.
“He's not,” I said, ignoring him and focusing on the big guy. I had to sell this angle, because it was the only thing I had. “He's too dumb to be a threat. He's small potatoes. He's not a competitor or a danger. He's a stupid kid who did a stupid thing. He isn't worth your time.”
The big guy was staring at Aaron, squinting at him like he was trying to figure him out. Aaron looked like he wanted to shrivel into a ball and disappear. I didn’t blame him. His shirt was streaked with moisture again, sweat this time, and his hands were trembling.
“He sold the one time at the mall,” I said. “He hasn't been back since you guys scared him off.”
The big guy glanced at me with interest. “That right?”
I nodded. “That's right. Don't turn this into something you don't need to, alright? I'll take responsibility for getting him out of here.”
The guy worked his jaw back and forth. “That's real admirable of you,” he said slowly. “But either you're lying or he is. My money's on him.”
I shook my head. “No. He just told me the whole thing.”
The corner of the guy's mouth turned upward. “Be nice if that was true. But it's not.” He looked at Aaron. “Is it, motherfucker?”
Aaron's eyes were down and he was twitching like he'd been plugged into a light socket.
“Because my guys tell me you were selling just last weekend in Cat City,” the big guy said. He moved his eyes to me. “And that doesn't flow with what you're telling me, boss.”
Something cold formed in my gut and I turned to stare at the dark-haired kid sitting next to me.
My daughter's boyfriend was one big con artist.
TWENTY SIX
“Get up,” I said, kicking Aaron in the ankle.
He looked up me, terrified. “Wh–why?”
I reached down, grabbed his shirt and arm, and yanked him roughly to his feet. Then I gave him a small shove. “Is what he’s saying true? Were you up here selling last weekend? After you just swore to me you weren't?”
He was shrinking before our eyes. “Yeah. But not like you think.”
“What exactly do we think?” I snarled at him. “Because I'm about to tell these guys to keep your ass and do whatever the hell they want with you.”
He swallowed several times, looking like a fish gasping for air. His eyes flitted around the room, taking in all of the hard, angry faces staring back at him. “I drove up here to check on the plants. But I chickened out. So I drove into Cathedral City to get lunch. Some dive burrito place. I was sitting in my car eating. Guy came up to the window and asked if I had anything. I have no idea how he knew I did or if he guessed or whatever. But I did. I had stuff on me. And right then, I was chickening out of everything and I just wanted to get rid of it. So I sold him everything I had. That was it. I finished eating and then drove back to San Diego.” He looked at me, his eyes pleading. “That's it, I swear. I haven't done anything else.”
I looked at the big guy. “I have no clue if that's true or not. Does it line up with what you know?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “More or less. But that dude? The dude who bought?” He shook his head and it was as if he was moving in slow motion. “That was one of our guys. He came right back here and told us. I.D.'d you pretty easily.” He shook his head again. “Bad decision, motherfucker.”
Aaron looked like he was either going to cry or vomit.
I didn't much care what happened to him right then. I'd tried to help by clearing a path, but he'd lied to me and made me look stupid. He’d put all of us in danger by the decisions he’d made. My concern then was only for myself and for Elizabeth. I just wanted to get us out of there. Whatever sort of collateral damage occurred, I would have to live with.
But I knew that Elizabeth could not.
I knew that she'd been surviving collateral damage for most of the previous ten years. It had become a way of life for her, and I knew that she was going to have scars from all of it. She already did. I didn't know what kind of damage or trauma she might suffer if we left her boyfriend with a bunch of people who might do harm to him.
Which put me in a spot I didn't want to be in.
“Okay,” I finally said. “I'll take him. It's on me. If he comes back, it's on me.”
Nick groaned and rolled his eyes.
“You can have everything he's got,” I continued. “Money, the plants, whatever. It's all yours. But he won't be back. You have my word.”
The big guy squinted at me for a long time, then said, “I believe you, boss. I really do.” He sounded sincere. Looked sincere.
Finally. Some daylight at the end of the shitty rabbit hole we'd fallen into.
“But I can't do that,” he said.
“Why not?”
“Because we warned him once,” he said. He folded his arms, his beefy biceps bulging. “And because Curry is on the way.”
Jillian flinched and Nick stiffened at the mention of the name.
“Who's Curry?” I asked cautiously. I wasn’t sure I wanted an answer to my question.
The big guy smiled grimly. “The last person in the world you want to meet.”
TWENTY SEVEN
“Curry's coming here?” Nick asked, his eyebrows up.
The big guy nodded. “Any minute.”
“Shit,” Nick whispered, shaking his head. “Shit.”
Jillian was trying to play it off, but there was something in her demeanor that had shifted. It wasn't just the flinch. Her eyes were moving around the room, like she was assessing it. They met mine for a moment, then moved on.
Headlights shone like spotlights through the windows, and the rumble of a truck or large SUV vibrated through the walls. Nick turned around and opened the front door, stepping outside. It was still raining, lightly by the sound of the drops hitting the deck and pavement, but the wind had died down and the thunder and lightning had shifted further east into the desert.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway. Elizabeth and Tim were in front, followed by the guys we'd first encountered in the house, and my heart exploded at the sight of her. Jillian was right. She was fine. Safe.
She was almost as pale as Tim, and her hair was now down from its ponytail, a tangled mess on her shoulders. I caught her eye as she walked into the living room and she gave me a quick nod. Her eyes were red and I wondered if she’d been crying. My gut clenched at the thought. Was she okay? Did anything happen to her while she was in the back of the house? Goddamn her boyfriend for putting her in this position. And me, for not putting my foot down and standing my ground about not getting involved.
“What the hell's going on?” the guy in the Raiders shirt asked. “That looks like Curry's car outside.” He realized the big guy was standing there. “Oh, shit. What's up, Gerald?”
Gerald ignored him. His phone had buzzed and he pulled it out, turning his back as he answered. He wandered away from us, his voice low, his shoulders hunched as he spoke into the phone.
Elizabeth came closer to me and no one stopped her from doing so. She purposely ignored Aaron. “What's going on?” she asked under her breath. Her blue eyes were rimmed red, her eyelids puffy. She
had definitely been crying.
“I don't know,” I said. “Are you okay?”
“No.” She saw my reaction, the way my jaw tightened and my eyes narrowed, and she added, “I mean, nothing happened back there. But I…I want to go home.”
“I know. I’m gonna get you there,” I said, keeping my own voice low. Jillian was frowning at me, shaking her head ever so slightly, like a librarian scolding children for talking behind the bookshelves. “I promise.”
Aaron shuffled his feet, his shoes squeaking on the floor, and made a little noise that sounded sort of like a whimper. Elizabeth glanced at him.
“Hey,” he said.
It was a monumentally bad thing to say. Who says “hey” after disappearing and worrying his girlfriend, a girlfriend who then travels to the desert to look for him, who then finds herself tangled up in his illicit drug trade? I wanted to smash my fist into his teeth.
Elizabeth just stared at him, her gaze cool, assessing, like she was looking at some unidentifiable specimen in a laboratory.
“I'm so sorry about all this,” Aaron said. His eyes were on her, his eyebrows raised in a pleading expression. “Super sorry.”
She wrinkled her nose and turned away from him and back to me. The ultimate dismissal.
Tim even looked annoyed with his friend, shaking his head and looking away.
“Are we going to be able to leave?” she asked me. She dared a glance in Jillian’s direction before returning her gaze to me. “You and me and Tim?”
The omission of her boyfriend was intentional. At the very least, it didn’t look as though I was going to have to worry about explaining her boyfriend to Elizabeth. She seemed to have a good handle on it.
Nick reemerged in the doorway before I could respond, his gun a little more upright, his shoulders up, a serious expression on his face. Gerald returned from his call just as another guy followed Nick in the door. He was in jeans and a track jacket, and he was holding something that looked like a very large handgun.
