The Choice, A Powerful & Engrossing Romantic Suspense Series (Walk the Right Road Series, Book 1)

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  “Marketing’s done by a friend of Dan’s; her name’s Sandra.” Even repeating her name filled her mouth with bitters and an acidic aftertaste.

  “There’s something about her I hate. Dan would defend her. She had contacts, but then she grew up in a family of professional growers outside Sequim. She knew the buyers, and I didn’t. And you know what, Sam? Right now, I’m grateful for that. Sandra’s really good with drugs. It came natural to her. She had indoor grow shows of her own. She has a nasty, mean streak, except with Dan. To him, she’s sweet as pie. She’d lie, cheat and steal from her own sister, but never in front of Dan. Why’s that, Sam?”

  “Marcie, I’m not interested in childish cat fights. I want to know everything you were doing. Who you sold too, who the buyers are? Oh and let’s start with the million dollar question. What was in your backpack?”

  “My backpack was filled with marijuana, the bud from indoor crops Sandra harvested. I was to take it to baggage claim and leave it. There’d be an identical backpack sitting there. I’d leave mine and take the other. Dan told me where to go. Apparently it was Sandra’s contact. I wasn’t given a name.” The click of a double cross enlightened an agonizing truth.

  “You were transporting. Do you have any idea how long you’ll go to prison here? And in Louisiana baby, it ain’t no picnic. Oh and Reggie, you tell me right now how he’s involved. Let’s go with the obvious, isn’t he your contact?” Sam paced in front of her; slamming a concrete wall between them. No way could she touch him, let alone reason with him. This was all business.

  “Sam, I swear I didn’t know Reggie. I didn’t know any of the contacts. And I have a sick feeling I may have been set up.”

  “Oh no way are you going to play that card now.”

  She touched his arm, but he shrugged her off. The look on his face ripped her heart open. He was visibly repulsed. He blurred in front of her as she fought the tears burning her eyes. “Sam, please listen. Dan was pushing me out. He became more secretive, especially after the fire.” Memories flowed faster than she could explain.

  “Fire? What the hell, Marcie?”

  “I already told you about my dream the first night here. Dan was involved in so many things. But everything was tied to drugs. After the house burned, all I did was look after the outdoor crops. Dan changed things, started working and meeting with Sandra secretly. I thought he was ending things with me, and then he surprised me with a trip to New Orleans. At first, I thought he planned a holiday for us. But I was wrong. It was nothing more than a trip to deliver a sample of Sandra’s bud. At the airport, he surprised me. Suddenly I’m going alone. And it’s me who’s supposed to exchange the backpack for an identical one—one that’d be baggage claim. And I willingly got on that plane for him. But Sam I swear, I didn’t know Reggie and the guy who stole my backpack. Either they ripped me off, and that was their plan all along, or maybe Dan had a different plan.”

  Sam pushed away from the stairs. He crossed his solid arms, guarding his emotions to the point; his face seemed made of stone. “What was in the backpack you were supposed to pick up?”

  “I don’t know, and I didn’t ask. Honestly Sam, I didn’t want to know.”

  He tilted his head. She could see how he struggled with her story. “My guess, you’re picking up cocaine. If you’re caught, you’d take the fall; this guy’s slick. So tell me, how many trips have you made?”

  A tear fell. “This was the first one. I’ve never done this before.”

  His eyes narrowed, stripping away what was left of her shaky dignity. “Let’s start with where you’re from and where this little operation is located.”

  “Gardiner, Washington. That’s where Dan’s properties are.”

  “And this is where you live?”

  “Well, actually no.”

  He leaned closer.

  “I live on Las Seta, a small island off the coast in the San Juan’s.”

  “That’s where my last bust was. You doing something there?”

  “Sam, that’s my home, Granny’s place. Not ever would I grow there, no matter how much Dan pressured me. That’s a line I wouldn’t cross.”

  He didn’t respond; what he did was study her with that weird can’t-quite-figure-you-out expression. And it wasn’t in a good way.

  “You still haven’t told me who you sold to. And who Dan’s buyers are.”

  Marcie shook her head. “Sam, whether you believe me or not, I don’t know. I wasn’t in the loop. Dan told me once there were things I didn’t need to know. Who he sold to, or planned to sell to, that was a game between Dan and Sandra. All I know, is he’s a middle guy growing and selling to someone bigger. I suspect a family connection through Sandra.”

  “Come on, Marcie. You expect me to believe you were that naïve and had no idea who he sold too?”

  “I knew his friends he grew for before he went big—before Sandra started growing at his other rural property deep in Gardiner.”

  “Where in Gardiner?”

  “On a five acre parcel close to the state park where he’s got several illegal houses. That’s where Sandra lives, and where she grows. What I carried in my backpack was a small sample from her indoor crop, ready after three months. There’s a lot more, but I have no idea where the rest went. I suspect he may be growing somewhere else, involved with someone else. It’s what he does. He’s secretive and always on the lookout for new prey.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I could be wrong, Sam. I suspect Dan may have lured another woman to grow for him, somewhere else.”

  “But you don’t know for sure?”

  “Call it a vibe. One I wouldn’t have admitted before today.”

  He gave a harsh nod, while he appeared to digest all this information. “That’s quite the entrepreneurial operation. You said he has several illegal homes on an isolated acreage. Most likely to grow and obviously would have to be one of the more secluded Gardiner properties. Then add in the possibility of another woman growing for him; you doing his outdoor gardens. Wow, this guy’s good. Could he be involved in a larger scale operation, maybe heroin, cocaine, weapons?”

  Marcie wondered the same thing. Always fearing whatever Sandra and Dan were up to was bigger and more dangerous than she knew. “I don’t know, Sam. I can honestly tell you Dan’s ability to scheme and manifest greed and destruction is amazing. There’s probably something bigger going on, and he’d do it behind my back. That’s who he is. No loyalty to anyone.”

  “You’re in love with him. You’re his girlfriend.” Sam leaned viciously toward her.

  “No, I’m not. I may have thought I was, but I’m nothing more than a pawn in his pocket. Someone he can feed off and then toss away when he’s done.” A flicker of panic licked the back of her throat. “You’d never treat me that way, ever. You’ve never used a woman have you? You were honest with me. You opened your arms to me and not once did you have some sick motive to be kind to me just to get something out of it. I don’t know how to handle that. I’ve never had that from a man. I didn’t know it’s possible.”

  “When I banged my head, I had no memory, no burning link to that sick, destructive love for him. And you stuck in here.” She thumped her hand over her heart. “I’ve spent two days in your life sharing your hurt. You’re an honest, loving man. And you’ve just rocked my entire world upside down. Showing me how I’ve lived, and what I thought was love, isn’t even close. It’s as if I woke up on the other side of a river. The bridge is down and I’m watching Dan for the first time objectively. Seeing him, what I’m doing for him. It’s sick, twisted…” She felt violated and knew she alone was responsible.

  “What about the false passport, Marcie?”

  She rubbed her throbbing temples. “The morning I left, Dan gave me the airline ticket and passport. I had no idea he arranged it. My original passport photo was on the forged document with the name Lisa Francis. I don’t know how he got his hands on my original passport, and I didn’t ask.”
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  “He stole your passport, created a forged one, which you willingly used for air travel? That’s a federal offense. What gets me, Marcie, is you don’t need to produce a passport for travel within the US. So why’d you use it?”

  She closed her eyes remembering that moment vividly. She didn’t dwell on it because she believed he loved her. And she needed to have faith in him. What you’re delivering, you don’t use your real name.

  “The truth Sam, I chose to listen to him, thinking he wouldn’t allow any harm to come to me, and maybe this is his way of caring—of watching my back. So yes, I produced the passport. And he was right. No one questioned the validity. It was a great forgery, and I didn’t question how he did it.”

  “This guy’s more connected than I think you realize. Or maybe you do? Is this a game Marcie? Gain my sympathy. Get me to help you. Maybe that’s all your convenient memory loss is?” He turned away from her stomping and kicking up the dirt, facing the swampy vegetation of the bayou. Then he froze and circled back. His hardness cut right into her soul, the way he slowly stalked toward her.

  “You working for Lance Silver by any chance? Maybe trying to finish me off, make sure I’m nailed as being the head of some northern smuggling ring. Is this his plan? Send you in, have someone assault you, and fake a memory loss. Because you know my weakness, I’ll stop and help. Then you slither your way into my life and fuck it up even more. Was that your plan Marcie, plant more weed in my apartment, call the cops, make a deal? You already got Derek thinking I’m part of your ring.”

  Her eyes widened in horror. “How could you think such horrible things? No, God, no! I would never do that to you. I don’t work for Lance. I know him from the island. Everyone who lives there does. But I’m not stupid enough to get involved with the likes of him. He’s a powerful man. You live on Las Seta. You learn to look the other way. Bad things go on all around us Sam, all the time. You pick your battles and I can honestly tell you he’s one I’d never take on.”

  He raised both hands. “Stop, stop, I don’t want to hear anymore. You tell me right now, Marcie, why I shouldn’t call Jesse, and let him hand you over to Derek. Maybe it’s time I got smart and walked away.”

  She shook so hard her voice trembled. She wrapped her arms around her bent knees. “I’ve put you in an impossible situation. You’re a federal officer. You have every right to turn me over. You have your own problems, which were made worse when you took me in. I can’t, and won’t, make excuses for what I did. I don’t have the right to ask you to help me. I just don’t want to go back and be that same person. I feel something so strong for you it hurts. So maybe you should walk away.” She couldn’t see him through the rain of tears streaming out of her eyes. Her nose was plugged and started to drip. Her bag, where was her bag? She used the back of her hand to wipe her nose.

  “Ah Christ Jesus, Marcie.” She heard him run, a car door open, slam shut, and his feet pound the dirt as he hurried back. “Take this.” He shoved a box of Kleenex in her hand.

  “Thank you.” She croaked, grabbing a handful of tissue, and blew her nose.

  His voice softened, and he swore under his breath. “Well baby, guess where we're going? Back to where we started.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “How soon do I need to be at the airfield?” Sam leaned against the hood of his car and watched Marcie through the front window. She looked like a lost child gazing out the passenger side. He had to fight the urge to go over and hug her.

  “The FBI jet’s two hours out. Go to the New Orleans Lakefront Airport. I already spoke with Jesse. He’s going to meet you there. Two FBI agents from the New Orleans field office will be there as well. They’ve handled all paperwork.” Diane let out a sigh on the other end of the telephone.

  “Sam, are you sure about bringing Marcie back? I mean really, how good’s your judgment right now? You could turn her over to the Feds down there. Let them work a deal with her. You could walk away.”

  Sam ground his teeth. He was irritated and downright tired and didn’t want to hear one more person tell him to walk away. With his warm hand, he squeezed his cell phone. What a bloody mess. What he saw through his windshield was someone he refused to abandon. This trouble wasn’t entirely her own doing, but for now, until he could make sense of his jumbled emotions, she was coming with him.

  “No. She stays with me. Did you run what I asked past Dexter? Marcie’s a material witness and will help with our case.”

  “You really want her to walk away scot free?”

  Diane was like a dog with a bone she wouldn’t let him change the subject. But then she grunted a noise he knew was disgust, about the same time it sounded like a shoe banged the wall. “Forget it, you pigheaded…” She stopped and let out a huff of air.

  “Dexter, our boss, has a lot of faith in you. I gave him a sugarcoated version of your story. He believes Marcie’s coming with you as she has first-hand knowledge of the local grow ops, where they are and can help bring down a major player who’s tied to Lance Silver.”

  “He didn’t ask too many questions about how I met Marcie and the problems down here?”

  “Sam, if you’re asking does he know she transported an illegal substance, the answer’s no. But then no one does but you, me, Jesse and Marcie. And for now, until we have a plan on how to nail Lance Silver, let’s keep it that way. One more thing, because of the leak on our team, Dexter’s agreed to let us handle this investigation, for now.”

  Sam felt hope teeter within every muscle of his body. Positive the tide was about to change, and he now stood on a threshold of something, which could alter his whole world. But for good or bad, he didn’t know.

  “See you tonight.” He disconnected and watched Marcie, clutching her bulky bag, staring at him through the thick glass, like a wide-eyed baby doe. She’d allowed him to decide for her what happened next. No lies and no games. What was this need for her growing inside of him? As he shut his eyes, he couldn’t shut off his heart. When had he started wanting more?

  “Bad idea.” He mumbled to himself before climbing in the car.

  “All set?” She held her head high. Ready to face the piper with a pink, blotchy face and swollen red-rimmed eyes.

  He started the engine and merged back onto the highway. “Jesse’s meeting us at the airport. My partner’s arranged for our flight back on the FBI jet. There won’t be any problems.”

  Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I’m not worried when you take care of things.” Sam looked over, but she’d already turned away.

  An hour later, Sam pulled into the small New Orleans airfield where private charters flew in and out. Jesse waited in a small grey pickup truck, alone. He popped open his door and climbed out, wearing blue jeans and a black T-shirt.

  “Can’t be department issue, it’s too nice. When did you start driving a truck?”

  “My wife wanted it. She thought we could use it to haul things.”

  Sam squinted. This was the first time in years he’d seen Jesse dressed in something other than a suit. Jesse lifted a small carry-on bag from the back of the truck.

  “Going somewhere?”

  The sharp blast of a small jet engine provided enough distraction so they went unnoticed. The passenger door of Sam’s car popped open. Jesse watched Sam and then allowed his eyes to linger on Marcie. Her stride faltered. Then she tightened her mouth before moving toward them.

  “You think I’m going to allow you to dig yourself in anymore trouble? I’m going with you.”

  “What about your wife, the department, you can just take off?”

  Jesse’s smile deepened. His silver tooth gleamed in the rays of the setting sun. “I’ve got so much holiday time banked. I told my Cap’n now’s a good time to use some up. And my wife’s a good lady, more than fine with me helping a friend.”

  Sam didn’t know what to say. A lump jammed his throat. “Thanks Jesse…” Sam stopped, and squinted. He’d always had a hard time sharing his feelings.

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p; “It’s what friends do. Listen we better get going. Plane should be here.” Jesse took a couple steps toward Marcie. “You got your memory back. I hope for your sake you told Sam everything. No tricks, no lies, Marcie.”

  Her face softened, but she held her head high. “I’m not standing here making excuses for what I did, for what I’ve done, Jesse. I’ve not lied, not once, nor will I. I’ll do what I can to stop Dan and bring an end to his madness, his stronghold. I need to make up for the wrong I’ve done. But more important, Sam’s name needs to be cleared.”

  “I hope you mean that, Marcie.” Jesse watched her thoughtfully, as if trying to decipher the truth.

  “So this Dan, he’s partners with Lance Silver. The guy you've been after Sam?”

  Marcie remained in their circle but isolated a few steps away. Sam could see the hurt that stiffened her spine. “I’m pretty sure this Dan McKenzie’s someone in Lance Silver’s back pocket. He sounds too big to be some little guy.”

  Marcie spoke so softly. “I know Lance from the Island but at a distance. I can honestly tell you if Dan has some connection with him, I know nothing about it. I don’t know who all Dan’s contacts or buyers were. Thankfully, I was kept out of that loop.” Marcie shook her head. “You two need to know. Lance Silver’s not a man you mess around with.”

  There was something in her eyes Sam hadn’t seen before. An awareness of whatever they were about to walk into could have consequences, harsher than any they could imagine.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The small FBI jet flew them directly to the Port Townsend airfield in Washington State.

  Diane Larsen stood at the gate wearing blue jeans, hiking boots and a faded jean jacket. A ball cap was pulled over, from what Marcie could tell, was a mouse brown boyish haircut. She wore dark shades and her jaw worked a piece of gum. But to Marcie it seemed this was her way of pondering something in her head—good Lord, another deep thinker.