by K. Walker
I crossed my arms. “Something you can’t tell me, your girlfriend, about?”
“Babe, it’s not like that. She just wanted to know something from back when we were together, that’s all.”
“Something like what?”
Chad’s eyes turned to stone, and he touched my shoulder. “Babe, relax. We’re not doing this now, and I have a game to practice for. And so do you,” he said and indicated the girls on the other side of the field. “Just trust me. Callie isn’t your problem.”
He backed away, and I was still as clueless as before and embarrassed. I was sure he’d have told me. What was so secretive between them that had to remain that way?
“So? What happened?” Liz asked as soon as I returned, and anxious eyes pierced mine.
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me,” I said firmly. “But it’s cool. I’m sure he has a good reason.”
I couldn’t escape the concerned looks the girls shared. They were probably having the same thoughts that had plagued me on my little trek across the field. No matter – it’ll be alright.
And it would be if Callie hadn’t rubbed my nose in it.
She was still in the locker room after we had finished practicing. Her eyes sparkled as soon as she saw me, and she stood and walked over to the mirror, dabbing lip gloss and smacking her lips like she wanted me to say something to her.
So, I ignored her for as long as I could.
“You know, when he was my boyfriend, he didn’t keep things from me,” she said and kept smacking.
I ignored it still and started taking my clothes off.
“How do you know he said nothing?” Alexi shot at her. “You weren’t there.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure he didn’t,” Callie said and turned around, her eyes dancing as she kept playing her juvenile game. “But I would want to know.”
“You know, Callie, maybe I would bug him to know what you said to him if I were a jealous, insecure girlfriend. But I’m not.”
“It doesn’t take a jealous girlfriend for a guy to cheat,” she added as she stared deeply into my eyes like if she were closer, I would have to worry about her kissing me.
“He’s not cheating. And even if he is, it wouldn’t be with you, bitch,” Liz snarled.
Callie laughed and picked up her purse. “You sure about that?”
She twirled the strap around her finger as she walked past us and out of the locker room.
“Don’t let her get to you,” Amanda advised. “She was just trying to rattle you.”
“It worked,” I said angrily and sank down on the long metal bench between the lockers. “And here I was feeling sorry for her, thinking she’d had a rough day yesterday.”
“Told you,” Liz scoffed. “Don’t waste your emotions on her. Still…”
“What?” I asked Liz impatiently.
“We know she’s lying that something is going on between her and Chad. But what exactly did she say, and why did Chad keep it from you?”
“Jeez, Liz. Are you suggesting he's dishonest with her now?” Amanda asked sternly and slammed the locker door shut. “Are you trying to make her feel bad? Do you even know what Cody is doing when you’re not around?”
“Sheesh!” Liz exclaimed and held up her hands. “I was just saying…not that he’s cheating or anything. I was just wondering if it had anything to do with the case or something, not that it had something to do with…whatever, why am I explaining?” Liz huffed and collapsed onto the bench beside me.
“It’s okay, Liz. I don’t think he’s hiding anything either.” I slid my shoes off and rubbed my feet. “And Callie really isn’t my problem, just like he said.”
“There you go,” Alexi said as she hugged me from behind. “She isn’t winning on my watch.”
“Okay, let’s go to the Grill. Who’s hungry?” I asked and stood, forgetting my sore feet. “Ow! Ow!”
Amanda laughed. “Take it easy.”
“After we win nationals,” I squinted as I walked to the locker to retrieve my more comfortable tennis shoes.
“No pain, no gain,” Alexi giggled.
In twenty minutes, we were at the Grill, shoveling the world’s greatest cheeseburgers down our gullets with nature’s best soundtrack, and the crashing of waves against the ocean’s shoreline in the background.
“Life’s simple pleasures,” I said dreamily as I wipe the corners of my mouth.
“Hey, there’s Brody,” Alexi said and started to wave. “Brody!”
His eyes lit up and he jogged across the sand and hopped up onto the rail. “Hey, babe.” He leaned in and stretched across the metal divide to kiss her.
“Hey, you with the other guys?”
“Um,” he said and looked around uncomfortably. “No. I’m here alone. I just thought I would hang for a bit. I think they’re coming in a bit, though.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Really?”
“Yes, Sophia,” he replied and stressed my name. “Nothing’s going on.”
“Okay,” I said because I didn’t want to hassle him in front of Alexi.
“Give me some credit, will you? Why would I get involved with Lin again after what he and Wes pulled?”
“I didn’t say anything,” I defended.
“It’s my life, and I get to do whatever the fuck I want,” he said angrily like he was strung out.
“Brody, baby, calm down,” Alexi said and tried to shush him.
He shook her off. “You know, I didn’t come here for this. I’m heading back, so enjoy your cheeseburgers. Later Lexi.”
“Brody, come on…” she drawled, and then looked fiercely at me after he hopped back onto the sand. “Why did you have to say shit to him? Like he doesn’t have enough to deal with.”
“But I didn’t say anything,” I called after her as she got up and ran after him. I sighed and looked around the table, only to see all the other girls glaring at me. “What?”
“You know, what?” Liz said. “Just give him a break.”
“I didn’t say…I mean, isn’t it weird seeing him here alone?”
“Um, no,” Amanda replied. “He comes here to hang sometimes with the kids from his block. Chad and the guys aren’t the only friends he has.”
“Okay, sue me, but I was just worried about him. Last time I saw him alone, he was hooking up with Lin.”
“It’s okay,” Amanda replied. “You have a lot to learn still.”
“Slowly,” I mouthed and placed the straw to my lips.
It was a crappy position to be in, and I didn’t want everyone to think I was being motherly. Like, who wants that title? But I had a giant heart that gets me in trouble sometimes.
“Okay, let’s just get back to being loud and annoying, can we?” Stacey asked. “Maybe we should order a shot of something.”
“Maybe,” Liz said. “Let me see whose arm I can twist back there,” she said and glanced behind her. “Oh, Trip’s at the bar. Be back in a second.”
She came back with four plastic cups, appearing like water, but actually bearing a brownish color drink.
“Bottoms up, ladies!” she grinned as she handed us the cups. We downed them, and my throat burned as the liquid coursed down my throat.
It didn’t take long after that for us to return to giggling like idiots and annoying the other patrons at the Grill.
Just like we used to.
Chapter 16
Chad
It’s not somewhere I would choose to be on a Saturday morning.
I would rather be on the beach, with my surfboard, gliding over waves, and sniffing the salty air and sprays of water hit me.
Instead, Brody and I were standing outside the Madison Falls PD, anxious as shit. “You ready to face the music?” I asked him and unlocked the car. I had picked him up earlier, so we could travel together.
“As ready as I’ll ever be. I just hope they don’t…you know,” he said and stepped onto the pavement, “make it hard.”
I slipped my keys into my poc
ket and laughed. “Bro, have you ever heard of an easy setup that involves drug dealers?”
“No,” Brody replied as we started up the steps. “But I want to think they wouldn’t throw me into a civil war.”
“I won’t let them. Whatever they want you to do, they need to sort their shit out,” I said angrily and pulled on the double glass doors to the precinct.
I had been there before, so I knew which direction to turn. “This way,” I told Brody and moved to the left of the entrance.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” a rosy-cheeked female officer smiled. “How can I help you?”
“We’re here to see Detective Taylor,” Brody answered.
“Chad?” I turned when I heard my name. The groan escaped me before I could catch it. “Chad Minor?”
Shit! It was Officer Sullivan – he had been the arresting officer on the race night that Robby died. “Officer Sullivan, I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.” Dad was sure to find out about this little precinct visit, now.
“What are you doing here?”
“Um, I’m just…we’re here to see Detective Taylor.”
“Detective Taylor?” he asked and crossed his hairy arms over his bulging gut. His beady eyes twinkled as he walked closer, his heavy boots clunking on the tiles the closer he got. “What do you want with Detective Taylor? You in trouble?”
He squinted his eyes at me like he could see right through me. I knew better. “No, no trouble. I’m just here with my friend,” I smiled, hoping that would be enough to get him uninterested.
“Your friend,” he pressed. “What did he do?”
“I didn’t do anything,” Brody replied grudgingly. “Just here to see the Detective, that’s all.”
Officer Sullivan nodded. “Okay, if you say so. Chad, a word, please?”
“Sure,” I said and glanced over at a nervous Brody. “Be right back.” I walked towards the door with the Officer. “What’s up?”
He clapped me on the shoulder. “Look, son,” he said and glanced behind me. “I don’t want to pry, but the last time you were here…no one knows, you know that. It doesn’t mean you should show up here and in trouble no less.”
There was real concern in his eyes. If it hadn’t been for my dad, I’d have gone to jail. He had been able to ‘smooth things over’ with Officer Sullivan, so my name stayed out of it.
“I’m not in trouble, trust me,” I assured him. “Just here with my friend.”
He narrowed his eyes and grunted. “Okay. I just had to make sure. Let me know if you need my help with anything, okay?”
“Sure.”
“And say hello to your Dad for me.” He said and walked away. I was left standing wondering if he had been fishing for a bribe – hoping I’d need him for something.
I shook the fog from my brain and walked back to Brody. “What the hell was that about?” he asked.
“You don’t remember him?” I asked and leaned in closer. “From race night?”
Brody’s eyes widened and he looked around me. “For real? I didn’t even realize.” Then worry lines creased his forehead. “What did he say? Did he want something?”
“No,” I replied. Not like I’d tell him if Officer Sullivan had, in fact, said anything.
“What if he tells your Dad?”
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” the female cop said as she returned to the desk. “He’s in the back. Just go down this row, and turn right through that door,” she said and pointed behind her.
“Thanks,” Brody grumbled as we walked off.
It wasn’t hard to notice the odd looks we got from some of the other officers as we walked through the rows of desks. Some smiled, some nodded, and others grunted. There were a few squeaks, and I didn’t need to look to know chairs had turned as the eyes followed us.
It wasn’t strange. Boys who came to the PD on a Saturday morning were either fresh out of juvie or on their way there. No one was impressed to see us there, and I just wanted to get the hell out of there.
“Right this way,” Detective Taylor said as he poked his head through a doorway. He squinted his eyes at me. “You didn’t have to come.”
“Like hell I didn’t,” I snarled and walked in ahead of Brody. It was the same room like before, except this time, the table had a pitcher of water and some cups. “Willis, I think we have a hero on our hands.”
“What?” I asked and scrunched up my face. “You think I’m gonna let you talk him into doing some shit just to save his ass, and then he gets fucked anyway? No, I want to hear and see how this goes down.”
Taylor was sitting on the edge of the desk, his arms folded across his broad chest, and he eyed his partner and nodded.
“Have it your way,” Willis said and pulled the chair out at the far end of the rectangular table. But I didn’t bring a seat for you. Would you like to…”
I held out my hand. “Nah, I’m good. I don’t plan on being here long. Just tell us how you plan to do this.”
Willis chuckled. “What did you say your name was?”
I was tempted to not answer, but I was in a police precinct after all. I needed to lay low, too. I knew too much shit they could use against me. “Chad Minor.”
“Minor…Minor,” Taylor mused. “As in Derek Minor, real estate King?”
I nodded. “Same one.” Great.
“Shit!” Taylor laughed and clapped his hands. “We have a celebrity in the house.”
“Yeah,” Willis chuckled. “Maybe you could talk to your Dad for me when we get out of this – been wanting to change my apartment.”
I clenched my jaws. “Can we just get to it? We have plans, and I’m sure you don’t want to spend the rest of your morning with us.”
“True,” Willis grunted and rapped his knuckles on the desk. He rubbed the stubble on his chin and glanced up at Taylor, who remained on the edge of the desk. “Okay, you’re right. Let’s go through this.”
All the while, Brody was perched uncomfortably on the edge of the metal chair, his head going from side to side as he followed the conversation.
“You said you knew this Lin character, right?”
“I do,” Brody replied and sighed. “Look, he can’t know about this. I don’t even know how I’m going to pull this off. What if he suspects something?”
“Calm down, kid,” Taylor said and shifted to face Brody. “This isn’t going to be like you see on the TV with guns blazing and all – money swap and a group of buyers assembled like you’re walking into a death trap. This is not so elaborate.”
Brody didn’t calm down after that, and frankly, neither did I. “So, what does he need to do?”
“Just act normal. You go there all the time, right?” Willis asked.
Brody glanced over at me. “Sometimes. Not often.”
“Where’s his base?” Taylor asked, his brown eyes growing intense.
“Factory on Main Street,” Brody replied and twiddled his thumbs.
I don’t think I had ever seen him that worked up.
“Hmm,” Willis grunted. “Okay, here’s what we’re thinking. You walk in, like usual,” he said suggestively and eyed Brody.
“What are you implying?” I asked him and squinted my eyes at him. He was being deliberate about the way he asked his questions, to suggest Brody was there all the time, or to find out how often he went there. I was even happier I had gone with him.
“What do you mean?” Willis asked and cocked his head.
“Just keep going,” I snapped.
Willis looked at Taylor and cleared his throat. “Like I was saying, you go in, like you would normally do, transact your usual business. You’ll wear a wire…”
“No, not a wire,” Brody insisted. “What about a recording device?”
“No, it has to be a live connection. Anything can happen while you’re in there,” Taylor told him. “A recording is only good if…if nothing goes wrong and you just walk out of there.”
“So, he might not just walk out of there?”
I asked and arched my brows.
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Taylor chipped in, and stood. He shoved his hands into his pockets. “A sting isn’t just about bringing down the bad guy. We need to make sure that our guy, in this case, Brody, comes out of it. We have to ensure his safety, especially considering he’s a minor.”
“That’s why he shouldn’t be doing this in the first place,” I argued.
“We can do that, but you know what happens after that,” Willis reminded us.
“I’m doing it,” Brody sighed and fell back against the chair.
“The wire ensures we hear what’s happening real-time, and that we can come in if anything goes wrong. Hopefully, nothing does,” Taylor said in calm voice.
“What do I need to do?” Brody asked. “Like just go there one day, and that’s it?”
“Pretty much,” Taylor replied and resumed his position on the edge of the desk closer to Willis. “Go in to pick up goods, or drop something off. We’ll be close by listening and recording the conversation, so you,” he said and pointed at Brody, “be careful what you say. I can only protect you so far.”
“Got it,” Brody replied, and then his brows dipped. “What if he doesn’t say anything? Lin isn’t much of a talker.”
“Then it’s on you to get him to say something, without making it obvious,” Taylor said and peered at him.
I could tell they had no other lead except what Brody could give them. “Can we have something in writing that you won’t come after him afterward? Or any other cop, for that matter?” I wanted to know.
“You have our word,” Willis said with a plain face.
“I’m sorry that doesn’t work for me,” I replied as the stare down began.
“But this isn’t about you,” Willis said angrily.
“It is. If it involves him, it involves me.” I stood firmly and surely, staring back at him.
“Christ, kid, you’re a hard sell. Okay, fine, I’ll get something in writing,” Willis snapped. “You happy.”
“Very.”
“Great. Now, can we work out the semantics, or is there anything else you want us to do?” Willis asked grudgingly.
I smirked. “I think we’re done here. You can let us know when you want this to go down.”