Chapter 36 #2
Jason nods. “Yeah, the red swirly logo.”
I freeze with my hands over the keys. I’ve delivered dozens of those boxes. Holy shit. “Okay.” I start typing. “So, they weigh, like, what? Maybe twenty pounds?”
“That seems right.”
I type, How much does 20 pounds of cocaine cost? and I honestly can’t believe this is my life. I glance over at Jason, who looks equally shocked. We scan the first article. Eighteen pounds of cocaine seized in a drug bust in North Dakota worth $700,000.
“Jesus.” Jason gasps.
I click the next article. Twenty-two pounds of cocaine seized on a freighter anchored near Baltimore worth over $1 million.
“So, twenty pounds would be worth… ?” Jason’s lips twitch like he’s going to cry again.
I click on a few more links. “Less than a million, like maybe nine hundred and fifty thousand.” It sounds like Monopoly money to me.
These articles might as well have said a billion dollars.
A trillion. A gazillion. But maybe Jason’s parents could afford that.
His mom is a doctor, his dad runs the biggest law firm in central PA. “Can your parents come up with that?”
Jason’s tears spill over again. “Jesus, Adam. My parents don’t have that kind of money.
I know they seem wealthy, but their mortgage is high, and they have a lot of expenses.
They’d have to sell the house and their cars, and use my college fund.
And still, it would take months for them to access that kind of cash.
These guys aren’t going to wait that long.
” He flops over on the couch and curls up in the fetal position.
“I’m dead. That’s it. I’m dead and so is my family. These guys know where I live.”
I lunge to my feet and start pacing again, agonizing over the situation.
He might not be wrong. Guys who traffic cocaine are not just going to write off a million dollars of inventory.
Jason could be in real trouble and so could his family.
They’ve been so good to me. I can’t stand by and let them end up in harm’s way.
“Adam.” Jason’s voices breaks. “Madeline could be in danger, too.”
My heart stops.
“She’s with us constantly,” he continues. “You think they don’t know about her? She’s the first person they’d go after.”
With shaking hands, I reach for the back of a chair to steady myself. If they came near Madeline, I’d kill them. With my bare hands. But I can’t protect her every minute. At school, when she’s at home with her mom. This is a nightmare.
He looks up at me from his position on the couch. “They’ve seen her coming in and out of this house, and I bet they think she’s my girlfriend.”
Jason’s words drift through the air like smoke, slowly suffocating me.
I bet they think she’s my girlfriend. They’ve seen her coming in and out of this house.
Of course they would have checked Jason and me out before handing over hundreds of thousands of dollars in inventory.
Watched the house, paid attention to who came and went.
It would have been their insurance policy for a situation exactly like this.
But it’s Jason’s house , not mine. It’s possible they think Madeline is Jason’s girlfriend.
I can still hear Jason’s dad’s voice implying that I don’t have a future to ruin, not like Jason does.
He’s the type of guy she’d come over here to visit, not me.
Even a bunch of shady criminals would see that clear as day.
And if it means his life is at risk, then so is hers.
I whirl on Jason, anger pulsing through me, and I want to grab him, shake him, make him feel the sort of physical pain that’s ripping through my gut.
How could I have been so stupid and na?ve as to trust him?
But as I take a step in his direction, fists balled, I see the tears streaming silently down his cheeks.
He’s facing the same loss of everything that he loves as I am.
I turn away.
Can I really blame Jason for this? I was so happy to collect handfuls of cash that I didn’t think very deeply about where it was coming from.
I wanted to be the kind of man who could support Madeline, who deserved someone like her.
Given the life I was handed, this was the only way I knew how.
But I could have looked into CyTech. I could have asked questions—to Jason, to his dad.
I could have been honest with Madeline, but I was afraid she’d confront me on how shady everything seemed. That she’d see me in a different light.
How did I not consider what would happen if she got caught up in this? It could have just as easily been me driving tonight. What if I’d had one of those boxes stolen from the back seat of my car?
My heart slams to a stop, and the room tilts. I wish I had been the one driving. If it were me, they couldn’t go after my family because I don’t have one. And maybe they wouldn’t go after Madeline if they don’t know she’s my girlfriend. I’ve always had so little except for Jason. And Madeline.
And now they’re both in danger.
I pace across the living room and back again, considering all the angles, looking for another way out.
But I know what I need to do. It will put me at a terrible risk, but at least I’ll be the only one.
And maybe nothing will be as bad as Jason says.
This isn’t some mafia movie, and the boss likes me.
I can negotiate, make promises if I have to.
I might be shackling myself to years of working for him, but eventually I can dig myself out.
I turn to face Jason. “I’m going to take care of this.”
Jason uncoils from his ball on the couch and sits up. “What are you talking about?”
I hesitate for a beat to gaze around the place that’s been my home for the past year thanks to my best friend.
The place where I’ve spent so much time with him and Madeline.
The place where I finally allowed myself to dream of a better life.
It doesn’t have to be over , I tell myself on repeat. I can still fix this.
“I need you to trust me. I’ll take care of everything.”
And then I head out the door, praying to God that it’s true.