Chasing China White by Allan Leverone (best time to read books TXT) 📗

wasn’t going to make it go away. Ignoring problems was what led people like Derek into situations like the one his brother found himself in now. Ignoring problems only made them worse, a reality Derek Weaver had never quite understood.

“Tell me everything,” he said, steeling himself for the worst.

So Derek did.

And it was even ghastlier than he’d imagined.

7

“You’ve got to go to the cops. Like, right now.” They’d been driving aimlessly while Derek spilled his guts, and now that he’d finished the story, the lack of reasonable alternatives seemed glaringly obvious to Greg.

He was no prude, and had had his share of run-ins with the police, especially as a kid. But it was one thing to run from the cops after tagging a bridge abutment, or get busted for smoking weed at a high school party. It was another matter entirely to walk away from a man’s house leaving behind two dead bodies and a little kid lashed to a chair.

Derek shook his head bleakly. “I’ll get the needle.”

“Massachusetts doesn’t have the death penalty, dumbass.”

“Then I’ll go to jail for the rest of my life.”

“At least you’ll be alive. You stay on the street and Crowder’s going to get to you.”

“You don’t think he can get to me in prison? Wake up, Greg. I told you already, this is one bad dude. That’s why I have to run.”

Greg felt his anger rising again and he tried to control it. “Wake up? You want me to wake up? Jesus Christ, Derek, you’re living in a fantasy world. You killed two innocent people. Worse, two people with money. Crowder is the least of your problems. You have to worry about the cops. Do you understand you can’t run far enough to escape them? They’ll never stop looking for you. Your best bet is to turn yourself in, and the sooner the better.”

“And get shivved in jail.”

“They can protect you.”

“They’re not gonna protect me. What possible motivation would they have to protect a junkie murderer? They’ll be glad I’m dead. One less killer to feed and clothe and incarcerate.”

“That’s not true,” Greg said. “The cops are masters at using the little fish to hook the big fish. They’ll protect you because if this Crowder character is as bad as you say, they’ll want to nail him more than they want to be rid of you.”

“I can’t prove anything I’ve told you, Greg. It’s my word against his that I was working for him when I went to that house last night. And I guarantee he’ll have better lawyers than I do if it ever goes to trial. I wouldn’t stand a chance against Crowder in a courtroom. Or anywhere else.”

“But—”

“And say for the sake of argument the authorities did believe me, and used me to build a case against Crowder. They’d protect me only as long as I was of value to them. Once the trial was over, win or lose, I’d be on my own. And then I’d be dead within a week.”

They stared at each other, Derek’s eyes wide and frightened. Greg realized his brother was right. “So that’s your plan: hit the road and try to elude both sides. You’re going to hide from law enforcement and this badass dude Crowder.”

“It beats anything else I can think of.”

“But you don’t have any money. You have nothing. Even if I give you everything in Brenna’s and my bank account, it’s only a couple grand. You can’t travel very far or hide for very long on that.” Especially if you’re going to inject most of it into your veins, Greg thought but didn’t say. “What happens when the cash runs out?”

Derek shrugged.

Shook his head.

Said, “I don’t know, Greg. I’ll figure something out. I’m making this up as I go, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“I had. It’s kind of hard to miss.”

“Maybe this is a blessing in disguise,” Derek said thoughtfully. “I’ll have no choice but to get clean now.”

Traffic was slowing up ahead and Greg tapped the brake and then shook his head. “That would be great, Derek, but how can you consider anything a blessing when two people are dead and you’re going to be hunted by basically everyone?”

“Obviously the dead family is no blessing. I didn’t mean to kill anyone, Greg, you have to know that. I know it’s real easy to judge me—hell, I judge myself every goddamned day—and there’s no question my life has been one bad choice after another. But regardless of what you think of me now, you’ve known me my whole life and you have to realize I never meant to kill anyone. Hell, I would never intentionally hurt anyone.”

“Tell that to Mom.” It was a visceral reaction, the words spilling out before Greg could stop them, before he even gave them conscious thought. He felt bad for saying them as soon as they came out.

But they were accurate. If Greg had disappointed their mother with his small-time punk bullshit as a teenager, Derek had devastated her with his drug use and all the criminal activity that accompanied it.

Derek hung his head and said nothing.

Greg opened his mouth to speak without having any idea what was going to come out, but before he could say anything, Derek beat him to the punch. “Can I get some cash from you and use your car for awhile or not?”

“You’re the one holding the deadly weapon,” Greg shot back. “If you were willing to use it on Brenna, I can’t imagine you’d hesitate to use it on me, so what choice do I have?”

He wasn’t sure whether he believed his words or not. What Derek had said about being basically harmless—except to himself—was true, at least about the Derek Greg had grown up with. But this Derek had been living on the streets a long time, and had shot up, swallowed, drank or otherwise ingested who knew how much poison over the last decade or more. Plus, he was truly in a tight spot and