Beckett
10 Years Earlier
“Get your ass moving, Crimson!” Coach screams at Clay.
“Let’s go,” I yell out and pat his back.
What the hell is up with him today?
The whistle blows, and we line up for another sprint. The next noise sounds off, and I run as fast as I can. I look to the left, expecting to see Clay, but he’s several yards back.
“Crimson, do you have something wrong with your legs today?” Coach bellows.
Clay is breathing hard and looks like he’s going to puke. “No, sir.”
Coach blows the whistle. “Practice is over. Crimson, you better show up tomorrow ready to work.”
Clay swallows hard. “Yes, sir.”
I wait till everyone is moving off the field before moving to his side. “What’s up with you today?”
He looks off in the distance. “Nothing.”
“Then why do you look like you’re going to throw up your breakfast?”
He palms his forehead.
I wait for a minute, but he doesn’t move.
“Clay, what’s going on?”
“If I tell you, will you promise not to flip out on me?”
I scan his eyes. “Okay. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Skates won’t let me out.”
The hairs on my neck stand up.
“Let you out? Of what?”
“He says I made a contract when I agreed to deliver for him.”
“What?”
“I told him I couldn’t do it anymore. Skates said I either do it, or there will be consequences.”
“Consequences?” Hell.
Clay looks away.
I can only imagine what the “consequences” might be.
“That wasn’t it though.”
Chills run down my spine. “What do you mean?”
Clay blinks back tears. “He said he knows I went through the boxes.”
“How would he know that?”
“One of the packages wasn’t secure as it normally is, and he said that would only happen if someone shifted the contents.”
“Shit. I’m sorry. That’s my fault.”
He shakes his head. “None of this is your fault.”
“So he knows you went through the boxes, but nothing was missing.”
“No, but he said I pried into his personal business, and he also said...” Clay stops and blinks harder.
I put my hand on his arm. “Clay, what is it?”
“He said I’m just like my mom. Nosy.”
I jerk my head back. “What? Your mom?”
His face hardens. “He said if there was heroin, my mom could sniff it a mile away and I must be just like her.”
I gape at him. “He dealt to your mom?”
Clay takes a deep breath. “I don’t know…why would he say that? Could he be the one who killed her? He said she loved it till her last breath.” A tear slips down his cheek.
Clay’s mom died four years ago. We don’t talk about it a lot, but I know it’s painful for him.
“That’s messed up.”
“Well, now he says I made a contract with him, and contracts are for life.”
“What? No way.”
More tears slip down Clay’s cheek. “I’m fucked.”
“No. There has to be a way out of this.”
“I don’t see how. I’ll be a dead man.”
“Clay, let’s go to the police. They can help you.”
“Are you crazy? Skates will murder me if he finds out I did that.”
“He won’t find out. Let’s talk to Henry. He’ll know what to do.”
“If anyone associated with Skates sees me going into a police station, I’ll be a dead man walking.”
“I’ll call Henry and ask him to meet us at my house. He and my dad have been best friends forever and I’m confident he can help, Clay.”
“But your parents will know.”
“I’ll have him meet us when they’re at work. Henry will keep it on the down low.”
Clay looks at me like he isn’t sure.
“Just trust me.”
Clay releases a big breath. “Okay, Beckett. If you think that will work.”
“It will.”
The next day, while my parents are at work, Henry meets Clay and me at my house. I had asked him not to wear his police uniform or drive his cop car to my house. And I asked him if we could talk without him saying anything to my parents.
We all settle at the kitchen table. I hand Henry a Coke, and Clay and I each have a bottle of water.
Henry has red hair, a matching day-old beard, and green eyes. He’s like a member of our family and in some ways, a second father to my siblings and me. “Beckett, what’s going on that I have to meet you like this? You in some kind of trouble?”
“Not me, but Clay.”
Clay and I have been best buddies for as long as I can remember, so he knows him, too.
“What is going on, Clay?” He looks concerned.
Clay shifts in his seat. “I got myself into something I don’t want to be in.”
“So get out,” he says sternly.
Clay shakes his head. “I tried, but I’m not being given that option.”
Henry sighs. “Tell me everything.”
“I met a man after practice. For several weeks we talked. He found out I lived on the island. He offered to pay me to run errands for him.”
Henry’s eyes turn to slits. “What kind of errands?”
Clay holds up his hands. “I honest to God thought it was napkins.”
“Napkins?”
“For the restaurants.”
Henry’s eyes close for a brief moment and he sighs. “Go on.”
“I found heroin attached to the bottom of each bundle of napkins and informed the man I wouldn’t deliver for him anymore, but he told me I had a contract with him.”
“What kind of contract?”
Clay gulps. “A contract for life.”
Henry glances at me. “You’re delivering, too?”
“No. Only Clay.”
“Good. Stay away from this, Beckett.”
“I am. But what are we going to do to get Clay out of this.”
Several minutes pass. “Who is the man?”
Clay says, “Skates. And the drop-offs are at the five restaurants his dad, Casey Cline, owns.”
Sitting back in his chair, Henry taps his fingertips together and mutters, “Shit.”
“I didn’t know, I swear!” Clay insists.
Henry pats him on the back. “I know, son, but you have yourself in a right pickle.”
I cut in, “Are you able to help us?”
He leans back and puts his arms across his chest. “Sure. Let me think about the best way to handle this. Give me a few days, and I’ll tell you what we’re going to do.”
I sigh in relief. “See, everything is going to be okay.”
Henry’s eyes become slits. “Beckett, whatever you do, stay out of this.”
“Yeah, no problem. I’m only here to support Clay.”
“Good. Skates isn’t anyone to piss off.” He stands up. “Give me a few days, and I’ll figure out the solution.”
“Thanks, Henry.”
“Don’t say a word to anyone about this. You understand?”
We give him our word, and he leaves.
“Feel better, Clay?”
“I’ll feel better when Henry tells me how we’re going to solve this.”
“Don’t worry. He has our back.”