Sixteen
Something about both of those guys didn’t sit right with me. Switching off the mic so Jiji couldn’t hear, I placed a call to Sonny.
He picked up on the second ring. “Yo, Breech, what’s up, man?”
“Sonny, man, I need some intel, bro.”
I heard a thump as his feet hit the floor and clicking as his fingers worked his keyboard. “What’s going on, Breech? You need me at your back, man?”
Chuckling, I said, “Thanks, man, just the intel for now. Did you dig up anything on Brom and his secretary, Lane?”
“No, and that’s bothering me, Breech. This guy is clean—I mean too clean. I can’t find any records for him at all for over two years. That is too suspicious and I don’t like it. Lane has a juvie record; he grew up in the New York foster system. Petty theft before moving on to grand theft auto. He did some time in Rikers Island before they moved him to Brookwood in Hudson, NY. After his release, he aged out of the system. No collars since then.”
“Check your phone, Sonny, I was taking some pictures at the farm and I got both of them in one. I sent it to you before we took off from the rest stop just now.”
“Hang on, Breech.” I heard some beeps then Sonny came back on the line. “Okay, man, I got it. Give me a couple hours to run these through some databases and see what I can dig up. Meanwhile, if you need some backup I can be there with a couple guys, pronto.”
“Appreciate that, but we’re okay for now. You stay on these guys and call me back as soon as you get anything. These fuckers are giving me a bad vibe and I want everything we can get on them.”
“Got it, Breech, check you later.” Sonny hung up.
Switching the headset back to on, I found a country station and set it on low so we could both listen. I felt Jiji’s fingers tapping on my thigh in time to the music. I could see the trailer up ahead of us and for a minute I thought I saw something move in the back window, but in a blink it was gone. Maybe one of the horses moved or flicked a tail, or maybe I was just overthinking the situation.
My gut was telling me something wasn’t right and it’s never been wrong before. I trusted it when I was in the Marines and it had saved my life. It was telling me not to trust these guys and until Sonny told me otherwise, I would be on guard.
The swaying of the truck almost knocked me off my feet. The little guy next to me nickered and I rubbed behind his ears. I was pissed at myself that I didn’t realize we had stopped before and I slept through most of it. After being up all night, waiting for my chance to slip away from the barn and into the hidey-hole I had created in the trailer, my nerves were shot from keeping up appearances—but I knew what they had planned for me and I wasn’t sticking around to let them do it.
My guardian angel must have been watching out for me, because Drake had climbed the ladder to my loft, yelling at me to get my ass down to a mare that was having a difficult birth. So instead of wiggling into the tight space I had made for myself, I was knee-deep in, helping the mare do her thing.
If I hadn’t been attuned to make my escape, I wouldn’t have seen the crates delivered to the building where the trailer was housed. Four big, burly guys unloaded the crates. I saw them when I took the bags of soiled linens outside. They paid me no mind, and I quickly went back inside, keeping myself hidden in the stalls ‘til I heard the truck drive away.
Checking to make sure no one was in the barn, I climbed the ladder to my loft, moving behind the bales of hay ‘til I came to the trapdoor built in the rafters. Pulling the backpack on that I hid earlier, I climbed through the door and onto the catwalk, quickly crossing between the two buildings.
From my vantage point, I could see two guys loading the crates into a space built into the side of the trailer. When they were finished loading the crates, they put a panel in place that hid them. The panel was designed so well that if I hadn’t seen them do it, I wouldn’t have known it existed. I had no idea what was in those crates, but I knew whatever it was it had to be illegal. Brom was into a lot of shady shit.
I debated for about two seconds whether or not I should tell someone about what I had just witnessed. The fight-or-flight feeling kicked in—I needed to escape and this was my way out. I didn’t have time to come up with a new plan. Add into that fact that I didn’t have much money and I was leaving with a backpack filled with everything I owned to that mix and again, this was my only option.
I waited until my legs cramped and I was afraid I couldn’t make my way down the ladder. Creeping across the floor, I opened the back door of the trailer; the click of the lock sounded so loud in the stillness. My heartbeat sped up ‘til I felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. Taking my backpack off my back, I stuffed it ahead of me into the hole under the seat. Crawling in, I pulled the panel ‘til it was almost closed behind me. Thank God I wasn’t afraid of tight places. But even if I had been, I would have braved this to get away from the fate Brom had in store for me. I settled down to wait for tomorrow to come.