Page 73 of All the Ways You Save Me
Waylon.
Could it be?—
No.
But it’s not a common name. It would be a huge coincidence, and I don’t believe in those anymore. “Garrett,who is Waylon?”
“Waylon is the guy that I worked for. The boss of the drug trafficking operation. The one I’ve been running from.”
FORTY-TWO
PRESENT DAY
Garrett
I close my eyes, picturing Waylon’s face when he told me I’d better get his money. Until this week, I hadn’t told anyone about that moment, the worst of my life. It’s strange to be able to open up about it, to say the name that destroyed my life.
But my eyes fly open when I hear the alarm in Madeline’s voice. “Garrett, Jason works for a guy named Waylon.”
I sit up straight. “Right. Back in high school, he’s the one who hired us.”
“No, I don’t mean back in high school. I meannow.Jason works for a tech distribution company, and his boss is a middle-aged guy named Waylon.”
I lunge to my feet and look wildly around the room. I took this call in the break room of Hudson’s, knowing that with the noise from the bar, my conversation with Madeline wouldn’t be overheard. But now I run over to swing the door open and check the hallway, relieved to find it empty. “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. I’ve met him a bunch oftimes. I was just at the warehouse a few weeks ago, and Waylon was there. He’s very charming.”
“Warehouse?” My pulse picks up speed. “What warehouse?”
“The company is called CyTech, and their offices are in a converted warehouse on the east side of town.”
My hands shake.CyTech.
“The guy who’s in charge is named Waylon,” Madeline continues. “What was your Waylon like?”
“Very charming, unless you lost almost a million dollars of his cocaine. Then he got kind of mean. It’s the same guy, same company.”
“So, you’re saying that Jason still works for this drug trafficking operation? For the guy who was going to kill you?” Madeline’s voice shakes. “Why would he keep working there?”
My chest feels like it’s in a vise and I can’t seem to breathe air into my lungs. “Maybe he’s trapped. Maybe he couldn’t get away.” How could it have never occurred to me? When you work for a criminal like Waylon, you don’t just quit. What if Jason had no choice but to keep doing Waylon’s bidding all these years? “Madeline, you need to get out of there. Go as far away from Maple Ridge as possible. Go to the Bay Area and stay with Josie. Start a new life.”
“What about you? What about Jason? Garrett, I’m not justleavingwhen I know this Waylon guy is right here in Maple Ridge, keeping Jason trapped and continuing to ruin our lives.”
“You need to stay as far away from that guy as possible.” I pace back and forth across the narrow space between the table and the storage lockers. I hate that she’s so far away. It would only take me four hours to get to her tonight, but if I showed up in Maple Ridge, would I be putting her at even more risk? I try to reassure myself she’s safe tonight. She’s been with Jason for years, she said she’s met Waylon a bunch of times. There’s no reason that anything would arouse his suspicions now. I take adeep breath and blow it out slowly. “Start packing tonight and get the first flight out tomorrow.”
“Garrett,” Madeline says. “Maybe this is our chance. Jason works at that warehouse every day. If we can find proof that they’ve been trafficking drugs, maybe we can take it to the FBI. Maybe we can finally be free.”
I’ve never felt farther away from her in my life. “Madeline,” I say in the loudest, sternest voice I can. “Do not go snooping around that place.”
“Garrett, I can’t just sit around, or pack up and move. This is my life. I’m tired of floating along, letting the wind take me.”
“This is not the wind. This is a very dangerous criminal. You have no idea what these guys are capable of.”
She’s quiet for a minute, thinking it over, and I want to bang my head against the wall. “Listen,” I say. “Just promise me you won’t do anything right now. Give me some time to think about this, to figure out a plan. And in the meantime, pack a suitcase and book a flight to San Francisco.”
The silence on the other end of the phone nearly kills me.
Finally, I hear her voice murmur, “Fine. I won’t do anything until I talk to you again.”
