Page 105 of The Sister's Curse
I followed him into the restaurant, hung back until he was seated in a booth, and then scooted beside him.
“Hey, Rod. How’s it going?”
He blinked at me like a deer in headlights. “Um.”
“I see you lost your monitoring bracelet. Does your PO know about that?”
He stared down at his menu. “No.”
“What’s going on, Rod?”
He put his head in his hands. “I want to leave the state. Start over. I was supposed to meet a guy here about a ride to Nashville.”
“And why would you want to do that?”
“I’m in trouble.” He said it so low, I could barely hear him.
“This isn’t about the charges you caught?”
He shook his head. “I’m trying to get out of the life, and they won’t let me.”
“Really? Who’s ‘they’?”
“My brother. He’s running meth up to Michigan.”
“Well, I might be able to help you out, but you’re gonna have to be honest with me.”
“Mm-kay.”
Monica slid into the booth, opposite us. “Hey. Nice haircut.”
“Thanks.” I played with the ends of it.
“Looks like you already got a brunch date.”
Rod groaned.
“Rod was about ready to tell me about meth production in Bayern County. And some other stuff, about the local meth heads being in the employ of the Kings of Warsaw Creek.”
Rod hunched his shoulders. “Yeah, I guess.”
Monica grinned at him. “How about I’ll start? I just learned from the state crime lab that the stuff you’re using to cook meth is a benzene compound from Copperhead Valley Solvents. Its trade name is Vapozene. Does this sound familiar?”
Rod sighed. “Yeah. We pick it up by the barrel at night, by the loading docks. It cooks so much faster.”
“How much are you doing?”
“Six barrels a week.”
Monica emitted a low whistle. “That’s a lot of crank.”
I rested my chin in my hand. “And are your friends and brother also taking orders from Jeff Sumner? Doing his dirty work by intimidating witnesses? I really didn’t appreciate getting shot at the other day.”
Rod stared at his menu again. “If I admit I know some stuff, can you get me out of here?”
Monica shrugged. “I think it’s entirely possible that we could make your charges go away and you could go on your merry way, but you gotta produce some tangible evidence. Not just your word, ’cause tweakers don’t come across as being particularly credible to judges.”
Rod nodded. “Okay.”
