Read Online No Cry For Help by Grant McKenzie - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Grant McKenzie
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was too raw not to seep into her voice. “You’re making a mistake.”
“We’ll see,” said Marvin. “Once we have them in custody, we can talk further. But as of this moment, Crow is as much a wanted man as Wallace is.”
Delilah followed the constables to the front door. Marvin was the last to leave.
“I’m still going to tell your mother,” said Delilah.
Marvin hesitated and appeared about to turn around, but then he shook his head and kept walking.
CHAPTER 15
Crow exited the hut with JoeJoe by his side and quickly descended a flight of wooden stairs to reach Wallace.
“Do you still have a credit card?” he asked.
Wallace patted his front pocket. The only items he left the house with each morning were an emergency credit card, driver’s license and enough pocket money for continuous coffee refills and the bus driver’s pension scheme: twice-weekly lottery tickets. He had abandoned his now-useless passport and change of underwear back in the overturned van, but these meager necessities had stuck with him even through a change of clothes. He nodded.
“Good,” said Crow. “Cheveyo is ready to take you across the border, but he needs you cleaned up first.”
“Cleaned up?”
“Less redneck,” said JoeJoe. “You look too much like a fugitive in borrowed clothes. He wants you looking smart. More American.”
Crow nodded in agreement. “JoeJoe will take you to the mall for new clothes and then over to the Peace Arch.”
There was a pause and Wallace could feel the unspoken tension.
“You’re not coming with me.” Wallace tried to hide the hurt in his voice, but knew he couldn’t disguise the raw desperation. The thought of being alone, not knowing how to proceed, frightened him to death.
Just as Crow was about to answer, his cellphone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and listened.
“It’s okay,” he said into the phone. “I’ll be home soon. Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”
Crow hung up and squeezed the phone so tightly in his hand that his knuckles turned white. He had trouble meeting Wallace’s gaze.
“That was Delilah,” he said. “Marvin’s just been to the house and found your bloodied clothes. They’ve issued an alert on the truck and a warrant for my arrest.”
“Ah, Christ.” Wallace ran his fingers through his hair, digging the nails into his scalp, finding too many tender spots in tight, knotted muscles.
Crow kicked at the dirt. “If it was just me, I’d be backing you up one hundred percent. You know that, right? But I can’t leave Delilah and the girls, especially since we don’t know what the hell is going on. What if . . .”
Crow hesitated, unable to put words to dreaded thought.
“It’s okay.” Wallace infused his voice with grit, hoping it was enough. “I understand.” He gnashed his teeth, hating his own selfishness and the position he had placed his closest friend. “Christ, Crow. If anyone understands, it’s me. The girls come first. Go to them.”
“Yeah, I know, but I still feel like shit. Those are my godsons out there.”
A heavy silence passed between the two men.
JoeJoe broke the tension.
“This is sweet an’ all,” he said, “but we’ve got, like, other things to do.” He grabbed at Wallace’s arm. “We gotta go, dude.”
Crow squeezed Wallace’s other arm. “I’ll wait here until I know you’re across the border,” he said. “That way if the cops arrest me, it’ll be too damn late.”
CHAPTER 16
JoeJoe led Wallace at a hurried pace behind the huts to a semi-circular metal barn that housed a dozen ATV Quads and Trikes. The roof of the barn was covered in camouflage netting that trapped fallen needles and leaves.
As Wallace’s vision grew accustomed to the ghostly gloom, he saw at least a half-dozen other barns hidden beneath the forest canopy. He doubted they all contained recreational vehicles.
Inside the barn, a mechanic in pristine blue coveralls with the nametag Clarence embroidered
“We’ll see,” said Marvin. “Once we have them in custody, we can talk further. But as of this moment, Crow is as much a wanted man as Wallace is.”
Delilah followed the constables to the front door. Marvin was the last to leave.
“I’m still going to tell your mother,” said Delilah.
Marvin hesitated and appeared about to turn around, but then he shook his head and kept walking.
CHAPTER 15
Crow exited the hut with JoeJoe by his side and quickly descended a flight of wooden stairs to reach Wallace.
“Do you still have a credit card?” he asked.
Wallace patted his front pocket. The only items he left the house with each morning were an emergency credit card, driver’s license and enough pocket money for continuous coffee refills and the bus driver’s pension scheme: twice-weekly lottery tickets. He had abandoned his now-useless passport and change of underwear back in the overturned van, but these meager necessities had stuck with him even through a change of clothes. He nodded.
“Good,” said Crow. “Cheveyo is ready to take you across the border, but he needs you cleaned up first.”
“Cleaned up?”
“Less redneck,” said JoeJoe. “You look too much like a fugitive in borrowed clothes. He wants you looking smart. More American.”
Crow nodded in agreement. “JoeJoe will take you to the mall for new clothes and then over to the Peace Arch.”
There was a pause and Wallace could feel the unspoken tension.
“You’re not coming with me.” Wallace tried to hide the hurt in his voice, but knew he couldn’t disguise the raw desperation. The thought of being alone, not knowing how to proceed, frightened him to death.
Just as Crow was about to answer, his cellphone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and listened.
“It’s okay,” he said into the phone. “I’ll be home soon. Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”
Crow hung up and squeezed the phone so tightly in his hand that his knuckles turned white. He had trouble meeting Wallace’s gaze.
“That was Delilah,” he said. “Marvin’s just been to the house and found your bloodied clothes. They’ve issued an alert on the truck and a warrant for my arrest.”
“Ah, Christ.” Wallace ran his fingers through his hair, digging the nails into his scalp, finding too many tender spots in tight, knotted muscles.
Crow kicked at the dirt. “If it was just me, I’d be backing you up one hundred percent. You know that, right? But I can’t leave Delilah and the girls, especially since we don’t know what the hell is going on. What if . . .”
Crow hesitated, unable to put words to dreaded thought.
“It’s okay.” Wallace infused his voice with grit, hoping it was enough. “I understand.” He gnashed his teeth, hating his own selfishness and the position he had placed his closest friend. “Christ, Crow. If anyone understands, it’s me. The girls come first. Go to them.”
“Yeah, I know, but I still feel like shit. Those are my godsons out there.”
A heavy silence passed between the two men.
JoeJoe broke the tension.
“This is sweet an’ all,” he said, “but we’ve got, like, other things to do.” He grabbed at Wallace’s arm. “We gotta go, dude.”
Crow squeezed Wallace’s other arm. “I’ll wait here until I know you’re across the border,” he said. “That way if the cops arrest me, it’ll be too damn late.”
CHAPTER 16
JoeJoe led Wallace at a hurried pace behind the huts to a semi-circular metal barn that housed a dozen ATV Quads and Trikes. The roof of the barn was covered in camouflage netting that trapped fallen needles and leaves.
As Wallace’s vision grew accustomed to the ghostly gloom, he saw at least a half-dozen other barns hidden beneath the forest canopy. He doubted they all contained recreational vehicles.
Inside the barn, a mechanic in pristine blue coveralls with the nametag Clarence embroidered
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