Read Online Renegade (2013) by Mel Odom - Free Book Online

are talking like you lit up that crack house a few nights ago.”
    “Yeah.”
    “It’s not my business—I know that.”
    Pike knew that too, but he also knew that Monty was about to make it his business.
    “I don’t want to ask, Pike, but I got to.”
    Pike took another sip of beer, relished the coolness of it against the dry heat and the taste of burned oil and hydraulic fluid that pervaded the garage, and thought about how he was going to answer. He respected Monty too much to lie.
    “Do you really want to know?”
    “Yeah, I think I need to. It’s my family, Pike, and my garage. If those things are in the line of fire from some gangbangers, I need to know.”
    “Yeah, I burned it down.”
    “Figured you did when the cops come nosing around here, but I wanted to be sure.”
    “Now you’re sure.”
    “Why?”
    “It needed burning. People around here were getting hurt. Nobody seemed to be able to do anything to stop them. So I stopped them.”
    “You can’t just do that.”
    “It’s easier than you think.”
    “You could have been killed.”
    “I wasn’t.” Pike took another sip and felt like the ground was suddenly treacherous underfoot. There were two ways this conversation might go, and he wasn’t holding out for a fairy-tale ending.
    “I couldn’t do what you did, Pike.”
    Pike didn’t say anything.
    “I knew about the crack house.” Hurt showed in Monty’s eyes. “Ijust kept trying to ignore it. Like everybody else around here. But I couldn’t quit thinking about it. My kids are young right now, but I know that sooner or later they’re gonna be old enough to be prey for those dealers. Thinking like that makes me sick.”
    Pike nodded.
    “I’ve even called in to the police about the crack house. Twice. Reported what I was seeing. The police came around, but they never caught anybody doing anything. Exercise in futility. But I kept thinking about my kids and wondering what was going to happen. Then I found out that the place had burned up. I felt pretty good about it. Figured it was rival action between gangs, but it was all the same to me because it was out of business.” Monty paused. “Then the police came around accusing you of setting that fire and running those guys out of the building.”
    “I didn’t mean to bring any of this down on you, brother.” Pike spoke softly and felt a big knot in his chest.
    “I know, but I’m worried about it.”
    “You want me to pull up stakes, Monty?” Pike knew he had to ask the question, but he dreaded the answer. This garage and that apartment weren’t home. He’d never had anyplace that he’d truly called home, but the idea of leaving everything was unsettling. “Is that what you’re working up to? Because if it is, just say the word and I won’t think badly of you for it.”
    Surprise twisted Monty’s big face. “No, man, that’s not what I’m getting at here. It’s just that if the police suspect you burned that crack house down, them drug dealers are gonna get around to figuring things out too, you know?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I don’t want you to leave, Pike. I talked it over with my wife, told her what the cops suspected and what I thought was going on, and I asked her what she thought about everything too.”
    “She wants the kids safe. She wants you safe. That’s understandable.” Mentally, Pike started packing his tools, figuring out how much of them he could take today and how much would have to wait till he brought his truck down, and how much he’d have to just leave. The witness protection guys would be happy. They could tuck him in some other out-of-the-way place.
    “Nope. That’s not it either. She wants you to stay as much as I do. The garage is more profitable; I’m happier working; she don’t have to worry about me getting hurt while I’m here on my own. Truth to tell, if you could help me figure out how to get Raheed out of his batting slump, life couldn’t be better. But I want to make some changes