Shadow Box by Kelly Scott

Author:Kelly, Scott [Kelly, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Organized Crime, Murder, Crime, Noir, Police, dark
Amazon: B01LPHCJUK
Goodreads: 31867466
Published: 2016-09-06T07:00:00+00:00

*

His shirt is a bit long in the shoulders, but looks better than anything I own—cream, with vertical white stripes, and a clever fabric under the collar and sleeves which flashes a deep blue under my neck and wrists.

My hair is starting to grow back, a few millimeters of brown growth on my scalp. Face drawn, tired; been drunk more often than asleep this week.

Doesn’t seem like it’ll change anytime soon.

You could turn yourself in, sleep in jail. Let all this go, damnit. None of it matters as much as Mom and Dad.

Shush. I’m trying to think.

I get that you’re pissed, that you’ve been betrayed—but continuing down this path puts you deeper into the mess that got you here in the first place.

“He called her Lauren,” I say, voice deflecting from the bathroom mirror and finding its way to the room where Eric sits with a cup of instant coffee he’s brewed.

“Who’s Lauren?”

“Lauren is Morgan’s original name,” I answer. “The Marshal called her that. It’s not something a lot of people would know, I think.”

“Maybe the Feds do,” Eric calls. “They’re pretty good at putting this stuff together.”

“I’m not sure,” I say, buttoning the top button of the shirt before undoing it when I feel the pressure on my throat. I emerge in a pair of tight-legged brown slacks and his shirt, bending down to pick up my shoes. I tap these against the floor; sand and salt pepper the tiles. “I’m helping you set Jack free, you know. He actually did kill Kayla, and I didn’t.”

“Yeah, but you helped. Makes you just as guilty, to the law. But if he’s found innocent, you probably will be too.”

“I didn’t realize I was helping,” I answer. “Or that Kayla would really die.”

Eric shrugs. “Try telling them that, after the show you put on in Florida.”

I run a hand over my scalp. “I’m getting tired of running, Eric. My family is suffering for it.”

He steps over to me and places his hands on my shoulders. Heavier than they should be. “Sean, listen to me—turning yourself in is the last thing you want. You know what happens if they find you guilty in Texas? The death penalty. You think your parents would like to imagine you’re gallivanting around the world as a fugitive, or would they prefer to see you sit in a jail cell until you’re executed? At least this way, they can hope you’re alive.”

I don’t have a response to that.

His hands leave my shoulders and return with his wallet, which is squeezed open. Eric pinches out all the brightly colored money, extending the folded stack of pesos. “This is everything I have on me; it’s about four hundred bucks in dollars.”

I take the cash. “Don’t guess you have a gun I could borrow? Lost mine.”

“I’m a law-abiding citizen, Sean. I didn’t bring a gun.”

“Law-abiding citizen who gave a fugitive money and clothes so he can steal a large sum of cash from another fugitive.”

He smirks. “Prove it. Sorry, kid, no guns here.

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