The Choice (17 page)

“Dan was our leader. I think I did it because I fell in love with him. I didn’t search it out, nor would I ever do this myself. It’s not who I am.”

“Right after Granny died, I met Dan at one of the local farmer’s markets. I hadn’t seen him since high school. He took me out and came to visit me. We clicked. He listened to me while I mourned. He understood me in a way no one else could. He shared my same love of earth-based spirituality. He said he got vibes too, just like me. But it was something more about him, this powerful charm. The air buzzed with electricity anytime he was around. And when he wasn’t…” She shut her eyes; she couldn’t finish.

Her voice weakened when she spoke again. “Then one day he showed me his pot plants, the one’s he grew for friends. There weren’t that many. Next, I was watering them because he forgot, or didn’t have time. I never stopped to think how he slid me in there. All of a sudden, I watered all the time. I became the sitter. Dan became busy with other things. And I started to worry he’d leave me. I told myself if I did this for him, maybe he’d love me just a little—maybe he’d spend more time with me—maybe this would make him so happy he’d finally commit to me. Then I thought I could change him. After all, what he was doing wasn’t so bad.”

He studied her with such horror she thought he’d leave her sitting on the rickety step and drive away.

“But make no mistake Sam, I chose to follow him. Mama was right, no matter what. It’s always your choice. I was obsessed with loving him. So much, I’d do anything for him. Isn’t that what you do for someone you love?”

“Marcie…” She could tell he didn’t want to hear this.

“Sam, stop. Please let me finish. So you can understand every bad horrible thing about me and why I did it.”

He rested one foot on the stair above her, circling his hand in the air for her to continue. “By all means, Marcie. Oh, but first, what’s your real name?” He was angry and hurt and any whisper of trust that existed between them was now destroyed.

“My name is Marcienda Dawn Hollis, Marcie for short.” A hint of peace followed, even with the burden of what she’d done.

“We grew pot. Do you want the exact type, all those gory details? Why not? The last batch was northern lights.” She didn’t wait for him to reply. “Doesn’t matter does it? But it was just marijuana.”

“Okay stop right there Marcie, growing contraband for distribution and trafficking is a major criminal offense. You’re a drug dealer! And what I do is put people like you in prison.”

“Sam, I’m not a drug dealer. We grew marijuana for friends. It’s just weed, Sam. It’s not a bad drug…” She felt the wind go out of her sails as Dan’s own soapbox came out of her mouth.
What’s the big deal Marcie, it’s just weed?
“You’re right Sam, I was a drug dealer. Dan moved me to his property where he had the plants in an old wood shed. And that’s where it started. I looked after the weed he grew for himself and friends. And yes, they paid him. I got a cut for babysitting. Dan’s a very good teacher. He actually did nothing after he taught me how to grow and cultivate. But that’s what he does. He’s a busy man, building houses. This is just a sideline. He’d tell me what to do, and I took all the risk, willingly. He always had a scheme or big idea to make money. And I hung on every word and idea, loving him. Doing anything I could for him.”
Not everything.

“Then he wanted to go bigger. He said there’d be a big payoff. And I followed. I set up all the outdoor gardens. Found isolated, well-hidden spots near a good water source. It’s been a long hot summer, almost as if he knew it would be. We have thirty gardens, and last I checked we only lost three, someone cleared out.” Gritty degradation swept over her. Could she see through the mirage now?
Yes.

“Marketing’s done by a friend of Dan’s; her name’s Sandra.” Even repeating her name filled her mouth with bitters and an acidic aftertaste.

“There’s something about her I hate. Dan would defend her. She had contacts, but then she grew up in a family of professional growers outside Sequim. She knew the buyers, and I didn’t. And you know what, Sam? Right now, I’m grateful for that. Sandra’s really good with drugs. It came natural to her. She had indoor grow shows of her own. She has a nasty, mean streak, except with Dan. To him, she’s sweet as pie. She’d lie, cheat and steal from her own sister, but never in front of Dan. Why’s that, Sam?”

“Marcie, I’m not interested in childish cat fights. I want to know everything you were doing. Who you sold too, who the buyers are? Oh and let’s start with the million dollar question. What was in your backpack?”

“My backpack was filled with marijuana, the bud from indoor crops Sandra harvested. I was to take it to baggage claim and leave it. There’d be an identical backpack sitting there. I’d leave mine and take the other. Dan told me where to go. Apparently it was Sandra’s contact. I wasn’t given a name.” The click of a double cross enlightened an agonizing truth.

“You were transporting. Do you have any idea how long you’ll go to prison here? And in Louisiana baby, it ain’t no picnic. Oh and Reggie, you tell me right now how he’s involved. Let’s go with the obvious, isn’t he your contact?” Sam paced in front of her; slamming a concrete wall between them. No way could she touch him, let alone reason with him. This was all business.

“Sam, I swear I didn’t know Reggie. I didn’t know any of the contacts. And I have a sick feeling I may have been set up.”

“Oh no way are you going to play that card now.”

She touched his arm, but he shrugged her off. The look on his face ripped her heart open. He was visibly repulsed. He blurred in front of her as she fought the tears burning her eyes. “Sam, please listen. Dan was pushing me out. He became more secretive, especially after the fire.” Memories flowed faster than she could explain.

“Fire? What the hell, Marcie?”

“I already told you about my dream the first night here. Dan was involved in so many things. But everything was tied to drugs. After the house burned, all I did was look after the outdoor crops. Dan changed things, started working and meeting with Sandra secretly. I thought he was ending things with me, and then he surprised me with a trip to New Orleans. At first, I thought he planned a holiday for us. But I was wrong. It was nothing more than a trip to deliver a sample of Sandra’s bud. At the airport, he surprised me. Suddenly I’m going alone. And it’s me who’s supposed to exchange the backpack for an identical one—one that’d be baggage claim. And I willingly got on that plane for him. But Sam I swear, I didn’t know Reggie and the guy who stole my backpack. Either they ripped me off, and that was their plan all along, or maybe Dan had a different plan.”

Sam pushed away from the stairs. He crossed his solid arms, guarding his emotions to the point; his face seemed made of stone. “What was in the backpack you were supposed to pick up?”

“I don’t know, and I didn’t ask. Honestly Sam, I didn’t want to know.”

He tilted his head. She could see how he struggled with her story. “My guess, you’re picking up cocaine. If you’re caught, you’d take the fall; this guy’s slick. So tell me, how many trips have you made?”

A tear fell. “This was the first one. I’ve never done this before.”

His eyes narrowed, stripping away what was left of her shaky dignity. “Let’s start with where you’re from and where this little operation is located.”

“Gardiner, Washington. That’s where Dan’s properties are.”

“And this is where you live?”

“Well, actually no.”

He leaned closer.

“I live on Las Seta, a small island off the coast in the San Juan’s.”

“That’s where my last bust was. You doing something there?”

“Sam, that’s my home, Granny’s place. Not ever would I grow there, no matter how much Dan pressured me. That’s a line I wouldn’t cross.”

He didn’t respond; what he did was study her with that weird can’t-quite-figure-you-out expression. And it wasn’t in a good way.

“You still haven’t told me who you sold to. And who Dan’s buyers are.”

Marcie shook her head. “Sam, whether you believe me or not, I don’t know. I wasn’t in the loop. Dan told me once there were things I didn’t need to know. Who he sold to, or planned to sell to, that was a game between Dan and Sandra. All I know, is he’s a middle guy growing and selling to someone bigger. I suspect a family connection through Sandra.”

“Come on, Marcie. You expect me to believe you were that naïve and had no idea who he sold too?”

“I knew his friends he grew for before he went big—before Sandra started growing at his other rural property deep in Gardiner.”

“Where in Gardiner?”

“On a five acre parcel close to the state park where he’s got several illegal houses. That’s where Sandra lives, and where she grows. What I carried in my backpack was a small sample from her indoor crop, ready after three months. There’s a lot more, but I have no idea where the rest went. I suspect he may be growing somewhere else, involved with someone else. It’s what he does. He’s secretive and always on the lookout for new prey.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I could be wrong, Sam. I suspect Dan may have lured another woman to grow for him, somewhere else.”

“But you don’t know for sure?”

“Call it a vibe. One I wouldn’t have admitted before today.”

He gave a harsh nod, while he appeared to digest all this information. “That’s quite the entrepreneurial operation. You said he has several illegal homes on an isolated acreage. Most likely to grow and obviously would have to be one of the more secluded Gardiner properties. Then add in the possibility of another woman growing for him; you doing his outdoor gardens. Wow, this guy’s good. Could he be involved in a larger scale operation, maybe heroin, cocaine, weapons?”

Marcie wondered the same thing. Always fearing whatever Sandra and Dan were up to was bigger and more dangerous than she knew. “I don’t know, Sam. I can honestly tell you Dan’s ability to scheme and manifest greed and destruction is amazing. There’s probably something bigger going on, and he’d do it behind my back. That’s who he is. No loyalty to anyone.”

“You’re in love with him. You’re his girlfriend.” Sam leaned viciously toward her.

“No, I’m not. I may have thought I was, but I’m nothing more than a pawn in his pocket. Someone he can feed off and then toss away when he’s done.” A flicker of panic licked the back of her throat. “You’d never treat me that way, ever. You’ve never used a woman have you? You were honest with me. You opened your arms to me and not once did you have some sick motive to be kind to me just to get something out of it. I don’t know how to handle that. I’ve never had that from a man. I didn’t know it’s possible.”

“When I banged my head, I had no memory, no burning link to that sick, destructive love for him. And you stuck in here.” She thumped her hand over her heart. “I’ve spent two days in your life sharing your hurt. You’re an honest, loving man. And you’ve just rocked my entire world upside down. Showing me how I’ve lived, and what I thought was love, isn’t even close. It’s as if I woke up on the other side of a river. The bridge is down and I’m watching Dan for the first time objectively. Seeing him, what I’m doing for him. It’s sick, twisted…” She felt violated and knew she alone was responsible.

“What about the false passport, Marcie?”

She rubbed her throbbing temples. “The morning I left, Dan gave me the airline ticket and passport. I had no idea he arranged it. My original passport photo was on the forged document with the name Lisa Francis. I don’t know how he got his hands on my original passport, and I didn’t ask.”

“He stole your passport, created a forged one, which you willingly used for air travel? That’s a federal offense. What gets me, Marcie, is you don’t need to produce a passport for travel within the US. So why’d you use it?”

She closed her eyes remembering that moment vividly. She didn’t dwell on it because she believed he loved her. And she needed to have faith in him.
What you’re delivering, you don’t use your real name.

“The truth Sam, I chose to listen to him, thinking he wouldn’t allow any harm to come to me, and maybe this is his way of caring—of watching my back. So yes, I produced the passport. And he was right. No one questioned the validity. It was a great forgery, and I didn’t question how he did it.”

“This guy’s more connected than I think you realize. Or maybe you do? Is this a game Marcie? Gain my sympathy. Get me to help you. Maybe that’s all your convenient memory loss is?” He turned away from her stomping and kicking up the dirt, facing the swampy vegetation of the bayou. Then he froze and circled back. His hardness cut right into her soul, the way he slowly stalked toward her.

“You working for Lance Silver by any chance? Maybe trying to finish me off, make sure I’m nailed as being the head of some northern smuggling ring. Is this his plan? Send you in, have someone assault you, and fake a memory loss. Because you know my weakness, I’ll stop and help. Then you slither your way into my life and fuck it up even more. Was that your plan Marcie, plant more weed in my apartment, call the cops, make a deal? You already got Derek thinking I’m part of your ring.”

Her eyes widened in horror. “How could you think such horrible things? No, God, no! I would never do that to you. I don’t work for Lance. I know him from the island. Everyone who lives there does. But I’m not stupid enough to get involved with the likes of him. He’s a powerful man. You live on Las Seta. You learn to look the other way. Bad things go on all around us Sam, all the time. You pick your battles and I can honestly tell you he’s one I’d never take on.”