Give No Chance (Lawson & Abernathy 1)

“You called Curanto! Why?” Brenda demanded, swinging Amy around to face her. “Talk to me!”

Amy's terrified eyes looked up and saw the gun in Brenda's right hand.

“You… you can't hurt me,” Amy stumbled on her words. “You're a cop.”

“Girl, since I woke up this morning Joey Curanto has tried to kill me twice. Do you really think I care about you?” Brenda snapped, kicking the part of 'Bad Cop' into gear. “Why did you call Joey Curanto?”

“I told you I was dating Joey Jr's son, okay? Go talk to that Joey. He was the one who told me to hook up with Alonzo and get the guy to make a profile on 'Dazed'.”

Brenda studied Amy's soulless eyes. “Where is your heart, girl? An innocent kid is dead. Doesn't that matter to you?”

“Look, I didn't know Alonzo that good, alright? I didn't even like the guy. It's like I said, Joey Jr. had me hook up with Alonzo. What am I supposed to do, cry my eyes out over some guy I didn't even like? Get real.”

Amy tried to back away but Brenda grabbed her arm. “Let me go!”

“Why is Joey Curanto recruiting teenagers?” Brenda snapped. “Talk or I'm going to arrest you for attempted murder!”

“Attempted murder? You—”

“You made a call knowing full well that you put the life of two authorities in danger! I call that attempted murder, and so will a judge and jury. Now spill the rest of it!” Brenda growled, ignoring the icy winds and snow that were howling up and down the alley like rabid dogs.

Amy stared at Brenda with terrified eyes.

“I… had to call Joey Jr. He’s into some real heavy stuff and he… he talks to me, okay? The guy has it real bad for me. So what if Joey is using him to start a drug circle? It's not like the kids around this neighborhood have a future, anyway! Just last week Hammer, that fourteen-year-old kid, shot another ten year old. So don't go wasting any tears on a bunch of kids who want to earn some extra dough to get out of this dump! Joey pays real good, you know. So get off my back!”

“What did Alonzo—”

“Alonzo was a whiz kid, real smart with computers and stuff. He was a hacker or something like that. Had a reputation for being real smart. He also pushed some street drugs around, small stuff, marijuana mostly, but a little white powder here and there.” Amy tried to yank away from Brenda's grip but she held it firm. “Let go!”

“I want some names,” Brenda demanded. “Who did Alonzo hang with?”

“Hang with?” Amy asked in a confused voice. “Alonzo hung with some bad dudes, that’s all I’m going to say.” Amy winced when she tried to yank away from Brenda again but failed.

“Look. Curanto wants to start running drugs through this area, okay? Now please… I've got to get out of here and go get my mom. If I don't, we'll be dead before night hits.”

“Dead?” Brenda asked in a stern voice.

“What? Do you think Joey Jr. is gonna let me live? Well, maybe he would, but Joey isn't going to. No way! I'm taking my mom and grabbing a train to the city and then splitting the scene. Now, let go of me!”

“Girl, if you run, you're dead. Your only chance to stay alive is to talk to me. I'm an FBI Agent—”

“The FBI is a joke and everyone knows it,” Amy spat at Brenda. “Joey Curanto isn't afraid of the FBI, the CIA, whoever. He's the big dog around here.”

Brenda thought back to Henry and Brent, and suddenly she was too tired to care anymore.

“Yeah, I get it. Amy. Run away. Live your life.” Brenda let go of her arm.

“You better run, too, if you know what is good for you,” Amy told her. “Joey Curanto is on a warpath. That's what Joey Jr. told me. You better split town and fast. Don't say I didn't warn you.”

Amy glanced around and then took off down the alley without saying another word. Brenda watched her run into the snow, then eased through the back door of the diner and found Mack.

“I let the girl go.”

“Why?”

Brenda told Mack every word Amy had spilled out into the snow.

“We can't protect her, Mack. She is still considered a minor. I can't prove she called Joey Jr.—”