Page 186 of Eight Years Gone

Grace frowned. “I don’t know what that is.”

Jagger looked at her. “The VIN is a vehicle’s identification number.”

She nodded. “I know that part.”

“They’re bringing in totaled vehicles,” he continued to explain. “Then they’re stealing cars of the same make and model. They’re taking the VIN from the totaled car and using it on the stolen vehicle.”

Grace’s frown reappeared. “Why?”

“Because a stolen car’s VIN would be flagged as stolen, but a totaled car’s number is simply out of commission. Nothing would alert the authorities to be suspicious because they would never be looking for a totaled car’s VIN to be there. They’re most likely shipping the vehicles overseas. To places like Ghana, where there’s a huge market for stolen vehicles. Nothing can be done once the car clears customs with the counterfeit VIN.”

Grace nodded. “That’s horribly smart.”

Jagger sighed again because it was also sophisticated. Colton’s old friends were mixed up with big players. “How did they realize you’d caught on?”

“One day, I went in early before the dealership opened—before my shift started. I wanted to wash my truck. When I drove around back, I saw the car brought in the day before being put up on a flatbed. It had a different license plate, and the rims had been changed out for something less expensive from the shop. When I saw the original wheels tucked away in the corner of the garage, I knew that my suspicions were right. I tried to quit at the end of my shift. I told Ray that school and two jobs were too much.”

“What happened?” Jagger wanted to know.

“Jimmy came by the apartment that night. He told me he would see me at the shop the next day. I knew they would probably kill me if I didn’t show up.”

“Oh, God,” Grace whispered as she clutched her mug.

“After that, they stopped trying to hide what was happening,” Colton continued. “I guess they thought that the more I knew, the more stuck I was.”

Jagger nodded. “I’d say that’s about right.”

“The night I got arrested, I was supposed to have gone to Philly with Greg. Jimmy and Ray thought I should help Greg boost a car.”

“So, Greg steals the cars?”

Colton nodded. “Yeah.”

Jagger nodded again because Ray and his buddies had wanted Colton in deep. “You’re not likely to say much if you’re an accessory to grand theft auto and an auto theft ring.”

Colton shook his head. “I didn’t meet Greg where I was supposed to. I went to a party instead, had a few drinks, and got into it with Casey’s new boyfriend. I was relieved when the cops showed up. I was even more relieved when my mom didn’t answer her phone and they called you. When you guys brought me up here, I was two hours away from Millsdale. I was two hours away from them. It gave me some breathing room—a chance to think.”

Jagger thought back to the night when they all decided that Colton should give living in Preston Valley a shot while they ate their lasagna dinner. Colton’s sudden about-face and desire to move in with two strangers now made perfect sense.

Colton rubbed at his temples. “I don’t know how they found me up here. I was hoping that after a while, they would just forget about me. But when they came by on Wednesday, they reminded me I owed them a ride. I told them that I couldn’t get away right now. I mentioned that I’d gotten arrested—that Mom had sent me up here to stay with you two and how you were keeping me on a tight leash. They seemed fine with it when they left. I don’t know why they came back today.”

Jagger scooted his chair farther in, ready for more answers. Because unlike Colton’s naivete, he knew this wasn’t going away. “I need to know everything you do if I’m going to help you fix this. Names. Who does what. Etcetera, etcetera. I bought you some time by scaring the shit out of them tonight, but I don’t know how long it’ll stay that way. It’s clear they don’t call the shots.”

Colton shook his head as he shrugged. “I don’t know all that much.”

“You’ll tell me what you do, and I’ll take it from there. We’ll sit down first thing tomorrow morning and get things figured out.”

Colton settled his elbows on the table, then rested his forehead in his palms. “Maybe I should just leave. That had been my plan the day you took me to Wakeview.”

“Where were you going to go?” Grace asked.

Colton shrugged. “I have no idea. The plan was to get on a bus and see where I ended up.”

Jagger clenched his jaw as he exchanged a glance with Grace. “That sounds like a fast way to end up in a really bad situation.”

Colton lifted his head to look at him. “I’d say I’m already in one of those.”

Jagger shook his head because Colton had no idea how much worse it could get. He played at being street smart and tough, but under it all, he was just a scared seventeen-year-old who’d been pissed at the father who’d abandoned him. “You’re a good-looking kid who would eventually run out of money. Don’t think for a second that you wouldn’t get pimped out when you found yourself living on the streets.”

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