Dawn by McKayla Box

Chapter 22

Trevor takes me back to the beach to get my car. He tells me he has to go check in with Brett and I do my best to not ask him a hundred questions. The only thing I ask is for him to text me when he leaves and when he gets home from wherever he’s going, which he promises to do

I sit in my car and watch him drive out of the lot at the beach. I have mixed on emotions. On one hand, I’m glad we cleared the air between us. I’m glad that I know who Sunny is and why she’s at his house. And I’m glad that he at least shared with me all of the bullshit that’s going on with Brett.

But on the other hand, knowing that whatever he’s doing is dangerous has just ratcheted up my anxiety by about a hundred notches now. And I hate that he won’t just tell me. I don’t like that his excuse is that the less I know the better because it makes me feel like a little kid. I think he believes that, but that doesn’t make me like it. He’s still keeping something from me and that doesn’t feel right to me.

I pull out my phone and text Bridge.

Hey. What are you doing?

She responds right away because she’s awesome.

About to text you. We’re going to get lunch. In?

We?

With the dynamic duo.

Maddie and Gina.

Yeah I’m in. Where?

Gina wants pizza. Esposito’s cool?

Meet you there in ten.

Yay!

I toss my phone on the passenger seat and head toward Esposito’s. I’m not super hungry, but I need to talk things out with my friends. I know they’ll listen to me and if they think I’m being overly dramatic, they’ll tell me. I need that right now.

Esposito’s is a hole in the wall on the east side of town with an old Italian flag hanging above the small green awning over the entrance. There are a couple of old metal tables outside that no one ever sits at because there are usually birds roosting on the awning and no one wants to be underneath them. I see Gina’s car parked at the curb and I pull in behind her.

The inside is all wood paneling and cracked, vinyl booths. The air is filled with the smell of tomato sauce and garlic. Maddie waves to me from the back table and I slip past one of the servers carrying a large pizza to a table and slide into the booth next to Bridget.

Gina reaches across the table and grabs my hand. “These bitches wanna be all polite and shit, but you know me. Fuck that. Did you talk to him and do we need to go burn his house down? I have lighter fluid in my trunk.”

I laugh. “We do not need to burn down his house, no. But…thanks?”

She pats my hand. “That’s what friends do.”

Maddie rolls her eyes.

“But did you talk to him?” Bridget asks.

I nod. “I did.”

The three of them look at me.

“And I’m more confused than ever,” I admit.

“Tea, please,” Maddie says to me. “Now.”

The server comes and takes our drink order and we go ahead and order a pizza with everything. She drops off a basket of steaming hot garlic knots and promises to return with our drinks. As we wait for her to come back, I tell them about my conversation with Trevor and meeting Sunny and what he told me about Brett.

“I knew it,” Maddie says, shaking her head. “I knew he wasn’t right. It’s not like him to just ghost me like that.”

“Wait,” Bridget says. “So they’re doing some, like, illegal job for a loan shark or something?”

“I don’t even know what it is,” I tell her. “He just kept saying the less I know the better.”

“And you believe that?”

I hesitate, then nod. “Yeah. I mean, I believe the part about what he’s doing and who the girl in the parking lot was and all that. I’m not sure that it’s better for me being kept in the dark, though, because now I’m just worrying about it.”

“He gave you no hints?” Gina asks. “Nothing at all?”

I shake my head. “Nothing. His cousin said she might know something, but he interrupted us before she could tell me any more.”

“So call her,” Gina says. “Do you have her number?”

“Yeah, she gave it to me.”

“And you’re waiting because why?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. It’s all just super bizarre and I don’t want to put her in a weird spot.”

“You’re the one in the fucking weird spot,” Gina says, pointing at me. “Having to sit here and do nothing and wonder exactly what it is they’re doing. And if the phone rings and you see some random number, aren’t you going to freak out? Like, aren’t you going to worry if something’s happened?”

Maddie elbows her in the ribs.

“What?” Gina says. “Am I wrong?”

She’s not wrong. I’m already on edge, and it’s just going to get worse as the day goes on. I won’t be able to let my phone out of my sight and I won’t be able to sleep until I know Trevor’s home from wherever the hell he and Brett are going.

“You’re not,” I tell her.

“See?” Gina says, glaring at Maddie. “I’m not wrong.”

Our food comes and for a few minutes, we’re occupied with eating and drinking. The pizza is hot, the sauce slightly sweet, the mozzarella a gooey mess that starts to slide off my slice as I bring it to my mouth. It tastes amazing, like always. I didn’t think I was hungry before I got here, but now I realize I’m starving.

“So what are you going to do?” Bridget asks, leaning back in the booth. She’s already polished off her first slice, and I’m not sure how she did it without burning her tongue.

“Do?” I say. “I’m not sure there’s anything for me to do.”

“Bullshit,” Gina says. “Yes, there is.”

“What?” I ask.

Gina leans in toward the table. “Let’s follow their asses.”

“This isn’t Mission fucking Impossible,” Maddie says, spearing a tomato in her salad.

“Who says?” Gina glares at her again. “How else are we going to figure out what they’re doing?”

“I’m not sure it’s about what we want,” Maddie tells her. “It’s about what Presley wants.”

Gina looks at me. “Okay, fine. What do you want?”

It’s a good question, and I don’t know the exact answer. I want to believe Trevor, that he knows what he’s doing and that he’s keeping me in the dark for a good reason.

But I also know now I’m more worried than ever.

“Are you seriously talking about following them?” I ask.

“Fuck yes I am!” Gina says. “Why not?”

Maddie rolls her eyes again.

“Like, how?” I ask.

“Have you bitches not ever watched a TV show? Or a movie?” she says, looking at each of us. “We sit outside his damn house and when he leaves, we follow him. Or we split up and follow both him and Brett if they go separately. I don’t know. It’s not that hard.”

I look at Bridget.

“Don’t look at me,” she says, shaking her head. “This is your call. He’s your boyfriend. If I can help, I will, but I’m not making the call.”

I look at Maddie.

She sighs. “My dad just bought a Jeep Cherokee. He’d have no way of knowing it belongs to me.”

“See?” Gina says, a triumphant smile on her face. “You’re already thinking the right way!”

“I’m not saying it’s a good idea,” Maddie warns. “I’m just saying…if you want help, I’m in. Not gonna leave you hanging.”

“My mom just got a new Lexus,” Bridget says. “A small SUV. I’m sure I can convince her to let me borrow it for a night. Neither of them would recognize it.”

Gina claps her hands excitedly. “See? It’s all coming together. Can you find out when they’re going to wherever they’re going next?”

“He told me it was tonight,” I say. “But I don’t know when or anything like that.” I pick up my slice of pizza and then set it back down on the plate. “Shit. I don’t know, guys. This might be a bad idea.”

“You know what’s a bad idea?” Gina frowns at me. “Letting Trevor and Brett get into some shit they shouldn’t be in. That’s what’s a bad idea.”

She’s not wrong.

But I know how angry he’ll be if he finds out I’m doing this.

I also know, though, that maybe I need to stop worrying about what he might get upset about and start worrying about what I am upset about.

“I think we should split up,” Gina says, taking my silence for agreement. “Two of us take Brett and two of us take Trevor. At least to start. That way we cover all of our bases. We can use our phones to stay in contact, and it’ll be way less obvious than four of us riding around in one car. If they end up going together, we can trade off and one of us can stay far away. We can take turns.”

“This is like a dream come true for you,” Maddie says.

“Always figured I’d work for the FBI one day.” Gina grins. “I’m just getting a head start.”

I laugh and shake my head. “I don’t know.”

“Come on, Pres,” she says. “We don’t even have to get involved. But maybe you’d see something that might make you feel a little bit better, right? Maybe you’d at least know where he is? Anything that might make you even the tiniest bit more comfortable.”

She can read me like a book.

“Yeah,” I say. “Alright. If you guys are in, let’s do it.”

Gina reaches her hand straight up. “I am fucking in.”

“In,” Maddie says. “Against my better judgement.”

“I’m in,” Bridget says. “But first sign of anything weird, we are out of there. Everyone cool with that? We are not getting in the middle of anything. We can observe, but we aren’t getting into the mix. As long as that’s the deal, I’m in.”

“I second that,” Maddie says.

“You guys are no fun,” Gina says, pouting. “But okay. I can compromise.”

“Alright,” I say. “Let’s do it.” I pause. “But, one thing.”

They all look at me.

“We’re gonna have one more spy with us,” I tell them.