Dawn by McKayla Box
Chapter 28
“How are we doing this?” I ask.
It’s later in the evening and I’m sitting at Juanito’s with the girls. I picked up Sunny and Bridget. Maddie and Gina met us there and now we’re eating and going over our plan for the night.
“We should go down there now,” Bridget says. “Before they get there. So that there’s plenty of time to find the boat and put the phone on it and then get out.”
The others nod.
Maddie places a phone on the table. “I got this.”
“You didn’t have to,” I say. “I was going to get it.”
“Please,” she says, rolling her eyes. “My dad goes through phones as fast as his bottles of whiskey. He has a drawer full, so I just grabbed one. I already set it up so the find feature is on, so we should be able to see it in real time.”
“You rock,” I tell her.
She acknowledges the compliment with a smile. “I know.”
“Did you talk to Trevor after last night?” Gina asks me.
“He came over after.”
“After?” she asks. “Do tell.”
I laugh and shake my head. “You know I don’t do that.”
“Come on. Just give us a taste,” she says, leaning forward. “How big is his—”
“No!” I say, shaking my head. “Absolutely not.”
Gina frowns. “You’re no fun.”
I look at Sunny. “Enjoying listening to Gina wonder what your cousin’s penis looks like?”
Sunny winces. “It’s a little cringey.”
“Look, your cousin is hot and he’s only slept with one of us at this table,” Gina says bluntly. “I’ve got questions and very few answers.”
“Can we get back on track here?” Bridget asks.
“Yes,” I say. “Please.”
“We should go now if we’re doing this,” Bridget continues. “So that we can get it done and get out of there before they get show up.”
“Agreed,” Maddie says. “Finish up.”
We finish our food, then load into her Cherokee. Butterflies bounce around in my stomach and I drum my hand on the armrest. I’m nervous. I try to remind myself that all we’re doing is putting a phone in a boat, but it feels like way more than that.
Maddie drives us to the marina parking lot. The sun is just setting over the ocean, so it’s not quite dark yet. There are still cars parked in the lot and she maneuvers to the far corner before she slips the car into an empty spot and shuts off the engine.
“Okay,” she says. “What’s the game plan?”
“Sunny and I are going to go down to the gate and try to get in,” I say.
“Wait,” Sunny says. “I thought it was just gonna be me.”
I shake my head. “No way. If anything goes wrong, I don’t want you out there alone. This is my thing with Trevor, so if things get fucked up, I’ll take the blame.”
She hesitates, then nods.
“What do the rest of us do?” Gina asks.
“Keep a look out,” I say. “He said he’d text when he goes to leave, so that should give us enough time to clear out before they get here. I have no idea what time they’re going, but I think we’re early enough that it shouldn’t be a problem.” I look at Bridget. “So maybe you’re up on the street, just keeping an eye on traffic?” I turn my attention to Maddie and Gina. “You guys stay here in the car in the lot in case we need to get the hell out of here in a hurry.” I pause. “Unless you guys have other ideas. I have no idea what we’re doing, so I’m open to whatever.”
They all look at each other.
“I think that all makes sense,” Bridget says. “Everyone keep their phones on them in case we need to make contact.” She pushes open her door. “I’ll go find a place near the entrance to the marina.” She gets out and closes the door behind her.
I take a deep breath and look at Sunny. “You ready?”
She nods.
I pull the phone Maddie gave me from my pocket. “It’s all good?”
Maddie nods. “All good.”
“Alright then,” I say. “Here goes nothing.”
Sunny and I get out and walk slowly across from the lot. There are people out on their boats on the other side of the gate to the docks, but no one in the lot walking toward the gate. I was hoping we might be able to just walk in behind someone, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. As we get closer, I see two guys stepping off their boat on the other side of the gate. They’re about halfway down the first dock and they’re checking their pockets to make sure they have everything.
“There we go,” Sunny says. “Those two.”
I nod. “Yep.”
“You want me to talk or you?”
“Go for it.”
“I’m just gonna tell them that my dad sent us down to here get his wallet, but he didn’t give me the gate code,” she says. “Then smile a lot.”
“Sounds good to me.”
We slow our walk so that our speed matches theirs as they’re approaching the gate. Both guys are in their fifties and look sunburnt from a day on the water. The first guy pushes the gate open and his buddy walks out behind him.
Sunny smiles and takes a deep breath.
And then the guy steps out of the way and holds the gate open for us, smiling broadly.
“Thank you,” Sunny says, without missing a beat.
“Thanks,” I say, following in behind her.
The guy smiles, nods, and closes the gate behind us.
“Well, that wasn’t much fun at all,” Sunny mutters as we walk down the dock.
“We got lucky,” I tell her. “Be grateful.”
“Oh, I am,” she says. “I had my story all ready, though.”
“There,” I say, pointing straight ahead. “That’s the boat they were on.”
The boat is maybe twenty feet long, with two seats and a wheel in the middle of the boat, with an awning over the top. I don’t know anything about boats, but it looks like the kind someone would take out for fishing. Nothing fancy, but sturdy. The motor is mounted to the back of the boat and there are slots for fishing poles off of the awning over the middle. The body is white with a faded mint green trim.
We reach the boat and step onto it. It rocks slightly but it’s tied to the anchor thing on the dock with a thick, heavy rope. Sunny immediately sits down behind the wheel and starts opening the small compartments surrounding the instrument panel.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Just looking for stuff,” she answers. “I thought maybe there might be something in here that might give us a clue about where they go, but I don’t see anything.”
“We just need to find a place to put the phone,” I tell her, pulling it out of my pocket.
“Well, not up here,” she says. “They might open these.”
“Right.” I look around and then maneuver my way toward the front of the boat. There are two small, empty buckets in the compact area. I move one of the buckets and see a small compartment built into the rail. I twist the lock on it and it opens like a small glove compartment. There’s a small roll of duct tape and some loose tools. I hesitate for a second, then look at Sunny. “What about here?”
She gets out of the chair behind the wheel and comes over to where I’m standing. She bends down and looks in the compartment. “Looks good to me.”
I slide my finger over the phone screen and double check that the tracking feature is on and then that it’s completely silenced. The battery is fully charged. I move some of the tools in the box and put it in the bottom of the compartment, then move the tools back over it.
I text Maddie.
Okay it’s in place. Can you see it in the app?
She responds immediately.
Yep I have it. We’re good.
I sendher a thumbs up and look at Sunny. “Okay. Maddie has it on her phone. I think we’re good.”
“Awesome.” She looks around. “This isn’t a huge boat. I don’t think they’re going super far in it.”
I nod. “Agreed.”
“And it’s not like they could be carrying a lot of stuff. There isn’t much room for anything once the two of them get on here.” She shakes her head. “It’s so weird.”
“I know,” I say. “Hopefully, we might be able to make some sense of it if we know where they’re going.”
“Yeah.” She looks around again. “We should go.”
I start to tell her yes, but my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out and see Bridget’s name on the screen. It’s a text to the group chat.
THEY ARE FUCKING HERE!
The hairon my neck stands up and I type back.
What???
THEY ARE TURNING IN RIGHT NOW GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!
“Shit,”I say. “They’re here.”
Sunny turns to me. “What?”
“They’re here,” I say, my heart hammering. “Trevor and Brett. They’re here.”
“Fuck.”
My phone vibrates again. This time from Gina.
They’re in the fucking lot. Don’t walk to the gate!!!
“They’re in the lot,”I tell Sunny. “We’re fucked.”
I look toward the lot and see headlights flash as a car pulls in. Or, a truck.
“He didn’t text me,” I say, frantically looking at my phone. “He didn’t text me. Shit.”
“What are we going to do?” Sunny asks.
There’s nowhere to hide on the boat. And we can’t even get to the lot now.
My phone vibrates again.
This time it’s Trevor.
Hey. Brett and I are going. Going early tonight. Will text you when we are done. Don’t worry. Love you.
My heart thumpshard against my chest as I type back.
Be careful. Love you too.
I shovemy phone in my pocket. “Come on.”
We both jump off the boat onto the dock.
Car doors slam in the distance.
“They’re coming,” Sunny whispers.
“No shit,” I hiss.
The boats in the other slips are covered. The one closest to their boat is a cabin cruiser and it’s only partly covered, but there’s no place to hide.
There’s only one place to go.
“Gimme your phone,” I say. “Hurry.”
Thankfully, Sunny hands it to me without asking why. I pull my phone from my pocket and jog over to the cabin cruiser. I lean down and set both phones on the floor of the boat, pushing them up against the rail.
I look at Sunny. “We’re getting in.”
“The boat? They’ll see us.”
“The water,” I tell her. “Right now.”
“What??”
I don’t have time to explain. I step onto the cabin cruiser and step quickly to the back of the boat.
I hear the beeping from the lock pad at the gate. “They’re coming. Come on!”
Sunny steps onto the boat. I step onto the back of the boat as it rocks in the water. There’s a flat ledge that the motor is mounted on and it’s maybe a foot above the water. I sit down on the edge of it and before I can stop myself, I slide into the water.
The temperature shocks me and I clench my teeth so I don’t make a sound. Sunny follows me onto the ledge and I scoot around the boat, holding onto it as she slides in. Her eyes go wide as the cold water gets her, too, but she doesn’t make a sound. I motion for her to follow me around to the other side of the boat and we maneuver ourselves so that we’re on the other side. We both reach over and hang onto the dock.
I hear footsteps on the dock as the guys approach.
“Why are we going early?” Brett asks.
“No clue,” Trevor answers. “I don’t ask questions.”
Their feet thud against their boat as I assume they jump in. We can’t see them since we’re on the other side of the cabin cruiser, freezing our asses off in the water.
“I’m ready to be done with this,” Brett says.
“Uh. Yeah.”
A sigh. Then, “Sorry I got you into this.”
“Don’t apologize,” Trevor says. “Just untie us and let’s get going.”
We hear them moving around on the boat and the dock. Sunny and I are both shivering in the water now and as much as I don’t want Trevor to go to wherever he’s going, now I want them to leave so we can get the hell out of the water.
“Presley pissed at you?” Brett asks.
“A little, I think,” Trevor answers. “But we’re cool.”
“I’m sorry, man.”
“Stop fucking apologizing,” Trevor says. “Let’s get moving. Did you put the gun in the box?”
Sunny and I both look at one another. Her eyes are even wider now than when she first slipped into the water.
“Not yet,” Brett says.
Footsteps.
“Okay, it’s in there,” Brett says. “I don’t even know how to use it.”
“Me either, but better safe than sorry.”
Which makes no fucking sense to me as Sunny and I cling to the dock, neck-deep in the water.
The boat engine rumbles to life and their voices are muffled now. I motion for Sunny to follow me and we moved further toward the front of the boat and the slip, just to make sure they can’t see us when they take off.
The engine groans a bit and I can see ripples in the water at the back of the cabin cruiser.
They’re moving.
I see the back end of the boat as it backs out of the slip, but I don’t see either of them. For a second, I’m worried they’ll back up even further and have a direct line of sight toward where we are. If they turn to their left, they’ll be looking right at us. It’s dark, but they might be able to make out two shivering heads clinging to the dock.
But their boat stops for a moment and then the engine groans again and the little bit of their boat that we can see disappears, leaving a small wake trail behind it.
I maneuver around Sunny and swim to the end of the cabin cruiser.
In the dark, I see the boat leaving the harbor, Trevor standing at the wheel, his back to me.
And off they go.