Dawn by McKayla Box

Chapter 29

“I’ve never been so fucking cold in my life,” Sunny says.

We’ve managed to get out of the water and walk back to the parking lot. Maddie doesn’t have towels in her car, but there is a blanket, so Sunny and I wrapped together in the blanket in the back seat of the Cherokee. Maddie has the car on and the heat hits us full blast as we sit in the parking lot. Gina is in the front seat and Bridget is in the third row behind us.

“I saw his truck and I about shit a brick,” Bridget says.

“Same,” Gina says.

“They didn’t see you?” Maddie asks.

I shake my head. “No. They had no idea we were there.”

“Did you hear anything?” Gina asks.

Sunny looks at me.

“They had a gun,” I say.

“Jesus,” Bridget whispers.

“What the fuck?” Maddie says, shaking her head.

“It didn’t sound like they’ve used it before,” I tell them. “But they have a gun.”

Sunny is shaking so hard, she’s rocking the car.

“We need to get dry,” I say.

“On it,” Maddie says.

She pulls us out of the lot and hammers the accelerator as we leave the marina. I’m cold, too, but I’m used to being cold. This isn’t new for me. I’m not sure Sunny is, though. I put my arm around her and try to keep my wet hair off of her as I hug her as tightly as I can under the blanket. The heat from the car is blowing on us, but the few minutes in the water absolutely chilled us.

Maddie roars into the parking lot of a Walgreens and jumps out, but leaves the car running. We all stay silent in the car as the heater hums and warms the interior of the car. The blanket around us is now soaked and I’m not sure it’s providing us with much warmth at this point.

After a couple of minutes, Maddie runs out of the store with a couple of bags in her hands. She opens up the passenger door on Sunny’s side. “I’ve got towels and some shitty clothes, but they’ll be warmer than what you’re in. Get undressed.”

We toss the wet blanket onto the floor and struggle to strip out of our wet clothes. She hands us each a cheap pair of sweats and one of those touristy hoodies with Sunset Beach printed across the chest. She hands us each a giant beach towel, too.

We both dry off with the towel first and then pull on the dry clothes. I immediately feel better.

“Give me the wet stuff,” Maddie says.

We push all of the wet clothing and the blanket to her and she shoves it all in one of the bags. She passes it over the seat to Bridge. “Just toss it behind you.”

Bridget nods and takes the bag and drops it in the back.

Maddie gets back in behind the wheel.

“You’re gonna be like the best fucking mom over,” Gina says.

We all laugh.

The shivering is finally stopping and we sit there in the lot until I feel almost normal again, save for my cold, wet hair.

I look at Sunny and she isn’t shaking anymore. “You okay?”

She nods. “Yeah, think so. The fucking ocean is cold.”

“Especially without a wetsuit in December,” I tell her.

“I can’t feel my toes,” she says.

“They’ll come back,” I tell her.

Maddie pulls out of the Walgreens lot and goes across the street to a McDonald’s. She pulls into the drive-thru and orders five coffees.

“McDonald’s coffee?” Gina says, wrinkling her nose. “Really?”

“Starbucks is closed,” Maddie says, pulling up to the window. “And their coffee isn’t terrible.”

“Speak for yourself.”

Maddie pays for the coffees and the guy in the window hands her a single cup and a tray, which she gives to Gina. As she pulls away from the window, Gina doles out the coffee to Sunny and me and we pass one back to Bridget. Maddie pulls into a parking space.

The warm cup feels so good in my hands and I just want to hug it. I don’t care that it burns my tongue as a I sip it because the heat going inside of me immediately makes me feel better. Sunny is cradling her cup and sipping her coffee, too. I can tell she feels better.

Maddie turns around. “So. Now what?”

“Can you see them in the app?”

She pulls her phone out. “Let’s check.” She slides her finger over the glass and taps it several times. She stares at the screen. “Still out in the ocean. But definitely heading south. Not far off the coast.”

“How far south?” I ask.

She shows me the screen. I see the little dot that is the phone I put in their boat. I’m not great with maps, but I’d guess maybe a half hour south of Sunset.

“That’s almost to Mexico,” Sunny says, eyeing the screen.

I nod. “Yeah.”

“This is getting fucking weird,” Bridget says. “They’re on a boat. At night. Going toward Mexico. With a gun. And doing all of this for some guy who gave Brett a bunch of money.” She pauses, then says what we’re all thinking. “This feels bad.”

It does feel bad. It’s felt bad from the start.

“We could drive that way,” Gina says. “Sort of follow the dot.”

Maddie looks at me. “It’s up to you.”

I look at the dot on the screen. “Not tonight. Let’s see where they go and make sure they come back. Then…we’ll figure out what to do next.”

“But we might be able to catch them in the middle of whatever they’re doing,” Gina says.

“Do we really want to do that?” Bridget asks.

“Isn’t that why we’re out there?” Gina snaps back.

“They took a fucking gun with them, Gina, and it looks like they’re going to fucking Mexico,” Bridget says irritably. “This isn’t fucking hide-and-seek or some game. Whatever shit they’re in, it’s bad. And I’m not sure we should be jumping in behind them.”

Bridget isn’t wrong.

This definitely isn’t a game.

And we need to be careful. I appreciate that my friends are helping me, but the last thing I want is to put any of them in danger.

“Let’s just watch them for now.” I glance at Sunny. “I think we’ve had enough excitement for one night.”