“We gotta move,” Mo said through the car door.
Lo was suddenly on my right, opening the door and helping me out.
“Fuck!” Aiden slammed his fist on the bench seat before running his hand over his head.
“Company has arrived,” Mo said with a sigh.
“Yeah, I see that,” Lo responded.
The sound of sirens invaded my ears as several police cars pulled into the lot. Aiden got back out of the car and went around to the front where Mo stood. They leaned close together, speaking quickly and glancing in the direction of the sirens as my heart raced.
There was no capacity for comprehension in my head. It was just too far beyond my experience. Guns? Running into restaurants and chasing people out? And now police? I couldn’t cope with it all.
I shook my head slowly from side to side as I stood in the parking space next to Lo’s car. I couldn’t speak. As tears flowed down my cheeks, I could only watch.
“It won’t do any good,” I heard Mo say. “People in there know you.”
“Fuck my life,” Aiden muttered.
“It’s still progress,” Mo said as he placed his hand on Aiden’s shoulder.
I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t cope with this. Everything inside of me revolted against what was happening. Whatever this was, I couldn’t deal with it.
I took a few steps back, just behind Lo and out of his view. He didn’t move, just kept watching Mo and Aiden as they spoke to each other. Police were getting out of their patrol cars, and some had their weapons drawn. I stepped back again, but no one seemed to notice.
One of the police officers addressed Aiden and his friends, telling them all to put their weapons down. Aiden raised his hands up over his head, the revolver dangling by his thumb near the trigger. He lowered it slowly to the ground and backed away from it, leaving his hands on top of his head.
Just like a pro.
I realized I was still walking backward when I hit the edge of a car several spots away from the scene. I jumped and stopped a scream from coming out of my throat as I covered my mouth with my hand and smacked myself in the shoulder with my wrist-purse.
I have to get out of here.
I turned and looked around quickly. No one seemed to have noticed me at all—everyone’s focus was on Aiden. I had everything in my purse I needed to get myself out of here. I walked swiftly around to the far side of the vehicle and ducked down a bit until I was sure no one had seen me. Sweat dripped between my shoulder blades and down the side of my face, mixing with my tears. My breath was coming in choppy gasps. I looked over to the other side of the street and saw a gas station and a restaurant.
My hands were still shaking, and I could barely keep my knees from giving out on me. All of my instincts had been dead-on, and I hadn’t listened to them. Aiden was a criminal. He carried a gun, shot at people in restaurants, and God knows what else.
Was I going to be arrested? Would the police even believe me if I told them I didn’t know anything?
I was an idiot and had nearly been trapped by Aiden and his accomplices. I’d heard Aiden say that the police couldn’t do anything to them. What did that mean? Was he so big in the crime world that the police couldn’t touch him? Was he that corrupt? What would he do with me now that I knew more than I should? I had to get out of there. I had to get out of there as fast as possible.
I ran.
Nearly tripping over the curb, I raced across the street just as the light was changing. My legs were scratched by bushes as I pushed through them and into the parking lot of the gas station. That was when I heard Aiden screaming.
“Chloe! CHLOE!”
I turned my head and looked back over my shoulder. Aiden’s wide eyes were clearly visible in the bright Florida sun. The same sun gleamed off the shiny handcuffs around his wrists as two police officers pushed his head down and shoved him into the back of one of the cars.
Terrified, I kept running.
And with that, I’d had enough excitement.
FIFTEEN
More than two weeks had gone by, and I was still having nightmares.
Sometimes they were about being in the parking lot surrounded by gunshots and sirens. Sometimes I was trapped in the back of a car with Aiden screaming, his face contorted. I’d even had one where I went out on the patio to watch the sun rise over the water and found the bodies of the couple who had run from the restaurant, covered in blood, lying near the fire pit.