Chapter 7

POV Noralyn

Hospital food tastes horrible. I barely take two bites before I put my fork down and push my plate aside. Kline and I are in the cafeteria, we decided to grab a bite before we hit the road again since our lunch was interrupted back at school. My mother has already called me and to say that she wasn’t happy that I’m out of town would be a euphemism. 

“How did it go?” Kline asks with concern in his voice.

“Well, it could have been worse. I yelled at him and he asked me to leave but I sat there and refused to go.”

That makes Kline smile. “Ouh, a little stubborn aren’t we?”

“You could say that. We ended up talking for a while. Not heavy stuff though just some inoffensive topics you know.” It felt nice to be able to chat with Keelan again. I laughed more in those few minutes that we spent together than in the past few months. How could I forget how much of an adorable dork he was?

“I hope he’s gonna be okay,” Kline says.

“He will. Keelan is the strongest person I’ve ever met.”

When we were dating I discovered that he still had scars on his body from when his dad used to beat him up. He never once fought back or tried to defend himself. He just took it all because he was afraid his dad might really kill his mother if dared to do something.

Kline checks his phone again for the third time since we’ve been sitting here and a deep frown shows up on his face.

“Something’s wrong?” I ask.

“Rio was supposed to pick up something for Davis outside of town and earlier he  sent me this weird text. I haven’t been able to reach him since.”

He turns his phone toward me so I can read the message that Rio sent to him:

Don’t think it was a good deal. People are following me. They look suspicious af.

Something about the message raises a red flag inside my head. 

“Have you tried calling him?”

“About six times already, it goes straight to voicemail and all my messages are left unanswered.”

“Maybe you should—”

I don’t have the chance to finish my sentence, Kline’s phone starts ringing.

“It’s Rio,” he says before picking up. “Hey dude, what’s going on? Your message is freaking me out.” 

He listens to what Rio is saying and the expression on his face goes from worried to absolute panic. My heart starts beating faster in my chest. Something bad is happening.

“You’ve been shot at??” Kline exclaims and my heart drops. 

What the heck is going on?

“Dude where are you?” Kline asks again then he gestures to me for a pen and a piece of paper. I take them out of my bag and hand them to him. He writes down some coordinates. “Okay, I got it, I’ll be there in a few hang in there dude.”

As soon as he hangs up the phone I ask, “What’s going on?”

“It’s as he said in his message a car was following him after he picked up the delivery. He tried to lose them but they started firing at the truck.”

“Oh my God, is he okay?”

“Yeah he abandoned the truck somewhere then went inside a pub. He doesn’t have enough cash on him to go back home so I’m gonna go pick him up.” Kline stands and I do the same. “I’m gonna pay you a cab so you can get back home safely.”

“Are you crazy? This is gonna cost you way too much money, I’m coming with you. ”

“Money isn't a problem Nora," he says and I'm reminded that his dad owns a rental car company but still.

"I want to come. What if you guys need extra help?"

 "This might be dangerous, what if those people are still after him?”

“I think if they found the truck where Rio left it they wouldn’t have any reason to keep pursuing him.”

Kline seems to consider this for a moment then apparently comes to the conclusion that I do have a point. “Fine, let’s go.”

The sun is setting when Kline and I hit the road again. I can’t help but imagine the worst possible case scenarios. I feel my eyes filling up with tears and I don’t even know the reason why. Life would just be so cruel if anything happened to Rio. He lost his parents and his girlfriend just a year ago and now some bad guys are after him for something he’s not even aware of. I don’t know who this Davis person is but I’m pretty sure that the people who are after Rio have some kind of business with him. 

“Who is Davis?” I ask Kline.

“He’s the owner of a bar where Rio works at.”

“Does that happen often that Rio takes delivery for him?”

Kline thinks it over for a moment before he answers. “I don’t think so. If it happened before, Rio never told me about it.”

We don’t talk much after that. The tension inside the car is palpable. We’re both anxious and Kline is driving as fast as he can to arrive soon at destination. 

Twilight has taken over the sky when we finally park in front of the pub where Rio is waiting for us. We both get out of the car and Kline checks his phone one more time. 

“He’s in there,” he says with relief in his voice.

“Great,” I reply feeling relieved also.

We enter inside the pub and Kline spots Rio almost immediately. We walk toward his table and as I’m getting closer to him I notice the expression on his face change. It’s pure hatred that is covering his face as he's looking at me. Kline takes a seat when he reaches the table but I stand awkwardly. I realize that I made a mistake by coming.

“Dude you’re alright? Have you talked to Davis?” Kline asks immediately but Rio is still looking at me with a furious storm raging inside his eyes. 

“What is she doing here?” He asks and the hostility in his voice clashes like a whip.

Kline seems to be confused when he turns to look at me as if he didn’t understand the reason for Rio’s harsh tone. “It’s kinda a long story, she was with me when you called.”

Rio finally breaks eye contact to look at his friend with a strange expression before he finally answers his previous question. “Yeah I talked to Davis. As soon as I noticed that I was being followed. I called him so he could tell me in what kind of mess he got me. He was the one who told me to dump the truck somewhere and then go to a public place.”

“Jeez, and did he tell what those people wanted?”

“Well he didn’t have to. That was kinda obvious don’t you think?”

“And you know what was in the truck?”

For a brief moment Rio glances at me before turning his attention back on Kline.

“Nah he didn’t tell me,” he says and for some reason I can tell that it’s a lie.

“Well let’s go home then,” Kline says while standing up.

“What? No!" Rio protests. "At this hour that would be a stupid idea. There’s still a chance that those guys might be out there. It’s best if we crash at a motel then go back to town in the morning.”

“Well, that would be the most logical thing to do,” Kline says. “But there’s Nora. We have to get her back home.”

“She’s your problem not mine,” Rio answers bitterly.

“Dude—”

I interrupt whatever it is Kline was about to say. “It’s fine Kline, I can tell my parents that I stayed with Keelan’s mother and that I’ll come back home tomorrow.”

“You’re sure that won’t be a problem?”

“No, I just have to place a phone call.”

“Okay then it’s settled.”

We're spending the night at a motel.