Chapter 10
Charlie and Lilly sat silently in her apartment watching the time tick by. It was after 3 and they still hadn't heard from the guys. Charlie ran a hand through her hair and stood up. She paced back and forth behind her sofa checking her phone yet again. "Turn on the tv," Charlie finally said.
"They said not to watch the news," Lilly reminded her.
"Yeah that was before they didn't call us on time. We were supposed to hear from them 2 hours ago," Charlie cried in frustration. Lilly picked up the remote and flipped to a local channel.
"We continue our report of the robbery earlier today, it has been confirmed that one of the assailants has been arrested after being shot," the newscaster droned. "The other assailants have not been discovered at this time, but the police are working to bring them in as soon as possible."
"Oh god," Charlie said as a feeling of complete dread settled in her stomach. She yanked her phone out of her pocket as Lilly grabbed hers off the coffee table in front of her. They both dialed their guys silently praying they would answer.
"This is John, leave me a message at the beep," the phone said.
"Damn it John," Charlie cried in frustration.
"Ghost isn't picking up either," Lilly said.
"I'm trying Gordon," Charlie replied.
"I'll call Jake," Lilly offered.
"Voicemail again," Charlie said quickly losing her cool.
"Same," Lilly said standing up as well. Charlie dialed AJ's number.
"Pick up, pick up, pick up," Charlie chanted.
"Hello," AJ finally said.
"AJ, thank god, I'm sorry I know we weren't supposed to but we watched the news. Are you ok? What happened? Who is it," Charlie said hurriedly.
"Charlie I can't talk right now, just get to the airport, Van Nuys," AJ said before hanging up.
"AJ," Charlie shouted into the phone. "Damn it!"
She screamed in frustration and grabbed her car keys. "He said to go to the airport, he wouldn't say anything else," she said quickly. "Grab your stuff, we've got to go."
...
Charlie and Lilly stood in the parking lot at Van Nuys waiting for the guys. Charlie kept fiddling with her keys and tapping her foot impatiently. The van the guys were using finally pulled into the parking lot. AJ drove and Gordon sat in the passenger seat next to him. Charlie stopped breathing and reached over to grab Lilly's hand. AJ and Gordon climbed out of the van and went around to the back without saying anything to the women.
A young man who looked remarkably like Jake climbed out first carrying two of the bags. He set them down pausing briefly to look at the women. He nodded at them before moving to take more bags. Several bags and suitcases were unloaded from the van, but there was still no sight of John, Ghost, or Jake.
A lump began to form in Charlie's throat and she bit down on her lip to keep from losing it. AJ and Gordon came back around the side of the van moving toward the women. Jake stepped out from behind the van with the young man they had seen a few moments ago. Finally the last person emerged. Charlie dropped Lilly's hand and pushed past AJ and Gordon she threw herself into John's arms grasping him tightly. Her hands clutched the back of his shirt as he pulled her closer. "Are you ok," she whispered. Her hands shook violently as she placed them on John's face to look at him.
"I'm fine, I'm fine baby, calm down," John said. He grabbed one of her hands and squeezed it hard.
"No," Lilly shouted from behind them.
"Oh god," Charlie said as she turned to look at the other woman. Jake held her up as she clutched desperately at the front of his shirt. "It was Ghost."
"There was nothing we could do," John said softly. John held onto her as she leaned into him. AJ turned to pick up some of the bags and caught her gaze.
"Are you ok," she asked. AJ nodded at her before heading toward the plane. She could tell that he wasn't ok though, something was upsetting him. "What happened?"
"We'll talk about it later, let's just get out of here," John said. The crew emerged from the plane and began loading their luggage. John led Charlie into the plane with the others. She sat down in the seat next to his, resting her head on his shoulder. Lilly sat across from them, watching them with broken eyes. John wrapped his arm around her shoulders pulling her closer to him. Their fingers interlaced as they waited for takeoff. No one spoke for the entire flight, no one knew what to say or what was going to happen.
...
As soon as they arrived at the house in Hawaii everyone disappeared into their separate rooms. John dropped their bags on the floor and Charlie threw herself onto the bed. John lay down next to her and pulled her into his arms. Charlie breathed in his scent silently thanking god or whoever that he had made it out. "What happens now," she asked.
"We wait to see if he rats us out," John said.
"John," Charlie said weakly. She looked up at him her eyes brimming with tears. "What happens if he tells?"
John held her gaze for a moment before speaking. "I don't know, it will be up to Gordon."
A knock on the door caused them both to sit up. AJ peeked inside before opening the door further. "Charlie, Gordon wants to talk to you," he informed them.
Charlie slipped out of John's arms and followed AJ into the living room. Gordon motioned for her to sit before nodding at AJ to leave the room. Charlie shifted uncomfortably as she waited for Gordon to start speaking.
Gordon clasped his hands together and watched her for a moment. "Today did not going according to the plan, you already know that. I'll let John fill you in on the details. I need to know what you want Scott to do with your cut," Gordon said.
Charlie glanced up, staring at him in confusion, one of their friends had just been arrested and all he wanted to talk about was the money. "Have him put it in an offshore account, I'll have my guy move it later. Is that all," she asked.
"If Ghost flips, I need to know what you will do," Gordon said as he sat on the coffee table in front of her.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't think Ghost would implicate you in this, but he might. Even if he doesn't, John and the rest of us will be in trouble. What are you going to do," Gordon asked again.
"I'll do whatever John wants," Charlie said.
"All right, I have a request for you and then you can go back to John. I know it's been a long day," Gordon replied.
"Sure."
"Lilly, is really messed up about Ghost. Can you and John keep a low profile around her? She's upset and I'm worried she might take it out on the two of you. You got your guy back and hers is going to prison," Gordon explained.
"We'll do our best," Charlie said before standing and walking back to her room. John was still sitting on the bed, but AJ was standing in the room talking with him. Charlie closed the door behind her and leaned against it.
"You ok," John asked. Charlie nodded silently, not looking up to meet his gaze.
"I'll leave you guys alone," AJ said as he moved toward the door. Charlie didn't move though so he could leave. She finally looked up at him. "Charlie, are you sure you're ok?"
"I'll be fine," she whispered. She knew John was watching them, waiting to see what was going on. "You're ok?"
"I'll be fine Miss Charlotte, don't worry about me," AJ said, using his nickname for her.
Charlie nodded before moving aside so he could leave the room. John held his hand out, staring at her anxiously. Charlie took his hand and let him pull her closer. "What's going to happen to Lilly?"
"It's taken care of," John told her.
Charlie looked at him in confusion. "What does that mean?"
"If something happens to one of us, someone else looks after our interests for us," John explained.
"Your interests? You make Lilly sound like a car or a house, she's a person John!"
"That's not the way I meant it, Gordon is going to put Ghost's money into an account he can access when he gets out of prison. The rest of us have already agreed to give Lilly a portion of our cuts so she has some extra money. Jake is going to keep an eye on her if she needs anything."
"So Jake is looking after Ghost's 'interests' for him," Charlie said in annoyance. "Who looks after yours?"
"What," John asked.
"You made it sound like since Ghost is gone Jake gets Lilly, who gets me if something happens to you?"
"Charlie," John said with a shake of his head.
"Answer the question," Charlie snapped.
"It's not important, they would all be looking after you just like we're all going to be looking after Lilly."
"Sure, but Jake is the one you specifically mentioned, like he has some kind of claim on her. If something happens to you, who is going to be 'looking after me'," Charlie demanded.
John could tell by the look on her face that he wasn't going to get away with not answering her question. He'd have to tell her, but he didn't plan on doing it anytime soon. "Charlie nothing happened to me, I don't plan on anything happening to me. It doesn't matter who is looking after you because right now it is me and that is all that matters," John finally said.
With that he stood up and headed toward the bathroom. Charlie grabbed his arm trying to make him stop. "Answer my question John, or I'll just ask AJ," she cried angrily.
"Go ask him, see what he has to say," John snapped as he pulled his arm out of her grasp. "I don't get why you are making a big deal about this."
"I am a person, not a car or a house that you need someone to look after, if something happens to you, what makes you think I'll still want to be involved with the crew? I am here for you, if something happens to you I don't want to be wondering who is 'looking after me' waiting to move in. You know that's what Jake is doing, he has feelings for her that's why he's doing this! It's not right John," Charlie hissed in frustration. She didn't want the others to hear them arguing especially Lilly.
"Go ask AJ," John said annunciating each word with a harsh tone. "He'll be more than happy to explain it to you."
Charlie stared at him for a moment before storming out of the room. She went down the hall to AJ's room, but discovered he wasn't there. She quickly went downstairs and noticed him standing outside on the beach. Charlie threw the door open and headed down the beach to him.
AJ didn't turn as she approached, he kept staring out at the waves lost in thought. Charlie stopped next to him completely ignoring the ocean. "I need you to answer a question and I really need you to be honest with me," she said quickly.
AJ turned to meet her gaze, noticing how angry she was. "Sure Charlie," he said carefully.
"If something happens to John, who is going to be looking after me?"
"You mean like Jake is for Lilly," AJ asked.
"Yeah, who gets me?"
AJ studied her for a moment before turning back to the ocean. "I do," he said almost too softly for her to hear.
"Why?"
"It was Gordon's idea, if something should happen to John, I'm looking after you. Although I doubt you'll need looking after," AJ explained.
"Does my opinion on this decision matter," Charlie asked.
"No, I don't think Gordon considered you or Lilly in this, which is why I was hesitant to agree to it. John didn't want it either, but I think it has more to do with him not trusting me with you than anything else."
"Why wouldn't John trust you with me? We're just friends," Charlie said with a shake of her head.
"He knows that if I had the chance I would want more, but you are with him and I respect you both too much to cause drama."
"AJ, we talked about this," Charlie reminded him.
"That doesn't mean I can't think about it, and believe me I have thought about it," AJ pointed out as he turned to walk down the beach.
"Wait," Charlie said as she grabbed his arm. "What does that mean? What have you thought about?"
AJ stepped closer to her and leaned in, from the house it looked like a normal conversation. "I'm sorry if you don't like the arrangement but that's what it is. There's nothing we can do about it because we work for Gordon. We do what he wants."
Charlie let him walk away before peeling her gaze away from him and staring at the ocean. Gordon was just trying to look after them, even if he was going about it in the wrong way. If she were honest with herself, she was tempted by his offer. She didn't think she could cheat on John, but AJ was certainly tempting. She heard the door behind her open and she turned to see who was coming out. Lilly stopped next to her and sat down in the sand.
"I can't stand being inside, it's too quiet," Lilly said.
Charlie sat down next to her and took her hand. "No one knows what to do."
"You and John are fighting."
"Yeah, but we'll be fine," Charlie said with a shrug.
"You're lucky," Lilly said softly.
Charlie looked at the other woman for a moment before speaking. "I know, and I'm sorry."