The Waitress

4 - Nightmares

Jared stepped into the van once he and the guys had finished cleaning up the police station. They were lucky the Feds weren't in there, otherwise they may not have made it out as a full group. Including the girl of course. He found himself glad she was still alive and now safe; if she had been transferred before they arrived for her, she'd have been living her full sentence. What was the penalty for what she had been charged for? Five years? Ten? It was impossible to tell, but now she wouldn't be going through any of that. Of all the lives they'd failed to save over the years, they'd finally managed to preserve one. A small victory.

Eliot followed Jared with Kaely's brown satchel-bag swinging over his shoulder, which had her phone, a book and a few other stuff that belonged to her in it. Jared thought she might've wanted to keep it, as a kind of familiarity in this new strange world she was experiencing.

After Eliot came Leo, who locked up the police station and made sure the security system was broken. He was definitely the smartest of the four, and was an excellent hacker. They were glad to have him.

When Jared got in, Dex was just starting up the van, so Leo pulled the door closed behind him and they all took their seats. Looking around, Jared didn't find Kaely and panicked for a moment as he thought she may have escaped. Then he looked down, and he saw her sleeping face lying back against one of the pushed-down chairs in the middle of the van. She looked at peace, which made Jared's heart ache because when she woke up, everything would be far from it. This could quite possibly be the last good sleep the poor girl was ever going to get.

Jared sighed and plonked him down beside her on the other side of the isle, shuffling his feet so Leo could slip by him and spread himself out on the bed up the back, groaning loudly as he did so. Eliot dropped beside Dex up the front, who chuckled at Leo's poor state and drew a smirk from Jared's lips.

"I get the bed for the next two hours," Leo called out, his voice muffled by the blankets beneath his face. "Screw the rest of you, I'm exhausted and I've earned it."

"Go for your life," Dex called back across the bus as it took a right. "We can't promise that there'll be any food left for you when you wake up, though."

Leo stuck his middle finger up with his head still in the blankets, and Jared grinned.

"Stop fussing," he called over. "I'll save you some almonds."

"I hate you guys," Leo grumbled.

Jared laughed and sighed at the same time and glanced sideways at Kaely's sleeping form. She was around their age; she was definitely English, and she was extremely gorgeous. Seemed like she could handle herself in a threatening situation after little practice, too. But she didn't deserve this. She deserved to be with her family. She had a job and she had a life. It was bad enough that she was stuck with a bunch of criminals; now she was wanted herself for associating with them. And she had been shot; that was over the line. There were some mad people out there who were willing to go to almost impossible lengths to cover up a few itty, bitty secrets. It was ridiculous, but Jared and his friends just so happened to get caught up in the middle of it.

"Something on her face, lover boy?" Eliot's voice called down the van, and Jared scowled.

"Shut up," he shot back. "I was just thinking."

"About...?" he pressed, and Jared shrugged.

"She doesn't deserve this," he admitted, gesturing around helplessly at their surroundings. "She didn't ask for it."

"You heard what Lexus said," Eliot warned, glancing out the window. "No attachments. I hate to admit it, but you should listen. We'll just get her out of the way far enough so she won't be tracked, and she won't have to suffer anymore."