The Minutes We Have

chapter twenty-one

It was dark. 

The only thing that guided us back to the marina was the sparkle of a few lights on the inky horizon. The moon wasn't out tonight which made it harder to see. I kept pace with the sound of the guys paddling because I certainly didn't want to get too far behind. 

About halfway back the guys had argued, but now they were quiet. 

We weren't in any danger. It just sucked to be caught in the dark. The rental people might be angry but they told us if no one was there when we got back that we could just leave the kayaks with the others. They didn't lock stuff up at night, which hopefully meant the crime activity wasn't high. 

A few yards from the marina bay, we had just come around the bend of the lake when I stopped paddling. There was a shadowy form moving across the parking lot. I could only see their outline from the minimal parking lot lighting. They crossed into more shadows, near the boat rental place. 

The guys had stopped paddling, too. They were seeing what I was. None of us spoke.

I was pretty sure we were concealed in the darkness, and safe from the discovery by sound because we all sat as quiet as mice on the water. I was holding my breath. The shadowed figure did something down by the water's edge, and then they quickly retreated. 

Ezra started paddling in. I wanted to yell at him. 

All four of us drew closer and then headlights blinked on. 

It was ominous. 

When the car started moving in the parking lot, I saw the flash of reflective decals from the faint parking lot lights. 

A police cruiser. 

"What the fuck?" Emerson said. He'd seen it, too. 

"Was it Sheriff Lawerence?" I blurted without thinking. We were paddling quicker to shore now. The police cruiser left the marina all together, the glare of red tailights disappearing on the curvy, wooded road that led back to town. 

Nobody answered my question. 

We made it back to the dock and hurriedly got out. My kayak rocked violently but someone reached out and grabbed my arm to steady me. I glanced up and Lance nodded. He helped me onto the dock and then grabbed my kayak, hauling it out. "Thank you," I whispered. 

I had no idea why I was whispering. There wasn't anyone we could see. We basically tiptoed across the dock until wet grass greeted my barefeet. All of us were barefoot and slightly damp from swimming earlier. The guys carried all the kayaks off the dock and flipped them upside down next to the other kayak rentals. We dumped our vests in the tote, and then I saw Ezra picking up the nose of other kayaks. 

He was searching for whatever had been dropped off. 

"Ezra," I hissed. 

"What?" He said, looking beneath another kayak as he went down the line. I cautiously followed. "I'm not going to pretend I didn't see that."

It was dark down here by the edge of the water. "I don't think this is a good idea." 

"Dude, I agree with your sister," Emerson said. He and Lance quietly trailed behind me. "We shouldn't do this." 

"What? This?" Ezra said and he held up a kayak for us to see a large black bag resting on the grass beneath it. 

The three of us were quiet. Just something about the discovery was intriguing enough that our protests died in our throats. Ezra reached out to unzipped the bag. We held our breath for as long as the zipper dragged until we could all see hundreds of bills.