wealthy desire

eleven

"Hey, what's up?" I hear Leo's voice through the phone.

I'm currently hiding behind a bush, watching the cops and my mom converse.

The gardener is giving me a weird look, but I don't care at the moment.

"You know the cops that were on Athena's case? The ones who were at the hospital the day of the shooting?"

"Yeah? What about them?"

"They're at our house. Talking to mom about something. Why would they be talking to mom? She had nothing to do with this."

"What? Are you sure it's the same cops?"

I shuffle a bit in my uncomfortable position behind the bush before answering. "Yes."

"Where are you?" He questions.

"I'm hiding in the garden, behind a bush."

"Ok, walk up to them and pretend like everything normal. Ask them why they're here."

I sigh, "ok, ill talk to you later. I'm hanging up now."

And with that, I shut off my phone.

When I look back up at my mom, I see her holding a worried expression on her face.

Maybe they were here to ask her questions about the shooting? But, why mom?

I clear my throat and make my way towards the front entrance.

When my mom catches me walking towards her, she quickly changes her expression to a smile.

Strange.

The cops turn around as well and do nothing but stare as I walk up towards them.

Nervously, I clutch onto my handbag before asking them.

"What's going on?" I say with a smile.

My mom lightly grabs my hands and pulls me beside her.

"Oh, nothing sweetie. Why don't you go inside and change into something more comfortable?"

And without another word, she nudges me into the house and closes the door behind her.

Curious, I look through the window beside the door and see them still chatting.

When one of the cops catches my gaze, I hurriedly look away and run upstairs.

What in the world?

Once I'm securely behind my bedroom doors, I dial Leo's number. He picks up on the first ring.

"So, what happened?" He asks eagerly.

"Nothing," I sigh. "She just told me to go inside and change into something comfortable."

I can imagine Leo running his hands through his hair since that's something he tends to do when stressed.

"Okay, that's a bit suspicious, but I'm sure we're just paranoid. With the whole shooting thing that happened."

I groan and slump into my desk chair. "Yeah, you're probably right. Talk to you later?"

"Sure."

Leo's right. It's probably nothing. The detectives are most likely just talking to everyone Athena knew or something.

But why did I have a gut feeling that it wasn't?

———

"Hey, thanks for meeting me," I say, holding a cup of warm coffee in my hands.