It wasn’t very nice. But charging two hundred and fifty dollars wasn’t nice either.
Kieran snorted.
The cop glared at me. “Is that a threat?”
Kieran pushed me behind him. “Just give us the keys.”
A terse silence followed, and then, “Sign here.”
Kieran leaned forward. I tried to peek around, but he pushed me back. Moments later, I had my keys in hand and we were heading out into the impound lot toward row G.
“Thank you,” I said as we passed row E.
Kieran glanced at me from the corner of his eye.
“That was a lot of money that I didn’t have. I’ll pay you back when I can.”Which would be in like ten years.
“I don’t want your money.”
“You must be really rich then.”
“Mmm,” he hummed.
“Are you a millionaire?”
“Yes.”
My feet scuffed the loose gravel on the pavement.
Kieran stopped walking and looked at me. “And now you are too.”
I recoiled. “I don’t want your money.”
Kieran made a sound and started walking. Frustrated, I grabbed his hand and pulled him around. “I don’t.”
“I know that, baby doll,” he replied, eyes moving everywhere but on me.
“Then w-why won’t you look at me?” I asked, my chest tight.
His blue eyes snapped to mine immediately before moving away. “Because we’re out in the open and I need to watch our surroundings.”
“Oh.”
He sure liked to remind me people wanted me dead. The same people who killed my mafia boss father that I didn’t know anything about until like an hour ago.
He gripped my hand tighter and tugged me into his side as we started walking again. We turned down row H, and I spotted my ancient Toyota halfway down the row, squeezed between a rusty old white van that looked like something kidnappers drove and a fancy black BMW.
“There it is,” I exclaimed, rushing down the row toward the four-door sedan. Being that it was over twenty years old, the color was debatable. I think at one time it was considered brown, but it was so faded now it was like an off shade of dull silver that looked dirty even if it was freshly washed, which frankly wasn’t often.
Only the front two tires had hubcaps. The back two were just plain wheels with the centers beginning to rust. I thought it matched okay, though, because rust was brown just like the car.
The Toyota was backed into the parking spot, and my heart sank as I stepped in front of the hood to get an eyeful of the damage. “I was really hoping I’d exaggerated the wreck in my mind because of the rain and head injury.” I mourned, seeing the shattered headlight and collapsed bumper.
Sighing, I walked to the driver’s side.Down another hubcap.The driver’s window was shattered. Only a few jagged pieces of glass remained in the frame.
Bracing my hands on the door, I leaned in and groaned. “The interior is soaked! I thought cops were supposed to protect and serve! They could have at least put some plastic over the broken window. It’s going to take forever to dry this out and clean it up.”
One of my hoodies was in the back seat, and I unlocked the doors so I could grab it. There was also a beanie and one of my Neon Reef shirts. “These are wet too,” I announced and wrinkled my nose. “Smelly. Do shirts grow mold?” I wondered.
