Temporary Home

My eyes widened and a smile broke my face in half. 

Aaron. 

He looked like he'd just been through hell.  He had bags under his eyes, his hair was shaggy and unkempt, and he was dressed in super baggy jeans and a massive tshirt. 

I took a quick step towards him and jumped at him, and he caught me.  I wrapped my legs around his waist and kissed him hard.  He kissed me back, just as passionately, but cut the kiss short. 

He let go of my legs, letting me settle back to the floor.  I made eye contact with him and I could tell something was wrong.  His eyes were hard.

He looked at me, then at Sarah, and back at me.  "I don't have a lot of time to explain right now.  You both need to come with me."

I looked past Aaron and saw a blacked out, non-descript SUV parked along my curb.  I furrowed my brow at him.

"I'm serious, Aleah," he said sternly, but I could see the urgency written across his face. 

"Are we coming back?"

"I'm not sure."

Sarah asked, "Can we at least pack a bag?"

"No.  I promise I'll explain more in the car, but we have to go, now."

She and I exchanged a look, grabbed our phones and purses, slipped on flip flops we had by the door, and followed Aaron to the car.

The door opened as we got closer, Aaron climbed in first and we slid in behind him.  The front seats were filled by two men whom I didn't recognize.  They weren't smiling, were in street clothes, and I could see the driver had a gun on his waist.

I was in the middle between Sarah and Aaron, and Aaron slid his arm around my back protectively, and kissed the side of my head.  I turned and whispered in his ear, "What name am I supposed to call you?"

He cracked a half-grin at that.  "Aaron."

Sarah and I sat in silence as the driver navigated through town and got onto the highway.  We were headed south, away from Omaha and Lincoln.

I finally broke the silence, because Sarah and I were both nervous, as evidenced by our bouncing legs, me picking at my nails, and her twirling her hair.  "Sooo... um, it's really good to see you?"

Unknown man #2 in the passenger seat spoke, "Aaron, you can tell them, minimally, what's going on."

Aaron sighed, and I felt his body tense.  "Some things... didn't go as planned.  A few days ago, somehow, Tito or one of his men figured out who I was.  And they quickly figured out who you were, then."

His head dropped to his chest and he put his palm on his face.  "He was threatening you, and I reacted.  There was a shootout..."  He trailed off.

Unknown man #2 picked up where he left off.  "We think that the information Tito found out was contained between him, his girlfriend, and the other guy in the house.  Not Aaron's partner, but another guy who was involved in Tito's ring.  We aren't positive, though.  So until we can verify that, we are putting you three up in a hotel.  It shouldn't be too long, because we have some leaks, and also a few other carefully placed undercovers."

"How long is 'not too long?'" Sarah asked.  "I'm supposed to be at work on Monday."

"We're hoping by mid-week you guys will be back home, unless there's an issue.  When we get to your destination, I'll get your employer's information and take care of it for you."

"Is your friend, the guy from the bar, is he okay?" I asked.

"He's in the hospital."  Aaron didn't elaborate, and I didn't push.

We drove in silence the rest of the way until we pulled up to a little dingy hotel in the middle of nowhere.

Unknown #1, the driver, turned around and looked at us, "Well, here's your temporary home for the next few nights."

Sarah and I exchanged glances.  Aaron grabbed my hand, and opened the door to exit.