Chapter 12
The doorbell woke Tobin out of her sleep. Actually, truthfully, she hadn’t really been sleeping very well. More like dozing. The doorbell rang again. She checked the time. It was just before 7am. Maybe it was Abby, and she had something new? Tobin crawled out of bed and threw on some sweats over her naked body, then she plodded to the door and opened it up to see Ashlyn, Whitney, Morgan and Amy.
“Morning’ Tobin”, Ashlyn said, wide awake.
“Hey, guys”, Tobin said, still sleepy. “What’s going on?”
Ashlyn started to reply but then flicked her gaze past Tobin. Tobin looked back to see Alex walking up behind her, wearing one of Tobin’s oversized T-shirts. She assumed Alex wasn’t wearing anything underneath. “Hey Alex”, Ashlyn said.
“Hi Ashlyn”, Alex said back, sleepily.
Tobin looked at Ashlyn. Something glittered like a knife’s edge in the blonde woman’s eyes. Jealousy, maybe? She decided to ignore it. “So, what’s up?” she asked.
“Head high walls at Latigo, dude”, Ashlyn said, then clapped her hands and rubbed them together. “We’ll meet you guys there!”
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Tobin and Alex pulled into the parking lot at Latigo Beach. They unloaded their boards and headed for the surf. Ashlyn, Whitney, Amy and Morgan were already in the water. Tobin’s eyes scanned the beach, and a small smile crept over her face as she realized that she wouldn’t be running into Hope and her crew here anytime soon. Then her eyes went to the surf, where Ashlyn, Whitney, Morgan and Amy had all taken off on the same wave. They rode side by side, laughing and shouting to each other. Ashlyn was in the lead, and she stalled, causing Whitney, who was right behind her to stall as well. Then Morgan, who was right behind Whitney, carved out a big turn and swooped in front of Whitney, spraying her with water. She put one fist in the air, looked back over her shoulder, and yelled something at Whitney. Tobin laughed at the antics, but something was bothering her.
“They’re a real tight crew”, Alex said, laughing at the antics as well.
Tobin stopped walking and turned to Alex. “Wait, what did you just say?”
“What? I just said they’re a real tight crew, the four of them. They’re like best friends. I mean, look at them out there”, Alex said, motioning to the water. “And they seem to like you, too. It’s cool, you know? That must mean something, for a tight crew like that to open up to someone new.”
A tight crew…a tight crew…Tobin thought. Abby had mentioned something like that. Remember – this is a real tight crew. You’ll know if you meet them… Abby had said. Tobin continued to watch them. They were still riding the wave together. Morgan looked back again, laughing, and Whitney lifted both of her arms and flipped her the double bird. It was a warm day, and she was wearing only a rash guard and bikini bottom, and as she raised her arms her rash guard pulled up, exposing a couple inches of skin, and Tobin’s gut clenched as she glimpsed a solid tan line right around Whitney’s waist. Look at the tan line on this asshole. Abby had said when they had been reviewing tapes of the First National bank heist.
“Hey, are you okay, baby?” Alex said, putting her hand on Tobin’s arm. Tobin didn’t answer, still looking at the water, so Alex shook her arm a bit, until Tobin looked at her. “Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost or something.”
Tobin stared at Alex, as the memory of Abby’s words shot through her like fire. I said forget it, kid. These people are ghosts. Abby had said. Tobin’s mouth dropped open and her skin goosebumped as realization shot through her.
“Tobin, what is it?” Alex said, concern creeping into her voice.
“Uh…I gotta go”, Tobin said.
“Wait, what?” Alex said back.
“Uh…I just realized that…uh…I have a client meeting this morning. Totally forgot”, Tobin said, still staring at the water. “I’ll call you later, sorry, I gotta run”, she said.
“Wait, Tobin”, Alex said, but Tobin was already running back to her car.