The Waitress

10 - Friends or Enemies

"You're a burden none of us need," Lexus announced, but Kaely must've sensed the amusement in her tone as well because she up-and-left almost immediately. Jared stood to follow, but Eliot raised an eyebrow at him.

"I think you've done enough," he stated calmly and followed Kaely out himself, leaving Jared to slump back down on the bed with a grimace. He was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep. Not when Lexus was around, anyway; not even she knew of his nightmares, despite her being his oldest friend. He remembered when they was in grade twelve, on graduation day. He was with Lexus, and after the ceremony, she had kissed him. And Jared being Jared, was never one for love or affection, so he dealt with it badly by pushing her way. That was why she wasn't on "the big screen" yet; she had backed away from him as he'd backed away from her, and it had actually saved her life. She wasn't even a suspect; if only Kaely could have been the same.

"Lex, that was uncalled for," Jared groaned, leaning forward on the bed, but Lexus rolled her eyes.

"You think I was being rude?" she snapped. "They were hounding me."

"We're not in primary school anymore, Lexus," Dex muttered, rising from the floor to sit at the table where Kaely had left her food. "You can stop acting like everyone is trying to attack you. If you hadn't noticed, we're in a pretty serious situation that's beyond your childish attitude."

"This is reality," Leo agreed solemnly. "And Kaely is a big part of that now. You can't expect to hurt her and get away with it."

Lexus narrowed her eyes. "What about the rule?" she demanded, looking at Jared. "What happened to 'no attachments', like we agreed? This was supposed to be clean and simple, and now you've taken her under your wing. She's going to be distraught when she finds out why; it's best to get her out of the way before anyone else gets hurt."

"I don't care what we agreed on," Leo glowered. "She's been through enough; she deserves to be safe, and we are the best people to give that to her."

Lexus scowled. "What, does it take me being shot for you to like me?" Dex rolled his eyes.

"As tempting as that is," he admitted amusedly, "that's not an option. Jared wouldn't allow it; he likes you too much."

"Look, do you want my help or not?" Lexus interrupted, crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly.

"Yes," Jared shot back, glaring at the guys. "What's your suggestion?"

"If you want the girl to live," she went on bitterly, "you'll have to take her with you tomorrow. Attempt at saving Hemmings will have to be put on hold. It was stupid of you to get caught by the feds in the first place, but it's even stupider if you stay here. I know a place, six hours from Adelaide. Small mining town; you are to stay there and you are not to drift off to another major city no matter what."

"Hemmings is going to die, Lexus," Leo told her, his gaze cold and steady. "We can't let him die because we want to be kept safe."

"But you can't save him if you want to save her," Lexus snapped. "This girl is important; if she dies, we lose our only bargaining chip. We can't let that happen; we can't let them win."

"We could save Kaely and Hemmings," Jared suggested finally, and everyone in the room went quiet. "I mean, if we go and confront Hemmings, we might be able to save him. But we can't take Kaely with us because Bryson will recognise her. So what if Kaely isn't even with us? We can send her to this town you were talking about. She'll be gone before they can get her, and we'll still be able to save Hemmings."