“Just be careful and whoever beat you up and dropped you here is most likely still in Channelside,” I say to Brad.
“I’m going to keep to myself and stay hidden until we decide to put the Ybor plan in motion,” replies Brad.
“Let us know what you find out and stay in contact with us,” says Phil to Brad.
“I will, and thanks again guys,” replies Brad.
Brad starts up his car and drives towards the exit of Citrus Oaks.
“Do you think he survives?” asks Phil to me as we watch Brad exit Citrus Oaks.
“I hope so, but I don’t think we had any other option but to let him go back to Channelside,” I answer.
“I know I would do whatever it took for Nicole and you guys,” says Phil.
“Me too, but I hope it never comes to that,” I reply to Phil.
CHAPTER 17
DROP IT!
It’s the next afternoon and Shaun’s jeep drives down our main street of Citrus Oaks and parks in his driveway.
I see Shaun’s jeep in his driveway and Shaun exits from his jeep as I exit from Bobby G’s house.
“Everything okay?” I shout across the street to Shaun as I stand in Bobby G’s driveway.
“Yeah, just wanted to come by and tell you guys what happened at the Haven!” shouts Shaun.
“Should I get the guys together?” I shout to Shaun.
“Yeah, get the guys together and meet me in my house!” shouts Shaun and then Shaun goes into his house.
I call for Phil, Jon, and Matt over the radio. Phil and Jon answer my call, but Matt doesn’t answer me over the radio.
I walk over to Matt’s house and knock on his front door.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Ann answers the door and I ask if Matt’s home.
Ann invites me into her house, and I ask her if she has met Deb.
Ann answers, “I think I met her a couple times.”
“She’s very nice, and I was wondering if you would be willing to spend some time with her? She’s just been lonely since her friend Kat died,” I say to Ann.
“Yeah no problem, I’ll talk with Fran, and we’ll have a nice evening together,” replies Ann.
“That would be great, thank you Ann,” I say.
Matt exits his bedroom and asks me, “Everything okay Ry?”
“Yeah, Shaun is here, and he wants us all together to tell us some recent news about the Haven,” I answer Matt.
“What happened? Is everything okay?” asks Matt.
“I don’t know, but Shaun seemed in good spirits,” I answer Matt.
“When does he want to meet?” asks Matt.
“I guess now, but come over to Shaun’s whenever you can,” I answer Matt.
“Okay, I will, but Kylie hasn’t been feeling well this morning,” replies Matt.
“I’m fine Matt, go over to Shaun’s!” shouts Kylie from inside Matt’s bedroom.
I smile and shout, “Hey Kylie!”
“Hey Ryan, please get him out of this house!” shouts Kylie.
“I’m trying!” I shout with a nice tone.
“I’ll see you over there,” I say to Matt and then I exit Matt’s house.
I enter my house and see Lauren and Fran in the living room.
“Hey honey,” says Lauren to me as I walk into my living room.
“Shaun just showed up and he wants to tell me and the guys something about the Haven,” I reply to Lauren.
“What about?” asks Lauren.
“I don’t know, but I’ll let you know when I find out,” I answer Lauren.
I see Fran and tell her about Deb and the idea of her, Ann, and Deb hanging out.
“What did Ann say about it?” asks Fran.
“She said that she’ll talk with you about it and plan a nice evening,” I answer Fran.
“I like that. Deb is very nice,” says Lauren to Fran.
“Who is Deb again?” asks Fran.
“She was friends with Kat, and she lives in the cul-de-sac where Jon lives,” answers Lauren.
“I don’t think I know her,” replies Fran.
“You’ll know her when you see her,” says Lauren.
I say goodbye to Fran and Lauren and walk over to Shaun’s garage.
I walk into Shaun’s empty garage and then enter Shaun’s house.
I hear Shaun in the kitchen and find Shaun drinking a soda.
“Have people been in here?” asks Shaun.
“Yeah, a lot of people have been in here actually,” I answer Shaun.
“What the fuck?” says Shaun.
“What? You left here, and it’s a big house for meetings,” I reply to Shaun.
“Who did you meet with in here?” asks Shaun.
I look at Shaun and answer, “TJ, Bakari, Saba, Ayo, Cyrus, Phil, Matt, Jon, Jaws Junior, Jordan, and Brett.”
“Brett? Who is Brett?” asks Shaun.
“He’s a kid we met at the O2U store, we kidnapped him and interrogated him in your living room,” I answer Shaun.
Phil and Jon enter Shaun’s house and Jon asks, “What’s going on Shaun? You just couldn’t stay away from us huh?”
“Probably missed all the space. How are you dealing with the cramp living quarters at the Haven?” asks Phil.
“It’s different, that’s for sure, but we are making it,” answers Shaun.
“You plan on coming back here?” asks Jon to Shaun.
Shaun nods his head and answers, “I think so, but it’s pretty good to be so close to Dr. Vargas in case we need her.”
“Dude, Lisa is like a month or two pregnant tops right now,” I say to Shaun.
“Yeah, but it’s just good to be around a good doctor for once,” jokes Shaun.
Matt enters Shaun’s house and we all give Matt a hard time for being late.
“So what’s going on at the Haven?” asks Phil.
Shaun tells us what happened recently at the Haven.
Shaun exits his Haven room and he sees two large men walking on each side of a skinny Hispanic
