Trouble in a Tank Top

Lauren Matthews would usually be asleep at this time already, but she had her most classes the next day, a whopping five, along with one of her first major essays due just a week later. Homework and bills were piling up on her desk. It was going to be another all-nighter with the full-time shift at the diner the next morning until she rushed off to her classes.

Ever since Ande's disappearance a few months ago, Lauren had felt like the world was out to get her. Oliver put Lauren on full-time shift, Ande's shift, and had the other fill-in take on Lauren's schedule. Lauren was constantly having to leave in the middle of working to make it to a class before she would run back to the diner to work some more until the cycle started again.

The fill-in was a middle-aged woman named Patti who had fizzy blonde hair and a broke hip that she always complained about.

Lauren sat on her small couch, staring at the digital clock on her microwave just as it clicked to three in the morning. She had a cup of hot chocolate in between her hands but she decided after one sip that she wasn't feeling the treat and chose to just leave it as a way to keep her hands from getting cold. Her poor circulation would be the death of her.

For the last two days it had been nothing but downpour on the West Coast and it was taking a toll on pretty much everyone. The furry little lazy bastard that Lauren had taken in as her cat was frisky and had scratched Lauren a good number of times with no obvious motivation. Her neighbors were even nastier whenever Lauren would get home late from closing with Oliver and her door didn't like to close so she had to force it shut which would make an extremely loud noise; not to mention Oliver was just out right cranky and whenever he would mess up on her orders, he would blame it on her.

Lauren was getting tired of the shit and she was almost ready to throw in the towel and quit.

She sighs as she puts her mug on the small table she has all her books and laptop laid out on, and goes to turn off all the lights. She hasn't written or read a word in almost an hour and Lauren knew her best bet was to just go to sleep now while she still had the chance. The rain beating on her window would be a good enough lull to knock her out in a few minutes.

Lauren dozed, listening to the rain, and after a few thuds were heard in her apartment, Lauren just ignored them as the stupid cat she had, but when they continued and were a lot louder than the sounds Mark usually made, Lauren threw off the blanket she was wrapped in and went to investigate. Just as she stepped from her bed room, the front door to her apartment was banged on and it wasn't by the screen door.

She peeks out the peephole but only sees a dark figure huddled under a dark jacket. Lauren feels her heart speed up and her throat tighten. A robber? A psycho killer? A homeless person that will kill her and eat her insides? Lauren leaves the chain on the door and grabs for the lamp on the table beside the door where she leaves her keys. Slowly, Lauren opens the door and looks there the small slit, trying to get a better look at the person.

"Can I help you with something?" she asks cautiously, gripping the lamp tighter in her fist.

"Fucking finally," Ande hisses, throwing the hoodie off her head to show her rain-soaked dark hair. "Do you know how long I've been banging on your fucking door?"

"Ande?!" Lauren exclaims before shutting the door just enough to pull off the chain and open it fully. Lauren half drags Ande into the small apartment and holds the dripping wet woman to her tightly. "Oh my god, Ande! Where the hell have you been? Oliver and I were about to lose our minds over you!"

Ande pulled away from Lauren and tugged the sopping hoodie over her head to drop it on the kitchen tile floor. The plain black shirt and khaki pants with the belt and badge still hooked on it soon follow. Ande stands in her underwear shivering as she looks away for a blanket or towel. She grabs the throw off the back of Lauren's couch and wraps it around her shoulders.

"I know, and I'm sorry but some stuff went down and I had to leave for awhile. I'm back, but you can't tell anyone because people are looking for me and I need to find someone."

Lauren just looked at Ande flabbergasted. "No shit, people are looking for you! Your face is plastered all over the damn television."

And shushes Lauren when she starts yelling. "God, Lauren, keep it down. I would really like to not get caught again."

Lauren paces the room, about to pull her hair out. "Oh my god, I can't believe this. I should call the police, or Oliver or hell, your parents! And-" Lauren stops and looks at Ande. "Who are you trying to find?"

The brunette sighs and wraps the blanket tighter around her body. "Tony."

"Tony?!" Lauren shouts again and Ande winces at the screech. "You mean the federal criminal, Tony? You mean the guy that's got a bounty on his head the same price as my four years in college, Tony? You mean the guy that the fucking FBI questioned me about when you first disappeared, Tony? That Tony?"

Ande sighs again. "Lauren, please, let me explain."

Lauren falls onto the free cushion of the couch and stares at the ceiling while she takes everything in. "I'm going to help you find a fucking criminal. I will get no where in life."

"I'm pregnant."

Lauren's head snaps in the direction of Ande, her mouth hanging wide open. "No shit?" Lauren says, but her mouth feels dry and she's too tired to deal with all this at three in the morning.

"No shit. I'm about three months."

Lauren groans and covers her eyes with her forearm.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

Ande smiles softly at Lauren, and the stressed college student feels like pulling out her hair. Lauren takes in a deep breath and sits up, looking at Ande.

"Why did you come here?" she asks.

"Because I don't know where Oliver lives and you're the only person I know that has a car."

Lauren frowns. "Why do you need a car?" Her mind starts to get ahead of itself, and she starts spouting out assumptions. "Oh my god, don't tell me you're going to run."

Ande laughs and shakes her head. "No, no, I just need you to drive me somewhere. It's not safe for me to be walking out in public and if I wear a hood people will get suspicious anyways."

Lauren nods and puts her feet underneath her, keeping them warm between the seat cushion and the back of her thighs. "Well, where do you need to go?"

Ande stands and goes over to her soaking wet clothes. In the pocket is a thin, flimsy piece of wet paper that is written in smudged black ink. She hands it over to Lauren with an almost sheepish look. Lauren squints to read the writing.

"Kiwi Kid Tattoo and Barber?" Lauren asks, with a questionable look on her face. Ande nods and sits back on the couch, curling the blanket tighter around her body. "Okay, well we'll Google it now and find directions."

Ande's sheepish look grows. "It's not that easy, Lauren." She says and Lauren groans again. "It's kind of an underground shop."

Lauren drags a hand through her hair. "Please don't tell me you just want a tattoo or a haircut."

Ande laughs, shaking her damp hair. "No, Lauren. The guy there, Jaxin, is good friends with the guys and I can go through him to get to Tony."

"Okay, well, when do we go?"

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"Ande, do you think this is a good idea?" Lauren yells as she stays close to the roof access door of the apartment building that they are standing on.

"I remember the sunset!" Ande yells, looking at all the buildings that face the west. It was later on that day just as the sun was setting. Lauren had called in to Oliver with an upset stomach and a fever. He complained, saying how he really needed to hire another staff member, but told Lauren to get well soon and update him on her wellbeing. She and Ande ended up in North Park, a part of San Diego that Ande knew the building was in.

She was looking for the large window with the thin tint that gave the studio most of its natural lighting before Jaxin and Natalie turned on the above lights for their nightly customers. She's looking for a slightly taller building, probably one on a hill so it can look over other buildings. She's looking for the home of the ruby red couch and the bed of where her developing baby was conceived.

Ande frowns when she doesn't see one, and this was the last part of the city that she had to check. She turns and looks to the west, away from the windows, focusing on the alleyways and any noises she hears. To the north and to the south, but she can't see anything that stands out. Ande racks her brain for any land marking, or a street sign or a spat of graffiti on one of the alleyways, but Ande comes up blank.

"Hey Ande!" Lauren calls. Ande starts walking toward her, throwing her hair up into a messy ponytail and tying it loosely with a broken hair band. Lauren continues to stare off to the side, squinting her eyes against the setting sun to look at the buildings.

"Yeah?" Lauren says, getting a few feet closer.

"Is that it?"

Ande follows Lauren's pointed finger to the building it is targeted at. Her light brown eyes widen and her jaw drops before they shrink as she squints.

It is off to the southwest, in a large square building with a small OPEN sign blinking a bright blue and pink. A smaller sign hangs over a baby blue door with slightly faded white writing that Ande can barely make out as TATTOO.

The door below the sign opens, and out steps Natalie with her hair up and Ruby wearing a bright red hat while in her comfy stroller. The OPEN sign stop blinking and turns off completely as the door closes and Natalie starts to walk away.

"Let's go," Ande says rushed. She grabs Lauren's arm and starts taking the stairs down, jumping the last two or three to each floor landing. She does this four times with Lauren almost a while floor behind by the time she gets down to the ground floor.

Ande rushes out the front door and takes a left, running straight into oncoming traffic to cross the street. There's a flurry of horns and curses shouted at her but Ande ignores each one. She is almost a block away from the door. It is baby blue with ten panes of square glass as little windows to see through.

When Ande finally arrives at the door, the knob won't turn and the long hallway leading to the stairs that go up to the studio is dark. The store is closed, but that doesn't stop Ande from beating on it and yelling Jaxin's name. She looks around for Natalie, but she doesn't see her or Ruby. Ande looks around, trying to find the alley that goes to the garage where Tony parked his truck. She goes around the left, but its the front of the building, and then continues to go around the block until Ande finds the back alley and the large garage door. It's down, and the small human sized door beside it is locked. Ande bangs on it too, almost bruising her fists. Lauren comes running up from her side.

"Ande, what are you doing?" she yells, trying to pull the woman away from the door.

"I'm trying to get in!" Ande yells, before barreling toward the door with her shoulder and elbow out. The door groans, and Ande knows there's going to be a bruise later, but goes back and does it again. Lauren stands off to the side, bewildered and scared to stop the woman, but fears something will happen if she doesn't.

"Ande, sto-" she starts but its drowned out by the sound of the door giving in and the door frame breaking as the lock comes out of the wall. The door swings and hits the wall behind it. Ande stumbles but catches herself just inside the garage. Jaxin stands ten feet away, a loaded rifle in his hands and his eye trained on the space between Ande's eyes.

"Get the fuck out of my garage," he growls, his accent still prominent, moving the trigger closer to the base with his finger. Ande yelps and throws up her hands.

"Jaxin! Jaxin it's me! It's Ande! Don't shoot!" She yells, stepping back. Jaxin's head pops up, his eyes widen.

"Ande? What the fuck?" He drops the rifle to his side and runs over to hug her close. "Where the hell have you been? Tony went down to Sonora to get you last week and Adeli said you ran."

Ande relaxes in Jaxin's arm, missing the smell of ink and spices she was used to over those few days she stayed with him and his little family. Lauren stays off to the side completely forgotten.

"I did ran, but the FBI has had their eye on me for months. They caught me and I just got away from them yesterday. Lauren helped me find you." Ande looks as Lauren and gives her a small smile. "I worked with her at the diner. I owe her a lot."

"Damn straight," Lauren grumbles and walks into the garage. Just as the door is shut and the lights flick on, the familiar sound of police sirens follow.

"Where's Tony?" Ande asks hurriedly as Jaxin takes them up the stairs from the garage and into the studio. Jaxin shrugs and locks the door behind the two females.

"No one knows. He's been gone since he left for Mexico and called to tell us that you were missing. After that we haven't heard a word."

Ande groans and falls onto the ruby red couch across from Jaxin and Natalie's booths.

"He will be the death of me."

Notes

I'm on a rolllll.
Not sure of what I'm going to do in the next chapter.
Maybe another flashback? Maybe from Tony's side?
Ande needs to go to a doctor, but she can't get caught.
Give me your ideas! Feedback is always appreciated.
Keep on, keeping on.