a stop in the middle of the street and frantically scanned around to find out where the shooting was coming from. The glass windshield of a car parked beside them suddenly exploded and with a scream, Emily dove out and crawled to the back of the cart. Mason was still sitting behind the steering wheel and didn’t even seem to hear Emily screaming at him to get down.
Emily peeked around the back of the cart to see what was happening and screamed at Mason again. She was leaning against the back bumper when it suddenly lurched forward and sped away, leaving her exposed in the middle of the street. A sob of terror burst out of her as she scrabbled to the nearest car for cover on her hands and knees. She was panting hard by the time she made it and her heart felt like it would burst out of her chest. Whimpering in fear , she eased over to see around the car. Mark and David’s carts were still there on the side of the road but Mason’s was getting further and further away. Movement to the left caught her eye and she turned her head to see two uniformed police officers rush into the street from between two buildings. They crouched down and moved from cover to cover. A gunshot rang out from the still unseen assailant and the two cops immediately returned fire. Emily must have screamed because one of the cops turned his weapon at her. With a scowl, he faced away again and scanned the area. His partner pointed further down and across the street and moved forward. The cop who had seen Emily made to follow but stopped and turned back to her.
“Wait for two and then go!” he hissed at her.
With her hands covering her mouth to hold back another scream, she just nodded as the cop moved away. Emily’s whole body was shaking with fear and shock. Mason had left her. That he had left her to die was all she could think of as her eyes tracked the police officers down the road until they were out of sight. She waited another minute and then still crouching ran towards David and Lisa. When she bumped into the back of their golf cart, Lisa made a sharp squeal of fright and whipped her head around. Lisa’s eyes were as big as saucers and shimmered with tears. When she saw it was Emily, she launched herself at her and clung tight.
Emily met David’s eyes over the sobbing girl’s shoulder and mouthed, “Let’s go!”
He nodded and pried Lisa away from Emily. The three squeezed into the golf cart and David started to roll it forward. When they got even with the other cart, David stage-whispered, “Mark, let’s go!” and continued on. Emily looked back to make sure Mark was coming and turned forward when she saw him jump behind the wheel. David glanced back and when he saw the other cart following, he sped up. Lisa and Emily jolted at the sound of another gunshot but it was further away from them this time. Lisa was clutching Emily’s arm painfully while she sobbed and shook. Even though Emily was terrified as well, she freed her arm and wrapped it around Lisa and tried to comfort her.
Once they had cleared the area, David slowed down and turned to look at Emily, his face a mix of bewilderment and rage.
“What the hell, Emily! What happened back there? Did Mason ditch you?!”
Emily couldn’t speak yet, she was still shocked stupid by Mason’s actions so she just lowered her head against Lisa’s and closed her eyes.
Chapter 4
The sun was slowly making its way to the horizon as they continued down Marine Drive. Lisa had stopped sobbing but she stayed pressed against Emily and she hadn’t spoken since the shooting. Even though they had never been friends, Emily was comforted by the girl’s closeness. Her mind couldn’t seem to settle down. Mason had left her exposed in the middle of the street and had driven away without a backwards glance. Everything she thought she knew about him was in doubt. How could he have done that to her and what did that mean for the rest of the journey home? She bit her lip to keep the sob back when