Archive of Our Own

Annie rolled her eyes as she remembered how Beth had told her to wait in the car.

"It's like leaving a child unattended in a department store," Beth had said, patronizing. "I don't want to lose you in a coat rack." Just like that, her big sister had walked into the ominous building on her own. If she thought she were going to miss anything compelling, Annie might have argued, but honestly, money exchanges with the gang were losing their flare.

Annie stared at the building now and tried to forget how the image of Beth walking in looked eerily similar to a steel monster swallowing her whole.

She shivered and tore her eyes from the warehouse, remembering her iced coffee. She picked the cup up, wrapped her lips around the straw, and practically inhaled the remaining ounces of sugary goodness. When she finally hit air, her slurping echoed in the car.

"Shit," she muttered. After a few seconds of shaking the ice around, as if that would jostle some more coffee free, she dropped the empty cup back down and fell against her seat.

Is this what it was like for cops during stake-outs? Annie was so sure being on the criminal side of things would make it a little more interesting, but money laundering really was hit-or-miss on the adrenaline thing. Who knew?

Only a few more minutes passed (seriously, who was running this world clock?), and that was it. Annie was going to die from boredom, or her bladder was going to explode. Getting out to squat was not an option, because a bunch of tattooed delinquents with guns watching her use the bathroom made her insides jiggle, and not in a fun way.

Determined to distract herself, Annie did the reasonable sister thing and started to dig through Beth's glove compartment. It was surprisingly messy for Beth and her type A personality, stuffed to the brim with crumpled and folded papers. Annie also found a bouncy ball, a tire gauge, and a Chevrolet owner's manual. Beth drove a Toyota.

Annie snorted as she grabbed a hand full of papers and sorted through unopened junk mail, old permission slips, and receipts. She was reviewing the family's Costco purchase from August of last year when the driver's side door flew open.

Papers went flying as Annie screamed, throwing every paper she held as her hands flew up in surprise. "Jesus Christ, Beth, don't you knock?" Annie cried, staring at the disarray of papers that covered her lap and the floor board. She looked up to scowl, but her mouth fell open instead.

The face that stared back at her did not belong to Beth. His gaze slowly moved to assess the mess Annie had created. The corner of his mouth twitched upward. "You always getting into shit that's not yours?"

Annie struggled to find words. Hell, she struggled to find her vocal cords. "It's my sister's car," she finally blurted out, her voice unreasonably loud, as if that were the perfect defense.

"Your sister's car," Rio parroted, tone harsh despite his twinkling eyes. "Not yours."

"Sorry," Annie muttered.

He peered at her for a moment longer before he started to chuckle. He dropped his head, turned his face down, looking towards his lap. She realized he was holding a phone, typing something on it. His fingers flew across the screen, and she could see the conversation bubbles floating beneath the pad of his thumb. Who was this dude always talking to?

Annie's eyes strained in the dimness of the car as she tried to make out words, any words. Maybe he noticed she was watching, maybe he finished his message, but he slid his phone into his hoodie pocket and caught her stare.

Annie recoiled. She couldn't help it. She pushed her back against the space between the door and the seat, her neck and shoulders slowly beginning to collect sweat. She had been in Rio's presence before, sure, but Beth was always there, acting as a buffer. Now, in this car, in this closed space, he looked like a threat, like a snake waiting to strike, watching a mouse squirm.

Fear wasn't in Annie's wheelhouse of emotion. Fear was the expectation of danger, the understanding that action equaled consequence. Fear required some form of impulse control. Some people said Annie lacked common sense, but that wasn't it at all. Annie only knew how to make the mistake and realize it was a mistake afterwards.

It drove their mother crazy, it made Beth feel responsible for her, and it routinely left their father shaking his head and mumbling: Annie, you can't walk through doors without opening them.

Sadie's safety and happiness were the only things that could evoke anything similar to fear for Annie Marks, but this? Sitting alone in a car with Gangfriend, surrounded by his silence, without her sister? This was more than similar. This was fear.

Remembering that her sister was still inside the creepy warehouse, Annie suddenly sat upright. "Where's Beth? I mean, shouldn't you be in there, with her, doing that thing you guys do?"

Rio smirked, raised a brow. "You worried 'bout her?"

"Obviously," she snorted out before she could think better of it. See? No impulse control. 

His stare intensified, and he shifted back, angling his body to mirror hers, back against the door. "Why's that?"

Annie blinked. "Because... Because I—I mean, she's in there, and you're here." She fumbled for a minute, gesturing to the building and then to herself. "Talking to me. Like, what's that about, right?" She laughed nervously.

"You tell me," he offered.

"Tell you what? Where my sister is?" Annie gaped at him, taken aback. She gave a slow bob of her head, trying to look pensive. "I don't know, dude. Hopefully she's still in there and not in, you know, a... barrel. An oil barrel." She swallowed hard, mouth suddenly dry. Where was Beth? What did he want from Annie? Did she just call him dude?

"Oil barrel?" Rio echoed, his voice suddenly booming. He laughed, eyes wide. "You think this is what, The Godfather? Shit, you housewives always thinking the most," he sneered.

Annie scoffed. "What? That totally happens," she argued.

"Nah," he said, shaking his head. "It doesn't."

"So Beth's not in an oil barrel?"

"Nope. She's inside with my boys." He jerked his chin towards the warehouse.

"Okay," Annie said, sounding the word out slowly. She started to speak again, but he was already talking.

"My question is," he was saying, propping an elbow up, "why aren't you?"

There was a long moment of silence. She squinted, watching him cautiously. "Why am I... not in an oil barrel?"

Rio grunted loudly, and she couldn't tell if he was fighting another laugh or clearing his throat, but the look on his face could only be described as unimpressed. "Forget the oil barrel," he retorted, fixing her with a decisive look. "Why are you out here? Why's Big Sister in there all alone?"

"Oh," she said flatly, ignoring the derisiveness of his last few words. "I wanted to wait," she lied.

"Since when?"

"Huh?"

Rio licked his lips, a patient smile appearing on his face. It felt misleading. "You don't wait around. You get in people's shit." He motioned to the scattered papers Annie still hadn't picked up. "So now I'm s'posed to believe you're out here, just mindin' your business." As he said it, his eyes flickered back to the papers. "Well... trying to, right?"

Annie gaped at him. Was he insulting her? She was almost positive he was, or at the very least trying to imply that Annie didn't know how to mind her own business. Well, he wasn't wrong, but she felt pretty indignant that he would presume to know her well enough to make that observation.

Now she was the one to clear her throat. She sucked in a breath, giving him her best smile. "I'm sorry, Beth is the smart one, not me. You're gonna have to spell this one out for me," she declared. Another second ticked by, and she chortled before speaking again. "Seriously, what am I doing wrong?"

His mouth formed a thin line. "See, I'd love to help you out here. Spell it out for you, just like you said, but right now I got more questions than answers. You feel me?" He quirked a brow. Despite his statement, he gave her no room to talk again. "But you can relax, Blondie. I'm just checkin' in. Couldn't help but notice Red was missing both her sidekicks, and that would be all fine and good if... you weren't waiting out here, lookin' like you did something bad."

"That's just how I look," Annie blurted out. The back of her neck felt hot again. "I mean... look, man, I don't know what you think is happening, but—"

"Oh, I don't want you worried about what I'm thinking," he interrupted, and Annie couldn't help but scowl. This guy was rude as hell. "But you better remember what I know." There was a pause where she could see him searching her face, maybe trying to see if she finally understood what he was talking about. Whatever he was looking for, Annie was sure she didn't provide it, because he frowned and leaned in. "You ladies can't be trusted," he said in a low, ominous voice.

Annie clenched her jaw. The heat from her neck spread to her face, to her ears, but she didn't speak. She was remembering Mary Pat and her stunt, the one that had almost gotten her sister shot in the head, again. Even if they had righted that wrong, why would they expect the gang to just forget the mess it had created?

When she didn't speak, Rio gave a quick nod, averting his gaze. He began to look around the car, peering into the van's backseat. Annie watched his eyes scan the seats, the floorboards, the space behind Annie's seat. She closed her eyes.

This was about money. It was always about money.

"Rio," she began, and it was the first time she had said his name aloud at all, let alone to him, and the name itself didn't even feel like a name, but a word, a strange word. "I know we fucked up before, okay? But that won't happen again." She raised both hands, a sign of surrender. "I swear. Beth has all the money, the real money. Whatever happened in there—"

"Nothing happened."

She froze. Eventually her eyes flickered back to the warehouse. "You checked the money?" she asked quietly, feeling dazed.

"Of course," he replied, tone lilting. "It's all good."

Her attention snapped back to him, eyes widening. She felt her pulse quickening. "What was all that then?" Annie practically shouted at him, voice breaking on the last word. She gestured wildly, not really to anything specific, mostly just regarding their current position in the car together.

Rio's shoulders rose and fell in one quick, fluid motion. "If you ain't suspicious, don't act suspicious."

Annie heaved a loud sigh. "I'm not suspicious!"

"Says you."

"Says... anyone! Everyone! I'm not doing anything," she reminded him, feeling resentful at the way he had scared her for, apparently, no reason at all. 

"I didn't know that. Still don't know if I believe that."

Her head was absolutely pounding now. "Dude, what else would I be doing?" She raised both hands again, waving them erratically to the space around her as if to say, Look at me! Look at me doing nothing, just sitting here, arguing with you.

"Million dollar question, huh?" Rio asked, snickering. She realized he was grinning again, ear to ear, like this was the funniest fucking thing he had ever seen.

"Yeah, well, I don't have a million dollars, and even if I did, you would take it!" Annie spit out the words and promptly folded her arms against her chest, feeling petulant.

"If it was mine? Damn straight."

"And if it was yours, I wouldn't stop you." Annie glanced at him. "I wouldn't try, anyway. And I definitely wouldn't hide out in the car with a pile of cash," she added begrudgingly, rolling her eyes.

"Good. Hate for you to end up in an oil barrel."

Despite her annoyance, Annie couldn't stop herself from smirking. She threw him an indulgent look. "Okay, simmer down, El Chapo," she sneered. "And that was definitely a crime reference, not a Mexican reference." She paused and then leaned in. "Are you Mexican?"

Rio dipped his chin forward but didn't respond. Typical. Instead he sat up, transferred his weight to the other side of the seat, and started out of the car.

Before she could stop herself, Annie blurted out, "Beth made me."

He looked over his shoulder. "Made you what?"

"Made me wait," she replied, a "duh" factor to her response.

He didn't immediately move, his hand still propped on the handle with the door half-way open, but then his mouth twitched again. "Your sister made you wait in the car?" he questioned, disbelieving.

Annie's cheeks were flushed, but now it was from embarrassment. "Yeah, so what?" She jutted her chin in defiance, and he continued to stare. She huffed in exasperation. Why had she said anything at all? "What, like you're surprised she's bossy? You met her. You know." Annie shrugged. 

"Surprised you would listen."

"What? I do that sometimes."

"Why?"

Annie wrinkled her nose. "Why do I listen?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, a kind of humoring expression on his face, and Annie was shocked at how much his expression mirrored the same one she got from Beth all the time. "Nah, why'd she tell you to wait?"

Annie pursed her lips in thought. She didn't want to tell him why exactly, if only to avoid giving him the satisfaction of knowing he was right about her. A slow, wicked grin crossed her face, and she met his stare. "Guess she wanted you all to herself, buddy." And then, even though she knew she was talking to a violent criminal, she reached out and nudged his shoulder with her fist in a show of solidarity, and really, just to be a smart ass.

The look of shock on his face was totally worth it. He recovered quickly, his features contorting to return to his usual look of smugness. "Right, right," he said slowly, head bobbing up and down.

Annie gave herself an imaginary pat on the back, feeling satisfied, and turned her attention back to the warehouse, fully expecting him to leave the car now.

Instead he placed an elbow on the console, planting himself there. "Beth short for something?"

She looked back at him. "Like, her name?"

A short nod, an expectant look.

"Oh. Sure. It's short for Elizabeth." She pointed at herself. "Anna. Anna, Annie." Like he cared about that.

"Elizabeth." He said it slowly, as if considering it. His voice was raspier than usual, something immoral in the sound. "Elizabeth," he said again, even quieter, and then he looked out the window. Not at the warehouse, not at anything as far as Annie could tell.

"No one actually calls her that," Annie interjected after silence had stretched between them. She felt like she was interrupting something intimate when she did. Since she was already on a roll for the night, she pushed on and asked a question herself. "What about Rio? That short for anything?"

He glanced over at her without moving his head. "Funny," he rasped.

"What? Fair trade, buddy."

He shook his head.

"No... it's not short for something, or no, you're not going to be keep this incognito thing you have going?" She waved her hands in front of her, regarding him.

Rio exhaled loudly, but instead of saying anything else, he reached into his phone and started swiping around on the screen, dismissing her. But Annie was invested now. If he wasn't out here to kill her, she might as well have her fun, and this was kind of like gathering intel, right?

"Are you married?" she asked.

That got his attention. He gave her a blatant once-over. "You're not my type, sweetheart," he said, mock apology in his voice.

"Ha!" She scowled, fighting the urge to stick her tongue out. "You would be so lucky, but I never thought I was. You obviously like the older ladies." She didn't know his age, but beneath the scruff, he had a baby face, she could tell.

"Why do you care?" The glint in his eyes told her that he knew exactly why.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "It's my job to care. Don't you have sisters?" Now she was just baiting him.

Rio's jaw rocked back and forth. There was a shift in the energy around them, and he almost looked uncomfortable.

Annie had watched this guy hold a gun to Beth's head without flinching, but her messing with him about something romantic with the same woman had him looking uncharacteristically awkward. "Her husband's a super douche. Capital S, capital D," she announced in the midst of his silence, feeling her stomach lurch. Annie thought this was a joke, thought it was all in good fun, just entertainment, but now she wasn't sure.

"And why is that my problem?" He was staring straight ahead.

Before either could say anything else, a flash of red moved in front of the car.

The driver's side door flew open, and Beth stood there, her pale face practically glowing in the street lights. "What are you doing in my car?" Beth asked after a moment of disbelieving glances, eyes now settled on Rio.

Rio didn't immediately look at her. He sucked in his bottom lip, ran a hand along the bottom of her steering wheel. When he looked back up, Annie could see him smirking before his face turned to Beth. "Y'all should get home," he announced, clearly ignoring her question on purpose. He pushed up out of the seat and stood, forcing Beth to back up, right into the open door. He had her pinned.

Annie couldn't help but notice the way Beth's chest stopped moving up and down as she stared up at him. Annie sat silently, watching, nearly breathless herself. She had thought to herself, more than once, that it was possible Beth had a crush on this guy. It was more than possible that Rio checked Beth out on a regular basis, that much Annie had seen with her own eyes, but tonight was the first time that she really stopped to look at the tension between the two. She wasn't even involved in the scene before her, but Annie felt her fingertips tingling at the sight.

The air was stiff by the time Rio stepped back, giving Beth room to breathe again. He continued to step back, watching Beth scuttle into her seat and buckle up. When Beth reached out to grab the door and close it, Rio's hand caught it. He looked past Beth, peering into the car, right at Annie.

"Hey, you don't gotta worry. She's in good hands." Rio winked at Annie or Beth, or at both of them, and then he turned and walked away, disappearing into the darkness, presumably back to his buddies in the warehouse.

The car was dead silent for at least a minute.

"Next time," Beth finally muttered, "you better lock the doors."