My Life Of Evasion

18. Desperate Times Call For Crazy Measures

Chapter 18

Desperate Times Call For Crazy Measures

 

 

Max was sticking to his story about Agent Turner being the one to give him the picture and tell him that it was the next clue.  It was almost like he was trying to make himself believe also and not just everyone else. 

As he did, I didn’t say a thing, just sat back and watched everyone take in what he had to say about what happened.  Mainly my focus was on Ben and Drew because, to me, it looked like they didn’t believe a thing about what he was saying.

I knew I could count on them to look straight through Max’s attempt at twisting the truth. 

So when Max finished and got up to go take a shower and Dad and Brielle went into their room to start the research on the golden box, it left me, Ben, Drew, and Sophie sitting there.

“So am I the only one who doesn’t believe him?” I asked, looking around at the three of them.

“No, you’re definitely not,” Sophie said, shaking her head.  “I’ve known him for years and that was probably the first time that I saw him actually trying to lie to someone’s face.”

“And he knows that we don’t believe a word he was saying either,” Ben said as Drew nodded beside him.  “That’s probably why he couldn’t even look us straight in the eye.”

“And you know what you’ve got to do then, right?” I asked, looking at the two of them.  It didn’t take long for my words to register and process through their minds. 

Drew was the first one to nod, a sly smile on his face.  “Don’t worry.  We’ll get it out of him.  One way or another.”

“And how exactly are you guys going to manage that?” Sophie asked, raising one eyebrow in their direction. 

 “He knows that we can do it, too,” Ben continued.  “That’s probably why he left right after we finished talking about how he got this picture.  I mean, does he really think we’re stupid?  That we don’t know him like we actually do?  Pathetic.”

“But it’s like he’s hiding something more than just where he got the picture from,” I said.  “It’s more of the why rather than the who.”

“I get what you mean, though,” Sophie said.  “It’s like he’s telling the truth, though only partially.  Like there’s something that he’s leaving out, a big something.”

“Exactly like I said.  One way or another,” Drew said again.  “Don’t you two worry.  We’ve got it covered.”

It was about an hour later that I headed into mine and Max’s room.  It looked like he’d just gotten out of the shower, though he said he was going to get in when he left before.  His hair was still damp as he stood up from the bed where he’d just be sitting.  He looked up just as I closed the door a smile that didn’t reach his eyes plastered on his face.

“Hey, where have you been?” he asked, standing up in his pajama pants and t-shirt. 

I nodded back toward the door, trying to keep myself from saying, “Oh, you know.  Just plotting ways that Ben and Drew can torture you into telling the truth,” but instead said, “We were just talking.”

“About…?”

Shrugging, I sat down on the bed where he’d just been before with him standing off to the side.  “Nothing,” I said, looking up at him. 

He smiled slightly and knelt down in front of me, moving so that he could wrap his arms around my waist.  He leaned forward so that he was able to kiss me ever so slightly, but still managed to leave my breathing ragged like always.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his face just inches away from mine. 

I sighed, reaching up to brush my finger across his cheek.  “I think I should be asking you the same thing.”

His eyebrows furrowed as he looked into my eyes for a few more moments before speaking.  “What do you mean?”

“What really happened?” I asked.  “When you were pulled into shop, what really happened?”

“I told you…”

“No, you didn’t.  You didn’t tell me the truth.  I know when you’re lying to me, Max, and at that moment you were.  Tell me what’s really going on?”

“Callie,” he said, starting to shake his head.  I saw in his eyes that he knew that he couldn’t keep what he was away from me for much longer.  But I also saw that he was going to try no matter what.

“I’m not going to tell you.”

My eyebrows rose in disbelief. “So you’re just going to continue to lie to my face even though I know exactly what you’re doing?” I asked.  I couldn’t help it when the anger started seeping through my tone. 

But the thing was, he was getting mad as well.  I could feel it in the tension in his arms that were still around my waist as he leaned further back. 

“That’s not what’s happening,” he said tersely.

“That’s exactly what’s happening!  It’s happening right now!”

He stood then, moving away from me almost as quickly as he could.  He didn’t move from his place a few feet in front of me, though, and he looked down at me with slightly narrowed eyes. 

“I’m going to go talk with Ben and Drew, just to give you some time to calm down.”

He left before I could yell at him and ask him just why I needed to calm down.  I thought I had a perfectly good reason to be angry like I was.  I mean, I wasn’t the one lying to my girlfriend and not telling her what was really going on?  But now I needed to rely on Ben and Drew, who he was going to go talk to, and hopefully they would know that this would be the opportune time to ask him just what was going on.  Maybe he would tell them something.

I didn’t know how long it was before Max came back in the room, but it was enough for me to take a quick shower, put on my pajamas, and be half asleep.  He was right about one thing, though.  I needed him to leave so I could calm down.  I was still angry, but I could at least hide it better than I could before.

So when I felt the bed dip behind me and the covers move, I knew that he was getting in beside me.  When his arm wrapped around my waist and his hand found mine, I pretended to be asleep just in case he decided to reveal something, anything. 

“I’ve got a reason for doing this,” he whispered, thinking that I was actually asleep.  “I’m doing it for you.”

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