Trust No One

Chapter 12

"We can't talk in here?" Percy asked. 

"I'd prefer if we could talk in private," I said simply. Percy sighed before nodding. We excused ourselves from the table but reassured everyone that we'd be back soon. 

We walked silently in the parking lot outside. The stars and moon were shining brightly above us, and the atmosphere was so blissful. The only sounds were of distant traffic and our own footsteps against the pavement. 

"So, Wise Girl, you wanted to talk in private," Percy acknowledged with a soft smile. 

"You called me Wise Girl," I said quietly as I looked at him seriously. 

Percy's eyes widened as he looked at me. Then, Percy looked away and started walking again. I followed him skeptically.  

"Yeah, it's not a big deal. I can stop if you want me to," Percy expressed. 

"No, how did you-? Why did you call me that?" I asked sternly. I grabbed his hand to stop him from walking away. 

Percy's hand meshed into mine easily, but Percy harshly pulled away. 

His eyes were wild as he increased the distance between us. I could see pain and agony in his expressions. 

"Your phone number is saved as Wise Girl. I assumed that it was your nickname, so I called you that. What's the big deal?" Percy asked in frustration. 

While his explanation made sense, Percy was suspiciously evading me. 

"Percy-"

"Let's just go back inside," Percy said firmly. His voice was elevated, and I could tell that he was desperately trying to pull out of the situation. 

Percy didn't wait for my answer as he walked back to the restaurant. 

I simply stared at his retreating figure. 

I felt the emotional pain spread throughout my body.  

This interaction did nothing to relieve my growing confusion. I hated not knowing things, and right now, Percy was a gigantic question mark in my mind. 

I didn't understand what was going on with him. Sometimes, Percy acts like his old self. Other times, he's a complete stranger with memory loss.  

Regardless, I still cared for him, so I had to figure this out. 

***

I sighed as I put down another case report. This case report highlighted Agent Ethan Nakamura as the lead agent on a failed mission to rescue some hostages from a BlodgeHarm trafficking ring. 

This was truly one of those awful cases that I didn't like reading about. 

I turned my attention to Chiron, and I was ready to introduce another idea to figure out who helped Kronos escape. 

"Chiron, I think that we should look into the security cameras," I said firmly. 

"The cameras at the black site were slashed, Annabeth," Chiron informed me patiently. 

"I know, Chiron. I'm not talking about the cameras at the black site. I want to look into the cameras at the front entrance of Lake Valor HQ," I said. 

Now, Chiron seemed intrigued as he stared at me while waiting. 

"Every staff member has to swipe their ID to get into the building. I know that it's a long shot, but we might see who has the damaged ID card," I explained. 

I was confident that the cameras would show footage of the damaged ID card that's being used to swipe into Lake Valor. 

As such, we could see who was the card's owner.