Love Behind Lies (2 page)

“I noticed that you weren’t talking as much as usual,” I prompted.
“Yeah well Loren and his friends asked me to go out with them.”
“Margaret, they are trouble. That’s all I know.” I didn’t want to tell Margaret about my encounter with the same boys today.
“Yeah and they all wanted me to come over to Loren’s house.”
“And did you go?”
“Yeah. Right after school. They practically dragged me there. I told them that I didn’t want to go, but I guess they over rule me.”
“But I thought that you were finishing a math test. You need to stay away from them Margaret. You know what they are known for.”
“I was just making up an excuse, so don’t tell anyone any of this.”
“I won’t! Just tell me what happened!”
“They brought me to Loren’s house first. That was the scariest part. He lives on the other side of town. When we got there, they walked me to his house, and all his neighbors we staring at me. It was ridiculous.”
“When we got into his house, they tied me to this chair that was in his room. His parents weren’t home, so they could do whatever they wanted. They wanted me to drink and smoke. I told them no, and they just laughed at me. Nick was one that had the drugs. Loren held me down and made me open my mouth.”
“All while you were over there? What happened? Did you do it?” I couldn’t believe this. Margaret never got into this much trouble with guys. Margaret is known for not smoking, doing drugs, or having sex. All the guys wanted to change that, especially Loren and his friends.
“ I didn’t do anything. I kicked Nick when he got close enough and I started screaming really loud. All the boys got nervous after that. I think that they were scared that someone was going to hear me. Then I told them I had to leave and they got really mad at me and told me to be careful around school. They also told me that I have to watch my back and not to go anywhere alone. They threatened me!” She was almost in tears.
“After that, they let me go. Sam drove me back to school, but I was shaking the whole time. I was so scared. Sam said something to me, but I don’t remember what he said. I was too scared to pay attention to what anyone was saying to me.
“Scary. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know! I thought that maybe you could help me.”
“Yeah, It will be ok.” I think that I was starting to get a little bit more freaked out than she was. How am I not supposed to tell anyone? I had to tell William at least. He was the second oldest in the family. He had to know what to do. “Listen, we need to tell someone. Can I please tell William? He will know how to handle these boys.”
“Yeah, but, I don’t want to be there, and you have to make sure that he doesn’t tell Mom. He obviously knows the boys too.”
“Oh, right. So it was Sam Knight, Nate Hoder, Loren Dorn, and Nick Sayner. Right?” I verified.
“Yes,” Margaret agreed.
“Ok, I will ask and see what he has to say. Are they in any of your classes?”
“Yeah they are in my homeroom and our teacher doesn’t care what we do. I am screwed.”
Margaret put her hands over her face. I could tell that she was very stressed out.
“It’s okay Margaret,” I said putting my hands on her back. “I would stay as close to your teacher as possible or go to the bathroom a lot. What hour is your homeroom?”
“5th hour.”
“Ok mine is during that same hour, so maybe we figure something out. Why don’t you go finish your homework and I will talk about this “issue” with William.”
Ok so this conversation was kind of weird since my sister was a senior in high school and I was only a sophomore. Aren’t I supposed to be going to her with my problems? Oh well, I love it when Margaret comes to me because it makes me feel like I can trust her too.
She left my room without saying anything and I was left alone. I sat in my room and thought all about this issue and how to handle it. William, who is a junior in high school, had never had any issues because he was the cool guy. I guess that Margaret, was cool too, but she just doesn’t know how to handle these kinds of things. Will has always had good friends that never smoked or drank. And Oscar and Thomas and I were still getting used to being in high school. The three of us had had no drama our freshmen year, so none of us were used to this.
In Evansville, Indiana, my hometown, there are many schools, but there is one school system that is all on the same campus; the Central Campus. There is the Central Elementary school and then right next to it is the Central Middle school, and then across the street from those schools is Central High School, where my whole family is attending. It is the biggest high school in Evansville. There were barely any trouble at the high school either. That’s why I was so surprised by what Margaret told me.
I finally left my room and started down the hallway to William’s room. I was worried about how he would handle it.

Chapter 2

When I knocked on the door to William’s room, no one answered, so I just walked in. William was laying on his bed listening to his iPod. No wonder he couldn’t hear me. As soon as he saw me he took off his head phones.
“Hey, what do you need,” he asked.
“Well Margaret just came into my room and told me why she wasn’t acting herself,” I replied.
“Well, are you going to tell me?” Sometimes, Will can be so impatient.
“Yeah but you have to promise not to tell anyone. Not even mom. Okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” William was sitting up now, he was anxious to hear what I had to say.
So then I told him everything that Margaret told me. He sat their silently until the end. He didn’t really have any questions for me. I told him the names of the boys and he just shook his head.
“Those boys are bad news,” Will told me.
“I know. That was what I told Margaret, but she didn’t seem to take me seriously.”
Will said he wanted to think about it some more, although there was nothing we could do. I left the room after about fifteen minutes and the conversation was over.
William had been interested in the story. Margaret’s story had explained all of William’s questions. Why Margaret was on the other side of street when William had met her, and why Margaret wasn’t talking at all.
I decided that I should probably study for my test that I had tomorrow in History. I was a pretty good student, one of those that barely needed to study to get an “A”. I decided to study for about fifteen minutes. I had already studied earlier this week.
After I put everything away, and was all set for school tomorrow, I looked at the time. It was almost 8:30pm, and I really felt like going on a walk. I go on walks a lot. Usually it is to get out of the house, but tonight I wanted to sort everything that had happened to Margaret out. I was actually confused by the whole story.
I left like a rebel, as I grabbed a jacket out of my closet. It was my plan not to tell anyone that I was going on a walk. I didn’t want to answer any questions, and I wanted to be by myself.
I opened the door to my room and Thomas was standing right there. I jumped.
“Hey, sorry,” he said
“That’s ok. What are you doing,” I asked. So much for no one knowing about my walk.
“I just had a question on our history test.”
“I can’t help you right now. Sorry. I have to go do something, but I should be home in thirty minutes. I might be able to help you then. Please ask questions later.” I put my hand up because I could see that he was about to ask a question. I haven’t gone on a walk by myself in a long time. “And, please, don’t tell anyone that I’m leaving. Bye.” I started to walk down the hallway and all I had was my phone and a jacket.

Chapter 3

I walked to the front door without saying anything to anyone else. It was a good thing that there was no one in the kitchen, otherwise I would have had some more explaining to do.
I reached for the handle of the door knob, but someone grabbed my wrist. I jumped, and then realized that it was Thomas.
“I can’t let you leave, Katie.” Thomas said pulling me away from the door.
“Thomas, why not? I’m not going to get into any trouble, I promise.” I told him.
Thomas gave me a questioning look.
“I promise. I am just going on a walk to sort out my thoughts. Trust me. I have my cell phone too.”
“Fine, but if you aren’t back within thirty minutes, I’m going to tell mom.”
“Okay, whatever. But promise me that you won’t tell anyone that I’m not here.”
“Promise.” Thomas said and let go of my wrist.
I guess the reason that I wanted to keep this whole thing a secret was that our mom never lets us out of the house alone, especially at night. I didn’t want her worrying about me. I opened the front door and left.
Whenever I go on a walk, I always go the same way. It’s just around the block. I take Central Road, most of the way. That road takes me right past the high school. Then I turn onto 5th street. I think 5th street is the scariest part of my walk, there are only two lights, on the whole road, making it really dark. When I come to the corner I always turn on to Hegin Street. I take that sidewalk all the way to Maple Street, which leads me back to my house.
I was almost to 5th street, when I started getting scared. I had already figured out my thoughts, about Margaret and the boys. She just had to try to avoid them at all costs. I was getting closer to 5th street with every step.
I rounded to corner and looked down the 5th street sidewalk. There was no one on the sidewalk, but it was still dark and scary. My first thought was to turn around, but I wanted to finish my walk. I had walked this sidewalk in the dark plenty of times before.
I was almost to the first light post, when I felt like there was someone following me. I turned around, but there was no one there. My heart was pounding, matching my steps on the pavement. I stopped again, when I got to the first light post. I looked left and right. There were some bushes on my left and a road to my right. I could see no one.
I took about ten more steps, before I stopped again. I knew for sure that I had heard footsteps. I kept walking, even though I knew for sure that there was someone following me. I stopped walking again and grabbed my phone from my pocket. I was going to call Thomas.
“Please don’t call anyone.” The voice had come from nowhere. I jumped and dropped my phone. The back flew off and the battery was laying about two feet from me. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” The voice rang out again.
“Who are you?” I asked. I was almost scared of my own voice. Then someone stepped out from the bushes. The person put his hand over my mouth, quickly, before I could scream.
“Promise me that you won’t scream.” The person said. I just nodded my head up and down. He slowly removed his hand from my mouth. My eyes were wide open. I was so scared.
“Brent and Jake, you can come out now.” The man said. I took a step away from the man that had put his hand over my mouth, and backed up right into someone else. I jumped and stepped forward again.
I turned around to see who was behind me. There were two boys, probably Margaret’s age, standing behind me.
I picked up my phone and started to put it back together. I was going to call Thomas.
“It’s okay, don’t be scared.” One of the boys said, touching my hands. He didn’t want me to call anyone.
“We just want to talk to you about something.” The other boy said.
I was speechless. I was so scared, I had no idea what to do. I started to run into the middle of the street, that being the only way away from these guys. One of the boys grabbed my arm and pulled me back. He held me against him.
“Please don’t run. We aren’t going to hurt you. We just want to talk to you about something,” the man said to me.
I just nodded my head. “Who are you?” I finally managed to get out.
“We work for the ASO, the American Spy Organization.” The man said.
“Why do I need to know you guys?” I asked.
“Just please let us explain.” The boy behind me said.
“Okay, fine.” I said. I was mad now.
The man that had talked to me first spoke. “First, let me introduce myself. I am Evan Coore, the director of the ASO. Brent Cloud, is the one behind you, and Jake Johnson is the one next to you.” Evan said. I looked to the boy next to me. He smiled, but I didn’t respond.
“You still haven’t answered my question.” I insisted.
“We can’t really explain that to you now.” Evan said.
“Well then I am leaving.” I said, trying to pry Brent’s hands off my arms.
The man called Evan stepped forward and put his hand out. “No, stay. I will explain everything. You just have to promise not to tell anyone. I mean everyone.”
“I promise,” I said, not knowing what I was getting into.
Evan took a deep breath before he began again. “What does your dad do for his job?” Evan asked.
I hesitated before answering. What did my dad have to do with anything? “I don’t know, he says he is a salesperson, but he always comes back with bruises and cuts all over him.” I paused and no one said anything. “He works for you.” I realized, finally.
Evan looked at me. “Yes, he does, and we think that he is in some trouble. What is your dad doing right now?” He asked me.
“He is in Italy, for work.” I said.
Evan shook his head. “He shouldn’t have done that.”
“Do what?” I asked.
“Your dad is in trouble, and it would have been better if he had stayed at home.”
“What kind of trouble is he in?” I asked
“Do you know who Nick Sayner is?” Brent asked me.
“Yeah, he goes to my school. He is a huge bully.”
“Well his dad has threatened to kill your dad.”
“What?” I asked, totally surprised. “Why?”
“Well, your dad and Nick’s dad were working together a couple months ago. They were trying to track this criminal in Italy. His name is Jared Storm. One day, your dad caught Nick’s dad talking to someone on the phone. That person was working with Jared; trying to keep him safe.”
“Your dad notified us about what Nick’s dad was doing and we fired him for communicating with the enemy. Nick’s dad argued with us for long time. He said that he was trying to figure out where Jared was, and that the guy that he was talking to knew where they could find Jared. The whole thing was just a misunderstanding, and we fired Nick’s dad for no reason. Obviously we didn’t know it at the time, though.”
“After we fired Nick’s dad we decided not to let him back into the business, no matter if it was a misunderstanding or not. He didn’t like that at all. His family had to sell a lot of their stuff, and move into a small apartment.”
“So, a couple weeks ago we received a phone call from Nick’s dad. He said that on your dad’s next mission your dad was going to die. We told your dad not to go on that mission, but he insisted. So, now, your dad is in Italy, trying to finish the case that he was assigned to do with Nick’s dad.” Evan finished.
“Well we have to do something. I don’t want my dad to die!” I screamed.
“That’s exactly why you are here.” Evan said. “Brent is planning on going to Italy to help your dad, but he needs a partner.”
“Why can’t he bring Jake?” I asked Evan.
“Jake is leaving us, and can’t go on the trip.”
“Why can’t you just use someone else? Why me?”
“Because you know your dad. What he would do, and where he might be. You can communicate with him, without him knowing you are with us.” Evan finished.
“Does this makes sense?” Brent asked me. His voice surprised me and his breath was cool on my neck.
“Yeah, I guess so.” I said with a shiver.
“So will you take the job?” Evan asked.
“I don’t know. It seems sort of weird. Why all of a sudden? Can I think about it over night, or can I tell my brother?” I asked.
“You can think about it over night and call Brent in the morning. You can also tell your brother, but you have to make sure that he doesn’t tell anyone.”
I hesitated before saying anything else. This whole thing could be a huge joke, and I would never
know. “Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow, then.” I managed to get out. Brent’s hands left my arms.
“Good,” Evan said. “I will be anxious to hear your answer. Thank you for your time.” Evan offered his hand to me and I shook it. Jake followed Evan without saying another word to me. Brent stayed behind, and watched them walk away.
“Shouldn’t you be going with them,” I asked, slowly back away from Brent.
“I brought my own car. That way I can talk to you longer than them. You are kind of cute. You know that?” Brent asked.
I was blushing. This is so embarrassing. “I have been told that before, but only by the gay boys in my class. Why are you talking to me?”
“I wanna get to know you better. You will be working with me, obviously. And it is easier to work with a partner, when you know them well.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
“Yeah, so where are you headed to now?”
“Home. My brother is probably worried about me.”
He laughed and took my hand in his. “Can I walk you home then?”
Brent’s hand was warm as it held mine. He felt strong too. I was thinking more about Brent’s hand, then the question that he had just asked me. “Yeah, sure. Just make sure that no one sees me with you. I don’t want them to start questioning me.”
We walked home. There wasn’t that much further to walk. We didn’t really talk much, but I was glad that he was with me. I wasn’t as scared anymore.
When we got to my street, we decided that he should leave now. We stopped walking at one of the light posts.
“So before I leave, I want to give you my number. You can call me tomorrow, when you have your final answer.” He wrote it down on a sheet of paper and handed it to me.
“Yeah, sounds great. I’ll call you tomorrow. Bye.”
“Bye,” he said. We turned away from each other and walked away.
I was a little confused. I had never seen Brent around, let alone talk to him. It was kind of creepy actually. But he was one of the first guys to tell me that I was cute. My mind was racing and I didn’t know what to do. Brent was very handsome. Better than my brother, I think. He had dark brown hair that was shorter that my brothers, and he had bright blue eyes. I almost thought that he was wearing contacts to make his eyes that colored.
Brent was tall too. Taller than my brother, who I thought was tall. Brent was very fit as well. His biceps and abs made his shirt tight. So tight, that I noticed his muscles. His hands were soft and strong too. I could feel his strength when he held my hand.
I looked down at the sheet of paper in my hands. The number was scribbled on the sheet of paper. I could barely read the handwriting. I then realized the problem that I have on my hands. What was I supposed to do? The whole thing seemed like a joke to me. What if it was? Would I get myself hurt?
I decided not to worry about it until I talked to William. He would be able to tell whether this was a trick or not.