Page 33 of Evading Darkness
"A phone call," she states plainly.
"No." I shut that shit down immediately.
"One phone call to a friend so that she knows I'm safe. The three of you can sit right next to me the entire time to ensure that I don't say anything that would tell her where I am or about you in any way. I know Barrett's a skilled hacker. There’s no reason why he can't give me an untraceable phone."
I consider her request because, in the long run, she’s right. Barrett can make sure nobody is able to trace the call, and if the girl does end up saying something that she shouldn't, it gives me every reason I need to end this whole charade so that we can move on with our lives. It's really a win for me all around.
"One two-minute phone call, and we’re in the room with you."
"Five minutes," she counters.
"Three minutes and not a second more."
She takes a moment to consider my offer. "Fine, three minutes, and I will try my best to answer any questions you might have about Maxton."
I get up to refill our drinks quickly before finally getting the answers I’ve been searching for. "Let's start with the easiest question. Did you know him?"
She lets out a sigh. "Yes, I knew him very well." I catch her looking down at her hands, fidgeting her fingers.
"I see. Well, it might be more beneficial for the both of us if you were able to just tell me everything you know about him. That way, I don't have to sit here and ask you so many pointless back-and-forth questions with short answers." She looks up at me with caution in her eyes but then nods. I could tell this wasn't going to be an easy story for her to tell, but I don't care. I need to know where he is and how to get in touch with him.
"Well," she begins, "I knew Maxton most of my life from the parties our families would go to together. He was always around, but I never paid much attention to him until we gota little older. When we were teenagers, we got really close since he lived in the same compound I lived in. Outside of him, there was only one other girl my age, Lacey, who lived at the compound, so the three of us spent a lot of time together. Lacey's parents sent her to boarding school when she was 15, and then it was just me and Maxton." I can see the tears welling up in her eyes before she continues with a shaky voice.
"Maxton and I started dating when we were 16, and we spent two years together before I, uh, left home."
I let out an audible gasp, taking in the bits of information she just spilled, and she pauses to look up at me. They dated for two years. Anger floods through me as I continue to process her words. She's been here for almost two months now, and all this time, she has known intimate details about him and refused to tell us. The very idea of that has me wanting to end this conversation right now and throw her back into the cell below us. I reign in my emotions and nod at her to continue.
"Maxton and I were together as much as we could be. We used to sneak out at night and spend the evenings in the field behind our houses, talking about what our life would be like outside of Rogue. Since you worked with my father, I'm assuming you have some basic knowledge of Rogue and what it is." I nod.
Rogue, I'm not impressed by it one bit. It's just another stupid society of men run by men who think they’re better than everyone else. They aren't unique in any way. Even the name is stupid. Who the hell calls their society Rogue, real original.
"Most people love the lifestyle, but Maxton and I, well, we never wanted it to be our life regardless of whether or not I was supposed to rule. He was the kindest, most selfless person I've ever met in my entire life, and to this day, I can't even begin to explain the love I had for him. He was my everything. He was tall and lanky with wavy blonde hair and the most beautiful blue eyes.” She looks off to the side before continuing. “Kyler has blue eyes, but the color of Maxton's was like the depths of the ocean. I used to get lost staring into them. He was my first everything: kiss, love, heartbreak. I lost my virginity to him. I truly loved him more than anything in the entire world. We made plans to leave. My father told me that he wanted me to marry some stranger when I turned 18 and that I had to break things off with Maxton. I couldn't let him go, and everything that happened is all my fault. I should’ve just let him go. I should’ve listened to my father. Things would be so different if I had just listened to him." The tears in her eyes now fully stream down her face as she cries. Snot drips down her nose, and her chest heaves as she takes short, quick breaths in between her sobs.
"Callie, what do you mean when you say he was? What’s all your fault?"
"My father. He wouldn't accept me staying with him. I tried to tell him that I loved Maxton, that he was my entire world, but he didn't care. He's heartless and cruel, but I'm sure you picked up on that. Maxton and I tried to leave. We had everything set up: our supplies, a plan with my mother to have her help us getout, and he had a car waiting outside the woods on the outskirts of the compound. My father found out about our plans, and he came after us. I begged him not to hurt Maxton. I told him that I would do whatever he wanted. I would marry the stranger he wanted me to marry. I would come back with him. I would be his chess piece that he was free to move about at his whim, but that wasn't good enough anymore. Nothing was ever good enough for him." She started sobbing hysterically.
At this point, Kyler notices and comes running in to console her. There is panic in her eyes as if whatever she is about to say next will ruin her. "What the fuck did you do to her, man? She’s shaking." He pulls her out of the chair and onto his lap on the small couch, holding her tight until she regains her composure. To my surprise she continues with her story.
"Someone overheard our plans to escape, and he found us. My father was hidden in the trees, waiting for us when we tried to leave. He appeared out of nowhere just as we were about to make it to the car. It was almost like some sick joke that he wanted us to believe we almost made it out. We were so close, but he stopped us. He had Maxton at gunpoint, and my mother tried to talk sense into him, but he shot her in the chest right in front of me. We tried to run to the car, but we only made it a few steps before I heard the second gunshot and felt his fingers slip out of mine. He's dead, and it's all because of me.” She leans into Kyler for support.
“I think that's enough for today, man,” Kyler says to me.
Callie’s voice, barely a whisper now, fills the room. “No, he needs to know the rest. I didn't know what to do besides continue running because I knew that is what he would have wanted. After I got to the car, I got out of there as fast as I could and never looked back. I’ve been on the run from them ever since. We were supposed to run together, but I've been running by myself, living with the pain of losing my everything. My father’s gotten close to finding me a few times. That's why I had a panic attack the other day when you brought up his name. I was terrified I was going to end up back there. I thought he hired you to take me back to him. I can't go back there. It can't all have been for nothing."
Her words have my heart turning to ice, and I walk over to her. She flinches as I point my finger directly in her face. "So let me get this straight. You expect me to believe that you loved Maxton, and yet you didn't even stop to make sure he was actually dead. You didn't try to pull him with you or get him into the car so that you could get him help. You just left him there and kept running like a selfish little bitch." Anger is exhuming from my body.
"Fuck you, you don't know a damn thing about what happened that night. I watched the blood gushing out of him when I turned to look back. You don't get to tell me I didn't love him. It took months for me to be able to function again after that day. I've grieved him every single day since. You have no fucking clue what I think or feel," she yells.
I toss back the restof the whisky in my glass and throw it against the wall behind her and Kyler. She leans down and covers her head at the sound.
"You're a selfish, lying bitch," I scream.
"Why would I lie about this?" Her face is beat red from wiping her eyes and blowing her nose. It's quite the act, I'll give her that, but I don't believe it.
I can't believe that after all this time, the last link to my fucking family is dead. I can't believe that Gabriel knew he killed my brother all along and let us do that job for him. She has to be lying because if all of this is true, then I’ve been made to look like a fucking fool, and that is unacceptable.
Coldly, I look at her. "You're lying to protect yourself, and I'm not going to listen to this shit anymore."