When Perfect Meets Crazy

Chapter 47: 45 - The end of an era

We decided to walk and talk. We were heading to the trapdoor. Townsend wanted to make the bust

immediately provided it ended up being what we hoped it was. He wanted to verify now while the

matches for the day were still going on, then come back later with his men if it checked out. Hopefully,

there would be documented information implicating all the players involved wherever that trapdoor led.

According to Townsend, that was how these things supposedly worked. Apparently, it was custom to

keep blackmail material in case anyone tried to turn against the rest.

“Last time I was here, I was in a hurry to leave and I got lost following this group of guys. I thought they

were heading out but I ended up losing sight of them. That’s how I eventually found you that day.” I

pointed to Ian.

He nodded, listening with unwavering attention.

“I didn’t think there was more to it obviously. If anything I wanted to put the whole experience behind

me so I didn’t even consider the possibility of it being something sketchy. I already had a stalker on me.

I wasn’t going to go look for more trouble. Until I found out the whole story. Then, I looked back and

started considering the theory but... I wasn’t really invested.” I shrugged deprecatingly. “It wasn’t my

business and I didn’t know I could trust you so I kept the theory to myself.”

Ian muttered something along the lines of you and your theories. The look Townsend shot him in

response could only be described as ‘shut the hell up.’

“Anyway, I got know you over time.” I shrugged, shooting Ian a small smile. “You said you were having

trouble so I decided to... test the theory. That’s why I came today.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me? I could’ve done it. You didn’t have to put yourself in danger,” he chastised,

looking at me like no matter how hard he tried, he’d never have me pegged.

I liked the idea a little more than I should have.

“If the theory proved to be true, good but if it didn’t, I didn’t want to send you on a wild goose chase.

You know, give you false hope and all that. Especially when you were already feeling so low,” I

answered.

“You’re smart,” Townsend grudgingly admitted.

“Here,” I announced, stopping in front of the trapdoor.

“You sure?” Townsend asked skeptically.

I rolled my eyes. They really never learn. Sighing, I awkwardly placed my hands where the man had

placed his. It wasn’t overly obvious from my pose that I was trying to do something. I had to admit,

whoever came up with it was quite smart. If someone came around at that moment, I’d look like I had

my hands against the wall, trying to catch my breath or steady myself. Not at all like I was trying to

open the door to a room that housed a drug trade headquarters.

“What are you doing?” Ian inquired. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Do you even know what you’re doing?” Townsend seconded.

Soon enough, a small patch slid open and the dial was revealed.

“How did you do that?” Townsend hissed, taking a step back.

Ian, for all he was worth, had his mouth hanging open. I rolled my eyes.

“Maybe if you did a little less talking and a little more watching, you’d figure it out,” I countered, turning

the dial the way I had seen it done earlier with my hand covered by my cloth.

I’d seen a few crime scenes and I didn’t want my prints there when the FBI did its sweep. Eight o’clock.

Ten o’clock. Four o’clock. Two o’clock. Nothing happened. I could practically feel Townsend’s

smugness permeating the air.

So I tried the other code. Eight o’clock. Eleven o’clock. Four o’clock. Two o’clock. For a second, nothing

happened and my spirit sank. I hadn’t caught the code correctly.

I heaved a sigh, disappointment spreading through me.

Suddenly, with a low mechanical whirring, the wall panels pulled apart, revealing a rectangular

doorway. I breathed a sigh of relief, my eyes drifting shut. Oh, thank God.

I let Townsend lead the way in case an ambush was waiting ahead. Thankfully, none was.

The room was more or less a jackpot. It had everything. Piles of documents on transactions involving

certain corporations that shocked even me, as well as flash drives that I hoped contained more.

Townsend stepped out to call it in.

“You’re welcome.” I addressed him as soon as he returned. “But I’m out of here. Whatever happens,

my parents cannot find out about this little escapade. I mean it. I don’t care what you have to do but...

keep my name out of the reports. You owe me that much.”

He dismissively agreed.

With that parting shot and a glance at Ian that communicated that I’d be seeing him when he finished

here, I left the arena, smiling like a Cheshire cat.

I could see why law enforcement agents chose the field. The high was thrilling. The knowledge that I

had more or less single handedly brought down a drug trade filled me with a certain level of pride.

The whole drive home, I found myself smiling foolishly. I was grateful Ian wasn’t there to witness it.

I couldn’t sit still long enough to continue the novel I had been reading nor to try my hand at studying. It

was a miracle I was able to manage cooking dinner without absent mindedly burning it. I was brimming

with that much excitement.

Eventually, I settled for playing the game while I waited for Ian to show up. There was a tournament

going on and since I had little else to do, I decided to participate.

“You’re here,” I called over my shoulder on spotting Ian’s reflection on my laptop screen.

He hefted himself into the room, landing less than gracefully. I pressed my lips to a thin line to contain

my smile. I hurriedly finished off the battle and turned to him.

“How’d it go?”

He turned on the full force of his sunny beam.

“Great. They found everything they could possibly need. Video tapes even and my dad isn’t in a single

one.”

In his excitement, he bound across the room, wrapped his hands around my waist and lifted me out of

my chair, twirling me in the air. I stiffened, eyes going wide. Logically speaking, I knew he was unlikely

to drop me. He was somewhat of a trained fighter after all but I couldn’t shake my irrational fear. I

wanted my feet firmly on the ground.

“That’s nice. Put me down.” I smiled at the first part and scowled at the second, pointing at the floor in

urgency.

“Right.” He nodded, getting a hold of himself.

Gently, he set me set down, slowly sliding me down his body. Very unnecessary and very annoying.

Regardless, I pasted a sunny smile on my face and took a step back before making the mistake of

looking in his eyes.

“I’m glad it all worked out,” I said stiffly, officially.

“Thanks to you.” He smiled softly.

“Yeah, well.” I shrugged.

“I have no idea how you put it together so fast. It’s like the universe wanted you to. It took Townsend

and I a month to find out about the people leaving mid game but you waltzed in and figured it out

immediately.”

“Some of us are gifted like that,” I joked.

Everything had wrapped up quite nicely and it was all thanks to me. I had earned gloating rights by

every standard but for some reason, I didn’t particularly feel like it. I frowned, unsure where the sudden

wave of melancholy was coming from.

Everything had wrapped up. The mission was over. It was the end of an era. There was no longer a

need for Ian to follow me. He could, would go back to school.

“I won’t see you again, will I?” I tilted my head to the side, masking conflicting emotions behind a smile.

He seemed to come to the same conclusion judging from the frown that blossomed on his face.

“I have two weeks before I’m due back,” he offered. “Besides, you’ll be so busy with your new

relationship, you won’t even notice I’m gone. Honeymoon phase.”

I frowned, awarding him a confused look.

“What relationship?”

“Trevor.”

“Oh,” I mouthed. “We broke up. Well..., technically, we called it quits, not really broke up. I didn’t tell

you?”

His eyes widened.

“No, you didn’t mention that.” His gaze met mine. “When? Why?”

If I didn’t know better, I’d have said he was happy about the development.

“While you were MIA. We... got into an argument,” I hedged.

“About?” he pressed.

I sighed, then shrugged as I made the decision to tell him the full truth.

“I was worried about you. It was kind of my fault. I kept checking my phone for an update about you

during our date. He felt threatened. Asked me to choose.” I shrugged, not meeting his gaze. “He’s gone

now. I don’t like being pressured. Anyway, technically, our falling out was your fault so don't go feeling

guilty or special.”

He didn’t so much as try to hide his grin. I rolled my eyes exasperatedly. Lucky for him, I wasn’t that

invested in Trevor or I’d have made him pay.

“Anyway, I miss texting him. It was really cute. Possibly the cutest thing ever.” I shrugged, smiling at the

memory.

“Pray tell, how so?” He rolled his eyes.

I drew in a deep breath, then smiled.

“We had this thing going where we texted in song lyrics. We tried movies quotes but it was way too

hard so we just settled for song lyrics. It was fun. Made me smile.”

“I’ll text you in song lyrics if you want,” he muttered.

“It doesn’t work that way. It was ‘our’ thing. Trevor and I. I shouldn’t just replace him like that,” I refuted,

shaking my head. “Besides I don’t even have your number. Not to mention, now that the mission is

over, you have no reason to text me.”

“Right.” He said it in a way that made it seem like I had said something wrong. “I should go. Home

home. I’ll see you tomorrow. Pick you up at noon. For the tea party. The colors are turquoise, pearl and

something that means pink.”

He scrunched up his nose at the last color he couldn’t remember.

It felt like he was making a fast getaway but I couldn’t exactly tell him to wait. It was night-time. He had ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

finally wrapped up his mission. He had earned the right to go home to his family.

“Good night,” I said quietly.

He didn’t reply.

I sighed, closing my window a full minute after he was gone. I stifled the urge to watch him as he crept

down the street. It was unnecessary. I pulled my blinds forcibly.

I shut down my laptop, then crawled under the covers. On my bedside table, my phone buzzed. I

ignored it, snuggling deeper into bed. I was suddenly tired, drained. The excitement of the day was

nowhere to be seen anymore.

My phone buzzed again.

I sighed, reached over and unlocked it. It was a message from an unknown number.

Good night.

Followed by;

See, I have a reason to text.

I smiled reluctantly. He really was an idiot.