by Elle, Leen
"Don't tell me you were thinking bad thoughts." Rob guessed, his eyes flickering with interest.
"O..of course not!" She hissed back.
"Thinking about Luke?" Gwyn asked innocently. The entire table turned to look at her. "I mean, ignoring the fact he works for Max, he's kind of attractive." She seemed like she wanted to take back her comment. "I saw him when he came over before." She glanced down at the table shyly.
Rylan's mouth had twisted into a frown. "He wasn't that attractive." He sounded hurt. "Do you like guys like him?"
"I told her I thought he was cute." Sophie broke in, hoping to prevent a fight between them. The last thing the two of them needed was a misunderstanding.
"Is that so?" Robert had caught her attention again, though he was no longer smiling.
"Well..." Sophie felt frozen by his gaze. She hadn't even considered what she was saying before she'd blurted it out.
"I have an idea!" Teddy broke in, looking like he resented the fact he was being left out of the conversation. "Let's play a game!"
Everyone fell silent. "What kind of game?" Gwyn asked, standing from the table nervously. She began clearing off the plates to give her something to do. Sensing an escape, everyone except Teddy follow suit.
"Hide and seek." Teddy slipped out of his chair, placing his small hands on his hips. "Unless you guys are too chicken."
"Sounds fun." Rylan offered, though Sophie sensed he had an alternative reason for joining. He reached out to grab Gwyn's hand, squeezing it pointedly.
"You have to be it, then." Gwyn continued, understanding Rylan's unspoken message.
"Okay!" Teddy immediately closed his eyes. "Ninety-nine, ninety-eight, ninety-seven..."
Rylan tugged Gwyn behind him as he rushed out of the kitchen. Sophie suspected he was using the game as an excuse to get Gwyn alone so he could make sure she didn't have feelings for Luke.
"Ninety-six, ninety-five, ninety-four..."
"It seems we're playing in teams." Robert mused, grabbing onto Sophie's hands before she could react. He led her out of the kitchen and through the living room. Sophie hadn't noticed it before but there was a door hidden towards the back of the room. Robert swiftly opened it, slipping through as silently as he could.
"Where are we going?" Sophie hissed, too surprised to pull away.
"If you knew, it wouldn't be half as fun."
The warm burst of night air alerted Sophie to the fact they were headed outside.
"Is this legal?" She asked, wondering if Teddy would search outside.
"I hope not." His hand tightened around hers as they darted through the back yard to a line of trees that surrounded the house.
She could barely make it out with the fading light, but there was a treehouse positioned above them.
"I don't like heights." She whispered, her stomach dropping.
"I don't like it when you complain." He pulled her to the rope ladder. She didn't have time to protest when he lifted her by her waist, forcing her to grab onto the ladder for support. "Hurry."
She began climbing, knowing hanging in the air would be worse than standing on something firm. The treehouse was farther away than she'd hoped. Once she'd entered inside she found that it was large enough for the two of them to sit comfortably.
"Here we are." Robert hoisted the rope ladder.
They both sighed in relief, without considering that they were only playing a game.
"He'll never find us in here." Sophie accused, pulling her legs to her chest. "That's not fair."
"Which means he'll find Rylan and Gwyn first." He smiled crookedly.
"Is winning that important?"
"If my brilliant plan makes you uncomfortable, feel free to find your own hiding place." He offered the rope ladder out to her.
The thought of crawling down the ladder made her stomach turn. "No thanks." She tried to remind herself that the treehouse felt sturdy.
She turned to look outside the window, feeling awkward now that they were both sitting in almost complete darkness. Robert solved the unspoken problem by pulling out a flashlight from nowhere. When he turned it on, the whole tree house was illuminated.
Sophie raised her eyebrows in surprise as she noticed all the hidden loot around her. Candy wrappers surrounded her feet, and comic books were strewn everywhere.
"Teddy did all this?" She tried to sweep the trash into a pile, but it soon became a mountain of wrappers.
"I might've helped." Robert sat the flashlight facing upwards in his lap, giving his face an eerie glow. "I feel like telling ghost stories." He mused.
"Were you messing with me when you said you were twenty-nine?" She accused, her eyes narrowing.
"You're really stuck on that age thing, aren't you?" Though his comment was joking, his eyes were serious. "It couldn't be that you've fallen for me?"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here." Sophie rolled her eyes.
"Oh, that's right. You prefer the dark and mysterious types like Luke."
"That's what you really wanted to get at, isn't it?" Sophie leaned forward, knowing she was on to something. "You want to make sure I'm really not love with Luke."
Robert shrugged, deciding not to reply. "You know." He began. "This light kind of makes you look like a fox." He reached out to lift her chin, staring pointedly at her eyes. "You're sharper than I gave you credit for."
"You should know that changing the subject won't work on me. I'm very persistent." She narrowed her eyes, daring him to try to keep joking around.
Robert sighed, leaning back as if he'd given up. "How boring." He tossed her the flashlight, and she focused it on the ceiling so she could still see his face without blinding him. "I don't want to be the bad guy here, but being attracted to Luke isn't...in your best interest."
"You haven't minded being the bad guy in the past."
"I'm turning over a new leaf." He fiddled with the wrappers around him. "If we're going to do this...working together thing, you're going to have to listen to me."
"I'm not good at that."
"I've noticed." His eyes locked with hers. "There are things you don't know."
"Things you won't tell me."
"Things you don't need to know." He whispered.
"That doesn't change anything. Need and want are the same to me, and I want to know."
"I won't be the one to tell you." Robert seemed like he was no longer in the mood to joke. "I don't want you involved with the bulk of what Cleo's going to ask us to do."
"Basically, you want Cleo to think I'm involved, without me helping at all."
"There you go again, using that clever little mind to surprise me." He smiled, but in the fake way she'd gotten used to.
"Not going to happen." Sophie pursed her lips stubbornly.
"I promised that I wouldn't let Cleo hurt you. That promise is going to be very hard to keep if you're being difficult."
"I was there." Sophie reminded him. "Cleo wants me to be more than just a puppet. She expects me to do something..."
"She expects that you already know something." He corrected.
"Like what?" Sophie felt like she was finally getting somewhere.
However, she was interrupted by the sound of her phone beginning to ring. It cut through the tension that had been building up, ruining the moment.
"Hello?" She answered rudely, already annoyed at the caller.
"Hey." A deep voice answered. "It's Luke."
Her body stiffened instantly. She was keenly aware of Robert watching her like a hawk.
"I thought I made it clear we shouldn't talk anymore."
"I know, I..." His voice trailed off. He waited a few seconds before continuing. "I was just worried."
"About what?" She whispered. Her eyes were still locked with Robert. She didn't like that he was eavesdropping, though she had no way to escape.
"About you." Luke's voice sounded trouble. "I've heard rumors. Cleo's been making some comments..."
"Concerning my parent's dis
appearance?" She guessed.
Luke paused on the other end of the line. "You know?"
"Not everything. I've been eavesdropping myself." Sophie noticed the flicker of interest in Robert's expression.
He was anxious...anxious that Luke would tell her something.
"Luke..." Sophie felt her heart begin to race. "Luke, what did my parents steal? What did they take that made them run for seven years? What does Cleo want me to get back?"
The puzzle pieces were falling into place just as Robert had feared they would. It was all so painfully obvious.
Sophie's parents had stolen something extremely valuable from Cleo and Max. It was something worth so much that Max felt angry enough to murder them after seven years of hiding. It was also something that must still be missing. Max must've assumed he'd killed off his last chance at finding the stolen items, but Cleo knew better. She'd thought she'd found the missing link, which turned out to be Sophie.
Max couldn't know who she was because Cleo didn't want him to try to use her the way she was going to use Sophie. Cleo thought Sophie knew where her parent's had hidden the items...which is why Cleo had been so interested in finding her in the first place. She must've been disappointed when Sophie showed none of the skills of a trained thief. However, Sophie had changed that disappointment when Cleo found out about Luke.
If Max was supposedly interested in scouting her, that meant Sophie was more than she seemed.
It meant Sophie was the perfect tool for finding what had been stolen years before, by her own parents. Robert wasn't allowed to take on this mission because Cleo thought Sophie was the one with all the hidden answers.
"Paintings." Luke answered, not sounding surprised by her question. Sophie wasn't shocked that he knew the truth either. It seemed like he'd been hinting at it for a while now, though he must've just put together why Cleo had hired her. "Paintings more valuable than either of us can imagine."
"Valuable enough to kill for?"
"Valuable enough that their owners have harbored a deep grudge since they were stolen." Luke's voice was grave. "Cleo spoke to Max about searching for them again."
"She told him?" Sophie's eyes widened in fear.
"It was more like she was taunting him. He wasn't listening, and she knew it." He paused, his breathing growing heavy. "Sophie, she must think you know something. That's the only way everything makes sense."
"I don't know anything." She whispered into the phone. She felt like she was talking to both Robert and Luke. "How am I supposed to find these paintings when I don't know anything? Cleo won't believe me."
"You have to find something." Luke sounded like he was begging. "A clue, or some hint. They must've left you something?"
"Luke, I was ten when they died. What could they possibly have to leave a ten year old? I didn't know anything about anything. If they'd given me a clue, I couldn't possibly understand it."
"Then we'll have to start from nothing. Search everywhere we can."
Robert grabbed the phone out her hand just as she was about to reply.
"Luke." Robert spoke smoothly, with a threatening edge. "Sophie appreciates all of your concern, but this is where it ends."
There was silence on the other end of the line.
"This isn't your fight." He continued.
Luke was saying something, but Sophie couldn't make out what it was.
"I know." Robert's eyes never left her face. "I realize that." More silence followed. "I'm going to fight this battle with her."
Sophie could't have predicted how much his last comment would affect her. She unknowingly stopped breathing.
"If you want to help, do us a favor and keep Max out of our business." He hung up without letting Luke continue. He stared at Sophie for a long minute. "Don't." He warned.
"Don't what?" She asked innocently.
"Don't give me that look like you've got it all figured out. You cannot use Luke to dig up everything I'm not going to tell you."
"There's more?" Sophie felt a wave of disappointment. She thought she'd had a good grasp on all the mysteries now.
He gave her a long, serious look. "You now know enough about our mission to be scared. Are you satisfied?"
Now that she had time to think about it, she realized she'd worsened her fears. This morning she didn't have any idea how impossible her task would be. It hadn't even crossed her mind that Robert was holding back this information to protect her.
"No." She whispered. "How are we going to do it? How can we find what my parent's took with them when they died?"
"Isn't not going to be impossible." Robert finally glanced away from her. "It's just going to be a pain in the ass."
"Cleo would've had people searching in the past. If they couldn't find it, there's no way in hell we can."
"Don't count us out yet. We have something they didn't have before."
"You had better not say I'm our secret weapon." She hissed.
"You're less of a weapon, and more like bait." He commented, his smirk returning. "Your parents weren't alone in this business. They had acquaintances who wouldn't have given them up to Max and Cleo."
"You think they'll tell me the truth?"
"It won't hurt to check." He paused, considering what he would say next. "If it helps, I think I have one of the those clues Luke wanted you to search for."
"What? How?" Sophie leaned forward, grabbing his arm.
"You're not the only one who has a surprise or two up their sleeve."
When her phone began to ring Sophie instantly groaned in frustration. She'd been so close this time to discovering one of Robert's many secrets.
"Sophie?" A voice asked before she had time to say hello. "Sophie where are you?"
Gwyn sounded so desperate Sophie didn't think about lying. "In the treehouse in the backyard. I'm with Robert."
"We need your help." Sophie could tell the girl was choking back tears.
Sophie was lunging for the rope ladder before Robert could stop her. "Put Rylan on the phone."
Gwyn obeyed without hesitation.
"Sophie?" Rylan asked. Sophie's heart dropped when she picked up on the desperation in his voice as well. Something had to be seriously wrong if he couldn't maintain his cool.
"What happened?" Sophie threw down the rope ladder. Robert understood from her tone that something was seriously wrong. Even before she had a chance to climb down, he was on the ground, rushing towards the house.
"Teddy's gone."
Sophie felt her body grow cold.
CHAPTER TEN
The burden was more than just secrets...it was a responsibility heavier than anything I'd ever known.
The situation was much more simple than Sophie had thought.
Teddy had run away after overhearing Rylan and Gwyn discussing his mother's disappearance. They hadn't said much, but Teddy had been clever enough to put everything together.
They'd tried to calm him down, but he'd rushed out of the house without turning back. Had it not been pitch black outside, Rylan would've found him by now.
It wasn't an ideal situation, but Sophie knew it could've been worse. When Gwyn had called, a number of different scenarios had occurred to her. Out of the ones she'd imagined, the present problem was nothing. Even Robert calmed down when the two kids explained what had happened. He'd been just as concerned as her, if not more.
Gwyn was the one truly affected by Teddy's disappearance. Sophie and Robert knew they would find him, but Gwyn couldn't be reassured that he was okay. She thought that Teddy would never forgive her for lying.
The usually helpful Rylan couldn't be reasoned with either. Sophie guessed he was upset about not being able to fix things. In the past, she suspected he'd always been able to get through to Gwyn. However, today was different. Today she'd done something irreversible.
"We'll find him. You guys stay here." Robert gave Rylan a long stare. The boy, who'd seemed defeated only a moment before, straightened under his gaze.
"Okay." R
ylan placed a hand on Gwyn's shoulders, leading her to the kitchen.
"Do you have any idea of where he'd go?" Sophie asked, watching Robert's face carefully. By his calm expression she assumed he did.
"I have a few guesses." He headed towards the front door. He opened it quickly, before shutting it closed again. He motioned with his finger for Sophie to be silent as he walked back towards the staircase.