Page 65 of Jacked and Jaded

“I’ll go get my laptop and bring it in here. I’ll tell him that you’re taking a nap and I’ll watch TV with him while you figure out where Jackson went.” Bellamy gave her the thumbs up before she gently pulled the door open. She peeked to make sure Tulsa wasn’t anywhere that he could see them and snuck out, hurrying to their bedroom and came back with her laptop. She handed it to Bellamy and closed the door behind her.

She casually strolled into the living room and plopped on the couch and tucked her knees beneath her. “What did you find to watch?”

“It’s the Rob Zombie version ofHalloween.” He glanced at her. “You okay with a scary movie?”

“Yeah. I’m good.” She tapped her finger on her bottom lip nervously, then quickly dropped her hand when she realized what she was doing.

“Where’s your friend?” He sat with one ankle crossed over his knee and one arm slung over the back of the couch.

“She’s taking a nap. She didn’t get much sleep last night.”

He nodded his head like he completely understood. “Gotcha.”

18

Good grief. It was an hour later before Bellamy came out of her room, pretending to have just woken up. She stood at the entrance to the living room giving her buggy eyes when Tulsa wasn’t looking. “Hey, you got any Pepsi? I didn’t see any in the refrigerator.”

Calliope understood and played along. “Yeah. Hang on. I have some more in the pantry.” Calliope stood and asked if Tulsa wanted anything. He told her he could drink a soda, too. Bellamy almost pulled her arm out of socket as she yanked her deeper into the kitchen.

“Ow! You almost pulled my arm off,” she hissed. To make it sound good, Calliope went ahead and went through the motions of looking for more soda.

“I’m sorry, but I finally found out where they went. They droveforever.” She followed Calliope around the kitchen as she pulled soda from the pantry and started loading it into the refrigerator.

“Well? Where are they?”

“They are an hour away! I’ve got it pinpointed on your laptop. The directions are up and ready to go.” She shot a quick glance to see if Tulsa was coming. “How are we going to get out of here without your shadow?”

She thought about it for a minute, then came up with an idea that just might work. It would at least give them a head start. “I’m going to go to the living room and see what kind of soda he wants. While I do that, you take the laptop and head out to your car. I’ll keep him distracted until I see you’re in there. Then, I’ll pretend to go to the bathroom and sneak out.”

“That might work.” Bellamy nodded her head thoughtfully, her finger tapping on her bottom lip.

“All right, go get ready.” She watched her friend head to her room and come back out with her purse and Calliope’s laptop. She gave her the thumbs up sign and snuck out the garage door. Okay, now it was Calliope’s turn.

“Tulsa, you want Pepsi, root beer or Sprite?”

He frowned her direction. “I thought Bellamy said you didn’t have any soda in the refrigerator?”

“No. Just out of Pepsi. I found some in the pantry. I already had root beer and Sprite in the fridge. Bellamy only drinks Pepsi.” Was she rambling? God, she hoped she wasn’t rambling.

“I’ll take Pepsi then.” He turned back to the TV.

“On ice okay?” she asked as she was turning away.

“Sure.”

Jeez Louise. This sneaking around was making her nervous. She shook her hands out in an effort to keep them from shaking and to release the tension from building up. She got ice from the refrigerator door and grabbed a still hot Pepsi from inside the fridge. She poured it in the glass and headed back out to the living room. She handed him the glass and snuck a glance out the window. She could see Bellamy sitting behind the wheel. Perfect.

She started to sit down, but bounced back up. “Dang it. I was going to use the bathroom while I was up. Something I ate didn’t agree with me. Be back in a minute.”

“Sure,” Tulsa mumbled and nodded his head, his attention focused on someone being killed in the movie.

Calliope causally left the living room, pretending to go use the bathroom in her bedroom. Instead, she slipped out of the garage door. Instead of raising the roll up door, she snuck out the door that led to the back yard. From there she moved around the side of the house and peeked around the corner. Bellamy was waving at her, so she made a mad dash to her car. She opened the door and slipped in, not quite closing her door all the way.

She ducked down in her seat. “Go! Go! Go!”

Bellamy started her car and eased away from the curb. Thank God she had one of the newer model cars that ran so quiet when they were started. Calliope held her breath until her friend gave her the all clear. “I think we made it. I didn’t see him tearing through the front yard and jumping on his bike.” She made another turn that would eventually take her to the interstate exit. “How long do you think it will take before he realizes we’re gone?”

Calliope sat up straight in her seat and waited until they were stopped at a light, so she could open and close her door properly. “Well, considering I told him I had to go to the bathroom and that I’d eaten something that didn’t agree with me, I’m guessing thirty minutes tops before he comes looking for me. Can we get to the safe house before he catches up?”

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