Said the Liar by A. Swift (free ebook reader for ipad txt) 📖

eastern direction, and I was going to do everything I could to keep it that way. I didn't need to get questioned by my parents as to why a girl in a mini-skirt and a ratty tank top with colorful hair was patrolling our apartment building.

"I don't see how you could pick me up when you don't have a car or a license." I reminded Ruse.

"I have a bike. And some rope."

"Good night." I told the two of them. "I'm going for a walk around the tracks."

"Eeeeeddddge." Ruse was mock offended by my response. I ignored her. That was my typical response to anyone who acted like that. It had gotten me a bit of a reputation for being a stickler and a jerk, but it was better than being in the thick of it and popular. Less dangerous, at the very least. I could stand being a little bit unpopular.

It would be a dull walk home and I'd probably just go right to bed once I got in. Oh well. I was suddenly weary of being around people. The quiet dark walk back would help me relax a little. Sometimes less excitement is a good thing.

I was striding through the warehouse doors when a hand caught my shoulder, I spun quickly, anticipating a sneak attack from Ruse, but instead I found myself face to face with Apex. He was wearing his signature dark trench coat to protect him from the cool chill in the night air. Really it was a little too early to be wearing such a heavy coat, but in a few weeks the warehouse would be a freezing ice pit. Visitors dropped off significantly during the winter months for that reason.

"Relax, Edge. I want to talk to you for a minute." Apex put his arm on my shoulder and led me into the shadows beside the warehouse. I tried to relax, but couldn't completely. I was too busy trying to figure Apex's reason for a secret meeting. Not that I was scared, just suspicious. Apex didn't just seek anyone out to talk to, and, like I said, I'm not the most popular person who comes to the warehouse on a regular basis. Did he want me to show him a card Ruse or something? A few people knew that I practiced little magic Ruses in my spare time. I never showed them off much, but people noticed. Ruse knew, at least.

Once we were out of sight from the doors and definitely out of earshot, Apex let go of me and then took a seat on a pile of logs that had been laying there beside the old train tracks since the beginning of time. There's a bunch of stuff left over from when a real business used to be run out of the warehouse. Besides big boxes, all of them empty, there were the stacks of logs, a pile of metal beams, and a big mound of dirt that was probably supposed to be turned into something at one point. It hadn't moved for years, but the piles make for good seating and parkour practice spots. There wasn't a good skateboard spot around here, but there were enough other benefits to the location that people kept coming back.

Apex looked comfortable and confident sitting there on the old logs. I met his gaze guardedly and waited for him to speak first. Whenever possible I try to say as little as I can get away with.

Most of the girls who frequented the warehouse agreed that Apex was attractive. Ruse said he was like a rockstar, White had described him as being enigmatic and grungy. He was tall with dirty blonde hair and a long chin with a patch of darker hair on the tip. I wasn't a girl, so I didn't get what they were on about, but I did know that Apex was a personable and popular character around the 'house. Usually he didn't talk to me at all. I hoped this wasn't going to turn ugly. Still, I didn't let myself get too worried. I was more interested in what I'd done to get noticed. I didn't want it to happen again if I could help it.

"Saw you asking Brick about the raid." Apex indicated the warehouse with a nod of his head.

It was very dark outside the range of the warehouse lamps, which were really nothing more than a few lanterns powered by some big nine-volt batteries. Apex was barely visible except for his hair, eyes and the flash of his teeth when he spoke. I leaned against a fence pole and maintained the appearance that I was completely at ease.

"Yeah?" I said.

Apex shrugged. "I got a job for ya, if you want it. Keep it quiet, but we're not just going tagging for the raid."

A tingle went up my spine. I'd already guessed that the raid was big. Brick wouldn't have hyped it up so much if it wasn't going to be something unusually large-scale.

He was offering me a spot in the raid. But why? I'd never shown an interest in that kind of thing. Sure, I did a little bit of sleight of hand stuff in my spare time, but that didn't equate to anything. Pulling a joker out of a deck and making a quarter fly into the air was a different thing altogether than a lot of the things I could think might happen in a big raid. My little magic Ruses had to be why Apex was asking me if I wanted to come along, though, right? I'm not a big guy, I'm just 5'5, and I don't have tons of skills. Not to mention I'd never shown prior interest in participating in some of the more rambunctious activities that went on around the warehouse.

"It's big this time," Apex went on. "A bunch of us are wiring some cars, and then we're gonna take the real party to that mansion up on eighth that's for sale. And that's only half of it." He leaned forward as if he were telling me something particularly confidential. "I heard that the entire Devious crew is planning an entire state-wide 7-eleven thing."

I narrowed my gaze. "By 'thing' you mean-"

Apex nodded. "Yeah. Hits. Free beer, free cigs, free food for everyone who's in. I know you're good with that stuff. You want to be in our group?"

I stared at him, racking my brain for anything that could have given him that idea.

"Who told you I was 'good with that stuff'" I did air quotes with one hand while the other remained in my jacket pocket. "Because they're full of it. I've never knocked a place in my life. Not like that." I flicked a card into my hand and held it up. "You need someone to pick a card, then you came to the right guy. That's all I got. I'm not even old enough to drive legally."

It was true. I was only just barely fifteen years old. The most driving I'd done was in go-karts and once when my dad let me back the car out of a parking stall.

Apex looked like he was thinking about what I'd said. He stroked his chin for a moment, and then pulled out his cell phone. The white glow cast an eerie light on his features, making him look skeletal and pale. He tapped the screen several times and then held up the phone for me to look.

I winced. The image displayed on the screen showed me coming out of a convenience store with a six-pack. I wondered how he'd gotten the pic, and then remembered that Fish must have taken the picture as insurance when I first started hanging out with the warehouse crew.

"That was four years ago." I dismissed the event.

"Didn't they card you?" Apex asked me, he looked incredulous, impressed even. This had happened a full year before he'd come and stirred things up at the warehouse. Things had changed some since then, but apparently a few of the old crew still kept contact with the newbies, otherwise that picture would have been lost to the darkness of time. I wished that it had been. It had been a one-time thing, a fluke.

"It was a bet. I couldn't get in with the crew unless I did it." I evaded the question and kicked a rock near my shoe. It flew off into the darkness and struck something metallic, probably the train tracks. I stared after it into the bleakness to avoid Apex's eyes.

Apex wasn't buying it. He wanted the whole story. "Even back then you had talent, Edge. And besides, why did you want in so badly if you didn't want to be actually involved?"

I wasn't particularly surprised by the question, but I was struck by it. How was I supposed to respond to that?

"I wanted a place to go and people to be with," I said carefully. "I'm not into the raids. I don't want to get arrested and hauled into the police station. Not everyone who comes here gets involved. I'd prefer not to." It wasn't too late for diplomacy. A few respectful words can go a long way, so can a level voice.

"Fair enough." Apex acknowledged. "I won't push you, but I do want you to consider it. Come around tomorrow night and learn the deets. Who knows? You might find something you like. There's a bunch of skilled people coming by. We're going to have the entire place decked out with lights and sound equipment." He pointed at me. "You can show off your little magic Ruses if you want. It's going to be a great time."

It wasn't a good time for me to explain that that wasn't convincing me to come any more than saying 'we'll be deafeningly loud and have seizure inducing lights'. The entirety of what he'd described made me want to cringe and skulk away into the darkness. That wouldn't do.

"I'll probably come take a look." I told him concomitantly.

"Good man." Apex got to his feet and clapped me on the shoulder. "I'm still curious about how you got that beer out of the store. Not every eleven year old can do that and get away with it, seriously, how'd you do it?"

He was serious. But it wasn't him saying so that convinced me of that, it was the intensity in his blue eyes as he stared at me. I could smell the sourness of his breath. His hand on my shoulder reminded me that Apex wasn't someone to mess with. Usually Apex didn't get too intense. He was really worked up about this upcoming raid. I wondered if there was more to it than he was letting on. There had to be. Why was he asking me to take part? I didn't have any history with stealing, hotwiring, or anything like that. The best I could do was the sleight of hand stuff, but I was pretty deliberate about not making it a big deal.

I didn't like the direction the conversation was going.

"I just took it through the front doors, they didn't notice. I didn't even pay. It was purely luck that I got away with it, I've got no skills besides cards and coins."

My story blunt and unimpressive. It certainly wasn't the truth. Apex hated it when people lied to him. If he found out about it I didn't know what he might do. Little things didn't bother him, but I knew that he was under pressure from the Devious group leader. Devious was a much bigger crew than ours. They had more people, more supplies, and fewer inhibitions. We at the warehouse might tag stop signs and spray paint some stuff, possibly even bust up a few street lights, but Devious were the ones who took cars, stole things, or set stuff on fire on a regular basis. Different levels of deviancy entirely.

Apex accepted my lie without so much as a blink. He nodded at me, believing my words as if I'd spoken