Flip by Erin Gilgenbach (novel24 .TXT) 📖

would I lie?”
“It’s not true and you know that, so tell me the truth. And get it over with.”
“You’re no fun. Smith was chasing me because I found Z. He got me with his knife and I burned Z.”
His eye became ten times bigger, I tried hard not to laugh. “YOU BURNED Z, HOW COULD YOU DO THAT!”
“I took a picture of it.”
He let out a long sigh and stuck out his hand. I shook it, smiling.
“Give it to me, now Harper.”
“Give what to you.” I pretended to act clueless.
“Your phone, you took the picture with your phone right?”
“Yes, here you go.”
I handed him my phone. He sat on the edge of the bed and played with it for awhile, I waited for him to yell at me.
“There are NO pictures on this phone, what are you trying to pull, Harper?”
“Nothing, I sent the picture to a friend and cleared everything off my phone, so that if Smith did catch me, he wouldn’t have the information on my phone.”
Sometimes Al gets on my nerves, does he have to yell? He sighed and then handed me back my phone.
“We should get you to a doctor.” I crossed my arms
“Say, sorry for yelling.”
I made my face hard and unmoving.
“Okay, I’m sorry, let’s get out of here.”
Al walked to the door and motioned for someone to come. Two men with a stretcher walked in and over to me.
“I can walk, I don’t need a stretcher.” Al looked at me hard. “Look Harper, you are going on this stretcher and that is all there is to it. I let you play your little game, let you almost give me a heart attack. But this is where you do what I say, no if, ands, or buts. Now get on that stretcher.”
I quickly got on the stretcher, when Al gets serious, you ether do what he says or. . . . well I’m not sure no one knows what happens to those who cross him when he’s mad. I don’t think that He’s had sleep for a few days because of me disappearing. The two men picked up the stretcher and put it inside a van. I waved to Pat, she smiled and waved back. As the men closed the door, I saw Al walk over to Pat and start talking. The doors closed and I sat in semi-darkness. I wondered if Luke had got my massage, if he was all right, and what would happen to Pat. I hope they don’t lock her up and interrogate her. That’s what happened to me, they made me an agent. And once you’re an agent you’re always an agent. Lucky me, I get to be drafted into the FBI. I’m the only kid there, what in the world did they do with the others, and did they send all the other kids to an island? Why did I have to see that agent get shoot down? And of course I had to help him, there’s nothing I could do about that. And I had to deliver the massage he gave me, and then they grilled me and made me an agent. And I had to be so glad about it; I should have known that it was all fun in the beginning. But after a mouth or so, everyone seemed to want me to leave. I wish I never saw that guy get shoot.
I was in sour mood when Al got into the van; he seemed in a better mood now. He smiled at me, and then looked at the two men.
“Is she safely buckled in?”
“Yes, she should be ready.” Said one of the men, Al looked at me
“You ready?”
“Just drive Al, I don’t want to talk.”
I crossed my arms as best I could while strapped down. Al started the van and drove away form 1777 Spring Street. The movement of the van slowly lolled me to sleep.


* * *

I wasn’t sure what would happen. I had been sitting here watching movie after movie. And still no one had come to the door, called, or anything. May be the whole thing was a joke, maybe that guy was a friend of Harper’s. And tomorrow she’ll be laughing in my face. Great I fell for another one of Harper’s dumb jokes. You’d think that I would have gotten wise to these jokes. I wish that she would know when to stop. It’s not funny anymore!
Voor, thud ump. What was that, it sounded like a car in the driveway. That’s strange, I wonder. Slowly I got up and looked out the window. It was very dark and all I could see was the slow movement of a long black car. It was pulling into the driveway; it moved so quietly that even my dog, Honda, wasn’t barking. The only reason I had heard it was because the culvert at the end of our driveway made a little hill. And every time any car pulled in it made a funny sound. I stood there not daring to move because they might see the movement and come to investigate. I watched as two men in black came out of the car and started toward the door. My heart was beating like a thousand mixers all at top speed. If these are the good guys then why are they coming in the middle of the night? Will they knock or just bust in? Should I hide, run, or call the police? By time I was done thinking this I heard the door bell ring and I jumped up quickly to answer it before it woke up my parents or one of my brothers or sisters. I tripped on something in the dark and went flying forward; there was a big thud as I hit the floor. I heard my mom get out of bed and shuffle to the stairs.
“Luke is that you, dear?”
“Yes mom, I’m just getting a drink and I tripped on something, but I’m alright.”
“You should be more careful and next time, turn on a light.”
“Ok, good night.”
I heard the shuffle of her feet as she went back to bed and then silence. At lest the men at the door were smart enough to stop ringing the door bell. They most of heard me hit the floor. I sighed and went to answer the door. The men were still at the door when I opened it; they seemed surprised that I had answered the door at all, probably thought that I had knocked myself out. They were both whispering when I opened the door, as soon as they saw me they straitened up and stared at me for a full minuet before talking to me in hashed whispers.
“Hello are you Luke Martin?”
“I am, and you are?”
“Who we are does not concern you at this point.”
“Let’s see you are ringing my door bell at…”
And at this I looked at my watch
“Three in the morning and you’re saying that it doesn’t concern me?”
At this the men paused and looked at each other then back at me; like they had never thought about that way before. “We need to talk to you, can you step out side?”
Carefully I took one step outside and quietly closed the door behind me.
“So what’s this about?”
“We are looking for a girl called Silas Lance; you may know her as Harper Armstrong.”
“I might know a girl by that name, who wants to know.” “Son were the FBI, Can you please tell us what you know about this girl.”
I stood there dumbfounded, how….. What….. When? A million questions filled my mind in that split second. She’s in the FBI! For how long, since when. No wonder she always came to school with broken arms and burses. I wish she would have told me. I know that it’s a top secret thing but still.
There I stood lost in my mind until one of the men started shaking me. I looked him straight in the sun glasses and said.
“Is this a joke? Do you think you can just show up and this or that and I’ll believe you!?”
They looked slightly startled by my outburst and they looked as if they weren’t sure how to answer me.
“Please come with us.”
He grabbed my arm and started pulling me to the car. Isn’t that like the number one rule? Don’t go into a car with a stranger, especially at three in the morning.
“NO!”
I shouted one of the man put a hand over my mouth; he smelled of lickerish and dust. He whispered in my ear. “You can come quietly or we can make you quite you’re choice.”
I wasn’t sure what make you quite was but I know that I was not willingly going to just walk into there car. No matter who they say they are. The man started whispering in my ear again.
“So what’s it going to be? Are you going to go quietly?”
His breath was hot and I thought I felt him press something to my back. I nodded and the man removed his hand from my mouth and I took my chance. I yelled at the top of my lungs. I started to say
“There mad men there kidnapping me, HELP!!!”
But all that came out was a little squeak. The man who had put his hand over my mouth had hit me in the stomach when I had tried to yell. Next thing I know there was something over my mouth. They were holding my arms down and were holding a cloth to my mouth. It smelled funny and tasted worse. Then ever thing went black.


* * *


I slowly walked up to the FBI base. One because I really didn’t want to meet with Mr. Crane, two because of the cut on my side, I was trying to make sure that the wound didn’t reopen. Inside the base there was a hospital and houses for the people who were life time agents. I really hate coming here; for one thing it’s in the middle of nowhere. And I mean nowhere; even if I wanted to find this place