Flip by Erin Gilgenbach (novel24 .TXT) 📖

dangerous.


Ichabold Crane
Ichabold Crane

Luke finished reading and then looked at me one of his eyebrows cocked up.
“Your middle name is Elizabeth Marie?”
“Oh shut up”
I said elbowing him in the rib which was a bad idea, he winced and I remembered that he to had talked to Crane today.
“And they think YOUR dangerous!?” he said laughing even though he had just been elbowed. I glared at him, seriously thinking that I should pulverize him.
“Don’t you know what this means?” I asked him trying to change the subject.
“That I should turn you in.” He said with a cheesy smile. “Keep this up and I might have to give you a black eye to go with all your other bruises.” I said testily.
“It means that once the FBI gets there hands on me I’ll end up let Al.”
“Al?”
Luke tilted his head to the side like a curious puppy.
“A FBI guy that I work with.”
Right after I said it I slapped my hand over my mouth and Luke’s eyebrows went all the way up into his shaggy black hair.
“I guess you already know about that.” I said forcing a smile. He nodded.
“Yeah I kind of figured it out when two guys dragged me out of my house at three in the morning. I just want to know what it’s about but I guess that comes later, lets get inside.”
He pushed me to the door so that I could unlock it. Once we were inside Luke was all business.
“You go upstairs and pack I’ll keep a look out.”
“Why do I have to pack?”
“Because you can’t stay here and there’s a good chance that you don’t have anywhere to go. So you can crash at my house for awhile.” I eyed him for a minuet
“What?! I said go!”
He seemed to be getting frustrated, I decided to push my luck anyway I wasn’t sure what ‘crash at my house’ meant. I crossed my arm over my chest and shifted my hip to the side. I tried not to wince from the pain in my side.
“Harper, what are you doing?!”
“What do you mean crash at my place?”
“Is that all?!” He said in a voice that was almost a wine. “You can stay in one of my sisters’ rooms. Now get GOING!”
I turned around and leaped up the stairs two at a time. When I opened my door I expected it to be a mess, thinking that the men had searched my room. But when I opened the door every thing was how I had left it. I grabbed my backpack off my bad post and shoved my phone in the front pocket and stared to stuff it with socks, shirts, skirts, and under where. Then I want to go get my treasure box, I know it’s kind of dumb but I keep this music box and fill it with my special things. Like: a lock of my mom’s hair, a rock that’s shaped like a star, a plastic bead bracelet that me and my mother made, the ticket form the last time my dad took me to the movies (When I was seven), a friendship bracelet that Riley made for me, a picture that Luke drew of me and him climbing a tree when he was like 4 years old, a necklace that my grandma gave for my eighth birthday, and some other small things. I opened it to look at all my things and was shocked to see a yellow envelop sitting on top of the pile. It was the kind that you can buy at the post office, the ones that had all the plastic bubbles inside it. On the front it had my name written in big letters in my dad’s hand writing. I picked it up and weighed it in my hands, it weighted no more then a 12onz bottle of water. At that moment Luke yelled from downstairs for me to hurry up. I shoved the envelop into to my backpack and my box and stared packing the last few things. After getting my toothbrush and face wash and all that good stuff I jumped down the stair and followed Luke to his car.


6


I pulled slowly into my driveway and then helped Harper with her backpack. I didn’t know they made backpacks this big, it’s like a trunk. I opened the door and shoved her in before she could change her mind. Once we were in the house it was total kayos. James was trying to get our dog Honda to let have a back ride, Hannah was watching Dora the Explorer on max volume. Debby and Rachael were fighting over a shirt, and my mom was trying to talk Eve into watching Hannah and James for a night so that she and dad could go to a party. I guided the dazed Harper thought the room to my mom.
“Hi mom.”
I did a little half wave and pointed to my dazed friend.
“Is it ok if Harper crash’s in one of the girls rooms for a few nights?”
I practically had to yell to be heard over Dora singing “backpack, backpack, yeah!”
“Hannah turn down the movie I can’t hear Luke.”
Hannah turned the movie down like two clicks, it was a little better.
“Now about Harper what’s going on?”
I saw Harper shift and I jumped in before it got uncomfortable.
“Her dad died in a car crash and she needs somewhere to stay for a while.”
“Oh I’m sorry, make yourself at home.”
She gave Harper a hug and then went back to talking to Eve. I walked her to the girls room and set her backpack on the ground.
“It will be kind of cramped in here but you won’t be lonely.”
She looked around the room and then at me, she did a half smile and then I gave her a hug. It was an ‘I’m here for you; it’s going to be ok kind of hug’.
“We’ll talk after you’re done unpacking.”
He said then walked away. I went into the room and pulled the envelop out of my backpack. I sat on the floor and slowly turned it over in my hands. I opened the flap and pulled the contents out, it was a book? It was black with hot pink and black checkers on it and on top of the checkers was music notes, a guitar, piano keys, and twisting veins; the more you looked at it the more you saw. Taped to the front was a pair of keys, slender and dark. The lock on the book was a lot sturdier then the normal locks on diaries. I peeled the keys off the front of the diary and slipped one of them into the lock. In turned smoothly and you could tell that it was a complicated lock the kind that are hard to pick. I opened the book and saw that there was note written on the first page in my dad’s handwriting.

Dear Harper
I’m sorry that I have not been a very good father to you, but I fear that now it is too late. All those times when you asked me about your mom I told you that I didn’t want to talk about it but now I must tell you that the truth is that I can’t remember her. I know that it sounds terrible but it’s true, I’ve tried so hard to remember her but all I get is a headache. I want you to have these pictures that I found of her, she was so beautiful and you look just like her. Oh Harper I’m so sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you, please forgive me. If I could do it over I would spend every moment with you. But I just went to the doctor and he gives me one year to live, I don’t know what will happen to you after I’m gone. You have no relatives that could take you and all my friends are long gone. But somewhere in my heart I know that your mother is alive somewhere. I don’t know how I know but I do, please trust me. I love you more then anything.
You’re Father


* * *


I sat at the kitchen table waiting for Harper to finish unpacking so that we could talk. I decided on going into the yard that way we could have some privacy. Finally Harper came into the kitchen and sat in a chair next to me then put her head on the table. I rubbed her back then patted it. “Let’s go out in the yard”
We went out the back door and sat on the swing hanging on one of the old trees. She sat with her head leaned back like she was thinking where to start, she took a deep breath.
“It all started with the Z document, both sides were looking for it.”
“Both sides?”
“The FBI and the CTF, anyway two of our top agents, one from each side, were close to finding it. In the end they both ended up finding it at the same time there was a bitter fight. One was killed and the other badly wounded, the one that was wounded tried to get back to his base but died before he got there and Z was lost to both sides. After that there was a mad search to find it before the other side did. I was sent on a tip as to where it was and I fond it. A day after that when I was on my way to the base Smith found me and tried to get the document from me, I ran for one day trying to get away, in the end his knife got me and I hid, burned Z, and passed out.”
“And you sent me the picture.”
“Right, and