Love and Its Lies

Fifteen - Partners in Crime

Danny leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed against his chest, looking at Aly impatiently as she ran around her room.

“The minute has passed, Aly,” he groaned.

Aly didn’t even bother to look at him, already aware that he had an annoyed expression on his face. She continued to pack her bag at a leisurely pace and said, “I didn’t mean it literally. It’s an expression, Daniel.”

Even through her peripheral vision, Aly saw Danny flinch at the sound of his name. “It's Danny for you,” he flatly said.

Aly snickered and muttered, “Touchy.”

“Will you just hurry up?”

Aly walked in front of the mirror while combing her hair. “I would be faster if you would stop bugging me every second,” she said, smiling at him before tying her shoulder-length hair into a ponytail, for the sole purpose of annoying him.

It clearly worked, as Danny rolled his eyes and shut up. He had initially planned to go alone—as he usually did when he had to go on stake-outs or even the occasional break-ins. All of which weren’t really legal, nor particularly safe, so he really preferred to do those by himself.

Danny knew that Aly only overheard the time of John’s meeting, but not the location. He had thought that she would just end up being at the wrong place, go home, say “oh well" and let it go, so he had decided to go an hour early just so he wouldn’t run into her. Obviously, he failed.

Aly, now also dressed in a black shirt, black yoga pants and rubber shoes, retrieved her bag and lively stood in front of Danny. “Ready,” she said with an excited smile.

“You’re dressed too lightly,” Danny commented.

“We don’t know if we’d have to crawl through somewhere, Danny. It’s better to dress in comfortable clothes,” she said, then tugged at the hem of his black leather jacket with a sour look on her face. “Unlike you, I won’t be squeaking when I try to move my arms.”

“Fine, but don’t borrow mine when you get cold outside,” he warned, walking out into the hallway. Aly followed, locking the door behind her.

“I won’t,” she said with confidence.

Thankfully, the lobby was empty when they went down. Their sketchy all-black get-up would most likely need explanations, and Aly did not want to have to lie to Marion again if it could be avoided. The old lady had done nothing but feed her and shelter her from Fred's judging eyes.

As soon as they stepped out of the hotel, Aly was greeted by a wisp of the cold night air. She had expected it to be cold—as it always was even when the sun was scorching on a cloudless day—but she had figured that she'd probably gotten used to it by now. She was wrong, of course, as she immediately shivered as the wind effortlessly cut through her thin clothes.

Danny glanced at her and visibly smirked.

“It’s not that cold,” she said, but the goosebumps on her skin showed otherwise.

“Whatever you say,” Danny smugly said as he went down the stairs. He cautiously looked around before proceeding to walk down the street. Aly followed him, staying on his right.

“Try to keep away from the lamps,” Danny said. The lamps were weak and flickering, barely doing their jobs at the dark of the night, but it was better to be on the side of caution.

“I know. This is not my first time following some—” Aly began to respond, but when Danny raised an eyebrow underneath his hat, she immediately changed the topic. “Where are we going exactly? John’s house is the other way.”

“You'll see,” he answered, then as if realizing something, he turned to her and said, “I knew it. You didn’t hear where he was going, did you? I should’ve just left you at the hotel.”

“As if that’s going to keep me,” Aly scoffed. “I would’ve staked out his house until he left then followed him from there.”

With the look that Danny gave her, she could easily assume that he was thinking of how stubborn she was. She added with a teasing smile, “Plus, isn’t this better? We're like partners in crime, eh?” She lightly elbowed him.

“We’re not partners in—” Danny stopped short as an old lady exited the house that they happened to be walking in front of. She had already seen them and squinted to see who they were, so he tipped his hat and greeted her a good evening. Aly followed suit, and the old lady politely replied as well, even though they doubted she recognized them.

“Anyway,” Danny continued when they walked past the house. “Don’t involve me in your—your ‘crime.’ I’m not the one stalking him just to know what his favorite color is.”

“Green,” Aly said.

Danny sighed in exasperation. “I didn’t—I wasn’t asking for—”

“Also, I’m not ‘stalking’ him for that. Right now, I’m doing it to prove a point to you,” Aly said as a matter of fact. It was, in a way, only half true, but she wasn’t going to tell him that she’s doing it to prove John’s innocence for her own sake. She was not going to admit that she, too, had doubts.

“Whatever your reason is, it’s still not enough to put yourself through this much danger,” Danny said in a tone that sounded like he was scolding Aly.

“Aww,” Aly cooed as she batted her eyelashes at him, “are you worried about me?”

“No,” Danny immediately answered, lightly pushing her face aside. “I wasn’t finished. What I meant was you’re also putting me and my work in danger. Lives actually depend on this, Aly. I think you still fail to see that.” He abruptly stopped walking and placed a finger against his lips.

Aly saw that they were nearing the entrance to the town. The large stone archway signified this—the one where she was dropped off by the cab driver on her first day. There were barely any buildings at this point, mostly dark looming trees and lamp posts.

Aly gulped as she looked at the outstretched empty gravel road—the farther it went, the darker it grew until it was devoured by the pitch black of the night. She took an unconscious step closer to Danny, who seemed unfazed. Having had lived in the city that’s brightly lit, even at night, for her entire life, the only time Aly had felt afraid of the dark was when the elevator she was once on suddenly stopped and she got stuck there for 10 minutes.

“Don’t tell me we need to go….there?” Aly asked, her eyes stuck to the darkness that laid ahead. Suddenly, that time in the elevator seemed like a hoot. Danny followed where she was looking and tried to keep a straight face.

“You’re not backing out, are you?” he whispered eerily, nodding towards the road. “I hope you didn’t bring any meat. I hear there are wolves out there.”

Aly looked at him with obvious fear in her eyes. “Wolves?” she hissed.

Danny couldn’t help it when a corner of his lips turned in amusement. Aly saw this and lightly hit his shoulder.

“The meeting will just be here by the arch. Edge of town is what I heard,” he said with a chuckle. “Come on,” he urged. “Let’s hide before they arrive.”

He looked around once again, and when he saw that the coast was clear, he led them towards a set of trees a few meters from the end of the arch. He crouched down behind the wide trunk and Aly followed. She squinted her eyes at the darkness—their only source of light was the faint glow of the moon. The lamps were too far and too weak to reach them.

Even as Aly’s eyes adjusted to the dark, she could still barely see Danny’s silhouette as he set his bag on the dirt and methodically set up his camera. She wondered how he could even see what he was doing without a flashlight, then it occurred to her that he must have done this a hundred of times in the dark—seeing how easily he finished.

A strong, cold breeze swept past, rustling the leaves on the trees that surrounded them. Danny glanced at her, the slight worry on his face hidden in the dark. Aly wanted to hug herself for warmth but decided to act nonchalant about it. She simply sat on one of the larger roots, with her back against the trunk. Danny kneeled on one knee, looking out at the road.

“Is your phone silent?” he had whispered it very softly, but with the dead quiet, Aly was able to hear him perfectly.

“Of course,” she said, but then proceeded to check her phone inside her bag and turned it to vibrate. She could only assume that Danny rolled his eyes.

“Stay quiet, don’t move, and don’t do anything rash, you got it?” He warned.

Aly gave him a salute. “Aye-aye, captain.”

She turned her head to look at the archway. “Where are they, anyway? It’s almost 7. Are you sure this is where—”

Danny suddenly shushed her as headlights broke through the darkness at the far end. Aly hastily got up and squatted beside him to get a better look. She would’ve kneeled to get better balance, but she doubted her yoga pants were built for literal sticks and stones. Being that close, she could smell the scent of mint coming from Danny. He used the hotel soap, Aly noticed, then shook her head and inched away as she realized that it was not the time nor place to smell people.

The two watched as the black sedan pulled up just a few meters before it reached the arch. It parked by the side of the road and killed its lights and engine. Whoever it was obviously did not want to be seen.

Danny began to take pictures of the car—a burst of tiny clicking sounds was heard.

It was all just beginning to feel real for Aly. She had come here—well, not really as a joke, but more so she could say “I told you so" to Danny with a big, smug grin. But, with the looks of it, he might be the one who’s right, because why else would two people meet in the evening at the edge of town where nobody can see?

Maybe this is just a coincidence, maybe the car just broke down, Aly thought to herself. She began to hope that her gut feeling was wrong and John won’t show up. To her dismay, they heard footsteps not a minute later.

John walked towards the arch, hastily looking around with a hood on his head. A man stepped out from the car and walked with his hands behind his back. He stood tall in his suit, his posture straight and proper, giving off an air of professionalism.

As John walked towards Aly and Danny’s direction, she felt her breathing stop.

Did he see us? Aly frantically thought, but John stopped when he reached the end of the arch. He looked sideways, and for a second, Aly thought he saw them hidden in the trees.

“Mr. Wendell,” the man greeted as he stopped in front of John.

Aly felt her breathing resume as John regarded the man, unbothered. She remembered that they were hidden in the darkness of the trees, and unless he had night-vision or came close enough, he wouldn’t be able to see them.

“Mr. Clement,” John nodded back.

“How are things in town?”

“Not eventful. Enough with the niceties. Do you have it?” John asked, looking impatient.

The man took something out from the inside of his coat.

“Yes, sir,” he politely replied as he handed a folder to John. “That’s the only copy. Recordings have been deleted. The investigation now says he died in an accident. Reports say the car's break malfunctioned. They’re about to close the case. Everything is there, so make sure to dispose of it properly after you’ve looked it over.”

“I know,” John said, looking irked. He scanned the papers and glanced up at the man. “The laptop and Burton's family?”

“No laptop. A phone was found incinerated in the crash. We checked his accounts and there was nothing unusual. The family didn’t know anything, either. Everything has been taken care of.”

John’s face was hard, his expression unreadable. “Okay,” he shortly said.

Mr. Clement remembered what he had to do, and said, “Oh, right,” then handed something black and small. “Untraceable calls and messages. The boss said it’s safer. He’ll contact you through it.”

John inserted the burner phone into his pocket. “Until when do I have to stay here?”

The man seemed unsure, adjusting his glasses. “A few more days, he says, just to be sure. For the meantime, you can do some work here.”

“But there’s a lot of work to be done, and I can’t do them remotely,” John protested. “What about the new project?”

“He wants you to stay put, away from all that's happening while no one's suspecting you yet. He will call you for more instructions, but someone will drop by the day after tomorrow to check up on you, and so you can check it before they proceed. We don’t trust the new accountant yet.”

“When will he call me?”

Mr. Clement only repeated, “He will call you.”

John only sighed and nodded. The other man noticed his frustration and added, “You’re still on track to be CFO. The board and Mr. Bank have your back, but we’re all just waiting everything to die down.”

John remained quiet.

“If that’s all, I’ll be on my way. Stay safe, Mr. Wendell.”

“Right,” John grunted as Mr. Clement walked back to his car. John waited until he was out of sight before looking around again, then went on his way.