Anything But Ordinary Read online

  “And all this time I thought you were just being a good friend and trying to help me do well on my exams.” I said sarcastically.

  “Hell no, I just really needed someone to play basketball with. I just knew you would give in to my peer pressure.” Ryan said knowing he had me.

  “Fine. But only an hour. I really do have to study. Okay?” I hoped he caught the seriousness of my tone.

  “Of course. When I have ever got in the way of your studies? Before today that is.”

  At least I hadn’t started studying yet. I decided to take Jack with me and let him roam around the other side of the court while we played. It would be good for him to get out.

  I was happy the storm came through last night because it dropped the temperature down over twenty degrees. It was in the seventies, sunny and felt spectacular. Ryan was already there shooting around. “You ready to get dominated.” I started the trash talking.

  “This coming from the pansy that can’t even ask the girl he likes out after three years of spending pretty much everyday together. For some reason you don’t scare me.”

  “Just because Riley was stupid enough to marry your ass doesn’t mean you are a player, just means you are lucky that she was delusional.” I quipped back.

  “Haha.” He gave a fake laugh back.

  “But since you mentioned Olivia, I got to tell you something. She showed up at my doorstep at 11:30 last night...” I said.

  “Shut up." He interrupted. "You need to stop watching those dirty movies before you go bed. You are starting to get reality and your dreams mixed up.” But I could tell I had his undivided attention.

  “It was not a dream. She was upset. I could tell she had been crying when she got there. She was acting strange and asking if I thought people could change. Then she referred to Trevor in the past tense. I am wondering if they broke up. She wouldn't tell me.” I tried not to smile, but it crept up anyways.

  “You don't know what happened between them?” He asked

  “No. I asked and asked but she got upset and told me she couldn’t talk about it tonight. Then she fell asleep on my couch and,” Ryan interrupted.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let me get this straight. The girl you have been crushing on forever, and I mean forever, shows up in the middle of the night. She is soaking wet, upset and referring to her boyfriend in the past tense and you do nothing. Nothing at all?”

  “She was upset dude, I couldn’t,” He interrupted again.

  “You don’t have to explain. I just wanted to get it straight. I would have actually been surprised if you had made a move. Doing nothing is the norm for you.” He said.

  “You are an idiot. But as I was trying to say, I woke up this morning around six and she is gone. I try to get a hold of her but it just goes straight to her voicemail. She finally called me not too long ago and told me she is going to meet me tomorrow and tell me everything that is going on in her life.” I explained.

  “That’s good. I’ve been really worried about her lately. She has definitely not been herself.” He said with genuine concern. “You ready to get this game going?”

  “Game time!” I answered passing him the ball to get the game started.

  Our game went back and forth. Ryan would go up two then I would tie it. I would go up by one, Ryan would tie it. We were really battling and it was Ryan’s ball and he was down one point. I played some tough defense on him but he got away for a wide open look. He jumped and as he was about to release the ball from his fingers, a huge boom exploded from close by. His shot went five feet wide to the right of the basket. “I get to redo that. That was not fair.” He complained.

  “Ryan, what the hell was that? It sounded like a bomb or something.” I said with concern.

  “It was probably just some stupid kids shooting off fireworks or something. Let’s redo that point.” Ryan said.

  “That was no firework.” There was a bunch of commotion and we saw people running away from near my street and some smoke coming from the rooftops.

  “You’re right, let’s go check it out.” He said. I grabbed Jack and the three of us ran up the street. We headed down the street that everyone was running from. It was my street. Ryan stopped in his tracks and said, “Jesus Christ.” I handed him Jack and kept running up to my driveway and looked at the burning rubble that used to be my house. I put my hands on my head and just stared at my house being engulfed in flames. I got my phone out and made a call. Olivia answered, “What’s up Jake”

  “You know how you were going to meet me tomorrow and you were going to explain everything?” I said.

  “Yeah, what about it?” She asked with concern as she could hear the fire trucks and police sirens making their way towards where my house used to be.

  “I think you are going to have to tell me right now?”

  Chapter Six

  I hung up with Olivia as the police and fire department arrived. They questioned Ryan and I for awhile about what could have caused the explosion. I told them I had no idea what could have happened. I didn’t bring up the man I saw outside my house or the possibility someone broke into my house. I knew that it had something to do with the explosion and I wanted to hear from Olivia before I said anything to the police.

  Olivia showed up about an hour after I called her in a blue Chevy Cruze that I hadn't seen her in before. She joined Ryan and I after the police finished questioning us. They told me I would have to stay away from the property and they would try to recover anything they could. I thanked the officers and the three of us walked to Ryan’s house. His wife met us halfway to his house and he told her everything that had happened. We went into his house and they continued to talk as they went upstairs so Ryan could change. I sat at his kitchen table while Olivia went to the back door and looked out the window. “Jake, come here.” Olivia said urgently.

  I hurried over, “What is it?”

  “Look at the street over there.” She said while pointing out to the left at the main street. “Is that the car that was outside your house earlier?”

  It was far away but there was no mistaking the black car that had been outside my house earlier. He was parked along the main road near the street that my house used to be on. I studied it as well as I could. “I can't see the driver but I am sure it is the same car.”

  “We have to get out of here. I don’t want him to see that we are at Ryan’s. We don’t want to put him in danger too. I should not have come to your house last night. This is all my fault.” she said with pain in her voice.

  “As you can see, I’m alright. But obviously you aren’t. Let's get out of here. And once we do, you need to tell me what the hell is going on.” I said while turning around to see Ryan coming back downstairs.

  “Riley can’t believe what just happened. This is usually the most boring neighborhood.” Ryan said excitedly.

  “Jake and I are going to get out of here Ryan. Until I get this straightened away, I need you to not call us. I have put Jake in danger and I don’t want to do the same thing with you and Riley. I promise I will explain everything things are taken care of.” Olivia said forcefully.

  “Don’t be stupid Olivia, you know I wouldn’t let you guys try to handle this on your own. This is obviously serious. Jake’s house just blew up for Christ’s sake.” Ryan said. We could tell he wasn’t going to give in that easily.

  “Ryan, you are a great friend. We have always known that.” Olivia said in that sweet calming voice that always helped me relax when I was stressed. “The problem is you have a wife and a child on the way. Don’t be stupid and take the chance of leaving them without a father and husband. The less people that are dealing with this, the better.”

  “Guys,” Ryan tried to say something but I interrupted.

  “You know she is right. You will get that redo game when we are finished with this thing. Just remember that I’m up one.” I said with a smile.

  He laughed. “Fine. But keep him alive Olivia. I’m going to win that game.”
r />   “Will do.” She said coming back from the window. “However, I do have one small thing you could do for us Ryan. We need to get my car and we need to get past the black car without him seeing us. I have a plan and I need you to be a distraction.”

  A smile came over Ryan’s face. “I’m in.”

  Olivia and I went out the back door of Ryan’s house and crept through the backyards of a couple of his neighbors, hiding along the way to stay out of the view of the black car that was only a couple hundred yards away from us. We saw Ryan driving down his street and the turning along the main street. He drove up between the black car and where we were and slowly came to a stop. As soon as he stopped, we bolted for her car. Ryan got out of his car and went to the driver’s window and we knew he was asking the man if he knew what happened to Jake’s house. We could hear the man trying to get Ryan to go away but Ryan hung in there. He knew we needed two minutes. We made it to her car, hopped in and she sped out of the subdivision. I watched out the back window as I saw Ryan get back into his car. I could see a big smile on his face as he looked at a vacant parking spot that had been filled by Olivia’s car.

  Chapter Seven

  "We did it." I said triumphantly.

  "Unfortunately that was just the beginning." Olivia said as we raced eastbound on highway 40.

  All my questions started to come back to me, "Whose car is this? I asked.

  "It's Trevor's roommate's. We borrowed it two days ago because he went out of town for the week." she explained.

  "What's wrong with yours? I said.

  "These guys know what kind of car I drive." she said calmly.

  "Oh, okay." I said. I thought about asking her who they were but I decided to wait on that. "Where are we going?" I asked after thinking for a minute.

  "To the Maryville library. I want to go somewhere public where we can find some privacy." she said. "Once we get there, I will tell you everything. After what I put you through the last 24 hours, you deserve to know what is going on." We drove the rest of the way in silence.

  We arrived at the school around 4. We walked quickly to the library. We found an empty study room so we went it and shut the door. It was amazing how everything that was going on had put a damper on our moods. Everyone around us was excited. It was a beautiful day and only one week of school left. Normally this would be a wonderful day but after having my house blown up and running for my life, I wasn’t feeling too cheerful.

  “I know you like to talk Jake but I am going to tell you what has been going on and you are just going to have to sit back and listen for a while.” Olivia said. I nodded. “Okay,” she said brushing her hair behind her ear.“ When I met Trevor last month, we hit it off right away. He was sweet and charming and we had instant chemistry. After a couple of dates, things seemed to be going very well. We went to a bar downtown last week and were having a good time when he excused himself to go to the bathroom. I went to the bar to get a drink and saw him talking to a guy in the back of the bar. I saw him giving something to the guy and then saw them walk outside to an alleyway behind the bar. I didn’t even have to ask. I knew what he was doing. So when he drove me home, I told him we were through. He argued with me asking what he did. I told him about what I saw and it didn’t take much brain power to realize he was into drugs. He went silent as we pulled up to my apartment. I got out of the car and went inside. I figured things we over but he calls a couple days later and asks if we can meet and if I will just hear him out. It took some convincing but I reluctantly agreed to meet. He told a long story about he had been taking care of himself since he was sixteen and a few years ago, he was desperate for money and became friends with the wrong people. He knew instantly it was a mistake but once you start, they blackmail you to keep you in. He said he had been working on a plan to try and take them down and get himself out. I could tell he was being truthful and I offered to help him however I could.”

  “What were you thinking Olivia, how could,” I got out before she interrupted.

  “Jake, stop. I knew at the time it wasn’t a good idea, but Trevor was a good guy. We really liked each other and I knew he was serious about getting out of the drug business.” she said, with a tear forming in her eye. She wiped it away and regained her composure. “He knew the only way out was to take them down. He found out they have a camera in the alleyway where the business goes down. The video is used to blackmail people like Trevor from getting out of the business. He knew it was kept on some files in their office of the bar we were at. He thought he could infiltrate the room and use his computer skills to hack in and get the videos onto a flash drive that he could take to the police. He knew he would also get in trouble but he would rather go to jail than be their servant any longer.” She paused and looked out the window into the library. I could tell she was getting emotional, so I gave her a minute to regroup. After a minute of silence, she continued, “So he put his plan into action two nights ago. I waited at his place for him to come back. He said it would be gone about two hours. After three hours, I was starting to panic. I almost gave in and called him, but right before I could, he burst into the apartment. He held the flash drive triumphantly and we plugged it into the computer. Unfortunately our excitement didn’t last too long as the files were encrypted. He tried all night to figure out how to get to the files. By the time the sun came up, he gave up. He hid the flash drive in a secret compartment in his desk. He said he has a friend Charlie that would be able solve it. He called Charlie and Charlie agreed to help him. We were going meet with him the next day. In the meantime, Trevor said he had to go back to the bar to check in so they wouldn’t suspect he was up to anything.” Now she was starting to get really emotional and I knew things were about to take a turn for the worst.

  “Why don’t we take a break for a minute?” I offered.

  “No! We don’t have time. I’m fine.” she said sternly.

  “Okay, continue.” I said a bit taken aback. .

  She took a deep breath and continued. “We arrived at the club and he said something wasn’t right as soon as we got there. We walked in and one of the goons tells us to go outside to the alleyway. Trevor tried to play it off saying he hadn’t finished his business inside yet but the man forcefully insisted we head to the alley. Another man met us out there and started interrogating Trevor, asking him what he did with the files. Trevor’s eyes flashed with panic as he realized they knew what he had done. The guard pulled a gun and put it to my head. Trevor then panicked and told them he will tell them where the files are if they let me go. Trevor looked at me and mouthed run as the guard let me go. Trevor ran at the guard and I felt the shot barely miss me. I kept running when I heard another shot and a yell of agony. I didn’t have to look back to know what had happened. I almost ran back but realized there was no use. I took off and somehow got away far enough to call a taxi. That taxi took me to your house last night.” These last few words were barely audible. I could tell she was devastated after reliving the horrors of the previous night.

  “I am so sorry Olivia.” I said sadly. I went over and hugged her and she cried into my shoulder for what seemed like eternity. Once she regained her composure, I knew we had work to do. “Okay, we need to get to his apartment and get the flash drive. If we can figure out how to break that code, then we can turn it in and put them away.” I said confidently.

  “I wish it was that easy. I had the same thought this morning. I had a taxi take me to get his roommate’s car from the parking garage downtown. Then I went to his apartment but when I got there, there was a red car parked in front of his apartment. I parked out of view and watched a guy coming out of the apartment. I could tell he was angry because he couldn’t find what he was looking for. He got in the car and stayed out front, I’m assuming waiting for me to come and get the flash drive. Before  I could figure out what to do, you called and I came over. I have no clue how they knew I came to your place. They must have tracked me somehow and thought that I gave the flash drive to you and that i
s why they blew up your place. I’m so so sorry Jake. I never would have come if I knew you would have been dragged into it.” She said with regret.

  “Don’t be. You should not have to deal with this alone and you know I would do anything for you.” she smiled and I almost told her I loved her, but then realized this would be the worst possible time for that. Thinking about almost losing her, I decided if we made it through this thing alive, I would tell her exactly how I feel about her. “So, what is our first step?”

  “The first step will be getting that flash drive. We need to come up with a plan to get past those guards and get into the apartment.” she said. We sat there for a few minutes throwing ideas around but nothing seemed like it would work until a thought came to my head.

  “Do you have a key to his place?” I asked, a sly smile forming.

  “Yes.” She answered.

  “Then I have a plan of how we are going to get into the apartment.” I said.

  Chapter Eight

  I pulled out my phone and called Ryan. "Glad to hear you are still alive." he said.

  "Does Riley's dad still work at Pizza Hut?" I asked.

  "By the way, I made it away alive and well from the guy who blew up your house. Thanks for checking." he said sarcastically.

  "I'm glad you are okay." I said.

  "I knew you were concerned. And yes, Riley's dad does work there still."

  “Then I need a favor." I said. “I need you to borrow a uniform from her dad and the car topper from him and meet us at the Maryville library."

  "Strange request but I'll be up there as soon as possible." he said, then the line disconnected. I looked at Olivia and she was smiling.

  "You really think that will work?" she asked.

  "I don't see why not. I will be disguised. They don't know what car we are driving and a pizza being delivered to apartment complex is hardly out of the ordinary.

  "I'm glad I brought you along. I would still be sitting here not knowing what to do.”

  "I am pretty awesome." I said as she gave me a smile. We talked liked we always use to. Something about Olivia always made me feel better. Whether we were about to take a final or I was about to put myself in a life threatening situation, she made me feel like everything would be alright. Now that we didn't have any secrets between us, everything felt right again. We planned out how I would get in the building, where she would watch from, where the flash drive was, and also where to look for information about Charlie since we realized we had no clue how to get a hold of him. I made the mistake of asking where Trevor’s phone was. He had it when he died, which upset her to think about. We heard a knock and a distraction came in the form of Ryan.