Promise until the end

Chapter II: Not on my watch

I'm coming !!"

The officer kept yelling louder and louder. He was about to blow his top but before he could, I opened the door. I opened with a concerned look, as if I had absolutely no idea of what's going on and as if I wasn't hiding the person the most searched in the city in my room.

"Officers, I'm sorry I took so long. What is going on...?"

They looked serious. One was short, yet a bit taller than me, and he looked really cold and emotionless. His eyebrows were frowning and he had a hand on his gun in case the person they were looking for showed the end of their nose. He glared at me with his cold eyes and behind him, the officer that looked a bit taller, but still extremely serious, asked me:

"Good evening miss. We are currently searching for a 19 year old boy called Maxwell Hills. He is involved in drug activity and we got the other to knock on every door to find his as soon as possible. Have you seen him?"

Shivers went down my spine when he showed me a picture of Max, as both officers were still glaring at me with their cold looks.

A look that could freeze my blood right here. Their gaze was so intense and scary that it took me a hard time getting the words out of my mouth. I was starting to get scared they would see through my lie if I took any more time to answer. In the meantime, I had to act normal and relaxed. Any panic would make me seem suspect, so, trying to keep my cool, I simply answered:

"I'm really sorry officers. I haven't seen him. Good luck with the search."

I was about to shut the door when suddenly, the short officer slipped his foot right in front of it, keeping me from closing it. My heart skipped a beat right at that moment.

Did he see through my act?

Before I could get a word out, he simply said, maintaining his cold gaze, that if I see him, it is my duty as a citizen to alert the local police and to not approach the "fugitive", as he called him.

I nodded and said thank you before closing the door and watching them walk away from the apartment.

As soon as they were out of sight, I rushed to my room yelling:

"Max ! They left! Come out !"

But he didn't come out of his hiding spot. Intrigued, I carefully opened the closet and saw him sitting at the back of it, his eyes wide opened and shining with tears as he shaked in fear.

I got down next to him and declared:

"It's alright, they left. You are safe now. Remember that I made you a promise?"

As his voice kept trembling but this time, with a slightly relieved tone, Max said:

"Dienne, I'm sorry for getting you into this mess..."

Answering back wasn't worth it. I didn't have the words to express how relieved and scared I was at the same time, so I just held him tightly in my arms.

That was a close one. Who knows what would've happened if they found him?

Without him, I probably would've drowned in the river that day, so I'll do anything to protect him, no matter how awful the consequences might be.

It eventually took a while to calm down after so much action, but after we did, we got up and went to the kitchen to talk and calm the tension down, as if there weren't 8 police teams looking for Max out there

****

"Max, I'm out of chocolate sticks ! I'll go buy some at the store downstairs alright?", I said, searching through the kitchen to find some.