Stolen (Book 1 of the Greed series)

Chapter 5: The USB

With the huge pill safely tucked under my tongue, Mark lifted me up and the elevator dinged. I didn't dare open my eyes, not even when I was sure no one was looking. Mark's steady footsteps literally almost put me to sleep. He shifted his weight so he was cradling me more to the left as he seemed to reach into his pocket. The next thing I heard was the rattling of keys and the opening of a door, and soon I was enveloped in an ocean of covers and comfy material. I leaned over discreetly and spit the pill out. 

It had been awhile without the noise of Mark walking around and murmuring to himself, so I swiftly opened one of my eyes and looked around. Nothing in that side of the room, so I opened the other. There Mark was, sitting in a chair with his back to me, looking out of the window. 

I sat up silently and looked around. The room is small, there's only one bed and a TV that is resting in a cabinet. The walls were painted a greyish color that literally made me want to puke my guts up, and the lighting was dim. Suddenly, a gruff voice startled me, making me jump. "How long have you been awake?" Mark asked sounding concerned. 

"I'm not sure." I lied smoothly. "What time is it?" 

"It doesn't matter." He said quickly, standing up from his seat and sitting at the edge of the bed. "I'm going to ask you some questions, and you're going to answer them honestly, alright?" 

I nodded my head, but I wasn’t so sure I'd be telling the truth anytime soon. "Go ahead, pretty boy." 

"What happened between you and Callahan to make him so pissed at you?" This was the second time he’d ask me this, I figured it must have been important to him.  

"I stole some money from him; no big deal." I shrugged. 

"No big deal?" He seemed to get worked up, but then calmed himself down. "It's definitely a big deal, Andromeda. There are innocent lives at stake." I scoffed, innocent? 

"Okay," I said defensively. "Well, sorry, if I had known a couple bucks would've caused world war three, I wouldn't have stolen it." Sure, I didn't steal from Josh, but it's viable. 

"Yeah, you really shouldn't have." 

"My turn.” I said. "Where did you meet Marie?" I spat her name, and Mark looked away, smiling to himself. 

"I met her at a restaurant; we were both eating with our friends and we had both undoubtedly became the ones to pay because the rest of our friends ditched us." He laughed, quietly.

How touching, it really sounds like something straight from the movies. "How did you meet Callahan?" He asked. 

I laughed a humorless laugh. "At a bar." Was all I replied, looking him dead in the eye and realizing just how un-storybook-ish my story sounded. It seemed so, so, stupid. And, it really was. "What's your last name?" I asked. 

"I don't think I can trust you..." Was all he said, looking down. 

"You’re right. You can’t." I blinked and stared at him, waiting. He sighed. 

"Turner." He paused. "My last name is Turner."

“And yet you still do.” I murmured.

“Do what?”

“Trust me.”

After a moment he sighed and began talking just to fill the silence. "I have a question from Callahan..." He trailed off and I stared at him expressionless, only when I finally blinked did he pull out his phone and read a text message to me. 

"Ask her what was on the USB Drive. It is critical for her life that she tells me." He cringed as he said it's and looked up at me. "What was on the USB drive?"