Not as it seems

Part 5

    After trying to tutor Jocelynn for a couple hours, which didn’t really go well considering she was on her phone the whole time, she told me that I had to go because she was “getting a headache from all the work.” Honestly I had no idea that texting could be so strenuous. But believe me I didn’t really care since I was thrilled to finally get to leave the lion’s den, the only problem was that I was supposed to find out if Jocelynn’s dad was connected to the drug cartel. And since it was evident that I wouldn’t be getting any information from Jocelynn because she barely even spoke to me at all, I had go for plan B.

    “Bye Jocelynn, see you tomorrow?” I stood at the door waiting for her reply.

    She didn’t even spare me a glance as she mumbled “yeah, yeah,” and continued to text away. This didn’t bother me though because it gave me a perfect opportunity to “explore” the Rhodes’s house and see if I could find any evidence linking her father to the drug cartel.

    As quietly as I could, I walked back down the spiral staircase to the main floor. I stood at the bottom of the stairs debating how I should take on my explorations when I realized there was a slight problem. The Rhodes’s house was enormous, and well I didn’t exactly know where to look, or even what to look for.

    “Yes, don’t worry, I have it all under control. It’s a fool proof plan.”

    I heard a hushed voice say from around the corner. Soon, footsteps accompanied the voice and it seemed to be headed my way. Frantically, I looked around for somewhere to hide. In the dining room next to me there were big, velvet curtains hanging on the windows. Obviously this wasn’t the most covert place I could have hid, but I was running out of options. I stood completely still behind the thick, velvet curtains and listened to the voice in the hall outside the room. From what I could tell, it sounded like Mr. Rhodes was on the phone with someone.

    “Precisely. Tomorrow, West Bay Harbour, 10 pm. We are hosting a Gala there at the same time so everyone will be distracted.”

    When he said these words my mind immediately flashed back to when I was cramped in the air shaft of an office building and I heard the man in the polo shirt say that exact time, place and date.

    The sound of a door opening and closing made me think that Mr. Rhodes entered a different room. To be sure, I waited a minute or so till I decided to leave. But, just to my luck as I was reaching the door handle to leave, Mr. Rhodes stepped back out of the room he was previously in, now off the phone, and into the hall a little ways down from the door.

    “Oh and who must you be?” He turned on the classic American smile that most politicians sport on their campaign tours, and strolled down the hall towards me. He somewhat reminded me of Mr. Brinson, with his tall, muscular figure and the confident way he carried himself.

    “Hi Mr. Rhodes, I’m Avery. I was just tutoring Jocelynn.”

    “Of course! How could I forget? Did you girls get some progress done?” Mr. Rhodes asked this with what looked like a genuine smile, but I know better. It was definitely fake and I began to get the impression that Mr. Rhodes could care less about what his daughter was up to.

    “Yes, as a matter of fact-” the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs made me stop midsentence to turn and see Jocelynn coming down the steps.

    “You’re still here?” She gave me an annoyed and bored look, one that I was becoming used to. Her father seemed to notice the snappiness of her statement and gave Jocelynn a warning look.

    “Actually dear, I was just getting to know your new friend,” at the word friend Jocelynn visibly cringed, but Mr. Rhodes kept that fake smile plastered on his face, “as a matter of fact I was just about to invite Avery here to our Gala tomorrow night. What do you say Avery? You can come right after you’re done tutoring Jocelynn.” From the look on Jocelynn’s face, it was evident that she was trying to plan a way to kill her father at that moment. He seemed not to notice though as he waited for my response.

    All I could think about was that the drug deal was supposed to be going down during the Gala so that’s why answered, “Uh yeah, sounds fun.”

    “Fantastic!” Mr. Rhodes clapped his hands together and smiled at both Jocelynn and me before excusing himself to his office. Before I could be a victim of Jocelynn’s menacing stare, I quickly left the house.