Truth or Lie? (The Lying Game ABC Family FanFic)

          "Tell me what you know!" The buff, angry man exclaimed.

         "I don't know anything," Tara Knightley replied, hiding her smirk. He was beginning to get worked up. She could see that tiny morsel of self control in his eyes withering away.

           He reached his large hand forward and grasped her throat tightly, cutting off her air supply. He growled deeply and angrily in his throat, dissatisfied with the lack of information.

       Most seventeen year old girls would find this situation frightening, but Tara, an established junior private investigator, just saw it as another mission, and this man was just another to-be client. 

       "I'll ask you one more time," he spat, glaring daggers at her playful chocolate eyes. "Tell. Me. About. Alec. Rybak." He managed each word through clenched teeth. "What has he told you about Derek Rogers?"

              Oh, so this was a client-against-client thing. 

    "If I tell you, what's in it for me?" She coughed and sputtered, her lungs begging for air.

      He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "You're just like all the others. In it for money." He could see my face was changing colors and added quickly. "If you get Alec Rybak to tell you everything about Derek Rogers, then I will pay you fifty thousand dollars," he offered, the fire in his eyes becoming hopeful.

           She barely managed to nod. 

      He released Tara and stepped back as she breathed and coughed as oxygen reentered her system. When the color returned to her face, she stood up and outstretched her hand.

            "So we have a deal, then?" She asked, an innocent look on her face but a smirk in her eys.

            "Yes, we have a deal," he answered, shaking her soft hand in his rough ones.

                     Alec would be pleased.

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              Tara marched out of the warehouse proudly, smirking to herself. Time to visit one more client in Vegas before she met Alec back in California. Her phone buzzed as she climbed into the car one of her clients had rented for her. After digging through her purse, she fished out her phone. Alec. 

             "What?" She snapped briskly as she accepted the call.

          "What's going on there? Did you find out anything about the guy who was following me?" Alec sounded...worried. Have pigs started flying? She asked herself as she glanced out the window. Not yet.

              "Alec, babe, you underestimate me. You sound like you didn't expect me to find him. Get your panties out of a bunch, will ya?" She shook her head, glancing through the glove compartments for any valuables. Nothing. This time they really went out of their way to make sure the car was empty this time. Sighing in disappointment, she stuck the key in the ignition and started the car, pulling away from her hidden spot in front of the warehouse and searching for a highway.

           "Good. So you found him?" He asked, seeming to relax.

             "Yes, of course I did," she replied, smirking slyly, knowing what he would want to know next.

           "Who was it?" He inquired. "Who was following me? This could jeopardize the case against Derek. And my reputation. Tell me." His voice filled with desperation and she could almost see his fingers drumming the way they do when he becomes nervous. Shaking her head, she kept thinking how much he needed to relax and quit trying to control everything. Of course, her biggest client had to be one gigantic control freak. Oh wait, a loaded gigantic control freak. What a world. 

        She kept rolling her eyes as he blabbed on and on about how crucial it was that no one knew that he had been working with this Derek kid, and how his son was beginning to suspect him of something. The very mention of the subject of Alec Rybak would make her sick after this conversation. 

       "I have to keep Ted Mercer on my side," he continued pitifully. "His wife suspects something, dammit!" He began pacing; she knew by the click of his expensive dress shoes, another nervous habit. "What if he decides to go against me? Then what?" He began babbling, and again Tara tuned him out, stuffing the phone in the crook of her neck between her left ear and her shoulder and focusing on the road.

        "Who was following me last Friday?" He finally ended his monologue and remembered the task at hand, which surprised Tara.

       "I don't know if I should tell you..." She trailed off.  "After all, I am sworn to secrecy..." Rolling her eyes, she almost chuckled. She'd be rolling in the dough soon enough.

      "An extra eighteen hundred dollars says otherwise," he offered in desperation.

        Now we're talking. 

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I hope this was okay. I'm really sorry if it was confusing, and I hope it makes sense for fans of The Lying Game. I'm sorry... I just feel like this is confusing people. I feel like this chapter is confusing. Lawlz.. sorry. I tried.