Amy Bensen 01 Escaping Reality (30 page)

“I’m a boring secretary,” I reply, automatically slipping into deflection

mode. That’s who I am, deflection girl, and I am so ready to change that.

“I’d much rather hear about you,” I continue. “Were you an investor in this

spectacular building Liam designed?”

Derek laughs, drawing my gaze. “Glad you’re along for dinner, Amy.”

He nods to Liam.

“Good call.”

Liam squeezes my leg. “I couldn’t agree more.”

“She certainly knows how to start things out with a bang,” Mike

concedes, “but she makes my point. This building is spectacular. Let’s do it

again a little bigger.”

“But you’re creating a place that is more than a workspace this time,”

I argue. “You’re creating a small city, from what I understand.”

“This building is more than a workspace.”

“A pyramid—”

“Is Las Vegas fodder for tourists,” Mike finishes for me.

“Tell that to the Egyptians who spent years creating just one of the

structures. Tell that to the many scientists and experts who spend year

after year trying to figure out how it was even possible for an ancient

society to build the structures. And do you really think Liam would build

something that would be Vegas-like unless he was creating it for Vegas?”

Mike gives me a hard look, glances at Liam, and then back at me.

“Okay Amy,” he conceeds witha smile, “you have a point. Considering the

masterpiece of a building we are sitting inside at present, I cannot say I

think Liam would do anything that wasn’t spectacular.”

I grin my approval and watress appears. Once she takes our orders,

the conversation shifts to the stock market for what seems like forever.

Even if I understood any of it, Liam’s hand stroking my leg isn’t allowing my

brain to work, and no matter how many times I clamp down on his fingers,

he sets them in motion again, each time tugging my dress a little higher up

my thigh.

Dessert time finds Derek and Liam in deep conversation with the

opposite side of the table, and Mike and I restart our conversation about

buildings. Mike points out the many amazing buildings around the world

that are record-breaking heights, or were, when first built. I quickly remind

him that he is forgetting the many amazing structures that get attention for

uniqueness, rather than height.

When Mike is without any true knowledge of the miracle of

pyramids, I glance at Liam and Derek, confirming they are still distracted,

before I dare to dare to be a tad more liberal about my knowledge of the

subject. .

“I wonder,” I say, after we’ve talked a good hour in which Mike

appears genuinely enthralled by the mysteries and the creation of the

pyramids, “if you could incorporate a museum into the project your

building and get non-profit funding to offset the expense.”

I lean back in my seat and suddenly realize that Derek and Liam are

gone and I didn’t even know they left. “If you’re just a secretary,” Mike

announces, “you’re a wasted commodity.”

“I, ah, thank you.” I stare at the empty seats, feeling a frisson of

unease. “Excuse me if you will, Mike. I’m going to run to the ladies’ room.” I

push to my feet and waste no time rushing away, scanning for Liam and

Derek, and decide I’ll take a trip to the bathroom and use the privacy to call

Liam.

I’m about to head into the bathroom when I hear Liam’s voice

coming from a balcony just opposite where I’m standing. I move in that

direction and stop dead when I hear, “Did you get the data off her

computer?”

“All of it,” Derek says. “Including the camera.”

“So the camera feed is live?”

“Hot as a day in Texas. Are you sure you have her under control?”

“I can handle Amy. You just get me what I need.”

The word “Texas” rolls around in my head several times and hits me

like a hard punch in the gut. I bolt, my heart is in my throat, adrenaline

surging through me to the point where I’m shaking. I arrive at the elevator

and punch the button a good ten times until it opens, and I all but lunge

inside the car. I hold my breath, waiting for the doors to close, certain I will

be discovered.

When finally the car is moving, I inhale deeply, willing my pulse to

slow so I can think. This doesn’t mean Liam is the bad guy. It doesn’t.

Maybe he dug into my past. Maybe he’s trying to help me. But why would

he film me? Why? Why? Why? I was falling in love with him. I
am
in love

with him. The idea that he and I were nothing but a facade cuts me deeply.

I want to believe in him and us, but I do not dare risk trusting him. I have to

survive first, and I need a plan.

Think, Amy. Think.
You have to get out of here. Leave the state. Leave

tonight. The elevator opens on the bottom floor and I know there are

cameras everywhere, easily tracking my departure. I run through the empty

lobby and ignore the security guard behind the desk, exiting the building

and immediately cutting to my right. I pause momentarily to remove my

shoes before running several blocks until I spot a cab and hail it.

I climb inside. “Where to, lady?”

Where to? Where to? My cell phone rings and I am smart enough to

know that not only can the GPS chip be used to follow me, Liam has the

money to make it happen. With my heart in my throat, I roll down the

window and toss the phone outside, my thoughts bouncing all over the

place with my emotions. I need a fake ID I can’t get until tomorrow. And I

need to be close to Evernight so I can try to reach my handler one last time.

I lean forward to talk to the driver. “There’s a hotel called Cherry

Creek Inn, in Cherry Creek North. Take me there.” I hesitate, then add, “But

stop by a twenty-four-hour Walmart first.” I need supplies and a cash

machine.

Forty-five minutes later, I step into the hotel room I’ve paid for in

cash with Liam’s words playing in my head.
Run to me, Amy, not from me.

Angrily, I swipe at the tears that slip down my cheeks. I’m not going to cry

over him. I’m not. I’m not going to cry at all.

I dump the contents of my shopping bag on the bed. A cheap pair of

tennis shoes, a couple of tank tops and pairs of shorts, a few toiletries. I

remove the wad of cash from my purse that I pulled from Liam’s credit card

and toss it down as well. Tomorrow I’ll clean out my New York accounts,

get a fake ID to travel with so that Amy Bensen will never be traceable as

leaving town, and then I’m gone.

“I’m not running at all, Liam,” I whisper. I’m going back to Texas.

The End....

Look for the exciting conclusion of The Secret Life of Amy Bensen in

Infinite Possibilities coming very soon!