Read Online The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer - Free Book Online Page B

to the shine on that expensive belt he’s wearing, he’s got his eye on something bigger. “It’s pretty convenient having a son who used to be an agent, isn’t it, Lloyd?”
    As they continue to argue, my brain swirls, struggling to— It’s like trying to fill in a crossword without any clues. For Ellis to know we got rid of the hold notice . . . For him to steal my van from the port and bring it out here . . . That’s the part I keep playing over and over. When I pulled up to the port, I checked half a dozen times—whoever this guy Ellis is, no matter how good a cop he is—there’s no way he was trailing me. But if that’s the case, for him to get my van— Once again, I run through the mental reel. Roosevelt’s at home, which means there’s only one other person who knew where it was parked. The one person who picked me up there. And the only other member of law enforcement who hasn’t said a single word since I got out of his car.
    There’s a metallic click behind me. The swirling blue lights stab at my senses, and my stomach sags like a hammock holding a bowling ball.
    “Sorry, Cal,” Timothy says as he cocks his gun behind my ear. “Once the twins were born . . . Those braces aren’t gonna pay for themselves.”

15
    H undreds of People’s Choice Award–winning movies tell me this is when I’m supposed to shake a fist at the sky and yell, “Nooo! Timothy, how could you!?” But I know exactly how he could. His ethical apathy is why I approached him in the first place. And why I didn’t bat twice when he offered to sneak me inside the port instead of signing me in and getting a proper pass. I thought he was doing me a favor. All he was really doing was making sure nothing linked the two of us together. My heart constricts, like it’s being gripped by a fist. Dammit, when’d I get so blind? I glance at my dad and know the answer. The only good news is, I apparently wasn’t the only one Timothy was trying to keep hidden.
    “Cal’s already seen it—you, me,
all of it
!” Timothy shouts at Ellis. “And what about
the van
!? What was your grand thinking there? Bring it out on the road and hope no one notices?”
    “Watch your tone,” Ellis warns.
    To my surprise, Timothy does, his shoulders shrinking just slightly.
    “You said you just wanted the shipment,” Timothy adds through gritted teeth, fighting hard to stay calm. “Now you have far more than that.”
    The pulsing blue lights pump like heartbeats from both sides. I’m tempted to run, but that won’t tell me what’s going on. On my right, in the front seat of the van, Ellis’s dog, protective of its master, growls at Timothy, whose gun is still trained on me. On my left, my father stares at Ellis, then Timothy, then back to Ellis.
    Then he looks at me.
    I see desperation every day. For the homeless, it overrides despair, depression, even fear. But when my dad’s wide eyes beg for help . . . I’ve seen that look before—all those years ago when the cops came and arrested him.
    “I didn’t do anything wrong,” he blurts.
    Across from us, Ellis pulls the cuff of his shirt out from the wrist of his uniform’s jacket, then flicks the safety on his gun. “I don’t care. We’ve waited over a century. I want my Book.”
    Just behind me, my father puts a hand on my shoulder. There’s nothing tender about it. For the second time, I tell myself to run, but the way he’s gripping me—he needs the handhold to help him stand.
    “All you had to do was leave the van downtown!” Timothy says to Ellis. “But with this— You know how much harder you just made this?” Timothy explodes, barely looking at us. This isn’t about me. Timothy is the same old Timothy. Just protecting his share. “Don’t you see? Now that he knows I’m working with—
Sonuva—!
You just wrecked my damn life!”
    “He’s right,” I interrupt, knowing this isn’t a ride Timothy can afford to let me walk away from. Time to work the weak spots. “But