Drawing The Line (Mistaken Identity Series)

by Sylvia Hubbard

  "I'm sorry, Evan. I was in so much of a hurry to leave, I didn't think about it. I'll talk to the professor tomorrow about it." She didn't say anything about the strange call she had gotten on it. She decided to keep that information to herself, but she would keep her eyes open for anything suspicious.

  "What was so bad about the interview? You go on a million of them, answer their stupid questions and then leave. They say you have the internship, but you can't get to them. What was so stupid about this one that was more stupid than the other?" Evan inquired.

  "Because it's a wonderful opportunity for me and I could make a lot of money if I work really hard, but he's..." Shane wasn't going to tell Evan that the man was drop dead gorgeous, even if Andrew was. "I think there's going to be a problem working for him."

  Suspiciously, Evan asked, "Did he try something?"

  "No. He was a perfect gentleman, Evan, but you didn't see him. I mean I saw him!" Dripping wet and looking good enough to lick! ‘STOP THAT, SHANE!’ Her mind screamed. She changed the subject. "Do you mind if I crash here for a while. I don't want to go over there."

  He clicked his tongue. "You need to put them out of your house, Shane. You should be able to go to your own home."

  "I'm thinking about it seriously, okay, Evan. Don't ride me about it." She yawned exhausted from her entire day, physically and mentally. "Could you get me a drink of water?" she asked in her most pathetic voice.

  Reluctantly, as if it were going to kill him to let her out of his sight, he went to the kitchen. Leaping from the couch with a new burst of energy, she went over to Evan's mail table by the front picture window. Evan was a pack rat.

  Sorting through the mail with the quickness, she found a subscription bill to a MPQ. The quote at the bottom was, "helping those who are lost." Evan wasn't an avid reader. His interest lay in late model American cars and the accessorizing of these vehicles. She stuffed the bill in her pocket, and then heard the floorboards in the hallway creak.

  Shane jumped back on the couch and looked exhausted as he came back in the living room where she was.

  "Did you find a way to get that money?" Evan asked not at all suspicious of her behavior.

  "Nothing came to mind and no bidders came to the table when I placed my mistress ad," she teased.

  He handed her the glass of water and sat back in the chair across from her. "Were you going to get the internship?"

  "Of course and this one's willing to make transportation available."

  "If you stay there long enough," he suggested, "and get good money, you'll be able to pay off a loan. Have you thought of that?"

  She shook her head.

  "Well, I know internships pay like crap or is this one even paying?"

  "A small stipend," she said as nonchalantly as possible, then sipped her water for the added distraction. Shane could see he was searching for something and he was nervous. Yawning again, she laid down completely. "I'm just going to rest until about midnight, then head on over there. You mind?"

  "No. Not at all. Mi casa, su casa," he teased and then left to go to his room, turning out the lights as he left out.

  She didn't sleep. Instead, she listened for any noise in the house. After an hour she got up and walked about the house looking for anything possible. He had a florescent light in the kitchen that illuminated the two front rooms of the house. Since Evan was a pack rat, he kept things from stacks of old newspapers to bags of old clothes. He didn't like to throw anything out, so trying to find anything was hard in this mess if one didn't know what to look for, but she knew Evan.

  When she didn't find anything with a suspicious nature, she decided to go back and lay down, but then passed a ventilation duct from the basement to see there was light coming from the basement. Evan hardly went down there and he hated leaving unnecessary lights on. Going in the kitchen, she went down the steps to the basement stepping as lightly as possible so the creaks couldn't be heard upstairs.

  Evan was a medium sleeper. It just depended on how hard he had worked or how early he had awakened that morning. Knowing that he had class, she knew he had to get up early.

  The basement had been sectioned off. The last time she had come down there had been about a year ago and the basement had been one big room with a pool table in the middle of it.

  The pool table had been moved over to the side and there were several large sections of the basement blocked off. Stacks of newspaper crowded the room closest to the furnace and another room had been set up like a sewing room where it looked as if someone was working on making a vest with special pockets. She knew Evan's mother enjoyed sewing, but since she wasn't home, Shane had to wonder who was making this and for whom?

  She continued to follow the light to see the florescent bulb was shining from the room that the furnace had been enclosed into. Noting the structure, she knew who had built this and the thought made her a little terrified. Why would Bud build this for Evan and why hadn't her friend told her this.

  The furnace was being replaced, she realized to a much smaller unit, but it was in the same large house with a space of about four feet in height, five feet in width and five feet in length. She looked over into the cube and ended up stepping on some paper. Looking down at the paper, she recognized it from the night before at her home as the design Budrick had been working on. He was building some type of chamber, but she couldn't figure out for what.

  Hearing some noise from above, she hurried quietly upstairs and got back to the couch to lie down. Evan came in the room a few minutes later and turned on the lights. Shane pretended to be asleep so he quickly turned off the light, knelt down near her and kissed her forehead.

  "I love you, Shane. Please always remember that," he whispered in her ear.

  When he went back in his room, she opened her eyes and stared into the darkness wondering what was really going on.

  Nearing midnight she made her way out of the house and into her own home down to the basement. The building materials, which had been there just this morning, were gone and she went over to Budrick's work desk to see that the designs he had been working on were also missing.

  Shane took a quick shower and packed her bag for the next day. When she went into her room, she locked her door from the inside and prayed she could get in touch with Aldridge without Bethany finding out.

  Wednesday morning came too soon, but as exhausted as she was, she got out of bed and quickly dressed. Since she was always catching the bus, she wore leggings under all her dresses and put her dress shoes in her backpack until she got to school. It was difficult to do all the time, but she always managed.

  As usual she listened for someone in the kitchen, and unfortunately this time heard someone, but she braced herself as she came to the top of the stairs. Trudy stood at the top of the stairs with one of the twins in her arms. Shane could tell the difference between the two boys by the birthmark on Donald's face. Trudy was holding Derrick, who looked quite ill.

  Usually Shane only would say hello and goodbye to Trudy. She was always cordial to the girl, but most times Trudy would never say anything to Shane unless it was, "Get out my way!"

  Trudy looked exhausted and Derrick was moaning with his eyes closed as if he were trying to get some sleep, but couldn't. "You off to school?" Trudy questioned.

  Shane nodded solemnly unsure of how she should take this interaction with Trudy.

  "You know, you're lucky," Trudy said sniffling.

  Shane noted Trudy had been crying, which was weird to see because Trudy seemed always mad at anyone and everyone. She said nothing as Trudy continued to speak.

  "You have someone, somewhere out there who cares about you. Who really cares about what's happening to you." She rubbed Derrick's back when an extra loud pitiful groan came from his throat. "You stay on track, girl, because the crabs are going to get you." She turned away and walked over to the counter.

  Shane followed her and glimpsed a white and red bottle with a red tip on top. It was strange that the bott
le was on top of the counter when it was usually in the cabinet underneath the sink. Stepping into the kitchen slowly, she didn't take her eyes off the bottle until she read the words on it.

  Looking over at the coffee maker, she saw there was coffee made.

  "She's been making sure it's made for you since..." Trudy left the sentence off. "Get on to school, Shane."

  Shane rushed out the door immediately. Soon as her feet hit the pavement, she ran until her lungs felt like they were going to burst. What had they been trying to do? What were they planning? Who could she trust?

  Searching the streets, she found a payphone. By the time she found a quarter and dialed Aldridge's office number, her fingers were shaking just as badly as her body, but she wasn't the least cold.

  No one answered. Matter of fact, when the voice mail came on, Aldridge pre-recorded voice said, "Hi you've reached the number you've dialed. I'll be out of town until after the New Year, but in an emergency you can call the main office number and the receptionist can contact me immediately. Otherwise leave a message and I'll be checking this machine at least a couple of times a week. Merry Christmas!"

  She wanted to scream in frustration, but instead, she left only an obscure message unsure who might check the machine for him. "Hi Mr. Tate, this is Shane. Please contact me as soon as possible." She tried very hard to keep the fear out of her voice, but it was difficult. Hopefully, Aldridge would pick up that something was seriously the matter since she used his formal name and that she told him to contact her and not call. If he did contact the Meadows instead, Shane could easily say when she had last spoken to him she had told him to call her.

  Getting on the bus to head for school, she tried to think of other ways to get a message to Aldridge without going through the receptionist at his office. Bethany had told her there was an insider at Aldridge office that worked the reception desk, so that method could not be trusted. Since she didn’t know his personal email and very leery about even sending a message through the company’s email system, she decided on writing a message to him. In her bag was a blank envelope with her school’s letterhead on it that she had received from Student Affairs. With a blank label over her name, she wrote down the address to the law office. Getting out a pen and paper, Shane wrote a quick note to the lawyer.

  Dear Aldridge,

  Please contact me as soon as possible. Things are not right.

  Shane

  She didn't want to detail anything, because it could all be suspicion, but it could also be serious enough to get hurt. Seriously hurt!

  Chapter 7

  Arriving at school, it was hard trying to concentrate on her professor's when she had so much on her mind. She excused herself in the middle of third hour to go over to the gym. She wanted to speak with Professor Henderson about the internship and her meeting. Shane found Sadie in there as usual. This time she was scrubbing one of the shower stalls.

  "Hey, girl. How's it going?" Sadie asked always glad to see her.

  "Not good, Sadie. I need someone to talk to. Do you have a moment?" she asked.

  "Oh yeah. Do you want to go in my office or is this okay?"

  No one was around and Evan couldn't come in the female's locker room, so she felt safe enough to speak. "I don't know who to trust anymore, Sadie. Things are happening to me that I don't want to blow thing out of proportion."

  "Like what?"

  Shane related to Sadie about Bethany hitting her recently and then being locked in her room. "There were plans that Budrick started in his place in the basement that he's building across the street at Evan's home. When I had Evan's phone yesterday, someone from my home was calling it, but wouldn't identify themselves, then I found some boric acid on the counter this morning and Trudy said that Bethany's been making coffee every morning for me since she hit me. I think they want to kill me."

  Sadie frowned worriedly. "Maybe you better tell that lawyer this stuff, Shane."

  "I am or I’m trying to, but he's out of town. I don't know who else to confide in right now."

  "You thought about making them get out that house. It is yours and all and now that you're twenty-one, you don't need them for nothing. They just leaching off of you now, baby."

  Shane knew this was right and as much as she knew family was family, sometimes one had to sever their ties with family in order to make their mark in the world. Yet the fear of her aunt and uncle that had been instilled in Shane since she knew them was always present in her heart and she didn't know what her aunt would do to her if Shane went with eviction procedures. "She offered to leave if I pay her."

  Sadie snorted in disgust. "Pay her what?"

  "Fifty thousand."

  "Where the hell are you going to get that kind of money from?"

  "I don't know. I really don't know." Shane felt so utterly confused and frustrated all at the same time.

  Moving uncomfortably, Sadie said, "There ain't really nothing I can do."

  Shane sighed knowingly. "I know, but I just wanted to talk to someone, Sadie." She checked her watch and decided to head over to Professor Henderson's class.

  Sadie got up from the floor and went to her office. She searched through her Rolodex until she found the number she was looking for. Lila Keaton had been a nice woman even when she was drinking and high as a kite. Her daughter was the same without the drugs. Shane needed some help.

  Dialing the number, a professional sounding receptionist came on the line introducing the office.

  "Yeah, I want to speak to Shane's daddy and don't tell me he ain't there!" Sadie sneered.

  ***

  Soon as she stepped into the classroom she was drawn to him! Andrew Watkins was in deep discussion with some faculty members, so he didn't even look at her when she came in the room. She did her best not to look at him although her peripheral vision was checking every detail of him out. Today he wore a tailor made dark blue suit with a light blue silk shirt and a matching dark tie and shoes. He could be seen from all over the classroom and she quietly listened to the comments other women who came in made about Andrew Watkins.

  "That is about the biggest and finest white man I've ever laid eyes on."

  "You think if I raise a dollar, he'll come over here and let me put it in his pants?"

  "I don't care what he wants; I'll do it for him."

  Shane couldn't help but blush at these comments people were whispering under their breath. The fact that she had been wined and dined by Andrew Watkins made her better than these women who just looked at him as if he were eye candy. Shane knew an inside secret. Andrew Watkins could be a confusing ass when he wanted to be.

  She looked around the class to notice more than the usual number of students were in the class and wondered why. Not only were there students filling all the seats in the classroom, but also standing up against the wall until the room was packed with people.

  Professor Henderson called the class to order and introduced Andrew.

  "He's here to offer a paid internship to one of the students. For the past week, he's been interviewing several of our students…”

  Shane’s chest braced at this knowledge. Why wasn’t she told other candidates had been considered? Did they understand how much was riding on this for her? She needed this! Her peace of mind needed something! Why had they just allowed her to think she had been the only one interviewed? NO! This changed everything! Now someone else could be chosen.

  Sneaking a glimpse at Andrew, she saw, as he looked rather bored, randomly around the room as if he would rather be sleeping. He was sitting behind the desk as Professor Henderson continued to speak.

  “…And has finally come to a decision. Before we announce the lucky student, I would like to thank Mr. Watkins for honoring us with his presence."

  The class clapped and Shane noticed a lot of the guys looked hopeful as if they would get it. Remembering what he had said about hiring females in his office, she was positive, he had chosen someone else. She stared down at her books pushing the disappoint
ment for the wonderful opportunity out of her mind. Even if he were the most frustrating man on this earth, the position would have been a wonderful opportunity for her career. She would put up with any frustration to do work for Bellini Enterprises.

  "The student, Mr. Watkins chose to become his research assistant is...Shane Keaton," Professor Henderson announced.

  Shane looked up in shock and met those mint green eyes, which were now looking right at her. The class had to have over fifty students in it and how he seem to find her so easily told her that he knew exactly when she had come in and where she had been sitting.

  The class applauded and she heard comments from people about how lucky she was and some girl said, "She wouldn't know what to do with a man like that."

  Going up to the professor she shook his hand as he handed her the internship letter and then she faced Andrew, who extended his hand formally. Warily she shook it, but smiled.

  "Thank you," she said.

  He only released her hand and moved closer to the professor as if he needed to get away from her.

  ‘You’re reading too much into it. Don’t take everything he does personally,’ she told herself.

  The professor addressed the class. "Mr. Watkins has also prepared a brief lecture for us on the new age of real estate."

  There was another round of applause as Andrew stepped up to the podium. As he began to speak, Professor Henderson motioned her to go out of the back of the classroom while Andrew continued to speak.

  She reluctantly followed Professor Henderson out because she wanted to hear the lecture.

  Professor Henderson passed her a thick folder. "These are your assignments with the due dates on them. You'll be working with Mr. Watkins for the rest of the school year, but I will expect you to turn in your assignments to me on time. I'm sure you don't need class time to pass my class, but if you need one on one session to understand any assignments or readings, please call my assistant to make an appointment. You'll be working from two until eight in Mr. Watkins Detroit office. Is that going to be a problem?"