His Angel

Chapter Twenty-Six

She hadn't slept the night before, at least not after she had woken from that horrible nightmare and he had left her room. It gave her all the time in the world to think of a plan, the possibilities of escape were endless. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, wondering if she would really never see him again. It didn't sadden her, at least she didn't think it was sadness. But, there wasn't any relief in the thought either. What she knew for sure was that Maxwell was dangerous, he wasn't any good for her, being near people like him did nothing but get you killed.

"How much further is it?"

"The drive is going to be three hours" he responded, stretching his arms above his head. Her eyes widened considerably. She knew well enough that the further away from New York the better, but three hours?! isn't that a little excessive?

"Three hours?" she asked incredulously

"The distance is precaution" he responded. She sulked in her seat, crossing arms against her chest. This drive was going to be longer than she had thought, and she had no idea what she was going to do to make the time pass. Had she known it was going to be this long, she would have brought a sketchbook or something, but her main priority had been to take as little as possible for when the time to run came. Somehow, Maxwell didn't seem like the kind of guy to enjoy car games on road trips.

"Do you want to play a game?" She asked, looking up at him. She already knew the answer, he didn't have to say it, but that didn't stop his snotty retort

"How about...no" she sighed, collapsing back in her seat. They both stared ahead at nothing, arms crossed against their chests with the dog snoozing between them, scratching herself with her foot in her sleep

"Punch buggy?"

"No"

"20 questions?"

"No"

"rock, paper scissors?"

"No"

"I spy?"

"No" she sighed, feeling ready to give up and let him be a basic bitch like he so obviously wanted. His disinterest was audible in his tone. It was hard to break Harmony from a very good mood, but multiple times he now he had almost managed it just by being himself. Her mouth was urged to call him a buzzkill, but she thought it best not to with him being...well...Maxwell.

She didn't want to sit there for the next three hours doing absolutely nothing, sitting in silence next to the biggest grump she had ever met. There had to be something that would catch his attention, think Harmony, think. It suddenly came to her, she felt foolish that she hadn't thought of it before.

"What about a...bet" she cocked her head, looking at him. He turned his head, peering down at her

"You have my attention" he spoke simply. Bingo

"How about, if the next car that passes us is red...you give me a high five?" she claimed, holding up her hand with excitement. His incredulous look was obvious, she was ridiculous.

"So, a bet for five-year-olds?" he retorted with a roll of his eyes "No-" he leaned towards her, just slightly, but she noticed it, in fact, it was all she could notice. He looked her in the eyes, his blues darkening suddenly "If we're going to bet, the stakes are going to be much higher than that" It was something about those eyes, they made a shiver patter her back, her heart jumping a tiny leap within her chest. Whether it was excitement or fear, she had no clue, but as the days passed in the presence of this guy, it seemed the gap between those two emotions was getting smaller and smaller. She watched as his hands shifted, pulling out his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans. He pulled out a single wad of cash banded together, tossing it towards her. She caught it in her clumsy hands, lifting to sight it was only hundred dollar bills, lots of them.