In shock Max took a step back, but quickly regained his composure as he found himself face to face with the chief of police''s daughter Scarlet Rose.
"You''re going to tell me what you''re doing here right now or I''m going to have you arrested."
Her stare was callous, and unwavering, Max would need to earn her trust somehow. But judging by her body language that might be difficult. Her hands were free, and seemed ready to engage Max in a fight, and her feet were straight forward with her knees slightly bent ready to give chase if need be.
Max considered the possible scenarios – running was not an option since she clearly recognized Max. If he simply gave himself up word would get out that he snuck into the meeting, and his name being casually dropped amongst all of Eden''s elites was not something Max was privy to.
"H-How did you know I was here?" Max asked.
"I''m the one who sent out the invitations last week. I remember every name on that list, and Maximilian Redgrave was not on it."
''So, she must''ve seen me sitting in the aisle then, dammit."
"I''m really sorry," Max said looking down at the ground. "The truth is..." He paused, and did his best to soften his voice. "I hate the Archangels, and I hate our city for not dealing with them. I came here hoping to hear about a solution, or some way to get them off the street, but all I got was..." Max shook his head in disgust. "Well, you saw the same thing I did."
The room where the meeting was held had began to empty, anger and frustrated debate filled the hallways as the crowd made its way toward the two, and onwards to the exit. Rose grabbed Max''s arm violently, and yanked him into a dimly lit hall just to the right so as to let the crowds pass, and to not draw unwanted attention.
''She''s strong.'' Max thought. He never knew Scarlet to participate in any sports or after school clubs so where did this strength come from? Did she exercise on her own or did her father put her through actual police training? Before he could continue that train of thought Rose pushed him hard, his back slamming against the wall.
Max felt his blood start to boil. What if he was telling the truth? What if he really was a concerned citizen who just wanted to know what the city was up to regarding the gang? Is this how he deserved to be treated?
She looked at Max with contempt, as if he was no different than the gang he was a part of. What did she see him as? Max thought about this as her eyes pierced his own, attempting to reach the inside of his mind.
"What reason do you have to care about the Archangels? Shouldn''t you be more worried about track and field?" She spat, her words hinting at resentment, and apathy toward the sport.
Max knew he had to be careful here. An easy answer would be to mention the orphanage, and the number of kids who came out of it either homeless or part of the archangels, but he still wanted to keep where he lived under wraps. Max knew that the best lies contained hints of truth, and so Max opted to take that route.
"I''ve lived in district 1 all my life. Every year I''ve put my trust in your dad - the police commissioner, and the mayor, but I haven''t seen any real change yet." Max met Rose''s vindictive eyes. "And once again it looks like district 1 is being cast aside."Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Rose''s face seemed to twist, and contort in anger; not wanting to let her explode Max quickly continued.
"I want to do everything I can to help. If The Sanctified have already taken over districts five and six, which district do you think will be next? It will be mine." Max said.
Max watched as Rose''s maniacal expression slowly changed to a conniving smile.
"You''ll tell me everything you know about the Archangels, here right now, and after that I''ll pretend this never happened."
The crowd of Eden''s elite continued to pass through the hall as the two had their conversation. The lights up above slowly started to cut off, a clear indication that the building would be closing for the night.
"What makes you think I know anything that isn''t surface level?"
Rose moved even closer to Max, and started pressing her index finger hard into his chest.
"Don''t play stupid with me Max. You snuck into a government building to attend a secret meeting held for Eden''s upper class."
''To be fair it was advertised as a meeting between the police department and safety commission.'' Max thought.
"You snuck in through the west wing didn''t you?"
''Great.'' Max thought, but he otherwise remained silent.
"So, you''re smart, and probably know something I don''t. Now tell me everything you know - I won''t ask again."
Max took a deep breath, and raised his hand grabbing Rose''s finger – she tried to pull away, but his grip was firm.
"Despite working with the department on some cases, you probably don''t have a lot of say when it comes to the actual investigations, and if I had to guess, many of the officers probably don''t like you – I mean why would they? A girl half their age trying to play cop?"
Rose finally wrestled her finger free, and got in the boys face. "You better watch what you say Max, do you see this uniform?"
"I doubt that the department had any uniforms your size in stock. How much of my tax dollars went to having a police uniform custom made for a teenager in over her head?"
Once again Max kept talking in an attempt to keep Rose from retaliating. "Let''s work together instead, with my street smarts, and your police training we might be able to pull something off." Max argued.
Max hated this suggestion, but at this point there was no other way he was getting out of this building without being in handcuffs. He was playing a dangerous game though, a deal with the daughter of the police commissioner was high risk, very high risk – if Raguel found out he''d have hell to pay. But at the same time Rose could be a very valuable ally, with her he could assess the danger level of the Sanctified, and gather intel about the Archangels that Raguel wasn''t willing to share.
"A deal, with you? Please." She scoffed.
"What do you have to lose?" Max asked. "This building is full of security cameras which will show me trespassing, you have the leverage. On top of that we go to the same school, it''s not like I can run from you."
Max pulled out his personal phone out of his back pocket, and handed it to her. "Let''s exchange contact information, then after that you can reach out to me when you''re ready."
Rose paused for a moment in consideration, her reddish-brown eyes taking in every detail, every moment. The hallway was quiet now, the only sound came from the vents above, a whirling noise likely from a heater keeping the building at an adequate temperature. The last light had cut off almost enshrouding the two in darkness, but Max''s phone illuminated the two faintly.
"Alright, fine." She said.
After about a minute the two had each other''s contact information.
"Find your own way out." Rose said taking her leave, obviously heading for the front door.
If anyone was still outside it''d look very odd for the both of them to be seen together so Max figured this was for the best. If he had left earlier with the crowd he wouldn''t have had a problem.
Max went to a nearby bathroom, and used the crawlspace between the ceiling as his way out; he was sure to pick up his pack along the way. He changed his clothes again, and once he was out of the building, and through the empty construction site he made his way back to the bus stop.
It was a little after 8:00 PM now, and most of Hightown''s businesses were starting to close, evidenced by the large neon lights above the shops cutting off. As Max trotted down the street he watched numerous cars pull out of parking garages, and busy lots make their way toward Wavecrest. There were a handful of residents that did live in the various suites, and luxury apartments that Hightown had to offer, but those people usually ended up walking to where they needed to go because this district was so compact.