***A Choose Your Own Adventure Story. Instructions and explanations can be found in Chapter One.***
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Chapter Seventeen: Drop a Hint
Anger welled up within him, yet he dared not express it. He couldn't risk Ivan using Higgins to make another point.
It was all he could do to keep himself from imagining Juliet's face a mass of bruises or her body a canvass of blacks and blues. Guilt was attempting to consume him, but he pushed it down as far as it would go, locking it away so he could focus on what he needed to do – survive the day and somehow find Higgins.
By the time he reached the guest house, his mind had calmed enough to begin making plans. Thomas headed directly upstairs to clean up and get changed. Hawai'i might be fairly laid back in terms of a dress code, but that didn't mean he didn't still need to look presentable.
His plan was to leave clues behind that only Rick and T.C. would be able to recognize as clues something wasn't quite right. There were things that weren't in any file, and things you'd only learn by being imprisoned together for 18 months. This knowledge is what he would capitalize on.
After a quick shower and shave, Thomas used his need to have an appropriate, yet functional, outfit for the day to set up his first clue. Taking out two outfits, one light colored and one dark, Magnum pretended to decide between the two and threw the lighter outfit onto his bed. The grey shirt and cargo pants he discarded were the same ones he'd been wearing when he'd encountered Ivan the last time. Magnum was banking on Rick's weird ability to remember what clothes people were wearing when noteworthy events happened in his life. Thomas could only hope saving him from Ivan the last time was noteworthy enough to pick up on the significance of the clothes he'd left out.
Thomas put his other choice of clothing on – a pair a jeans and a navy blue long-sleeved, button-down shirt that he rolled the sleeves up to just above his elbows. He immediately put the phone Ivan had given him in his back pocket just in case the man had somehow managed to hack his phone's camera; Ivan would be blind for the moment and would have to rely on sound only.
He quickly and quietly as possible worked to leave other clues for his brothers, ones he hoped that were neither too obvious to Ivan nor too obscure for his friends. At the same time, Magnum put a duffle of things together that he thought he might need to pull off Ivan's mission. He had to be as prepared as possible to overcome what obstacles might come his way.
As prepared as he could be, having hopefully dropped enough hints behind for his brothers, Thomas the thought about where he should go first.
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If Thomas goes to Rankin's office first, go to Chapter Eighteen – Chapter Does Not Exist.
If Thomas goes to Rankin's house first, go to Chapter Nineteen – Chapter Does Not Exist.
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The End – for now?
***I've posted all of the chapters that I currently have written, and while I have notes for more chapters, there is absolutely no guarantee that this story will ever be finished. This story is *not* up for adoption. Thanks for reading!***