Part 3
Miranda drove fast, letting her motorcycle take her where it wanted to go and the wind wipe away her seething emotions. She'd thought minor things like this had ceased to push her buttons years ago, but sometimes Declan was just *so* frustrating! She'd said no. Couldn't he have let it go after that?
Well, no, she thought as the wind whipped around her face. He couldn't have; it wasn't Declan's way to pass up on an investigation. Especially one that was so complex. The harder it was to explain, the harder Declan usually worked on it. And she'd always helped him.
Not this time, though. She couldn't this time, even though it pained her to see the hurt in his eyes when she told him so.
Her sigh lost in the roar of the motorcycle's engine, Miranda pulled over to the side of the road. Slipping off the bike, she breathed deep and looked around. Then--catching sight of the road sign--she began to laugh. Her subconscious must have been keyed into Declan's desire to investigate this because she found herself on the very road where Larry Wales has witnessed the improbable beheading.
"Well, I might as well check it out... " Miranda muttered as she headed towards the ditch where she could still see scorched grass. When she was satisfied that nothing telling was left behind, she turned back to her motorcycle.
Climbing on, she went to start it up, and was greeted to the unhappy :rirr, rirr, rirr: of the bike turning over instead of the purr of the engine.
"Oh, great," Miranda sighed. "Out of gas."
~*~*~*~
"Oh, great," Richie groaned when the buzz of an approaching Immortal hit his senses. "Just what I need, another one."
He left the office to stand in the doorway, leaning in a casual- yet-defensive manner against the frame.
A woman was pushing a motorcycle towards the shop. She had dark hair and was wearing a black leather jacket. As she approached, Richie could hear her cursing her luck.
The woman stopped when she was a few feet away from Richie, propping the motorbike on its kickstand.
"Miranda Fiegelstein," she said almost formally. "And you're the guy from the newspaper."
Richie nodded, stunned--partially to be seeing another Immortal so soon and partially because she knew. "Richie Ryan," he said, swallowing his nerves. He remembered all the times Duncan had announced himself as "Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod" right before fighting--and usually killing--another Immortal. Richie really hoped he didn't have to fight this one.
"Richie Ryan?" Miranda puzzled aloud. "Why does that name sound familiar?" She studied Richie for a minute, and then asked. "You wouldn't know Duncan MacLeod, would you?"
~*~*~*~
"How do you know Duncan?" Richie asked as he finished putting gas in the motorcycle engine. "Nice bike," he added, admiring.
"Thanks," Miranda ventured a smile at him. "It's a Norton."
"I know," Richie told her. "I've always wanted one, but they're a little beyond my means." He indicated that she should follow him and led her into the office. Once there, he plopped down in the chair behind the desk. Miranda took the opposite him.
"Ah," Miranda commented with a nod. Nortons *were* very expensive and this one practically an antique as it was.
"Were you... um... going to say where you knew Duncan from?" he was a little worried, wondering if she wasn't what she seemed.
"I don't really *know* him," she admitted. She shrugged. "But I've met him a few times. He's Connor's kinsman, after all."
"You know Connor?"
"Taught me everything I know," she replied.
"Oh," Richie looked her over real well now. Why were the good- looking ones always older than him?
"I met him in San Francisco right after the earth quake that took my life for the first time." Miranda gave Richie a quiet smile. "It was 1906 and my family sent me to work in a hotel as a maid. The earthquake happened my first day on the job. I was buried under a ton of rubble, and Connor pulled me out." She laughed slightly as she remembered. "Took me the longest time to believe him when he said I was Immortal. What about you? The last time Connor mentioned your name, you were some kid Duncan was taking care of."
"I was shot by a mugger," came Richie's bittersweet reply. He could still see Tessa lying on the ground near him and would probably always feel the pain of knowing that no matter how may times he "died," she could never come back to life.
"Oh," Miranda said thoughtfully. "Is that the reason you're not still with Duncan?" she inquired.
Richie shook his head. He honestly hadn't seen Duncan since Paris, back in 1997. After "Richard Redstone" had been kidnapped, Richie'd felt the need to get away for awhile and hadn't gotten around to coming back. They were still friends, though, and Duncan had given him the seed money for his shop. "I was ready to get out on my own, ya know?" he told Miranda. He shrugged. "We keep in touch."
She nodded.
~*~*~*~
