A little over an hour later, Max sat down on the steps in front of the main building. She'd finished her lab assignment early and texted Chloe as soon as she got out of class. However, she had to wait:
Max: Hey Chloe! Out of class early!
Chloe: shit
Chloe: im at home
Chloe: need to find something
Chloe: be there soon
Max: What are you looking for?
Chloe: id ruin it if i told you
Chloe: very important tho
Max: Important for what?
Chloe: supposed to interrogate nathan not me
Max: Have to practice.
Chloe: practice on someone else
Chloe: kate
Chloe: find out if her rabbit eats people
Chloe: ooh no do warren
Chloe: find out if he and brooke sealed the deal
Max: What?
Chloe: done the thing
Chloe: the horizontal tango
Chloe: the in n out
Max: I get it I get it
Chloe: moving the bed up against the wall
Chloe: oh okay
Chloe: wasnt sure
Max: I think I'll skip the practice and save the interrogation for Nathan.
Max put her phone in her pocket, chuckling, and set her bag off to the side. She pulled out her journal and scribbled down the events of the day. She wanted to fully remember the antics at lunch...as well as what Dana and Juliet had said about Rachel's mysterious tasks.
Maybe Rachel is somehow responsible for Chloe's survival, Max thought, maybe she did something that had some effect on Nathan...or Chloe? Having people...move things and envelopes? But wait, that doesn't pan out...it would've been months ago when she asked them to do those things. Rachel would have had to have been a time-traveller too...or somehow see into the future. And if that were the case, she'd probably be here today. And I can't imagine the see-through doe somehow taking bullets out of a gun...
Max finished with her journal and glanced around. A group of younger students was staring up at a frisbee stuck in a tree. Max took out her camera and snapped a picture.
Capturing the moment between realization and action, she thought, when everyone's realized that something's gone wrong but no one's thought to do anything yet.
It reminded her of Kate on the roof. Almost everyone had been standing below, doing nothing but recording it on their phones, talking, or staring. Almost no one had taken any action to try to help Kate.
But I did something, Max thought, I took action to save Kate. I have to wonder though...if I didn't have my powers, wouldn't I have been like everyone else, standing below, just watching? After all, that's how I always was...don't interfere, just observe, don't rock the boat. I guess it's a lot easier to rock the boat when you know that if you capsize it, you can just go back and it'll be right side up again.
"Maximus!" Warren's voice called out from behind.
Max turned around and smiled at Warren, who walked over and sat next to her.
"Hi Warren," she said, "you get out early too?"
"Yep," he said, "Brooke is doing some extra work so I just came out here to chill before the next class."
"Me too," Max said, "well, er, not exactly since my next class is temporarily out of order."
"Oh, right," Warren said, cringing.
Max was suddenly reminded of the last time Warren and her had sat here together: an unexpected eclipse isn't something you easily forget.
"Yeah," Max said, shaking the thought, "I can't wait until we get a new teacher. Photography's what I came here for so it sucks to be missing out. Although I'll definitely take having a few weeks without a teacher over having that psycho on the loose."
She started gently rubbing one of her wrists.
"That guy is so messed up," Warren said and Max could hear real anger behind his voice, "what he did to Kate...and to so many others. I just can't...I thought he was a cool guy. So messed up."
Max could see Warren's fist clenching and it reminded her of Warren taking on Nathan...twice. Warren had physically faced someone older and stronger...someone with a rich and powerful family, too.
I guess I did that too...taking on someone older and seemingly stronger, Max thought, Jefferson had me taped to that chair in his bunker but I still beat him. He thought he had all of the power...all of the control. But I did; I still do.
"Mr. Jefferson was a master of guile and deception," Max said, "He had everyone fooled. I respected him. I even...had a tiny crush on him, if I'm honest. I'm pretty sure most of his class did too. That's how he operated: charm and confidence. Lure people in, gain their trust. He had the Prescotts bankrolling him and he had his pick of young models to drug up."
Actually, I still don't understand why the Prescotts were funding Jefferson, Max thought, was he really just that much of a charmer?
"Well, I just know that I want to punch him right in his stupid face," Warren said.
"You sound just like Chloe," Max said.
"I will definitely take that as a compliment," Warren said with a smile.
A familiar battered old pick-up pulled in front of the school.
"Speak of the devil," Warren said.
Max's phone buzzed.
Chloe: yo dude
Chloe: im outside blackwell
Chloe: lets timesmash a prescott
"Is that her texting you? I guess she doesn't see us," Warren said.
"Nope, she doesn't," Max said. She began typing.
Max: I see yoooou.
Max: Can you see meeee?
Chloe peered around from inside her truck and gave a rude gesture when she saw Max and Warren. They could see her typing rapidly on her phone.
Chloe: creeper
Chloe: tell warren hes a creeper too
Chloe: and ask him if hes played tetris with brooke
"Chloe wants me to tell you that you're a creeper," Max said.
"What?!" Warren said, "how so?"
"She called me one too," Max said, "she didn't notice us sitting here and is taking out her embarrassment by calling us names."
"Healthy," Warren said.
"She also wants to know if you've...played Tetris with Brooke?" Max said, confused.
"That's a weird question," Warren said, "but no, we haven't played it together...hell, I haven't played it in years. And I don't know if I've ever even seen a multiplayer version."
"Yeah, I have no idea why...oh dammit, Chloe!" Max said. She'd just looked at her phone again.
Chloe: TETRIS
Chloe: you know...fitting pieces together
Chloe: to get the highest SCORE
"What?" Warren said.
"She, uh, meant something other than Tetris the game," Max said.
"I don't get it," Warren said, "what…"
His eyes went wide and he turned a deep shade of red.
"See you later, Warren," Max said, standing up quickly and patting him gently on the shoulder, "sorry about that!"
Max hurried over to Chloe's truck and got in.
"Did you ask?" Chloe said.
"Yes," Max said, glaring at her.
"And?" Chloe said, her eyes sparkling.
"And it was pretty hilarious, actually," Max said, her glare subsiding, "you got both of us there."
"Perfect," Chloe said.
"He didn't answer though," Max said.
"That's okay," Chloe said, "what they do with each other's bits is their bidness. I just wanted to see what would happen."
"Well, with that out of the way," Max said, "did you find the oh-so important thing you were looking for at home?"
"Oh yes," Chloe said. She turned around and fumbled around beside her seat, lifting something to her face. When she turned back, she was wearing a pair of mirrored aviators.
"Check it," Chloe said, "I am so ready to be bad cop. Punk bad cop."
"Are you actually going to wear those in to talk to Nathan?" Max said.
"Are you kidding?" Chloe said, "these are intimidating as fuck. Going to play some fucking mind games with that asshole. Have to start with the appearance."
"Chloe, never change," Max said.
Chloe smiled and started the drive towards the jail.
They arrived in front of the Arcadia Bay Police Department and Chloe let out a long breath.
"You going to be okay with this?" Max said.
"Yeah," Chloe said, "...although it's not going to be fun to see his stupid face again. After getting drugged by him, shot by him...and after knowing what he did to Rachel."
Max put a hand on Chloe's knee.
Chloe turned and said, "if I punch him in the face, you'll rewind?"
"Of course," Max said.
"And you won't spare any details when you tell me about it later?" Chloe said.
"Nope," Max said, "I'll tell you everything."
"Okay," Chloe said, "I'm good to go."
"Er...rewound punches aside, you should be prepared that this will probably seem pretty weird on your end," Max said.
An eyebrow poked up from behind Chloe's aviators.
"From your perspective," Max said, "we're going to walk in there, ask a mundane question or two, and then leave. It will seem pretty lame."
"I figured as much," Chloe said, "is there anyway you can, I don't know, tell me how many times you've rewound each time you do it?" Chloe asked.
Max thought for a moment.
"I'll tap you on the knee. Number of taps is how many times I've rewound," Max said.
"Awesomesauce," Chloe said.
They got out of the truck and walked into the police station. Max felt nervous and tried to shake it off.
I literally can't fuck this up, Max thought, if I make any mistakes, I just rewind. I've done this plenty of times before: start a conversation, find out something important, go back, and then use that information to get more.
They signed in at the front desk. The officer in the front apologetically told them that she'd need to search them and hold any recording devices. It was a standard policy...but it was also being rigidly monitored by the Prescotts' lawyers. Chloe rolled her eyes.
The officer patted Max down and took her phone and bag behind the desk. She then patted Chloe down.
"Whoa," Chloe said, "watch it there, Jen. I think you should be buying me dinner first."
"Chloe," the officer, Jen, said, "you've used that same joke every single time you've been here. Keep doing that," her voice lowered to a whisper, "and if you're in here again with a baggie of weed like last time, I won't conveniently not notice it."
"Yes ma'am," Chloe said with a smile.
The officer turned to Max after taking Chloe's phone.
"Watch out for this one," she said, gesturing at Chloe.
"I do my best," Max said with a grin.
Jen made a call to the back and another officer guided Max and Chloe into a small room in the back. It had a window on one side, a lonely camera in a corner of the ceiling, and a small table with four chairs.
The officer left and Chloe leaned against the wall.
"Lame," she said, "they don't even have a one-way mirror."
"You're telling me you haven't been back here before?" Max said, smiling.
"Dude, come on," Chloe said, "I never got legit arrested. I've just been in the front...a lot, getting told off."
"You're really damaging your bad girl image here," Max said.
"Oh, I'll show you my bad girl side," Chloe said.
Before Max could respond, the door opened.
Nathan walked first into the room, slouching and wearing a tan prison uniform, the officer right behind him.
Max was struck by Nathan's expression. He looked...confused. He eyed Max and Chloe warily and sat heavily into one of the chairs.
"Alright," the officer said, "you have twenty minutes. I'll be right outside that window there. Any problems and just shout or knock. No funny business." That last comment was delivered squarely at Chloe.
He stepped out of the room, closed the door, and was soon visible on the other side of the window.
"So what the fuck do you want?" Nathan said.
Chloe spun a chair around across from Nathan and sat, saying nothing.
Max pulled a chair next to Chloe's and sat.
"To talk," Max said.
"Then talk," Nathan said.
Max waited a few moments to give herself a buffer spot for rewinding. The clock struck 2:42.
"Why did you have a gun at school?" Max asked.
Nathan snorted and said, "because I could."
"Why did you have it in the bathroom with you that day?" Max said.
Nathan looked directly at Max with narrowed eyes. He paused.
"Because this bitch," Nathan said, nodding towards Chloe, "was going to try to blackmail me. She needed to know who was boss. She needed to know who was in control."
"Yeah," Chloe said, "you had so much control that you fucking shot me. Genius, you are."
"Fuck you," Nathan said, "like I said, no one would've missed your punk ass."
Sudden anger boiled in Max and she stood up, placing her hands on the table. Nathan leaned back.
"No Nathan, fuck you," she said, "there are a lot of people who care about Chloe. A lot. You know how many people are talking about you at Blackwell. No one. You know how many times I've heard someone say that they miss you. Zero."
Chloe's mouth was hanging open.
Nathan leaned forward again and said, "wow, I had no idea you were so gay for the blue haired bitch."
"Go ahead, call her that again," Max said.
"This dumb bitch actually thought that she cou…" Nathan started, smirking.
Max interrupted, "Chloe, please punch this asshole."
"Are you serious?" Chloe asked and, when Max nodded, continued, "fuckin' sweet, man."
She stood up as Max sat down.
Nathan looked confused and said, "what? You can't."
"This is for Rachel, you shithead," Chloe said, swinging her fist into Nathan's cheek, hard.
Nathan toppled over onto the floor, crying out. Chloe flailed her hand, gasping in pain.
"Shit! Ow!" Chloe said, "that really fucking hurt. I've never punched anyone before. Ow!"
The officer outside hurried towards the door. Max sighed and rewound.
That went well, Max thought sarcastically as time crawled backwards around her, first round and I already let things get violent. I really shouldn't have asked Chloe to punch him...I shouldn't let anger drive me like that. It's not entirely Nathan's fault that he's here. But hell, I wanted to punch that smirk off of his stupid face. Good thing I can rewind.
Max stopped. The clock struck 2:42. She tapped Chloe on the knee once.
"You brought a gun to the bathroom when you were meeting with Chloe," Max said.
"No shit, Sherlock," Nathan said.
Max thought back to her discussion with David.
"Why didn't you have the safety on?" Max said.
Nathan paused, narrowing his eyes.
This is weird, Max thought, he keeps pausing and being careful with certain questions. There's something I'm missing here.
"My mistake," Nathan said, "the thing's a fucking toy. I must've just left it off."
"Yes, a gun's a toy," Chloe said, "what a brilliant perspective. Real mature and responsible. You know, I wave my gun around everywhere...restaurants, grocery stores, schools...safety off, of course. It's great. Shot four people yesterday but it was cool, no biggie, because it's just a toy. Oh well."
Nathan turned to Chloe.
"What's with the glasses?" he said, "your eyes all fucked up from smoking too much pot?"
"No, dipshit," Chloe said, leaning forward over the table, "it's because now I'm in charge."
"You're fucking crazy," Nathan said.
"Nathan," Max said, and he turned back to Max, "why did you have your finger on the trigger?"
"Is that some kind of fucking joke?" he said, "it's a gun; the trigger is how you use it."
"Well," Max said, remembering again what David had said, "you're not supposed to have your finger on the trigger unless you actually intending on using it."
Nathan looked at Max very carefully and Max got the sense again that more gears were turning in Nathan's head than there should have been.
"Well I'm sorry, Miss Gun Safety," Nathan said, "next time I'll follow all the rules. Or just fucking shoot the bitch first."
Chloe raised two middle fingers at him.
"Why were there only two bullets in the gun?" Max said, pushing a surge of anger away.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Nathan said.
"Do you have problems counting?" Chloe said. She held up the three bullets on her necklace and said, "let me help: one, two, and three. Not so hard, is it?"
Nathan clenched his fists but calmed himself and turned back to Max.
"What do you mean there were two bullets?" Nathan said, "I always kept the clip full."
"When was the last time you checked?" Max said.
"Why the fuck does that matter?" Nathan said.
"Just answer the fucking question," Chloe said.
"Maybe I've had enough of your insane questions," Nathan said, "I mean, what the fuck is this?"
"Please, Nathan," Max said as calmly as she could, "when did you last check?"
"The Friday before," he said, still glaring at Chloe, "I always checked it on Friday nights."
"And you didn't leave only two bullets in the gun?" Max said.
"No, it was full," he said.
"And you didn't notice if the gun was...lighter that day?" Max said.
"No...I...what the fuck is with these questions?" Nathan said, "I didn't carry the fucking thing around all the time. You expect me to know exactly how much the damn thing weighs? I'm done with this."
He reached behind him and knocked sharply on the window.
Max rewound. The clock struck 2:42 and she tapped twice on Chloe's knee.
"You were in the bathroom with Chloe," Max said, "you shot her. You missed. Why?"
Nathan sat thinking for a moment, staring at Max.
"If I wanted this bitch dead," Nathan finally said, "I would've just shot her right in the head. I could've done it. But I didn't. She fucking pushed me and the gun went off. It's her own damn fault she got shot."
Max saw Chloe's head tilt back; the aviators hid it but Max was sure Chloe had just rolled her eyes.
"You are so full of shit," Chloe said.
"But why did you hit her side?" Max said before Nathan could reply, "why not her stomach or somewhere else?"
"You think I was aiming? Weren't you listening? I got fucking pushed and the gun went off," Nathan said.
"Did you slip at all? Did you trip on anything?" Max said.
"Weird fucking questions," Nathan said.
Max and Chloe just stared.
"Okay fine, I'll play," Nathan said, "no, I didn't slip on anything. I remember the floor being fucking dry because my hands were all over it until her blood was everywhere."
The thought of that made Max's heart ache; she squeezed Chloe's knee.
"And no, I didn't trip on anything," Nathan continued, "there was a torn up photo on the floor; nothing else. The only thing that happened was that she pushed me. My arm went off to the side. Bang."
"Were you on drugs?" Max asked.
"That's between me and my doctors," Nathan said, his eyes narrowed.
"You know what I mean," Max said.
"No," Nathan said, "I didn't take the stuff, only gave it out."
"Yeah," Chloe said, rage in her voice, "to knock girls out so you could fucking kidnap them for your psycho douche buddy."
"You know," Nathan said, an angry smirk on his face, "there's some poetry to the whole thing. I gave you too little and gave Rachel too much."
Chloe stood up so rapidly that her chair fell over. She started towards Nathan and he looked alarmed.
"Chloe, wait," Max said.
"No Max, not for this fucker," Chloe said. Max could hear tears in her voice.
"No Chloe," Max said, wincing, "I mean don't punch him; you'll hurt your hand. You might want to try something else."
Chloe turned back with a look of disbelief. Max shrugged. Chloe walked around the table and Nathan shrunk back.
"You...you can't," he said, banging his fist against the window.
The officer was rushing around to the door but Chloe had already swung her hand in a ferocious slap against Nathan's face. The sound of the impact echoed in the small room. Chloe swung her hand back and slapped him across the other side of the face even harder. The officer rushed into the room and ran towards Chloe.
Max rewound. The clock struck 2:42 and Max tapped Chloe on the knee three times. She saw Chloe's eyebrow raise.
Okay, Max thought, two things: one, it sounds like Nathan didn't realize that there were only two bullets in the gun. Make note of that. And two, he's oddly careful about why he had the gun and why he was so careless with it. I'm not sure how deep I can dig with that but it seems important. And I still need to find out how to get to his gun in the past.
Nathan was starting to look uncomfortable and Max realized that she'd been zoning out into her thoughts. She decided to be very direct.
"Nathan," she said, "there's a safe in your room; did you keep your gun in it?"
Nathan looked very confused.
"What the fuck?" Nathan said, "how the fuck did you know that I have a safe in my room? Did you fucking break into my room?"
"I overheard it," Max said.
"Yeah, sure," Nathan said, "and why the fuck are you even asking? They say I'm messed up."
"Would you indulge me?" Max said.
Nathan sat there and Max figured she'd need to rewind again.
But Nathan said, "yeah, what the hell. I kept it in the safe sometimes. No one knew about it so I just kept it in a coat pocket most of the time."
Max nodded.
Go for broke? she thought.
"What's the combination for your safe?" Max said.
Nathan laughed.
"I guess your girlfriend here has been getting you the good stuff," Nathan said, "you must be high as shit, Max Crackfield. You want me to give you a combination...to my safe...that is sitting open in my room with nothing in it."
"Does the number 57 ring a bell?" Max said.
Nathan suddenly straightened.
"How the fuck?" he said, "if you feminazis broke into my place and did anything to my Master Photographs, I swear I…"
Nathan suddenly broke off, realization dawning on his face. Max couldn't help but smile.
"Master Photographs?" Chloe said, smirking, "dude your ego is so fuck…"
"You bitch," Nathan interrupted, never taking his eyes off of Max, "you did break into my dorm room. Fuck! I should've never agreed to talk to you you manipulative little…"
He stopped and turned to bang on the window.
Max sighed and rewound. The clock struck 2:42 and she tapped on Chloe's knee four times. Chloe raised an eyebrow and Max realized that her head was starting to hurt.
Ugh, she thought, can't do this forever.
"Your so-called Master Photographs contain combinations and key-codes for your shit," Max said. She didn't make it a question.
"How the fuck do you know that?" Nathan said, his mouth dropping open, "you can't…"
He stopped and his brow furrowed in concentration. He suddenly looked worried.
"You're...you're messing with me somehow," Nathan said, "my dad...he…"
Max and Chloe both tilted their heads.
Huh? Max thought, what the hell is going on?
Nathan suddenly lunged forward towards Max but Chloe was on her feet in an instant, shoving Nathan back across the table. The officer, hearing the commotion, started towards the door.
"Don't you ever try something like that again, you piece of shit!" Chloe shouted, grabbing the fabric around Nathan's shoulders, "you will never hurt her. Do you understand that? Do you fucking understand that?"
Holy shit, Max thought, her jaw dropping, Chloe totally just bodyguarded me. I guess our childhood dreams are coming true...in a weird, fucked up way. And damn, Chloe, way to be my everyday hero.
The officer stepped into the room, shouting. Max rewound. The clock struck 2:42 and she tapped Chloe five times on the knee. Max's head was still hurting...but only a little; that last rewind was very short.
Okay, Max thought, I think I've gotten everything I'm going to get about the damn gun and Nathan's habits. Time to try a different approach.
"Nathan," Max said, "how's your family doing?"
"What?" Nathan said, "my family?"
"Yeah," Max said, "this whole thing can't be easy; finding out that a teacher at the school they give to so generously was secretly kidnapping girls to take drugged pictures of them? And, of course, that that same teacher was responsible for you ending up here."
Chloe looked like she wanted to throw up.
Sorry, Chloe, Max thought, time for me to be good cop.
"I...yeah...that's...yeah," Nathan said.
Max waited.
"My...my parents are...out of town," Nathan said, "they visited me and then left to keep media attention away. I...don't even know where they are." Nathan looked away.
"What about your sister?" Max asked.
"I didn't think you knew I had a sister," Nathan said.
"You're the Prescotts," Max said, forcing what she hoped looked like a genuine smile, "everyone hears everything about you guys."
"Not everything," Nathan said quietly, "but yeah, I don't know what my sister knows yet...don't know if anyone's told her yet. My dad definitely won't until...until later, I'm sure."
"Why not?" Max said.
Nathan looked at her sharply.
Something about his dad, Max thought, there's something there.
"Because that's just the way it is," Nathan said.
"What is your dad like?" Max said.
"Why do you want to know?" Nathan said. His voice, which had been uncertain, was suddenly clear and under control.
"Curiosity, I guess," Max said, "I grew up around here too, remember."
"Why aren't you saying anything, punk bitch?" Nathan said to Chloe.
"Well, douchebag," Chloe said, "Max here is being good cop; I guess I'm supposed to be bad cop but I really just came here to fucking punch your face."
"Do you regret it?" Max said, before Nathan could reply.
"What?" Nathan asked.
"Do you regret it?" Max said again.
"Shooting her?" Nathan said, "I wouldn't fucking be here if I hadn't shot her. Of course...it wasn't supposed to go that way; not at all. So yeah, I do regret it, even if I don't give a shit about her."
Chloe responded with a middle finger.
"No, actually," Max said, "I mean do you regret everything with Jefferson? Do you regret what you did to Rachel?"
Nathan's face fell. He didn't say anything.
"Do you?" Chloe interjected, "do you even remember Rachel?"
"Of course I fucking remember Rachel," Nathan said, "and yeah, yeah of course I fucking regret it. What the fuck was I doing? Never in control. Never. I couldn't...Rachel didn't have to...it wasn't supposed to happen. She…"
To Max's surprise, Nathan started to cry. She and Chloe looked at one another. Chloe's eyebrows were raised and she lowered her aviators, looking over the top at Nathan, who was slumped over and sobbing.
"Dude," Chloe said, "maybe it's time to rewind. I'm feeling a tiny tiny bit of sorry for this asshole and I really don't want to."
Max nodded.
She rewound, leaving the crying Nathan behind.
Alright, so despite sounding so blase before, Nathan does have some serious regrets over what he's done; at least I have more proof of that now than just a phone message in an erased timeline. And there's definitely something up with his father, Max thought, I have to try to find out what's going on there.
The clock struck 2:42. Max tapped on Chloe's knee six times.
Max tried a variety of questions. She tried good cop, she tried bad cop. She tried to ease in and she tried to surprise him. Rewind after rewind and nothing. Nathan always, every time, shut down when the subject reached his father. It was a wall she couldn't pass. The ache in her head was getting sharper and sharper. And then, after tapping Chloe on the knee twenty one times and started to ask Nathan yet another set of questions, she felt warmth on her upper lip and Nathan laughed.
"Ha," he said, "Max Crackfield has been dipping too much into the powder."
"Shit," Max said, grabbing a wad of tissues out of her pocket and holding it to her nose.
"Max, are you okay?" Chloe said, putting an arm around her.
"Yeah," Max whispered, "a bit too much clock turning. I think we're done...just one more round to clear this up."
"Okay," Chloe said.
Max did a quick rewind back to 2:42. Pain lanced through her head but her nose didn't continue to bleed. She put her palm on Chloe's knee. Chloe raised an eyebrow but seemed to understand.
Alright, Max thought, make this simple; this one has to last.
"Nathan," Max said, "Chloe told me everything that happened and I just wanted to know: why didn't you just hand over some cash and be done with it? Why bring the gun? Did any of this have to happen?"
Nathan looked at her with narrowed eyes, just like with all of the other questions about why he'd acted the way he did on that day.
"I know you live in your little happy selfie-whore world, Max," Nathan finally said, "but in the real world, you don't just give some bitch cash because she tries to blackmail you. Things didn't go down like they were supposed to."
Chloe shook her head.
"How was it supposed to go down?" Max said.
Nathan paused again.
"The gun was supposed to scare her off," Nathan said, "scare her good so she wouldn't come asking for money or go to my family. Done."
"Couldn't you have done that with an unloaded gun...or with the safety on?" Max said. She'd already asked but figured it might be suspicious if she didn't follow up with that.
"My mistake," Nathan said after a moment.
"Yeah, no kidding," Chloe said, "you're full of those."
"What do you think of Mr. Jefferson?" Max said, getting in front of an angry outburst.
Nathan looked back and forth between Chloe and Max and seemed to decide to not escalate things with Chloe.
"I think he has a vision and a talent," Nathan said, "but it turns out that it was a fucked up vision and none of it was worth it."
"How did he draw you into it?" Max asked.
"I showed him my work, he liked it, thought he saw a little of what he did in it...went from there," Nathan said.
"Okay," Max said.
I think I've tapped out this source, Max thought, and I really don't want to delve too deeply into discussions about Jefferson...I should've asked about something more mundane. Oh well, better cover, I guess.
"Thanks for your time, Nathan," Max said, standing up.
Chloe stood up, looking disappointed.
Sorry, Chloe, Max thought, no punches for you this time.
"That's it?" Nathan said.
"Yeah," Max said, "I just...wanted to understand why."
Nathan nodded and seemed...relieved...and sad.
Max knocked on the door and the officer walked towards them.
Nathan looked up at Chloe.
"Nice shades," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Aww, fuck you very much," Chloe said, raising her middle finger.
Nathan scowled but didn't respond.
The officer led Nathan out first, asking Max and Chloe to stay.
"How many times?" Chloe asked.
"Twenty-two," Max said.
"Damn, do we need to do any more?" Chloe said.
"No, I think I got everything I'm going to get and my head hurts like hell," Max said.
"Oh shit," Chloe said, stepping over and placing a hand gently to the side of Max's head, "are you okay?"
"Yeah," Max said, putting her hand on Chloe's, "I just need a few minutes to clear my head."
"You're nose isn't, like, going to explode, is it?" Chloe said, "I remember you saying that you get some hella nasty nosebleeds sometimes."
"Already happened," Max said, "rewind twenty-one."
"Ah," Chloe said.
She paused for a moment then said, "so...what's the dirt and, more importantly, did you let me smack that fucker down?"
"I'll tell you once we're back outside," Max said, "but, spoiler alert, there was smacking."
"Yes!" Chloe said, grinning, "Max, you're the best."
"Could I get that in writing?" Max said.
Chloe chuckled.
The officer returned and led them out of the room. As they turned to leave, a calm voice drifted from a cell behind them, "hello Max."