Author's Note: Kind of a shorter chapter, but I didn't want to overdo it, so I hope it's OK! We get to see another cameo here! :D As always, thanks my readers for your reviews! Glad you're loving this story so far!
The sunlight streamed in through the apartment's expansive windows. The view outside was breathtaking, and had a great view looking out over the suburbs of Washington D.C. Melina was up bright and early, as she needed to head into the office today to deliver her final report on SumatraAir 185. As it turned out, she and Miles had settled on flying back to her main offices in D.C. as opposed to going to Britain. Miles had graciously offered to pay for first-class tickets aboard an Airbus 380, the largest aircraft in the skies. They had enjoyed a luxurious flight with Singapore Airlines out of Jakarta all the way to New York City. First class on an Airbus 380 had everything a car could want, including a bar and small lounge for first class travelers. The 380 was the first plane capable of flying non-stop from Dubai to Los Angeles, a distance of almost 10,000 miles (or literally almost halfway around the globe). It had an excellent safety record to date, and had proved one of the most memorable flights Melina had ever taken.
She and Miles had watched some movies, shared a few drinks, and chatted up a storm before Miles had slid on a pair of headphones and had drifted off to sleep for the extremely long flight. Almost 17 hours later, their flight had touched down in New York, where they'd hopped a commuter flight to the capital of the United States, and Melina had invited Miles into her apartment for the night to repay him for the no doubt expensive plane tickets. Axlerod had been a true gentlecar, and had accepted the invitation with modesty, fighting off his jet lag until it was time to sleep, and sleep he did, going to bed early on their first night in the States.
Thus here they were, back in Melina's corporate hometown for a bit of a stay. Driving over to her guest room, Melina pushed the slightly ajar door open some more, and smiled as she saw Miles sleeping peacefully, a large smile on his face as the light played off his green flake paint. He was certainly "dashingly handsome" when he slept, and she tapped a wheel on the ground lightly. "Miiiiiles." She called softly. "I need to head into work soon."
"Mm?" the Range Rover murmured, stirring slightly.
"Hey! You can still sleep, but I thought I'd let you know I'm leaving soon!"
"Uh?" Axlerod's eyes slid slowly up, then blinked rapidly as he saw Melina standing in the doorway. "Oh! Is it morning already?" he asked, yawning and stretching his tires out a bit.
"Indeed, it is. Looks like you slept well. I'm off to work soon."
"Oh!" Miles seemed to come more awake here. "How much time?"
"Half an hour. I'll be getting some breakfast then-"
But Miles interrupted the Daimler with a honk of his horn. "No, no! I'M making breakfast! You just sit back and relax! I'll get cracking right away!" Before she could protest, the Range Rover was zipping past her, out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen, the Daimler watching him go as a smile spread across her face.
Within ten minutes, Axlerod had whipped up some eggs and bacon with toast. Sliding her plate across to her, he gave her a wide smile. "Hope you like it!"
"Well Miles, this was rather sweet of you. What's the occasion?" Melina asked, looking down at her food before sampling it.
"No occasion… except you know… I kinda have feelings for you that I'm still working out and want to be nice to you all the time." He half-joked, but was pretty serious all the same. This elicited a chuckle from her.
"Mmm well… you're a pretty good breakfast cook." She complimented.
"Thanks!" he responded, beaming.
"I guess billionaires DON'T rely entirely on servants, eh?" she let a small laugh escape her lips here.
"Well… you'd be surprised at what I learned growing up. I wasn't born into money, after all." He reminded her.
"Well it's good all the same. I didn't mean to knock it. Anyway, if you want something to do today, I recommend checking out Old Ignition Grille. It's a great place for lunch, right down near the White House and across from the Treasury Building. I'll be done at 5:00, and I should have free time after today, so I plan to take a little vacation, if you'd be up for." Melina suggested.
"Grille with an E?" Miles asked of the pun. "And sure! I'd love to… well I just got back from vacation but if you get one, I'd love to go!" he said here, smiling across the table at her.
"Yes with an E… and don't worry. We'll go someplace we both want to go. Most of your vacation was taken up by my investigation after all… so let's take some time just for us." Melina stated.
"I'd love to do that! And don't worry about 'ruining' my vacation… its quite all right! I don't mind at all! I met you after all! So far it was the best vacation I've ever taken!" he declared.
"Well I suppose so… anyway, I'd better get going. Thanks for breakfast." She drove from around the table now, and delivered a small kiss to his side. "If you want to stay here, feel free, but if you're going to go out, just lock the door behind you, and remember, you won't be able to come back here until I'm off work if you do so."
"OK… let me drive you to the door, then!" Miles offered, pulling up alongside her. "Hope you have a good day at work!"
"Heh… I'll be thinking about you, I'm sure." She admitted.
"Really? Well… I'll be doing the same all day!" he laughed, opening the door for her. "See you tonight! I'll think about where we can go! All this flying! If we're going someplace faraway, let's take another Airbus 380!" he suggested. "I had fun on the flight over!"
"Hm-hm, so did I! Well, see you tonight!" she honked, and drove off now, heading for the NTSB's headquarter at L'Enfant Plaza. Miles watched her go, then headed back inside. Reality suddenly chose to slap him in the face in that instant. Was he really here, in this moment? What was he doing? Now that he was back in the States, he could start properly planning his revenge… but how could he possibly balance that with Melina? He finally felt… "normal" for once, but it was being threatened by the constant fact that he was a fugitive on the run, and could only keep this up for so long. What could he possibly do? He couldn't just hide out with her forever… but he was so confused!
He wanted revenge, but he also wanted what he had with her right now. He wanted to let her help him… maybe he could surrender himself to the authorities and plead for clemency… but no… he was one of the worst criminals on the planet… there's no way they'd grant him leniency. It was so ironic… the one time he genuinely felt himself changing for the better was the time he couldn't actually enjoy it… what a truly awful predicament he found himself in. Maybe he should come clean with Melina… she did say he could tell her anything, after all. Maybe she could come up with a way to help him.
Taking deep breaths to try and calm himself, the Range Rover thought this through. OK… so tell Melina after work… confess to her who he was, and see if she could fix things. Maybe over dinner? Yes! That could work! If there was anyone in this entire world who could understand him, it was her. He loved her… he knew that much… and if she could be trusted, he could tell her.
Starting to feel a bit better about this, he decided to settle his mind by doing some reading, and then heading out to lunch at Old Ignition Grille before checking out the nation's capital. He hadn't been here in ages after all, so it might be cool to see some of the monuments he hadn't yet been to.
Old Ignition Grille was a popular favorite among high-ranking government executives and even a few presidents had eaten there over the years. It dated back to President Grant's time, so had a bit of an illustrious history. Miles was at the bar, savoring some of the delectable gourmet food the restaurant had to offer. It was truly in a league of its own, but perhaps a little too high end for his tastes as well, if such a thing were possible.
Beside him, some white SUV was moaning and ruining the otherwise perfect setting. "Ugggh! My life is over! Bartender! Another Carona down here!" he whined, waving with his tire for another beer. Glancing sideways, Axlerod could see the whiner was a park ranger or something, given his Department of the Interior insignia on his side. "Why won't the secretary believe me?" he asked no one in particular. "I can't stand another minute in Death Valley! Hey! Bartender! Did I not ask for a drink already? Yes I did, so where's my drink?" he practically sobbed, and Miles rolled his eyes.
"Um… you maybe want to go back to this Death Valley of yours? Some of us are trying to eat." Axlerod stated bluntly.
"Go back?" the ranger asked, sticking out his tongue in disgust. "But that's why I'm here in the first place! I don't WANT to work in Death Valley anymore! It's too hot… yes it is!" The SUV seemed to shrivel up and wilt as he stated this. "I've been wasting my vacation time trying to petition for a reassignment but… he wouldn't listen! I mean what does that stuffy old secretary know anyway? It was just one lousy party! Was that so wrong? No! It wasn't!" This annoying park ranger had a habit of answering his own questions, which Miles found bewildering and irritating.
"Ugh, what are you talking about?" Miles asked, growing annoyed. The SUV finally got his Carona slid down to him, the bartender not wanting to go anywhere near him apparently.
Sighing, the SUV raised his eyes to look at Miles for the first time. "I was once the superintendent… superintendent of Piston Peak National Park, OK?" the SUV asked. "Cad Spinner" he offered his tire in greeting, but then seemed to brighten up at who was before him. "Hey wait! I KNOW YOU! You're Miles Axlerod, former oil billionaire! I once invited you to one of my parties but you turned me down! Hey wait! Aren't you supposed to be in pris-"
But Axlerod snapped a tire over Cad's mouth, shushing him. "Shhhh! No! I'm not! You're mistaken!" he hissed.
"But are you sure?" Cad asked in a muffled voice as he struggled to back up without running into anyone. "Cause like why did you just shush me and act like you're all…"
"Shut up!" Miles hissed. "Listen you bloody idiot! If you say another word… I'll… I'll go right to this secretary of yours and tell him to extend your tenure in Death Valley for life, got it?"
This seemed to shut Cad up, his lips pursing as Axlerod finally removed his tire from the park ranger's mouth. "Good! Now listen to me! I'm gonna turn… and drive on outta here… OK? And you're gonna forget you ever saw me, if you want me to be quiet, got it? I got paroled, OK?"
Cad gave him a skeptical look here. Damn… this wasn't working! "Hey wait just a Ripslinging moment! YOU tell MY boss to extend MY tenure? I don't think so! I should be the one reporting YOU!"
"Keep your voice down!" Miles urged, but already several patrons were turning towards him. "OK… we're going on a little trip." He drove into Cad now, beginning to push him towards the back of the bar.
"Hey! Wait! What are you doing?" Cad asked, starting to panic. "You can't just… get off me!" he ordered, trying to shake Miles off, but Miles persisted, and pushed himself against the SUV as he started to resist. Miles had no idea what he was doing, but stopped short in his tracks as he saw a very familiar purple Jaguar heading towards him from the rear entrance of the bar.
"Blimey!" Miles shouted, even as Cad tried to shout over him.
"How DARE you! Do you know who I am? Er… used to be?"
But Miles didn't respond as Holley Shiftwell gave him a look that said "you're finished." He burned rubber as he threw his tires into reverse, and Holley readied her taser. But Cad fortunately (or unfortunately for him) moved right in the way to continue shouting at Miles before he felt a sharp electric jolt strike his trunk and he convulsed from the taser's shock. It was now the alcohol Cad had been downing for the past while caused his brain to go into a complete panic upon feeling electricity surging through him, and he took off towards the front of the restaurant as Miles moved to follow suit, the Range Rover purposely knocking into a few patrons to cause them to back up angrily towards him and ruin Holley's next shot.
But just as he neared the front entrance, a very familiar silver Aston Martin burst through double doors and smirked. "Axlerod!" Finn McMissile yelled, readying what looked like a gun.
But fortunately, the drunk and panicking Cad intervened again, swerving in front of Finn who was forced to lower his weapon to avoid harming an innocent as Cad nearly rammed him head on. Backing up just in time, this allowed Miles to follow Cad right out the front door as the park ranger drove into the street, screaming "THEY'RE ALL CRAZY!"
Axlerod needed no second hint. He stayed behind Cad as he swerved in and out of traffic, hearing Finn gun his engine behind him and start to follow after him. Axlerood zoomed through the streets, staying even with Cad to use the unwitting park ranger as a shield. As Cad took a left turn heading towards the National Mall, Miles did the same, pushing his engine as fast as it would go to try and stay ahead of Finn, whom he knew to be extremely fast. In his rearview mirrors he could see the spy car barreling after him, weaving in and out of traffic to try and line up a shot. He had less cover from Cad here, who panicked and dove to the left to avoid an SUV just ahead of him. Still, Miles tried to use as much civilian cover as he could.
Up ahead, the Range Rover could see the National Mall, and he gunned it, heading right for the National Gallery of Art. There was cover indoors… and lots of cars. He could lay low inside and try and escape through the back entrance or one of the side doors. Feeling his jalopy engine about to give out on him, he gave it all he had and pushed himself toward the front doors, practically flying through them and heading right for the metal detectors up front, which he passed with no problem, as he wasn't carrying any weapons. Panting, the Range Rover headed for the bathroom to take care of his overtaxed engine and began looking for alternative ways to exit the building. Fortunately for him, the Gallery of Art was one of the bigger Smithsonian museums, and had plenty of entrances and exits.
Outside, Finn screeched to a halt as Holley touched down next to him, retracting her wings and sighing. "Blast! He's gone into the Gallery of Art! Ugh! That's a logistical nightmare in there! Too many exits to cover!"
"I know!" Finn replied, thinking this over. "Perhaps we should've brought more backup. I didn't expect him to escape the restaurant so easily. Good work on tracking his flight out here, by the way, Ms. Shiftwell. Now we just have to corner that wily Rover!"
"If we go in there we'll lose him easily. Should we alert building security?" Holley asked.
"Maybe… but I'm not sure they'd be able to handle Axlerod. The best we can do is contact the Metropolitan Police and get them to surround the building." Finn stated.
"If he's smart, which he is, he'll be long gone by the time they close off all entrances though." Holley replied.
"I know, but it's our only chance, Ms. Shiftwell! There's just too many nooks and crannies in there for him to hide if we went in ourselves. We'll have to see if we can trap him instead."
"If only I'd been able to get a tracker on him before he took off…" Holley groaned.
"It's all right, Ms. Shiftwell! We'll get him yet! I just hope he's not planning anything here in the capital of the United States. By the way, who was that SUV he was talking to in the restaurant?" Finn asked.
"VIN number identified him as Cad Spinner, a park ranger for the US Department of the Interior. No known connection to Sir Axlerod though." Holley replied.
"Hm… all right… well let's go about this, then! But I DON'T want the Americans flying into a panic over this! They could ruin the whole operation if they try and take him down on their own! We're gonna have to hope they cooperate!" Finn cautioned.
"Yes well… we'll do the best we can." Holley said, opening up a channel to the Metropolitan Police.
In her office at the NTSB on L'Enfant Plaza, Melina sighed she waited for her boss to drop by and discuss her final report. She was pretty bored, and eager to start her vacation, but there was nothing she could do until he showed up. Greg had teased her this morning over the fact that she'd taken such a high-class flight with her new "boyfriend", but she didn't mind the teasing. Brightening up as her boss entered, she let the anticipation for the end of her day start to build.
"Great work on the SumatraAir case, Markham. Too bad the Indonesians didn't agree, but I think you nailed it."
"Oh, thanks you, sir!" she responded, relieved. "So um… you know how I have some vacation time accrued? I'd like to make use of that this week if I could."
Her boss's face fell a bit here, and Melina felt her sense of anticipation evaporating. "Ah well… turns out we had a big 747 run into some rudder trouble up in Anchorage… it didn't receive a lot of media coverage, but… could you maybe work ONE more case before your break?"
Melina's face fell too at this point, and she looked down. "Don't you have… others who can cover for it?" she asked hopefully.
"Well most of them are off investigating the Queens disaster in New York. You know, the Airbus that crashed into a Queens suburb shortly after takeoff?"
"I… heard of that one, yes." She muttered. Sighing, she looked up. "OK… one more case… but then I get my vacation, deal?"
"Deal!" her boss responded heartily. "Sorry again… it's just…"
"No, no, don't worry about it. We're stretched a little thin right now; I understand. I'll go make the skies safer." She stated gamely.
"Great! Well then, enjoy your time in Alaska!" Her boss reversed and continued driving down the hallway now.
Sighing a third time, Melina looked down at her final report on the SumatraAir flight, and wondered if Miles wouldn't mind a little diversionary trip up to Alaska.
As it was, Axlerod had taken care of his leaking engine in the restroom, and was back out now, driving swiftly through the halls of the Gallery of Art, as he knew he only had a short amount of time before he could escape this building. He had swiped a map from the information desk and had decided to take the tunnel over to the east building, where he'd exit quietly onto the streets and head towards Melina's office. He no longer felt as if he could come clean with her… not when his pursuers were so close!
Pulling onto the moving driveway, Miles drove through the tunnel heading for the east wing, wasting no time in making a beeline for the exit he wanted. So far there were no signs he'd been followed in, and no signs of security being on alert. Still, he wasn't going to take any chances. A quick dash-in and dash-out to stay one step ahead of those blasted spies! It almost felt like he was traveling through light speed, as the way the lights ran overhead gave the impression of being in space in the tunnel steel tunnel.
Seeing the east wing up ahead and the doors he wanted, Miles accelerated, even as police sirens could be heard in the distance. Take no chances! Blowing out the door, he tried to act inconspicuous as he drove out of the gallery's east wing and started heading south in the general direction of L'Enfant Plaza. He could see Melina early and tell her the bad news: that remaining in the city was no longer possible for him.
Melina was finishing up her pre-investigation briefing for the day as she gathered what information she could from the reports they had on hand in Anchorage. Seemed that Dusty Crophopper, the world famous racer, was a key witness in this one. Driving slowly back to her office, she figured she'd go home, see Miles, and break the bad news to him. But she was surprised to see the Range Rover already there, waiting for her outside her office. "Miles!" she exclaimed happily, driving over to him now. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh… just wanted to drop by real quick before… uh… before…" he paused here, trying to gather up the courage to tell her.
"Miles is everything OK?" Melina asked, concerned.
"No! But uh… I… I need to tell you that I probably can't stay in DC much longer." He finally managed to get out.
"Oh… well that's a coincidence, because it turns out my vacation got canceled… I have to leave for Alaska to investigate a near miss up in Anchorage." She relayed to him.
"Really? Oh that's great! Then let's go right now!" he urged.
"You… can come with me?" she asked, surprised at how sudden this was.
"Of course! I just can't stay HERE for… um… well it turns out one of my problems is here too." He said cryptically.
"Oh… I see. Well great then, we can travel together! That is… if you're up for going to Alaska."
"I don't mind! Anything to get away from here!" he admitted.
"Well all right then… let me just gather my things and we'll head to the airport." She suggested.
"Capital! Well I'll be waiting for you!" He hesitated here, knowing his old passport was probably hot by this point. Good thing he'd had several backups made but… he'd have to be extremely careful… wait a minute! There was still a way! "Say Melina!" Miles called as she began to head for her office. "How would you like to fly a private charter, my treat?" he asked, grinning.
Melina blinked as she turned to look at him. "Private charter? You're going to charter a plane?"
"Sure! This'll give us some privacy on the way up, and we can enjoy a nice dinner, and just kick back and relax. What do you say?" he asked again.
"Well… Miles that actually sounds quite romantic. All right… but are you sure everything's OK? You're acting kind of… odd." She noted here.
"Haha! Yes of course! I'm just uh… eager to get going! I wanted to surprise you with that charter idea!" he quickly responded.
"Well I like it. See you in a few." She told him as she headed into her office to collect what she'd need.
