"There's Scully," Chloe said quietly as they approached the sidewalk.
Max glanced over and saw the grey sedan, a woman barely visible in the driver's seat. They reached Chloe's truck and Max hopped in as Chloe started it up.
"Oh...heads up," Max said, "the group was asking how we're going to break into the PI office. I wasn't sure what to say so I insinuated that you had special skills…"
"In the bedroom, right?" Chloe said, grinning and swinging the truck into the road.
"I can't speak to those skills, Chloe," Max said, "you still have to show me."
"Yes, way to go, G," Chloe said, extending her fist.
Max bumped it and continued, "anyways, how are we going to break in?"
"No idea," Chloe said, "but I do have a crowbar stashed at the music store. Beta Max and I used it to break into Fort Prescott. But it might not come to that...after all, I actually know a little about lock picking, thanks to Frank."
"Um…about that," Max said.
"Wait...shit...is there some timeline where I got killed from picking a lock or something?" Chloe said.
"No, it's just that in the time it took you to try to pick the lock to Principal Wells' office, I was able to dig through the entire science classroom to get the ingredients for a bomb...and assemble said bomb," Max said.
"Ah, well, in that case, maybe we'll just break down the door," Chloe said, "and then you can use your hella teleportation magic to sneak inside, undo it, and let your girlfriend in."
"Sounds good," Max said.
"I love it when a plan comes together," Chloe said, pulling out a cigarette and holding it in her lips.
"Don't say that yet," Max said, "we've barely even started."
"Well, we've already got fish number one baited," Chloe said, looking pointedly at her rearview mirror.
Max didn't turn around but could imagine the grey sedan trailing behind them.
They arrived at the music store and the grey sedan turned onto a side street.
"Shit," Chloe said, "you think they're onto us?"
"Ask Warren and Brooke," Max said.
"Huh?...oh right," Chloe said, grabbing a walkie talkie.
"I'm pretty sure I saw Warren's car behind the grey one," Max said, peering around the back of the truck.
"Yo," Chloe said into the walkie talkie, "Warren, you got eyes on Scully?"
Silence.
"I think you're supposed to say…" Max started.
"You're supposed to say 'over' when you're finished talking, over," came Brooke's voice.
"Shit," Chloe said. She held the walkie talkie up and said, "Right...Warren. Scully? Over."
"Looks like she's going around the block and heading back to the music store, over," came Warren's voice.
"Shit, we'd better get inside," Chloe said, hurriedly opening her door. Max followed suit as Chloe said, "thanks, over," into the walkie talkie.
They rushed inside and made their way to the back, waving at the man behind the counter, who nodded at them with a smile partially hidden by a large mustache.
"Wowser, that guy has one hell of a wacky mustache," Max whispered.
"I know, right?" Chloe said, "I fucked up royally the first time I met him and Beta Max rescued me."
"Sounds about right," Max said with a smirk. Chloe elbowed her.
They rounded a corner and found Kate and Victoria standing in an aisle. Victoria had her arms crossed and was tapping her foot as Kate thumbed through a set of CDs, humming quietly.
"Finally," Victoria said when she caught sight of Max and Chloe.
"Hey, Max. Hey, Chloe!" Kate said, "they have an amazing selection of Christian bands here."
"I thought you were mostly into classical," Max said.
"Oh, she is," Victoria said, "we've been through the entire classical section already."
Kate smiled and said, "and you asked for my recommendations there."
"Yes, that's true," Victoria said, her brow furrowing.
"So," Chloe said, "you two ready to transform into Punk Girl and Maximum Hipster?"
"Yes!" Kate said. Victoria grunted.
"Alright, Matt said we could use the back room," Chloe said, pointing towards a nearby door.
She turned towards the front of the store and shouted, "hey Matt, don't come into the back room unless you want to see four teenage girls undressing!"
"Seriously?" Victoria said, "why would you even say that?"
Matt called back from the front of the store, "I'm so glad that I hired such a quiet and low-key associate."
"I appreciate you too, Matt," Chloe called back.
She led them into the back room and Max and Chloe both slipped out of their pants and shirts, handing them over to Kate and Victoria.
As Max and Chloe put on their 'ninja' outfits, Victoria said, "Chloe, your clothes smell like weed. And cigarettes."
"If you find any weed in my pockets, you can have it," Chloe said, pulling a dark sweater over her head.
"Gee, thanks," Victoria said.
"Max, your clothes smell really nice...like fresh laundry detergent," Kate said.
"Thanks, Kate," Max said, "and if you find any weed in my pockets, Victoria can have it."
Victoria rolled her eyes.
Chloe chuckled and fished the blonde wig out of Max's bag and carefully placed it over her hair, completely covering the blue.
"How do I look?" Chloe said.
"Less punky," Kate said.
"You look like you did when we were kids," Max said, "this brings back memories. Here..."
Max reached up and adjusted the wig.
"Awesome, let's help our doppelgangers," Chloe said.
They easily slipped the blue wig over Victoria's short hair.
Max stepped back and looked up and down at Victoria.
"Wow," Max said, "you look a lot like Chloe."
"Don't get any ideas, Max," Victoria said.
"Yeah, Max," Chloe said, "you'll make me hella jealous. And wow...this is making me feel weird." She leaned close to Victoria, squinting.
"Don't you get any ideas, Chloe," Victoria said, leaning back.
Max shook her head, smiling, and turned to help Kate with the brown wig.
"Alright Kate, how should we do this?" Max said.
"I'm thinking I can leave my hair straight down and put your hoodie on over it...and then put the wig on top," Kate said.
She fumbled with something behind her head, her face twisted in concentration, and then her hair tumbled down.
"Wow, Kate, you have a lot of hair!" Max said.
"Yeah, I'm growing it really long so I can donate it," Kate said with a smile.
"I...didn't know you could do that," Max said.
"They make, well, wigs," Kate said, pointing at the wig in Max's hands, "for kids and other people who've lost their hair."
"That's amazing," Max said, "and you have such beautiful hair...someone's going to get a wonderful wig from you."
"Thanks, Max," Kate said.
She put on Max's hoodie, hiding most of her hair. Max helped put the wig onto Kate's head and fussed with it to try to make it look closer to her own hairstyle before stepping back.
"How do I look?" Kate said, "would your parents mistake me for you?"
"Definitely not," Max said, "this wouldn't hold up at all under close scrutiny...but it should do just fine for what we have in mind."
"Great!" Kate said.
"Damn, Kate, lookin' good," Chloe said.
"Er...don't get any ideas?" Kate said.
Chloe laughed loudly and Max chuckled; a smile tugged at Victoria's lips.
"You've been paying attention," Chloe said, "A-plus."
Kate blushed a little and said, "it's hard not to hear everything."
"Alright, so now what do we do?" Victoria said, arms crossed.
"Just do what we would do," Chloe said.
"Which would be what?" Victoria said, "listening to punk music, taking selfies, and making out?"
"Er...I'm really only okay with two of those," Kate said quietly.
"As a newly minted photography teacher, I'd very much encourage you to explore more of the selfie side of your photography," Max said, "but you don't have to do everything we would do...your heads would probably explode from the sheer weirdness of it all."
"Oh, you two can't be that weird," Kate said.
Max and Chloe shared a glance.
"Maybe not," Chloe said, "but better safe than sorry...I'd say just drive the truck around town...go to the beach or the lighthouse. Hang out. Chat it up. Play good music. No pop or classical stuff though...dead giveaway. And yeah, take selfies. Make out if you want to. No one here will judge."
Victoria glared at Chloe and turned to Kate, saying, "I like you, Kate, so I hope you don't take this the wrong way when I say I don't really want to make out with you tonight."
"That's okay, Victoria," Kate said, "I like you too but I'm okay with not making out."
"Now that that's settled," Max said, "let's go. It's getting dark and we don't want to have this go too late."
"You heard Mad Max, let's go," Chloe said. Victoria and Kate left the room first and Chloe grabbed a crowbar from beneath a table. She held it behind her back and Max raised an eyebrow.
Chloe shrugged and said, "better if they don't know I have this."
Max shrugged and they stepped out, following Victoria and Kate to the front of the store.
"Quick question," Victoria said, stopping before the door, "any tricks on driving that museum piece of yours?"
"Nope...well...er, the power steering is a little bit fucked but other than that just step on the pedals and stuff," Chloe said, holding out her keys.
"Good to know," Victoria said with a frown, accepting the keys and staring for a moment at the panda on the keychain.
"Good luck," Max said.
"You too!" Kate said; Victoria nodded.
Kate and Victoria stepped out of the store and Max and Chloe watched as they got into the truck and slowly drove away.
Chloe grabbed her walkie talkie and said, "yo Warren, Ice Queen and Little Angel are rolling. Let us know when the coast is clear."
"Over," Max said.
"Over," Chloe said into the walkie talkie.
"You know that we can hear you, right?" Victoria's voice said. They could hear Kate's voice in the background say, "over." Victoria sighed and said, "over."
"Aww, they're just like us," Chloe said before holding the walkie talkie button down and saying, "I know. That's why I said it...over."
A long sigh from Victoria came over the line, followed by, "over."
"Hey adventurers, Scully's on the move and...you're clear, over," Warren said.
"And Brooke? Still got Mulder in town? Over?" Chloe said.
"Yep," came Brooke's voice, "I've got my drone sitting on a rooftop and I'm watching him pick his nose, over."
"Gross," Chloe said, "and Alyssa...how's the HQ? Over."
"It's quiet...I'm having a nice time reading...I'm going to turn the volume down so shout if you want to talk to me...I'll let you know if I see anything...over," Alyssa said.
"Awesome, let's do this thing," Chloe said into the walkie talkie.
"Over," Max said.
"Shit...over," Chloe said.
They left the music store and crossed the street, heading for the post office building as quietly and inconspicuously as they could. Max thought it somewhat miraculous that they could be inconspicuous at all with Chloe carrying a crowbar...but fortunately for them, there weren't too many people out and about.
They reached their target street several minutes later; the sky above had darkened to a deep blue and they could see Alyssa sitting on a bench across the street.
"Ready to go in," Chloe said into the walkie talkie, "Doppelgangers check in, over."
"I'm going to be glad when I never have to drive this truck again," Victoria's voice said, "we're heading for the beach...um...over."
"What the hell kind of car does she have?" Chloe said to Max.
"Not sure...probably expensive though," Max said.
Chloe shrugged and lifted the walkie talkie.
"Yo Warren, how's it hanging? Over," she said.
"Still following Scully and she's still following your twins, over," Warren said.
Chloe chuckled and said, "Warren, my twins are right here in front of me where they always are, over."
"Shit," Warren said.
A pause.
"Over," Warren said.
Max shook her head.
"And Brooke? Over?" Chloe said.
"Mulder moved but he's even further away from you than before," Brooke said, "stopped picking...now sipping coffee or something...really slowly, over."
"Awesome...and Alyssa? Over," Chloe said.
Nothing.
"Yo, Alyssa!" Chloe said loudly into the walkie talkie.
They could see Alyssa jump across the street.
"Yeah what? Um...over," Alyssa said.
"Everything still cool? Over," Chloe said.
A pause.
"Yeah, no sign of anything weird," Alyssa said.
"Okay, go back to your book...anyone who sees anything that might fuck us up, tell us...we're going in, over," Chloe said.
A chorus of good luck messages jumbled over one another and then there was silence.
"Alright, Max, ready to bust and rewind our way into this joint?" Chloe said.
Max felt a thrill of exhilaration, the kind she hadn't felt since her and the past version of Chloe had broken into Blackwell.
"Yeah, definitely," Max said.
"Too bad there's probably no hot tub," Chloe said, "which, by the way, again: you still owe me a Blackwell pool break in."
"At this rate we should probably just break into Nathan's apartment...you have me wanting to experience that hot tub," Max said.
"I'm such a good bad influence," Chloe said.
"That you are," Max said, smiling.
Chloe stepped forward and they made their way to the building, sneaking around the side and to the back, where they found a lonely door next to a pair of trashcans. They glanced around: no sign of security cameras. Other than David Madsen and the Prescotts, it seemed like few people in Arcadia Bay were big on the idea of surveillance.
"Here, let's hang out for a couple of minutes," Max said, setting her bag down by the door.
"Any particular reason?" Chloe said, putting her crowbar down next to Max's bag.
"If I can, I like to create a buffer of time that I can rewind into...that way I won't end up messing up the walkie talkie conversations we just had or something," Max said.
"Ah, got it," Chloe said.
"So, what do you think we'll find in there?" Max said.
"I'm hoping that we'll find some papers...contracts, pictures, reports...anything that shows who hired them and what they're trying to find out about us," Chloe said.
"And take pictures of anything interesting?" Max said.
"Yeah...oh, and make sure to use your phone for that," Chloe said.
Max tilted her head, frowning.
"Oh right," Chloe said, "Beta Max totally almost used her...your Polaroid camera to take pictures of Nathan's...ugh…'Master Photography'...and she was super embarrassed about it," Chloe said.
"Er...yeah, I guess I can't pretend I wouldn't've made the same mistake," Max said.
"It's okay, G, I won't tell anyone," Chloe said.
"Thanks," Max said with a lopsided smile, "and yeah, using my camera is...pretty much second nature. It's really weird to use my phone for photos."
"Such a hipster," Chloe said.
"Which you clearly have a thing for," Max said, stepping forward and nudging Chloe in the side.
"Totally true," Chloe said.
She began to lean towards Max...and they both jumped as the walkie talkie crackled and a small voice, Warren's, said, "hey, you guys in yet? Over."
Chloe grabbed it and said, "No...we're um...scouting. About to head in, over."
"That wasn't very convincing," Max said with a smile.
"Eh, if they make fun of us, we can just make out in front of them," Chloe said.
Max laughed and said, "you're so bad."
"Oh, you haven't even seen how bad I can get," Chloe said with a wink, "but anyways, you have enough of a buffer?"
"I think so," Max said, "let's do this."
"Smashy smashy time," Chloe said, hefting her crowbar.
"Er, maybe we should just try the door first," Max said.
"You are no fun sometimes," Chloe said, lowering the crowbar and motioning Max forward.
"I have to save up my fun for other things," Max said, stepping up to the door.
"Damn, Max, you're on fire," Chloe said.
Max grinned and tried the door; it swung open into a dimly lit hallway.
"One of these days I'll get to smash something," Chloe said, following Max inside.
"You wouldn't have remembered it anyways," Max said.
"Yeah, but it's the thought that counts," Chloe said, glancing around.
"We can go to the junkyard sometime and you can smash whatever you want," Max said.
"Been there, done that," Chloe said, "but...always up for smashing...want to help me find some beer bottles there to bust up?"
"Absolutely not," Max replied.
Chloe shrugged and peeked into a side room.
"Nice, couple of vending machines here," she said, "I can grab myself a candy bar and a drink on the way out."
"Let me guess," Max said, crossing her arms, "you'll break the window, grab what you want, hand it to me, and then have me rewind?"
"That's pretty much what I was thinking," Chloe said.
Max grinned and turned around, stepping right into a stack of plastic bins.
"Shit!" she said as the stack toppled and crashed onto the floor..
"Wow, G," Chloe said, chuckling, "you really haven't changed much. Always knocking everything over."
"Ugh, I'm just glad there's no one here," Max said.
But as she said that, a sound came from ahead and above: rapid footsteps. Max and Chloe's heads snapped around towards the noise.
"Fuck," Chloe said.
They stood frozen as the footsteps drew suddenly closer and a figure appeared from a side passage down the hall: a short thin man, his wispy hair waving in the air as he moved.
He stopped and stared.
"What?...It's you," he said.
His hand dove into a pocket in his jacket. Max gasped and grabbed Chloe's arm, starting to rewind before the man could retrieve whatever was in his pocket.
Shit...what if that was a gun? Max thought as she rewound, watching the man move backwards and disappear into a doorway, and how did we completely miss that there's another person here? The plastic bins scattered on the floor drifted back into a tall stack. Was Alyssa so engrossed in her book that she didn't see that guy? What if...
Max's thoughts were broken off as she felt something move in her left hand. She glanced over, realizing that she was still holding onto Chloe's arm...and her eyes widened in shock: Chloe stared back at her, her own eyes wide and her mouth open...and she wasn't moving backwards. Max's mouth dropped open and she immediately stopped rewinding.
Time returned to its normal pace and Max released Chloe's arm. Chloe looked around, gazing down the hall to where the man had been and then to the stack of plastic boxes. Her eyes grew wider still and she turned back to Max.
"Max?" she said, her voice high pitched, "what the fuck just happened?"
"I...I'm not sure...I grabbed your arm before rewinding and then...what do you remember?" Max said, reaching over and grabbing Chloe's arm again.
"There was that guy...he was over there. He reached into his pocket. You grabbed my arm. And then...everything was going backward. I...I felt like I could barely breathe. I...holy shit, Max...did I just go back in time with you?" Chloe said.
Max's stared up at Chloe's astonished expression, her mind whirling.
How is that possible? It...it has to be true...I wasn't imagining it: Chloe really was there...I definitely saw her rewinding with me. But...how? Is it because I grabbed her? Her brow furrowed, have I ever been touching someone when rewinding before? Has someone ever been touching me? She thought back to the missing week...but nothing came to mind.
"We...somehow rewound together," Max said, "I had no idea that was even possible."
"Dude, I am so...fucking...tripping over this," Chloe said, her hands on her head, "that was...hella crazy. That's what you do? That's what it looks like? What it feels like?"
"Yeah, yeah it is...I...wow, maybe this has something to do with how I can do the teleport thing in front of you?" Max said, leaning back against the wall and scratching her head.
"Shit, I have no idea but fuck, Max," Chloe said, "how do you not freak out every time you do that? It's so fucking cool. I mean, I've known for days that you could do it...but...that is fucking amazeballs."
"Chloe," Max said, stepping over and putting her hands on Chloe's shoulders, "this is amazeballs. It means...wowser...if this wasn't a one-time thing, it means that we can both rewind...together. That's huge...way bigger than the whole teleporting thing."
"Dude, wouldn't that...wouldn't that mean I can teleport too?" Chloe said, her eyes wide.
"I don't know...I think so?" Max said.
"Can we...try it again?" Chloe said, speaking almost in a whisper.
"Yeah, I think we'll have to," Max said, "we still have a job to do and we'll need to go back a bit to prepare."
"Right right," Chloe said, "mission...yeah...um...what the hell do we do about our unexpected friend?"
"We need to find out where he came from and see if we can get the jump on him," Max said.
"Okay...let's do it," Chloe said.
Max held her hand out to Chloe. Chloe took it and tensed, squeezing her eyes shut and then opening one eye.
Max chuckled and said, "you can keep your eyes open."
"Dude, I'm totally new to this," Chloe said, her voice wavering.
"Ready?" Max said.
"Yeah...I think," Chloe said.
Please let this be more than a one-time thing, Max thought. The idea of sharing this...of actually sharing it with Chloe? Max desperately wanted it to be true.
She kept her eyes on Chloe and started to rewind. The hallway around them became fuzzy and she watched as ghostly versions of herself and Chloe moved about...but the solid version of Chloe stayed with her, their hands firmly clamped together. Chloe glanced around as Max continued to rewind, her mouth hanging open.
Max stopped shortly after they'd entered the building.
"Wowser," Chloe said softly.
I don't believe it, Max thought, this is crazy...Chloe can actually come with me!
Max grinned and said, "welcome to time travel, Chloe."
"I don't even know what to say," Chloe said.
"Well, you used to bow down to my powers and declare your allegiance or whatever," Max said.
"Dude, I'm your girlfriend now," Chloe said, "all of that's built in."
"Oh, and that means I'm supposed to bow down and declare allegiance to you too?" Max said.
"Yep," Chloe said, still glancing around as if she couldn't believe her eyes.
"Oh well, I'll take sharing all of this with you over being the dominant one any day," Max said.
"You are disgustingly sweet," Chloe said.
"I hope our friend upstairs thinks so too," Max said, starting down the hall.
"Wait," Chloe said, "I should go...so if something happens, you can rewind. Like we talked about before."
Max paused.
"You're right," Max finally said, frowning.
Chloe nodded and walked down the hall, finding the spot where the man had emerged. She gave Max a thumbs-up and walked through. Max fidgeted with the strap of her bag, straining her ears to hear anything from the rest of the building...and heard nothing but the hum of the vending machines.
After only a minute or so, loud footsteps suddenly echoed from above and she could hear distant shouting. She braced herself, half expecting the sound of a gunshot...but the footsteps, running, continued to come closer. Moments later, Chloe burst from the passage and ran over to Max.
"Quick, let's rewind," Chloe said, breathing heavily.
Max grabbed Chloe's hand and rewound, watching Chloe's awed expression with amusement as time sped backwards around them. Max stopped where she had before.
"Okay," she said, "what's the story?"
"Our buddy...fuck, hold on...wow...totally tripping again...I swear I'm never going to get used to that...un-fucking-believable...okay...our new buddy...he's staying in a little dark room off of a larger office," Chloe said, "his back was to the door and he had headphones on so I think we can sneak up on him."
"But wait...you ran away and I heard shouting...how did he see you?" Max said.
"Ah...well...I kinda pulled a Max," Chloe said, grimacing, "I knocked over an empty file cabinet."
"Pulling a Max?" Max said, eyebrow raised.
"Sorry," Chloe said.
"No...it's accurate," Max said, "let's...just keep it between us."
Chloe smiled and nodded.
"Um...did you find out what he had in his jacket?" Max said, "what he was reaching for earlier?"
"Yeah: walkie talkie or phone or something," Chloe said, "probably to call Scully and Mulder back."
Max nodded and said, "so how do we...um...neutralize this guy?"
"Huh...at first I thought that we could just lock him in," Chloe said, "but then I realized that he'd be really annoying...yelling at us, calling Scully and Mulder...all of that shit."
"I'm guessing you have a different plan?" Max said.
Chloe grinned and pointed at Max's bag. Max opened it up and Chloe pulled out the duct tape.
"Are you cereal?" Max said.
"Oh yes," Chloe said, stretching a piece of the tape out, "we catch him by surprise, get one of these over his mouth and then I can hold him while you get his arms, legs, and torso attached to the chair. It'll be awesome."
"I don't know," Max said, rubbing her wrist.
Chloe looked at Max's hands and took hold of them, quickly but gently.
"Max, it's you with the duct tape this time...and you've got me here," Chloe said, "we're in control...and if you start feeling like shit, just rewind."
Max nodded.
"And," Chloe continued, "if you're worried about the guy, he won't remember a thing. And...well, we're not planning on killing him. That's a plus."
"Yeah, you're right," Max said, "I'm sorry."
"Don't you dare apologize," Chloe said, squeezing Max's hands, "remember, any time this shit hits you or you even think about it, tell me. I'm here to help."
"Thanks, Chloe," Max said, looking up and taking a deep breath, "now...give me some tape."
"That's it," Chloe said, smiling, "let's go wrap this guy up."
They each grabbed several pieces of duct tape and rewound to give themselves extra time. Chloe then led the way down the hall and through an opening that led to stairs. They crept up slowly, the smell of a musty old office growing as they went. They emerged into another hall with doors and large windows into an office area. Chloe pointed to a door, slightly ajar, at the far end. They moved slowly, hunched over, to the end of the hall.
They stopped for a quick rewind, hand in hand, before taking places on either side of the door. Chloe nodded and Max, her heart pounding, lifted up her first piece of tape.
Okay, Max, she thought, just get the tape on him...wrists, ankles, chest. Just get it done quickly...if we mess up, we just rewind.
Chloe gave the thumbs up and moved, pushing the door open and crossing the room in moments to the man lazily slouched in an office chair, his eyes glued to the computer screen in front of him.
Chloe held a piece of tape between her hands and swung her arms in front of the man's face, shouting, "surprise, motherfucker!"
She slapped the tape onto his face as his hands flew upwards. Max went to the right to get to the man's arm...but Chloe also dove to the right. They collided and toppled to the floor, both crying out. The man twisted to the side and he and the chair both fell to the left. He reached up and tore the tape away from his face, shrieking something incomprehensible and reaching for his walkie talkie.
"Shit!" Chloe shouted, scrambling towards him.
"I'm resetting this!" Max said, jumping up and running out the door. She ran back over to the stairs and started rewinding. She watched as the ghostly images of her and Chloe crept back across the office space and over to the stairs. She stopped rewinding once they overlapped with her. Chloe jumped.
"Shit," she hissed, "did you just rewind?"
She paused.
"Without me?" she continued.
"Sorry," Max whispered, "but we sort of messed up. Listen, after you get the tape over his mouth, you head for his left hand, I'll head for his right hand."
"Fuck, did we have an epic crash?" Chloe whispered.
"Yeah, and it would've been funny as hell if the guy didn't start shrieking," Max said.
"He shrieked?" Chloe said, grinning.
"Yeah, I'll imitate it for you later," Max said, "come on."
They continued up as before, creeping to the door. Chloe nodded when ready and Max followed closely behind.
"Surprise, motherfucker!" Chloe shouted, slapping the tape onto the man's mouth. She immediately dove to the left, snatching another piece of tape from her arm as Max reached the man's right arm.
"Sorry," Max said, as she slammed the tape onto the man's wrist and around the arm of the chair. She quickly followed up with a second piece of tape and looked over. The man's eyes were wide and darting back and forth between Max and Chloe. He was trying to shout something from behind the tape.
"Sorry, dude," Chloe said, wrapping a long piece of tape around the man's legs, "can't hear you...you need to speak a little clearer."
Max rolled her eyes and grabbed the roll of tape, pulling it around the man's chest and attaching him securely to the chair.
"Well," Max said, "that worked surprisingly well."
"Of course," Chloe said, "it was a Chloe Price plan."
"With a do-over," Max said.
"Ah yes, your talent really does take some of the planning pressure off of me," Chloe said, stretching her arms up.
The man continued to glare at them; he'd stopped trying to yell.
"Dude, don't worry, we aren't going to do anything to you," Chloe said, "we're just here to figure out why you douchebags are following us around."
"You think we should ask him about it?" Max said.
"Eh, after we've gone through other stuff," Chloe said, "speaking of which…"
She moved over to the man's computer.
"Jackpot!" Chloe said, "unlocked; I bet he's got files and emails and everything accessible from here."
Max glanced at the man, whose eyes were wide again. The idea of Max and Chloe getting into their files was clearly not pleasant to him.
Ha, tough, Max thought, you guys might be professional investigators...but you're up against some damn good amateur snoopers...backed up with superpowers, of course.
"Hey, Max," Chloe said, "why don't you look around the office while I download their emails and...oh wait...will that...work? You know, keeping the files?" Chloe raised an eyebrow at Max. The man looked at Chloe and then up at Max, his eyebrow also raised.
"Yeah, as long as it's with me or in my bag...or I guess with you, too," Max said, smiling at the man's confused expression.
"Awesomesauce," Chloe said, turning back to the computer, "time to feed my flash drive."
"I'll come back here after I check out the office," Max said, "shout if you need anything or if our new buddy here," she patted the man's shoulder, "causes any trouble."
"Will do, Bat Max," Chloe said.
Max left the room and surveyed the office outside.
The space was large, filled with old desks, worn chairs, and tall file cabinets. Almost everything was empty, with drawers pulled out and thick dust on nearly every surface. It looked like the PIs had appropriated three desks and a pair of file cabinets near the back of the room, close to the side room where the extra PI had been lurking. Two of the desks had closed laptops on them and a handful of file folders were scattered over all three desks.
She moved to the first desk and clicked on a lamp, illuminating the three desks and throwing the rest of the large space into shadow. She opened the laptop on the desk; a login screen appeared.
Oh well, Max thought, I doubt it has anything too different from the one Chloe's digging through.
For good measure, Max stepped over to the other laptop; it was also locked.
Max then opened up the nearest folder, finding a stack of photos, all of her and/or Chloe. Max flipped through the photos, shaking her head.
Composition is terrible, lighting is all wrong, and it seems that they've never heard of the rule of thirds, Max thought, smiling slightly, I know it's too much to expect these guys to produce excellent photography...but this is just bad. Some of these aren't even in focus!
The stack included images of Max and Chloe entering and leaving various locations, including the Two Whales, Max's Blackwell dorm building, and Chloe's house. There were pictures of them walking past the Blackwell fountain and sitting in Chloe's truck. There were images of Chloe walking into various stores around town and even one of Max in class.
How the fuck did they get that one? Max thought, it has to be illegal to photograph students in school. I'd better get some pictures of these photos.
Max began taking pictures with her phone. The PIs had taken many similar shots so Max only captured a few. And to Max, none of them...not a single one, rated very high on photographic merit.
Max moved to the next folder: more photos, this time of places. It took only a moment to realize that the photos were of places that Max and Chloe frequented. Various shots of Blackwell, both inside the buildings and out, of Chloe's house, and of the Two Whales. Max's eyes widened as she reached a photo of their pirate fort. She reached the next photo and paused.
She thought, what the hell?
The photo showed the bench up at the lighthouse, followed by a few shots of the area around the lighthouse. Then several shots of the beach...and of Frank's RV. Max continued flipping through: the photos also included the junkyard, the train tracks, and the cemetery. She reached the end; no more.
What the serious fuck? These are all photos of places where I've been over the past ten days, Max thought...and then a chill ran down her spine, and some of these are places that I haven't visited in this timeline. And...they're all places where I used my powers. And wait, she flipped through them again, actually these are all of the places where I've used my powers. What the hell is going on?
Max quickly snapped pictures of several of the photos, shivering again when she saw a photo of the shack near the train track switch where Chloe had nearly died...several times. She then closed the folder and moved on to the next one: it had copies of Max and Chloe's Blackwell files. The next folder had copies of several other students' Blackwell files, including Kate, Victoria, and Warren...if Max had to guess, it looked like they had files on nearly everyone she'd talked to or had a class with at Blackwell. She moved to the next folder: this one had employee files for several Blackwell teachers, including Ms. Grant, Mr. Lee, and...Mark Jefferson. Max quickly flipped past that one to find David Madsen's profile. She couldn't help but look closely at it...the file praised David for his integrity and work ethic but showed concern over his frequent confrontations with students and his demands for surveillance.
Fair, Max thought, although it's a little out of date now.
She moved on to the last folder, which had notes about Max's parents, notes about Joyce, including recent photos, and a copy of the police report from the accident that killed Chloe's father.
Max shook her head as she closed the folder.
This is insane, she thought, why so much detail on everyone we're connected with? And what the hell is with the photos of the places where I've used my powers? Could it be a coincidence?
She put it out of her mind briefly as she captured images of several files.
She put her phone down and, realizing she'd been looking through files for a while, rewound back to just after she'd turned on the light.
Max skipped the now-unopened files and went through the desk drawers instead, finding nothing but pens and other office supplies. In one drawer, she found a stack of business cards for what she assumed was the PI company: Seaside PIs. She pocketed one. Then, in a bottom drawer, Max found an old camera of the same model as her own Polaroid camera. A pair of handwritten notes were attached to it by a string:
Subject A uses this camera. Is there anything special or unique about it or its type? Does Subject A use the camera in any special or unique circumstances?
Evidence suggests Subject A uses this camera type for artistic purposes only; no indication of any other uses. Subject A has a second camera of the type, not the same model. Interviews with subject matter experts reveal no special connections or properties of these models alone or between the two. Subject A uses this camera or the alternate for all of her image capturing; no signs that they are used in any unusual way.
How fucking weird is this going to get? Max thought.
She stood up from the desks and glanced around. She walked over to the nearest file cabinet and carefully examined it. Dust coated every surface, including the handles. She moved to a file cabinet near one of the other main desks: this one had no dust on the handles.
She opened the top file drawer and found about a dozen hanging folders. A quick examination revealed that these had nothing to do with Max and Chloe. As far as Max could tell, they represented other active investigations for this particular PI group, ranging from tracking a husband suspected of infidelity in Tillamook to an insurance fraud examination in Seaside.
Another careful examination of the office revealed no further files, folders, or containers so Max returned to the side room, glancing back one more time at the folder that contained the place photos. Max shuddered and entered the room to find Chloe still kneeling in front of the computer, dragging files to her flash drive. The man, still securely duct taped to the chair, gazed over as Max entered.
"Hey, Chloe," Max said, "um...do you want a chair?"
"No I'm fine. Holy shit, this was totally a jackpot," Chloe said without turning around, "we got everything here. There's one thing I don't understand though."
"What's that?" Max said, itching to tell Chloe about the images she'd found.
"So, Sean Prescott's the one who hired them. I know, big surprise," Chloe said, "most of the instructions were pretty simple. He…" Chloe turned around and her eyes went wide upon seeing Max, "dude, you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Not exactly," Max said, "but I'm really creeped out by some pictures that I found."
"Er, that may have something to do with the thing I'm weirded out by," Chloe said, her brow furrowed, "what are the pictures of?"
"They're all of places where...um…," Max said, glancing over at the man, whose eyes were darting back and forth between Max and Chloe, "where I've done my special thing."
Chloe's eyes widened and she said, "shit...well, here's the thing: Prescott's instructions to these guys look pretty basic. Follow us around, report on what places we go, take pictures, and be ready to provide immediate information on our whereabouts. And, weirdly enough, to come up with predictions for where we might go and to inform him immediately if we approach his house or a couple of other random-ass spots. Oh, and they're only supposed to do this within and around Arcadia Bay...so at least we don't have to worry about these guys following us to Portland."
"Okay…," Max said.
"But here's the weird thing," Chloe said, "he gave them something. It's not described in these emails but there was a lot of back and forth about it because these guys," she gestured at the man, "were confused. It was separate from the instructions to follow us and he told them to take this...thing all over town. It apparently spins or some shit...and when it starts spinning, they're supposed to go in whatever direction makes it spin faster until it stops spinning and then they're supposed to take pictures of the area and mark it on a map."
"That does not give me warm and fuzzy feelings" Max said.
"No kidding," Chloe said, "and I hate to ask but...those pictures of places...were there any pictures of spots where you didn't do your thing?"
Max shook her head.
"Well, sounds like it's something that can point to where you've been...having adventures," Chloe said with a frown.
"I guess that solves the creepster mystery then," Max said, "must have been one of them creeping around."
"Er...actually that's another piece of bad news," Chloe said, "Prescott gave these guys the last couple of nights off."
Max felt another chill run up her spine.
"You mean…?" Chloe said.
"Yeah, he specifically told them to clear out after dark on those two nights, which means that it wasn't one of them outside your door, at our date, or outside my house," Chloe said.
"So the creepster is still at large," Max said quietly, "and there's even more reason to think that it might actually be Sean Prescott himself."
"Yup," Chloe said, "or yet another person hired to stalk us."
"Shit," Max said, "well, at least I get that weird chill whenever the creepster is close by...gives us some warning."
"I'll take whatever advantages we can get," Chloe said, "and speaking of, did you find any spinny thing while snooping out there?"
"No. Did you find anything like that in here?" Max said.
"Nope. I checked the desk drawers here but just pencils and shit. Oh, and gum...I took the gum," Chloe said.
Despite her nervousness, a smile twitched on Max's face.
"Well, I know one way to get more information," Chloe said, looking over at the man.
His eyes went wide.
Chloe strode over and ripped the duct tape off of the man's mouth. He yelped loudly.
"Alright, talk," Chloe said, "what the fuck's going on and why are you following us?"
"It's...it's just like you said," he said, his voice quiet, "it's just a job...a...a really weird job. But...it's...it's pretty standard...follow and report, you know? More detailed than usual but...but he's paying a lot. We only have five people in the company and three of us are here. That's how much we're getting for this."
"Not to sound harsh," Max said, "but why didn't Prescott hire some big Portland company or something," she held up their business card, "you guys are a small Oregon coast operation."
"I think...I think that was the point," the man said, swallowing, "he didn't want attention...didn't want a big deal...didn't want people to talk."
"And what about this spinning thing?" Chloe said.
"That...I don't know what it was," the man said.
"Describe it," Chloe said, leaning closer to him.
"It...it kind of looked like a compass," he said, "a bit of wood with strange symbols carved into it and a little spinning needle in the center. It looked really old but it worked just like he said...at places all over town it would start spinning and then once you reached a particular spot, it would stop spinning and we'd take pictures, just like he said to."
"Did it have a name?" Max asked.
"Maybe...I don't know," the man said, "Prescott just called it 'the artifact' and left it at that."
"And where is it now?" Chloe asked.
"He took it back," the man said.
"What if I said I don't believe you," Chloe said, leaning in closer.
"Honestly, it's true," the man said, "look...please, don't hurt me. I had no idea that this would get so weird. I don't know what's going on here."
Chloe crossed her arms and stared down at the man.
"Please…," he said, "Jess met with Prescott earlier today and gave it back. And...we're glad to be rid of it. It creeped us all out and Prescott was clear that if we lost it, we wouldn't get a cent. He even threatened to destroy our business. I swear, we don't have it anymore."
"Okay fine, I believe you," Chloe said.
Max tapped Chloe on the shoulder and tilted her head towards the far side of the room. They both stepped away from the man.
"If that spinning thing really does track where I've used my powers, it could mean that Sean Prescott knows about my powers," Max said, her voice strained.
"Yeah, maybe," Chloe said, "but then why all this wacky shit? Maybe he doesn't even know what the spinny thing does. Maybe he's trying to use these guys to figure it out."
"The same people he's using to keep track of us? Doesn't that seem like he thinks...or knows...that there's a connection?" Max said.
"Yeah, this is disturbing as hell...but if Prescott really knew something, he'd be more direct, right?" Chloe said.
"I don't know," Max said.
"Seriously though, I think maybe he suspects something but he'll never be able to figure it out...he can't see you rewind time, Max," Chloe said, "besides, he's probably just trying to kill two birds with one stone here. He already has these goofballs wandering all over town, why not have them play with his funky compass too? Maybe he thinks it marks buried treasure or some shit."
Max' shoulders relaxed and she said, "yeah, maybe you're right...I just...it's very clear that the Prescotts know way more than they let on."
"But if they knew more than we did, we'd already be locked in a bunker or buried six feet under, right?" Chloe said.
Max shrugged, "I suppose you're right."
They turned back towards the center of the room and another thought struck Max.
"Chloe," she said, "did you happen to notice when Prescott hired them?"
Chloe opened her mouth but the man spoke first, "we got the call on Tuesday morning and we were here by Tuesday night."
Max raised her eyebrows and said, "uh...thanks."
The man shrugged as much as he could.
"Yeah," Chloe said, "Tuesday...wait…"
Max's eyes widened, "shit, that was right after you and Beta Max…"
"Yeah," Chloe said, "but if he had evidence that it was us…"
"Then there'd be no need for PIs," Max said, "I do wonder if it's related though."
"Ugh, this whole thing is confusing as hell," Chloe said, "not sure we're going to get any further here...let me grab the flashdrive."
"Are...are you just going to leave me here like this?" the man said.
"Yeah, pretty much," Chloe said.
The man sighed and said, "this has been the weirdest fucking job. And I'm never gonna live this down."
"Don't worry about it," Max said, "everything will be fine."
He looked up at her quizzically.
"Alright, got it," Chloe said, standing up and clutching the flash drive triumphantly, "did you get pics of everything?"
"Yep," Max said, tapping the pocket with her phone.
"Awesomesauce, let's blow this joint," Chloe said.
"Bye...and thanks," Max said to the man, walking out.
"Yeah, peace out," Chloe said, raising both middle fingers and following Max out.
The man groaned and mumbled something about retirement.