Chapter Twenty-Nine - Frozen In Place
Max stood around the party, mentally tapping her foot waiting for Julia's signal that it was all clear. She was anxious to get this over with so she could get home and muddle her way through apologizing to Logan for snapping at him. She was taking all the people's questions about her mystery man's whereabouts in stride, but it wasn't helping her state of mind to be reminded of the picture, when that made her think about the morning they had spent together before their final fight before she left. She wearily glanced around the room, thinking maybe, just maybe, Logan was right and she shouldn't have gotten herself into this.
Meanwhile, Logan sat in the penthouse, staring blankly at the phone, willing it to ring, willing it to tell him that Max was ok. But something was nagging at him in the back of him mind, something begging to be released from his subconscious. Then it hit him, the woman, Julia, why she looked vaguely familiar to him. Logan bolted out of his chair as he remembered the day that Rodney Delaney had given him the ultimatum, leave or have Max killed. The young woman in the back of the room, not once uttering a word, but unmistakably Julia, Max's informant.
Logan grabbed his bag, digging through it and grabbing his small handgun, loading the clip with a snap as he took off running, bursting out of the door, past a questioning Tinga, and into the parking garage. He didn't bother thinking about how pissed Max was going to be when she found out her took her car, his only thoughts were getting Max out of the trap she had stepped into.
Max slipped into Delaney's office discreetly at precisely 9:00. She moved quietly to the desk, waiting momentarily for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. For the second time that she had been in the office, the light snapped on and Max froze. Rodney Delaney sat in the chair that Logan had sat in last time she had been here, a gun pointed steadily at her, his face impassive.
And before Max could turn to try and flee, she saw Julia out of the corner of her eye. "Julia?"
"I am sorry, Max. You were a good friend to me." With that she approached, standing right next to Max as they both stared at Rodney.
"Why?" She had to know why one of the people she considered a close friend had betrayed her.
"You were getting to close to busting Dad. I couldn't let you do that."
Max had a moment to let this sink through the shock before Julia jammed the hypodermic needle into her neck and depressed it.
Max struggled for a moment before she went limp and the world blacked out around her.
Max stood around the party, mentally tapping her foot waiting for Julia's signal that it was all clear. She was anxious to get this over with so she could get home and muddle her way through apologizing to Logan for snapping at him. She was taking all the people's questions about her mystery man's whereabouts in stride, but it wasn't helping her state of mind to be reminded of the picture, when that made her think about the morning they had spent together before their final fight before she left. She wearily glanced around the room, thinking maybe, just maybe, Logan was right and she shouldn't have gotten herself into this.
Meanwhile, Logan sat in the penthouse, staring blankly at the phone, willing it to ring, willing it to tell him that Max was ok. But something was nagging at him in the back of him mind, something begging to be released from his subconscious. Then it hit him, the woman, Julia, why she looked vaguely familiar to him. Logan bolted out of his chair as he remembered the day that Rodney Delaney had given him the ultimatum, leave or have Max killed. The young woman in the back of the room, not once uttering a word, but unmistakably Julia, Max's informant.
Logan grabbed his bag, digging through it and grabbing his small handgun, loading the clip with a snap as he took off running, bursting out of the door, past a questioning Tinga, and into the parking garage. He didn't bother thinking about how pissed Max was going to be when she found out her took her car, his only thoughts were getting Max out of the trap she had stepped into.
Max slipped into Delaney's office discreetly at precisely 9:00. She moved quietly to the desk, waiting momentarily for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. For the second time that she had been in the office, the light snapped on and Max froze. Rodney Delaney sat in the chair that Logan had sat in last time she had been here, a gun pointed steadily at her, his face impassive.
And before Max could turn to try and flee, she saw Julia out of the corner of her eye. "Julia?"
"I am sorry, Max. You were a good friend to me." With that she approached, standing right next to Max as they both stared at Rodney.
"Why?" She had to know why one of the people she considered a close friend had betrayed her.
"You were getting to close to busting Dad. I couldn't let you do that."
Max had a moment to let this sink through the shock before Julia jammed the hypodermic needle into her neck and depressed it.
Max struggled for a moment before she went limp and the world blacked out around her.