Chapter 7

Chapter 3


With a strangled gasp, Max rushes forward to embrace her former C.O. He returns her embrace stiffly and then they pull away from each other. Max gazes into his eyes and finds them to be shadowed and tormented, as always, but there is an element of happiness within his eyes as well.
He leans down and whispers, "I've found her."

Before Max could ask what he meant, Caitlin positions herself between the two X5's, her eyes narrowed with a mixture of both curiosity and dread.

"Wait a minute. You two know each other?"

Max and Zack exchange glances filled with apprehension.

"Max is my baby sister," Zack explains

Caitlin's eyes continue to narrow as she looks between the two siblings. She turns to Zack .

"Why didn't you tell me you had a sister?"

Logan, who had remained silent through out this whole exchange, attempts to calm his cousin.

"Max and Zack had a rough childhood and were separated at an early age. They were advised not to tell anybody of the other's existence or location."
The explanation came scarily close to the truth, but Caitlin seemed to buy it for now.

"Come on! Mother is dying to meet the woman who's stolen her beloved nephew's heart," she said coyly

Max and Logan both blush scarlet.

The car ride to the estate is full of tension. Max is still shocked at the sudden appearance of her brother and is lost in her own thoughts. Zack is avoiding Caitlin's questioning gaze, and Logan is trying workout the extent of Zack's involvement with his cousin. Everybody is relived when the car pulled up to the estate.