"You could have warned us you know." Staring out the window of the car they had just stolen, Max quickly scanned for any signs of Cole.
"How was I supposed to know she wouldn't have fought me off and reported us to Lydecker? It was the only way I could do it without the possibility of resistance."
The argument made sense, but Max didn't want to admit it, "you could have warned me about it then."
"Max, what's done is done, let's just get her to Logan's, so Bling can stitch her up." He glanced quickly into the backseat where Kat lay. Despite how they felt sometimes all of them needed sleep eventually. During sleep was when the body worked rapidly on repairing itself.
"You don't know how much that scared me Zack."
"What?"
"When you rose that knife up to her, I thought you were going to kill her. I froze."
"I was counting on that."
"Excuse me?" Her eyebrows furrowed with confusion.
"You would have stopped me too."
"Well," she hated how he was right, "Of course I ..."
He finished the sentence for her, "You would have convinced us all that she had nothing planted on her and brought her to Logan's. All the while leading Lydecker right to what is seeming to be our only safe house left in this city short of hiding in the streets."
Was that true? Would Max have let her emotions get in the way, compromising everyone's safety? It was not a calming thought.
*****
It was decided at first light of the next day that they would radiate out from Logan's apartment. Having to only comb a third of the city made the daunting task much easier. They checked all the shelters and hospices, orphanages and hospitals. Where could a baby have gone? Max let a scary thought creep into her mind. This child was wild, she witnessed how catlike he was in appearance and behavior, which meant it would be like searching for one stray cat in the alleyways and crowded streets. Any chance she got she made her way to the roof of a building and use her vision to scan the streets. The sun was barely touching the horizon when Max noticed something. It may have been grasping at air, but at this point they were desperate for anything that may lead to Cole.
A man looked like he had been roughed up pretty badly, he had bruises all over his face claw marks scratched across his cheek. No, they definitely weren't claw marks since the scratches radiated out as opposed to being parallel. It was as though someone had placed their nails on his faced and then clenched their hand in a fist. The lengths of the gouges where not long enough to belong to a hooker, or any adult for that matter, and the bruises were too small to have been caused by an adults fist. So what if it had nothing to do with Cole? It was suspicious, and after weeks of fruitless searches, Max had to just go and do something. She easily jumped down from the four-story building and walked through the crowd until she was just in front of the guy. She slowed and then turned around, gesturing for the guy to follow her into the alley. Worked like a charm, he followed her into the alley like a puppy on a string.
"Hey big boy," she said when they were well into the empty alley.
"A hooker picking up a john, never heard of that one before, but hey I'm open-minded, I'll go with it."
"Where'd you get the bruises?" she kept a smile on her face, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, yah see, I like it rough..."
"Shut up you sick pervert," she didn't want to play anymore, dropped the coy look and used her forearm to push him into the wall.
"Yeah, just like tha-"
"Shut up."
"What are you gonna do about it? You tie me up? Slap me around?"
"Naw, I think I'll just..." Without finishing her own sentence she kneed him in the groin. "Ooops," the innocent look returned to her face, "Looks like you won't be getting any."
"Fu..." he tried to keel over but she had him pinned to the wall.
"Now tell me how you got all this shit on your face."
He squeezed the words through clenched teeth, "Some guys... mugged me..."
She focused her hearing onto his heartbeat and the slight variations tipped off he was lying.
"Not good enough," she said shaking her head, "Now am I gonna have to do that again? I don't want to, it kinda hurt my knee." She pouted but readied her leg.
"Okay, okay ... some guy kicked my ass cuz I tried to mug him." His heartbeat was still irregular.
"Nope, not buying that one either. Strike two."
"What do you want from me? I have cash, it's in my back pocket."
"I don't want your money and I really don't want to touch your ass. I'm just girl asking some questions. Why don't you help me out."
"I got into a fight with these guys at the bar..." Not wanting to waste her time listening to his lie, she kneed him again.
"Sh..." Tears welled up in his eyes.
"Damn, I forgot to warn you."
"This little kid beat me up alright. Is that good enough for you?" His heart rate was steady. Little kid?
"How little?" She backed away letting him fall to his knees, he wasn't going anywhere.
"I don't know, two or three years," It seemed the pain overrode his embarrassment of the situation and he was now quite willing to tell the truth.
"What did he look like?"
"Black hair...I think some orange"
That was all Max had to hear but it was impossible for her to believe. Could Cole have grown that fast? Though she tried to rationalize she couldn't shake the feeling that this was Cole. Maybe as a child he had super accelerated growth like how some animals take only two years to reach adult size. "Where did this happen?"
"South Market."
"Shit South Market." Having all the information she needed she walked away, "Did you hear all that guys?"
"Everything. It's worth checking out. I can be at south market street in ten minutes." Zack's voice sounded in her ear. Logan had supplied him with two-way radios the size of a bean, which fit snuggly in their ears.
"Where is that?" The sound of Kat's voice gave away that she was already running. Zack gave her the directions and they were all on their way to South Market.
*****
Max got their first, "Logan, you there?"
"Yeah."
"Any luck with the hover drone videos in the South Market sector?"
"A coupla people are walking around with bruises and scratches all over their faces. It appears they are coming out of an alleyway between that abandoned candy factory and the New Market Center."
"I'm there. Zack, Kat you got that?" Max followed his instructions, and found herself in an alleyway cluttered with debris. A larger pile of cardboard drew attention. She could sense movement beneath the pile that could have easily sheltered a young toddler. "Zack, what's your position?"
"Entering South market on the East side."
"Kat?"
"South Market North Gate in sight."
Satisfied with their position, she pressed on toward the pile. "Suspicious location in sight. Suggestions on actions?"
"Wait. I'm almost there."
"Confirmed." She stood there, staring at the pile. Two minutes passed and finally Zack could be seen at the other end of the alleyway. Max made a few quick motions with her hands signaling to Zack that the kid was probably underneath the cardboard. Nodding his head, he turned his attention to the pile. Thinking for a few seconds he signaled her back, informing her that he was going to approach and for her to be ready to grab the kid if he ran. She nodded a confirmation.
He approached so slowly he didn't make a noise audible to the normal human. But the child no doubt heard him coming as Max, focusing her ears, could hear him rustling underneath. Zack was within arms length of the cardboard now. As he reached to lift the top piece, most likely the ceiling of this makeshift shanty, the piece seemed to explode out toward him. He couldn't yell before the tiger child jumped at him. Already off balance, Zack fell back hard, the child on his chest looking at Max, his next target. Luckily Max had more time to compose herself and caught the child in mid air, as he leapt from the crouching position ten feet from Zack's chest to Max.
Holding him at arms length, the boy kept swiping at her face, since scratching her arms had little effect but leaving marks on her leather jacket. The child growled low in his throat, and sneered and hissed when he realized she was to far out of reach.
"Max?! What's going on? Zack? Is it him?"
Zack was standing now, not knowing how to approach the flailing child, "Yeah, it's him but.."
"But what?" The urgency in Kat's voice intensified.
"He's the size of a three year old."
"Lydecker was right." She gasped, and broke out into an all out sprint.
The child rested his arms analyzing his situation and then without warning swung his leg up and kicked Max's inner elbow. It was a well-placed blow that caused a shock of pain in her arm, and her elbow to involuntarily bend. Now within reach he grabbed her head and turned her right ear toward him. He put his ear to hers and listened. Kat's voice, he had heard Kat's voice in the two-way radio.
Zack, figured it out first, "Kat talk to your son, he can hear you, calm him down."
Cole's head jerked away at the sound of Zack's voice but pressed again to Max's ear as Kat's voice streamed through. Finally the Kat came to the alley, she could not help but cry as she gathered her son up in her arms. Cole went willingly to his mother, the mother son bond still strong despite the weeks of separation. Finally, Cole feeling safe in his mother's arms, they found their way back to Logan's apartment.
"How was I supposed to know she wouldn't have fought me off and reported us to Lydecker? It was the only way I could do it without the possibility of resistance."
The argument made sense, but Max didn't want to admit it, "you could have warned me about it then."
"Max, what's done is done, let's just get her to Logan's, so Bling can stitch her up." He glanced quickly into the backseat where Kat lay. Despite how they felt sometimes all of them needed sleep eventually. During sleep was when the body worked rapidly on repairing itself.
"You don't know how much that scared me Zack."
"What?"
"When you rose that knife up to her, I thought you were going to kill her. I froze."
"I was counting on that."
"Excuse me?" Her eyebrows furrowed with confusion.
"You would have stopped me too."
"Well," she hated how he was right, "Of course I ..."
He finished the sentence for her, "You would have convinced us all that she had nothing planted on her and brought her to Logan's. All the while leading Lydecker right to what is seeming to be our only safe house left in this city short of hiding in the streets."
Was that true? Would Max have let her emotions get in the way, compromising everyone's safety? It was not a calming thought.
*****
It was decided at first light of the next day that they would radiate out from Logan's apartment. Having to only comb a third of the city made the daunting task much easier. They checked all the shelters and hospices, orphanages and hospitals. Where could a baby have gone? Max let a scary thought creep into her mind. This child was wild, she witnessed how catlike he was in appearance and behavior, which meant it would be like searching for one stray cat in the alleyways and crowded streets. Any chance she got she made her way to the roof of a building and use her vision to scan the streets. The sun was barely touching the horizon when Max noticed something. It may have been grasping at air, but at this point they were desperate for anything that may lead to Cole.
A man looked like he had been roughed up pretty badly, he had bruises all over his face claw marks scratched across his cheek. No, they definitely weren't claw marks since the scratches radiated out as opposed to being parallel. It was as though someone had placed their nails on his faced and then clenched their hand in a fist. The lengths of the gouges where not long enough to belong to a hooker, or any adult for that matter, and the bruises were too small to have been caused by an adults fist. So what if it had nothing to do with Cole? It was suspicious, and after weeks of fruitless searches, Max had to just go and do something. She easily jumped down from the four-story building and walked through the crowd until she was just in front of the guy. She slowed and then turned around, gesturing for the guy to follow her into the alley. Worked like a charm, he followed her into the alley like a puppy on a string.
"Hey big boy," she said when they were well into the empty alley.
"A hooker picking up a john, never heard of that one before, but hey I'm open-minded, I'll go with it."
"Where'd you get the bruises?" she kept a smile on her face, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, yah see, I like it rough..."
"Shut up you sick pervert," she didn't want to play anymore, dropped the coy look and used her forearm to push him into the wall.
"Yeah, just like tha-"
"Shut up."
"What are you gonna do about it? You tie me up? Slap me around?"
"Naw, I think I'll just..." Without finishing her own sentence she kneed him in the groin. "Ooops," the innocent look returned to her face, "Looks like you won't be getting any."
"Fu..." he tried to keel over but she had him pinned to the wall.
"Now tell me how you got all this shit on your face."
He squeezed the words through clenched teeth, "Some guys... mugged me..."
She focused her hearing onto his heartbeat and the slight variations tipped off he was lying.
"Not good enough," she said shaking her head, "Now am I gonna have to do that again? I don't want to, it kinda hurt my knee." She pouted but readied her leg.
"Okay, okay ... some guy kicked my ass cuz I tried to mug him." His heartbeat was still irregular.
"Nope, not buying that one either. Strike two."
"What do you want from me? I have cash, it's in my back pocket."
"I don't want your money and I really don't want to touch your ass. I'm just girl asking some questions. Why don't you help me out."
"I got into a fight with these guys at the bar..." Not wanting to waste her time listening to his lie, she kneed him again.
"Sh..." Tears welled up in his eyes.
"Damn, I forgot to warn you."
"This little kid beat me up alright. Is that good enough for you?" His heart rate was steady. Little kid?
"How little?" She backed away letting him fall to his knees, he wasn't going anywhere.
"I don't know, two or three years," It seemed the pain overrode his embarrassment of the situation and he was now quite willing to tell the truth.
"What did he look like?"
"Black hair...I think some orange"
That was all Max had to hear but it was impossible for her to believe. Could Cole have grown that fast? Though she tried to rationalize she couldn't shake the feeling that this was Cole. Maybe as a child he had super accelerated growth like how some animals take only two years to reach adult size. "Where did this happen?"
"South Market."
"Shit South Market." Having all the information she needed she walked away, "Did you hear all that guys?"
"Everything. It's worth checking out. I can be at south market street in ten minutes." Zack's voice sounded in her ear. Logan had supplied him with two-way radios the size of a bean, which fit snuggly in their ears.
"Where is that?" The sound of Kat's voice gave away that she was already running. Zack gave her the directions and they were all on their way to South Market.
*****
Max got their first, "Logan, you there?"
"Yeah."
"Any luck with the hover drone videos in the South Market sector?"
"A coupla people are walking around with bruises and scratches all over their faces. It appears they are coming out of an alleyway between that abandoned candy factory and the New Market Center."
"I'm there. Zack, Kat you got that?" Max followed his instructions, and found herself in an alleyway cluttered with debris. A larger pile of cardboard drew attention. She could sense movement beneath the pile that could have easily sheltered a young toddler. "Zack, what's your position?"
"Entering South market on the East side."
"Kat?"
"South Market North Gate in sight."
Satisfied with their position, she pressed on toward the pile. "Suspicious location in sight. Suggestions on actions?"
"Wait. I'm almost there."
"Confirmed." She stood there, staring at the pile. Two minutes passed and finally Zack could be seen at the other end of the alleyway. Max made a few quick motions with her hands signaling to Zack that the kid was probably underneath the cardboard. Nodding his head, he turned his attention to the pile. Thinking for a few seconds he signaled her back, informing her that he was going to approach and for her to be ready to grab the kid if he ran. She nodded a confirmation.
He approached so slowly he didn't make a noise audible to the normal human. But the child no doubt heard him coming as Max, focusing her ears, could hear him rustling underneath. Zack was within arms length of the cardboard now. As he reached to lift the top piece, most likely the ceiling of this makeshift shanty, the piece seemed to explode out toward him. He couldn't yell before the tiger child jumped at him. Already off balance, Zack fell back hard, the child on his chest looking at Max, his next target. Luckily Max had more time to compose herself and caught the child in mid air, as he leapt from the crouching position ten feet from Zack's chest to Max.
Holding him at arms length, the boy kept swiping at her face, since scratching her arms had little effect but leaving marks on her leather jacket. The child growled low in his throat, and sneered and hissed when he realized she was to far out of reach.
"Max?! What's going on? Zack? Is it him?"
Zack was standing now, not knowing how to approach the flailing child, "Yeah, it's him but.."
"But what?" The urgency in Kat's voice intensified.
"He's the size of a three year old."
"Lydecker was right." She gasped, and broke out into an all out sprint.
The child rested his arms analyzing his situation and then without warning swung his leg up and kicked Max's inner elbow. It was a well-placed blow that caused a shock of pain in her arm, and her elbow to involuntarily bend. Now within reach he grabbed her head and turned her right ear toward him. He put his ear to hers and listened. Kat's voice, he had heard Kat's voice in the two-way radio.
Zack, figured it out first, "Kat talk to your son, he can hear you, calm him down."
Cole's head jerked away at the sound of Zack's voice but pressed again to Max's ear as Kat's voice streamed through. Finally the Kat came to the alley, she could not help but cry as she gathered her son up in her arms. Cole went willingly to his mother, the mother son bond still strong despite the weeks of separation. Finally, Cole feeling safe in his mother's arms, they found their way back to Logan's apartment.