Friday seemed to be made just for me. Max knew I was going home Saturday morning, and I had asked her if there was something we could do for Eye's Only Friday night. I really had enjoyed our little runs for him previously. It was fun to stretch the muscles and use all of my abilities to their fullest. That wasn't something I could really do even as a dancer, and if felt good to do it. Max talked to Logan and he said there was a little something he needed done. There was always a little something he needed done. I wanted to laugh. He was getting something done all right.
Friday morning I met with Lazlos while Max was still at work. The girl he had was perfect. She even had dark hair. I told her to curl it for tonight, and gave her the instructions. She didn't have that dull, rabbit look in her eyes. The girl was bright. I had taken her aside and let her know there was going to be something special in it for her if she didn't fuck it up. She didn't need to be told that she would be the one getting fucked up if she deviated from my plans. I was going to kill her if she did one thing wrong. This was going to have to go perfectly, or else. I had one chance, and as much as I didn't like depending on someone else, there wasn't any choice.
The plan for Friday was simple and seemed to be a standard in Max's life. When she got off of work, we were going to go to Logan's for dinner and instructions. Then it was off to Crash's. I wanted to say good-bye to everyone. Maybe I would even have a few minutes with Original Cindy or even Sketchy. This was business, but there was always a little room for pleasure even in business, and I had been a very, very good girl the last couple of weeks. There wasn't anything wrong with a little kiss goodbye. Usually.
I met Max at her place when she got off of work. We were going to be taking her baby around, and I was looking forward to another ride on it. The girl knew how to work her Ninja. They had a bond nothing was coming in between. It made for a fun ride over to Logan's at the very least. It took my mind off of how precise that I was going to have to be. It was going to be tricky to say what needed to be said, and get them to see what I wanted them to without being obvious.
It would have been easier with Max a couple of weeks ago. Since our little talk, she had seemed a little more thoughtful around Logan, as if she was wondering. There wasn't that childish belief that he was so perfectly wonderful anymore. She was starting to think of him as a man with a man's needs. If she wasn't the one taking care of them, then who was? Privately, I thought that if he could, he was a do-it-yourself kind of guy. He had too much pride to deal with anyone seeing him as disabled, especially in that department. It didn't matter what I thought though, or even what he thought. It was all a matter of what Max was going to believe.
I liked going over to Logan's for dinner. The man was a self-righteous asshole, but he could cook. Tonight he had roasted herb chicken over wild rice with baby vegetables. It was a good thing I was doing runs for him, or I would have gained twenty pounds with the way he cooked. Food was fuel for my body, not pleasure. It was rare that I really sat down and enjoyed a meal. If I was with someone, I would, but normally it was just something I did while I sat at my desk going over some paperwork. I would not be able to do that with Logan's cooking. His was the type that demanded to be sat down and enjoyed. And I did.
We had fun talking over dinner and laughing and joking. I was getting a bit annoyed that conversation wasn't going in the direction that I wanted it to, but that was just the way it went sometimes. I couldn't get the conversation to get to the club, and get Max to say she would come for a visit. If she wasn't going to say that, then I was going to have to use Zack later, and that was the worst possible of the choices. He was the one that was going to have to talk to Logan, and that seemed like the fastest way to end up with the plan completely screwed. The only good thing was that I got part of what I wanted said out. We started talking about Eye's Only and the run tonight.
"Well," I said. "It's going to be forever before I can have fun like this again, and I figure I better enjoy it before the morning."
Logan smirked at Max. "See, some people consider it fun."
Max playfully glared back at him. "She hasn't ended up with a face full of mud."
I laughed at the two of them. "Well, I can't exactly do any of this in New Orleans," I said to the two of them. "I'm sure if I did it every night, I would start to think of it as work." I laughed. "But maybe not. I still don't think of dancing as work."
"So," Logan said to me, "You're really going home in the morning?" He didn't sound eager for me to be gone. He sounded almost a little disappointed. I guess he wasn't used to having someone around that wasn't a lost little puppy, and it was a refreshing change.
"I do have a life to get back to," I replied a little sadly. Max looked upset that I was leaving. "But it's not like I'm gone for good. I expect a few phone calls and letters and the like," I added, shaking my finger like a strict teacher at them. "And it will be your turn to come to New Orleans for the next vacation."
That broke the tension a bit. I guess Max was used to thinking of her siblings as the type that ran off and left her in the cold or the type she had to kill. I wondered how she would have classified me if she knew all of the things that I had done in my life. Would I be too bad to live then? I knew what Logan would think. He would want to rehabilitate me. So does Lydecker, you dumbass. You're both the same, even if neither of you would admit to it. For a moment, I regretted not doing Logan myself. Then him and Lydecker really would be the same kind of man.
Logan told us what we needed to do for Eye's Only. It was rather simple. We needed to break into some company and get their personnel records on an employee there. He explained what he was doing and why, but I really didn't care. It didn't matter to me in the slightest. I just needed to know how the chessboard was going to be set up.
After a while, Max checked her watch and announced that everyone was waiting for us at Crash. I looked over at Logan. "Why don't you come? It is going to be my last night."
He had this look like a mouse right before the cat pounced. It's almost funny, and can translate to "oh shit, how do I get my ass out of this one". I knew he wouldn't go. He preferred the solitary crusader thing. I bet he tied a sheet around his neck when we were gone and called himself Captain Wheels or something.
"I…I have a lot of work to do tonight," he replied.
I raised an eyebrow at him, and complained prettily, "You always are working. Don't you believe in having a little fun every now and then?" He got this cute little embarrassed look. Max was watching it like a hawk, and I knew what she was thinking. It seemed like Logan didn't want to say what he did for fun; maybe embarrassed to admit what he did for fun.
"I do have fun," he protested. "I had fun tonight with you two. Now I need to work."
"But it's going to be late when we finish with the Eye's Only stuff," I said. I glanced over at Max. "We weren't planning on coming back here after. This is your last chance to see me," I added teasingly.
"Until the next vacation," he said with a smug little smile like he had caught me. He didn't notice that the net was around him, not me. We all now knew that Logan was going to be alone all night long, and wasn't expecting us to return. "How about I promise we'll send you off at the airport tomorrow?"
I pouted playfully. "If that's all I can get…"
"C'mon," Max said, sounding a little annoyed. "Once he's decided to save the widows and orphans of the world, not even beer can distract him." She grabbed her jacket and started for the door.
I gave Logan a little smile, letting my eyes flick over him lazily. "Your loss," I informed him, and then we headed out the door. On my way past the couch, I slipped off my earring, and tucked it into the side of the couch between the cushions. Logan had some coffee brewing as he prepared for a long night, and I dumped in the Di-Ni before scampering out the door. Game, set, and it was just the match to go.
I did have fun that night at Crash. They were all there, and I had fun having a few drinks, dancing a few times, and in general living it up. I thought about taking Sketchy out back and making a man out of him, but then decided against it. I was going to be a lot more convincing later if I hadn't just fucked one of Max's good friends. It shouldn't matter, but it would to her. And since she was going to be the star of my little show later, so really, it was all her opinion that was going to count.
I said good-bye to everyone and told them all that if they were in New Orleans, they were to look me up, and I would show them how to have a real good time in a city dedicated to good times. Sketchy asked me if he could have a behind the scenes tour of the club. I grinned at him and let him know he could see the scenes behind, in front, up, down, left or right. He seemed pleased, even if the others were laughing. Cindy pretended to be offended that Sketchy would be getting all of the action until I told her that while Sketchy was checking out the scenes, I would be giving her a full tour of the action. Sketchy's crestfallen expression got the loudest laughs of the night.
About midway through the evening, I got what I was wanting. Cindy asked me why I was only wearing one earring. I touched my ear, looking confused, and then started looking around on the floor, complaining that they were my favorite pair.
"You been wearing one all night," Cindy said when I told them I must have lost it.
I wrinkled my brow. "I was wearing two when we got to Logan's," I said as if trying to talk out what could have happened. I perked up. "I thought I felt something fall off while I was sitting on the couch," I said as if realizing it.
"We can go back later," Max said. I could have done a happy dance right then and there.
"You don't think Logan would mind?" I asked. "He's not expecting us."
She shrugged. "Never complained before when I dropped in after being out." The subject was dropped as they started talking about other things. I was glad it was all funny. I wouldn't have wanted to explain why I was smiling so much.
Then it was off to work. Not much to it really. A little breaking and entering, and we had what we were after. There was a moment of excitement when a mouse ran across Max's foot and she jumped about a mile. We heard a guard coming up and had to do a quick disappearing act. I was hanging out of the window while she was plastered to the ceiling. It was almost funny in a way. In any case, we got the records we needed, and was out the door.
After we finished, we went up to the Space Needle for a while. I sat there with a smile, thinking about the girl and hoping she was doing as she should. I could almost see it in my mind. I had called her from Crash and told her to go. Earlier that week I had borrowed Max's key to Logan's and made a copy. The girl had it. I told her to knock, and if he answered, act like she got the wrong apartment. It had been long enough though that he should have had some coffee by then.
She would open the door and see Logan slumped over his computer, sound asleep. She emptied the coffee and took him into his bedroom, stripping him to his boxers and getting him into bed. She was going to have to muscle it, but girls like that were used to moving men around. He was so far out, he didn't even flinch. She had been warned not to leave any marks on him. She tousled his hair, and took off his glasses, and then stripped naked and crawled into bed with him. She had some more Di-Ni in a dropper and put a few drops down his throat. That would keep him gone until morning. Then she just had to wait. I told her to make it seem like they had sex. She would do as she had to. Now it was my turn.
"What are you smiling about?" Max asked.
I shrugged. "Life, the universe and all things," I replied. I grinned at her and took her hand. "Just thinking about how life has changed so quickly. I lost Ben, but got my sister back."
She smiled. "It's weird. You're leaving, but you're not really going to be gone. We can still talk and stuff whenever."
"You better believe that," I said. We were going to be talking again and seeing each other far more than you could expect you little bitch, I thought. I know something you don't know. And I knew how to make you do what I wanted, Baby Sister.
We spent a while up there talking, and then decided to head back to Logan's so I could get my earring. My heart was slamming in my chest. There was so much that could have gone wrong. I hated not having total control over everything. There wasn't anything I could do about it, but I couldn't stop worrying. If Zack did anything to fuck me over, I was going to kill his ass. If that whore fucked up, they would never find all of the pieces.
We rode back and Max went in first, heading to the computer room while I rooted around the couch. She came out looking a little confused. "I guess he went to bed," she said. She said she had found him sleeping at the computer more than once. I let her go to the bedroom door, forcing myself to wait for a second, and the following her.
Game, set, and…Max was frozen in place. The girl had been given a picture of Max, and did her hair and makeup to resemble her as much as possible. Lovely. She was draped over Logan's chest, feigning sleep. I wasn't sure what she had done, but the air had a musky, sensual odor of sex lingering. Maybe a norm couldn't pick it up, but I could, and so could Max. This girl was getting a tip like she never had before.
Max's chest was hitching like she was about to scream. I grabbed her shoulders and whispered urgently, "Back up, honey. Just back out of the room. Please, Maxie, I've been here before, just back out of the room. You can't kill either of them."
She took two steps back, and then turned and fled with a sob. The girl opened her eyes and grinned. I grinned back and tossed her an envelope with five grand in cash in it. If that didn't buy her silence, then nothing would. She knew to wait twenty minutes and then set the room to rights and then leave. I had to finish the game.
I followed Max out to her bike, where she was leaning on it, tears streaming down her face. For a moment I almost felt bad, but pushed that aside. At least he wasn't dead. I went to her and embraced her, feeling her body shaking with sobs.
"He…he…" she sniffled. "She…she…she looked like me!"
"I know honey," I said soothingly. "Oh God, Maxie, I am so sorry. If I hadn't of lost my earring, we would never have gone back…"
"No," she interrupted. "I mean, we're not like that…" she broke off and started crying again.
"Don't even tell me that," I said firmly. "You both knew what you were, even if you didn't have to say the words."
She jerked back, fury in her eyes. "You're right," she spat. "Motherfuckingsonofabitch!" My eyes widened. Max didn't use real profanity often. "I'm going to go back up there, and…"
"You are not going back," I said firmly. Our eyes met. "It's over. You go back up there and it just means you care." Her eyes firmed. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of caring.
"I'm going to go," she ranted," and I'll be dammed if I'm ever going to say his name again or see him and if anyone asks about him I'm going to…"
"Come with me," I suggested quickly. "I'm leaving real soon, just come with me."
"I can't leave Seattle," she protested, a little confused at the sudden turn of events.
"Just for a few days," I clarified. "Honey, you need to be with your family, and not with people that are going to ask questions and not let it lie. Just for a few days to get your head cleared." I took her lovely face in my hands. "I know what it's like Maxie. We're sisters. We stick together no matter what. Let me help you now." Tears were still on her face, but she nodded.
…And match.