Reaching for The Moon by ThePekingNoodle
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Chapter 14: Gone in Sixty Seconds
In which our hero and heroine engage in a bit of thievery…
Logan stared down at Max as he took in the changes in her since he had last seen her five years earlier. She had been beautiful as a young girl, but now he could only describe her as stunning. He couldn't exactly place what the physical differences were, but she was undeniably a woman now. Even dressed in a simple black sweater and pants, and wearing no makeup, she took his breath away.
Max was studying Logan as openly as he was her. She had thought he was handsome five years earlier, and he was still the most beautiful man she had ever seen. But there was a different air about him now. He seemed harder and there was an air of danger and ruthlessness that hung over him. She hadn't missed his motion toward his pocket to what she assumed was a gun. The charming sophisticated playboy she had known had changed into a man with a mission. Max knew all about those kinds of men and what they were capable of.
"How long will they be out?" Logan broke the silence as he glanced towards the two unconscious men.
Max shrugged, "Not sure."
"I don't want to stick around to find out. Get your things and let's get out of here." Logan was all business.
Max appreciated the need for haste, but she wouldn't have minded a bit more of a hello, maybe even a friendly kiss. "Only thing I have is my purse. A girl on the run doesn't exactly have the luxury of matched luggage," she quipped. "Not to mention that I just ruined my manicure."
Logan looked at her, wondering if he was going to have to deal with a spoiled society miss on the trip to Seattle, but she had already gone into the cabin. He busied himself while she was inside, and when she came out it was to find that he was using a can of gasoline to soak the cabin's wooden walls.
"Drag them back where they'll be safe." He instructed her brusquely and she complied wordlessly. When he finished, Logan glanced back to be sure she was out of range and took a box of matches from his pocket.
"Get in the car and turn it around," he instructed her, not even bothering to ask if she could drive. Max did as he asked and then slid into the passenger seat. She turned around in time to see flames eating their way up the cabin walls, and then Logan was in the driver's seat and the Aztek was heading away.
"Did you have to burn it down?" she asked mildly.
"There was no time to scrub it for prints, and I didn't want to leave any proof of who was there. Those goons will remember Michael Eastman, but they never saw who knocked them out, and I was in shadow so they don't know my face."
"They saw this car." Max pointed out.
Logan frowned, "My carelessness. We'll have to get rid of it. Guess I'll be buying Bling a new car."
"Who's Bling?" Max asked.
"The person I borrowed this car from. A Lamborghini wouldn't have exactly been the best car to take over the river and through the woods, not to mention it does tend to stand out a bit."
Max laughed at that, and Logan looked at her and smiled in spite of the seriousness of their situation. When they reached the main road he turned in the opposite direction from the main gates to Nathan's estate. "I don't suppose you know if this road leads anywhere?" he asked her.
"I'm not an idiot, Logan" Max was stung by his assumption. "Follow this for about five miles and we'll come out onto a two lane road. That will take us back to the highway."
"How far from there to Coeur d'Alene?" he asked. "We need to get rid of this car quickly."
"Turn here." Max suddenly directed as they came up on another estate driveway. Logan obeyed as he looked into the rear view mirror to see what she had spotted.
Max laughed. "There's no one back there, but I think I know where we can get another car."
Logan followed her directions and soon enough they came to another estate home. This one was completely dark and appeared deserted. They followed the driveway around to a large garage in the rear.
"The Gilberts always go south for the winter." Max explained as she jumped out of the Aztek. Before Logan could ask what she was planning, she had gone to the garage where she quickly punched numbers into a keypad. One of the doors began to rise revealing a black Cadillac SUV parked inside. Logan watched bemused as Max ran in, and within minutes had the engine running and had pulled it outside.
He pulled the Aztek into the garage in its place. Max came to help and within a few minutes they had transferred everything from the Aztek into the SUV. Logan took a small screwdriver and quickly unscrewed the metal plate with the Aztek's identification number from the dashboard. He reached into his bag and pulled out another plate, which he attached in its place. He also pulled out a package of paperwork, which he left in the glove compartment. After he took one last look to be sure nothing had been left in the Aztek, he climbed out and locked its doors then walked over to where Max waited in the SUV.
"There's more to you than meets the eye, Max Guevara." He gave her a long look and she felt a shiver as their eyes met.
"I could say the same thing about you, Logan Cale."
Their eyes locked and this time each of them was suddenly intensely aware of the other, seated as they were so close to each other. Logan's eyes dropped to Max's lips and she felt a tingle of anticipation. But then he gathered himself together and looked away, and the spell was broken.
"We need to get out of here. Even with a different car we don't want any friends of those two back there, stopping us and asking us questions that we don't want to answer." He switched on the headlights and pulled away from the house.
They reached the highway with no problems and Logan set the car to a comfortable cruising speed. He seemed to relax as the day grew later with more cars on the road, and there was no sign of pursuit.
Once he was satisfied they were not going to be followed, he directed Max to look in his bag for an envelope with her name on it. She found it and spilled the documents in it out into her lap. "What are these, Logan?"
"Your new identity. Linetta Guevara never existed. Put those identity papers in your wallet and then read through the background your father created for you. Memorize it. Your safety depends on you knowing it."
"Where is my father, Logan?"
He glanced over at her in surprise as he realized that she didn't know about her parents. His voice softened. "We'll talk about that later. Right now I need you to study those papers.
"Where are we going?" Max persisted. Something in his voice told her what she didn't want to know about her parents, so she let it drop for the time being.
"I'm taking you home with me for now. We'll figure out the rest as we go." With that Logan reached for his cell phone and punched in a number. "Bling? I found her and we're on our way. I need you to arrange to return a car and pick up yours. No, I don't want you doing it. This has to be arms length, no connections back to you or me. If it can't be done you can start picking out a new car." He listened a moment and then laughed shortly. "See you soon."
End of Chapter 14…TBC…
