The Story of Max Cale
by pari106
Disclaimer, etc., found in chapter one.
Chapter Fifteen…
Max watched her kidnapper's face as a myriad of emotions passed over it. One moment
he was smiling…an infuriatingly amused smile that made her want to glare. What was so
damned amusing about this situation all of a sudden?
But then the smile disappeared, and Max realized she should have been careful what she
wished for. The man before her did not look amused. He didn't even look like the same
man. His face had taken on a severity it hadn't had before; an intensity that suddenly
stilled Max and made her want to take a step back.
What had she said to make him look at her that way?
Zack abruptly took a step forward, and this time Max did step away. The back of her
thighs bumped against the motel room's small dresser, and she had to catch herself on its
edge to keep from falling.
Then he grasped her by the elbow, making her swallow a small gasp.
"What…"
"Hurry up and finish eating," he told her strictly, signifying the sudden, strange end of
their conversation. Even Zack's voice had changed. It was now so devoid of emotion, so
harsh, Max didn't recognize it. What was going on?
"Why?" she found herself asking.
"We're leaving."
As Max dropped into her seat, watching her kidnapper warily, he turned his attention
back to his food.
Then he added:
"We're heading back into Seattle."
**** ****
Meanwhile…
There wasn't much to be seen or spoken of on IH77 that day. And no one to speak of it
to if there were. Officer Calhanen had learned that folks didn't linger on the highways
much anymore. Travel was highly restricted, and those citizens lucky enough to escape
those restrictions were generally the type to get where they needed to go and to stay out
of trouble along the way. Unless trouble was what they were after in the first place…
But even those types of people were few and far between there in Gillette, where
Calhanen was stationed.
Which made it all the more surprising that day when a nice-looking SUV came over the
hill just a click down the highway from where Calhanen was parked. Surprising since the
SUV was doing about 110. Or more. Officer Calhanen was taking a wild guess at the
speed; his radar was turned off. But he didn't need it to tell him that SUV was trouble. It
wasn't just speeding…it was speeding in both lanes of the road, and sometimes on the
shoulder.
So Calhanen turned on his sirens and gave pursuit.
**** ****
'Nice couple.'
That's what Officer Calhanen would have been thinking as the driver of the SUV rolled
down his window. He realized this as he took a mental note of the vehicle's license
number, make and physical description, as well as that of its passengers.
'Young Caucasian male…looks to be about thirty…young Caucasian female…looks to
be about twenty…blonde…'
He would have been thinking 'Nice couple.' If the driving for which he'd pulled them
over had been anything like "nice". And if the female didn't currently appear as though
someone had sent an electric current straight through her spine. Calhanen was not the
most intuitive of persons, he knew, but you just couldn't miss the kind of tension hanging
around the young strangers sitting there next to him. And around the young woman, in
particular. She was a pretty little thing…but something about her made him think "coiled
snake."
'You've been pulling too many dull shifts, Calhanen,' he thought to himself.
"Can I see your license, registration, and permit, sir," he asked aloud. Those were
Washington plates.
"Sure thing, Officer," the driver said with a friendly enough smile, as he reached for the
necessary papers. But then he asked, "Is there a problem?"
Calhanen just stared at him.
And Logan tried very hard not to wince. He'd been driving nearly 120 miles per
hour…of course there was a problem. What the hell was he saying? 'You idiot!' he
thought. Just as Syl said…
"You idiot!"
And then, with reflexes too fast for Logan to see her arm as it passed him, she reached
across and through the window…grabbed the cop standing there by the collar of his
uniform, and pulled him through, face first into the steering wheel. The horn blared as
the officer, unconscious, fell limp. Then Syl pushed him back out the window.
All in the amount of time it would take a human to blink.
Logan blinked. Silence ensued. And then chaos.
"What the hell was that?"
"That was me saving your stupid ass from any more embarrassment!"
Syl shook her head. "Sure thing, Officer? Is there a problem? Would he have pulled us
over if there wasn't a problem with driving like a blind chimp?"
Logan glared. His usually slow-building temper rising quickly after the roller-coaster
ride this woman had given his blood pressure. "Excuse me if I'm a little nervous getting
caught with a trigger-happy transgenic on my hands!"
"You've got my gun," was Syl's sour, narrow-eyed response.
"That doesn't make me feel a whole hell of a lot better," Logan grumbled, voicing his
earlier, now justified, concerns.
And that made Syl smile.
Before he knew what was coming, Syl had a one-handed chokehold on Logan's neck.
"Glad to hear it," she purred.
And for the first time in his life Logan thought that maybe having a woman purr at him
was not a good thing. At least not with this woman. He swallowed. Hard.
"Drive," Syl said then, a frown reappearing as she settled back into her seat.
She needed some distance between herself and Gillette before that cop woke up.
Then she'd introduce Logan Cale to a few other sounds she'd be glad to hear.
Like the sound of his bones breaking if he so much as looked at her the wrong way ever
again.
"And give me my gun back," she added, as an afterthought.
A/N: Okay, guys, what do you think? I know this is short…but it's all I could manage
right now. I'd originally planned a long scene with the cop, but the dialogue just wasn't
flowing. So I thought I'd let Syl cut the bullshit and lead us into the next chapter ;P Did
it work out okay? Please let me know.
by pari106
Disclaimer, etc., found in chapter one.
Chapter Fifteen…
Max watched her kidnapper's face as a myriad of emotions passed over it. One moment
he was smiling…an infuriatingly amused smile that made her want to glare. What was so
damned amusing about this situation all of a sudden?
But then the smile disappeared, and Max realized she should have been careful what she
wished for. The man before her did not look amused. He didn't even look like the same
man. His face had taken on a severity it hadn't had before; an intensity that suddenly
stilled Max and made her want to take a step back.
What had she said to make him look at her that way?
Zack abruptly took a step forward, and this time Max did step away. The back of her
thighs bumped against the motel room's small dresser, and she had to catch herself on its
edge to keep from falling.
Then he grasped her by the elbow, making her swallow a small gasp.
"What…"
"Hurry up and finish eating," he told her strictly, signifying the sudden, strange end of
their conversation. Even Zack's voice had changed. It was now so devoid of emotion, so
harsh, Max didn't recognize it. What was going on?
"Why?" she found herself asking.
"We're leaving."
As Max dropped into her seat, watching her kidnapper warily, he turned his attention
back to his food.
Then he added:
"We're heading back into Seattle."
**** ****
Meanwhile…
There wasn't much to be seen or spoken of on IH77 that day. And no one to speak of it
to if there were. Officer Calhanen had learned that folks didn't linger on the highways
much anymore. Travel was highly restricted, and those citizens lucky enough to escape
those restrictions were generally the type to get where they needed to go and to stay out
of trouble along the way. Unless trouble was what they were after in the first place…
But even those types of people were few and far between there in Gillette, where
Calhanen was stationed.
Which made it all the more surprising that day when a nice-looking SUV came over the
hill just a click down the highway from where Calhanen was parked. Surprising since the
SUV was doing about 110. Or more. Officer Calhanen was taking a wild guess at the
speed; his radar was turned off. But he didn't need it to tell him that SUV was trouble. It
wasn't just speeding…it was speeding in both lanes of the road, and sometimes on the
shoulder.
So Calhanen turned on his sirens and gave pursuit.
**** ****
'Nice couple.'
That's what Officer Calhanen would have been thinking as the driver of the SUV rolled
down his window. He realized this as he took a mental note of the vehicle's license
number, make and physical description, as well as that of its passengers.
'Young Caucasian male…looks to be about thirty…young Caucasian female…looks to
be about twenty…blonde…'
He would have been thinking 'Nice couple.' If the driving for which he'd pulled them
over had been anything like "nice". And if the female didn't currently appear as though
someone had sent an electric current straight through her spine. Calhanen was not the
most intuitive of persons, he knew, but you just couldn't miss the kind of tension hanging
around the young strangers sitting there next to him. And around the young woman, in
particular. She was a pretty little thing…but something about her made him think "coiled
snake."
'You've been pulling too many dull shifts, Calhanen,' he thought to himself.
"Can I see your license, registration, and permit, sir," he asked aloud. Those were
Washington plates.
"Sure thing, Officer," the driver said with a friendly enough smile, as he reached for the
necessary papers. But then he asked, "Is there a problem?"
Calhanen just stared at him.
And Logan tried very hard not to wince. He'd been driving nearly 120 miles per
hour…of course there was a problem. What the hell was he saying? 'You idiot!' he
thought. Just as Syl said…
"You idiot!"
And then, with reflexes too fast for Logan to see her arm as it passed him, she reached
across and through the window…grabbed the cop standing there by the collar of his
uniform, and pulled him through, face first into the steering wheel. The horn blared as
the officer, unconscious, fell limp. Then Syl pushed him back out the window.
All in the amount of time it would take a human to blink.
Logan blinked. Silence ensued. And then chaos.
"What the hell was that?"
"That was me saving your stupid ass from any more embarrassment!"
Syl shook her head. "Sure thing, Officer? Is there a problem? Would he have pulled us
over if there wasn't a problem with driving like a blind chimp?"
Logan glared. His usually slow-building temper rising quickly after the roller-coaster
ride this woman had given his blood pressure. "Excuse me if I'm a little nervous getting
caught with a trigger-happy transgenic on my hands!"
"You've got my gun," was Syl's sour, narrow-eyed response.
"That doesn't make me feel a whole hell of a lot better," Logan grumbled, voicing his
earlier, now justified, concerns.
And that made Syl smile.
Before he knew what was coming, Syl had a one-handed chokehold on Logan's neck.
"Glad to hear it," she purred.
And for the first time in his life Logan thought that maybe having a woman purr at him
was not a good thing. At least not with this woman. He swallowed. Hard.
"Drive," Syl said then, a frown reappearing as she settled back into her seat.
She needed some distance between herself and Gillette before that cop woke up.
Then she'd introduce Logan Cale to a few other sounds she'd be glad to hear.
Like the sound of his bones breaking if he so much as looked at her the wrong way ever
again.
"And give me my gun back," she added, as an afterthought.
A/N: Okay, guys, what do you think? I know this is short…but it's all I could manage
right now. I'd originally planned a long scene with the cop, but the dialogue just wasn't
flowing. So I thought I'd let Syl cut the bullshit and lead us into the next chapter ;P Did
it work out okay? Please let me know.