A/N: My apologies, I forgot to mention in the previous chapter that
Morristown, mountains etc. are all fictitious.
Once again, the reviews are fantastic – thanks so much. They make me feel very inspired!
Thanks again to Alaidh – I'm slowly getting the hang of this beta thing!!
Chapter 5
Logan was surprised to find they'd made surprisingly good time in getting to Morristown. It would have been a breathtakingly beautiful town in its day, nestled against the mountain as it was, it's main street lined with picture postcard shops built in the 1800's.
Before the pulse, the town had sold a variety of tourist items and beautifully crafted quilts, furniture, wood carved products and other handicrafts. The now barely readable signs told a story of a once thriving community. Sadly, most of the shops were boarded up; those not used as housing had become a home to the vermin of the area.
They drove once down the main road to get their bearings.
"My top pocket has the address of the agent we're renting the cabin from," said Logan to Max, motioning with his head.
She leaned across and took it out. "87 Main St," she read out, "Morris Drug Store."
"There it is," pointed Zack, as they drove past a building in slightly better repair than the others on the main street.
Logan was glad they weren't here to sightsee. Dilapidated timber sidewalks ran either side of the street, which had a high and a low side. It was definitely not wheelchair friendly – some parts had ramps, some steps, and in some places you simply had to jump to get back to street level. Logan noted that Morris Drug Store was on the high side.
Knowing what was running through his mind, Max said "I can get the key for you and pay - that is if you trust me with your wallet."
I'd trust you with my life was his immediate thought.
"Fine," he smiled.
"I say we split up and ask around, without drawing attention to ourselves," said Zack, his eyes taking in every minute detail as they drove through. "We need to keep a low profile. It should be a reasonably straightforward task to find where Charlie lives - said he'd lived here all his life."
Zack's mind was on the task at hand. He'd be glad to get out of the car. He'd found it surprisingly difficult being in such close proximity to Max – her total ease in Logan's company was an annoyance that was slowly eating away at him. He needed some action, he thought, stretching his muscles as he got out of the car.
"Logan and I will take this side," said Max, indicating the lower side as she went round to the back to get Logan's wheelchair out.
Zack followed her, his voice tight, "I said we should split up," he went to say to her, but one look at her face told him everything. "Have it your way," he snapped, walking off without another word.
Looking after him, Max sighed. Why did there have to be so much antagonism between Zack and Logan. It seemed as though Zack had decided to dislike Logan from the first time they'd met. She thought back to Logan's words in the hospital – "He cares for you Max, and I don't mean like a brother." Closing the hatch with a bang, so too did she close her thoughts on the truths Logan's words implied. She wouldn't think about it.
Once Logan was ready, Max said, as naturally as possible, "We should start with the bar."
"Best place for gossip," agreed Logan easily.
In both their minds was the memory of the incident with B.C. and the others in the bar at Cape Haven.
I have no intention of repeating that incident, thought Logan.
No way am I letting something like that go down again, thought Max.
Entering the bar, they both stopped on the threshold and looked around in amazement.
Logan suggested cautiously, "I think this is what you'd term eclectic."
Max made a face. "Where do they sell the beer?"
"I think that would be the er, ships hull."
Max looked around her. As far as bars went it was truly unique. The building looked as though it had once been a barn, which probably made the stuffed horse in the corner feel right at home.
Seeing her gaze, Logan murmured, "Barman by day, taxidermist by night".
"Whatever, he sure had a lot of clients," grimaced Max, as she stared at the various squirrels, dogs, birds, even a kangaroo, and of course there was the ubiquitous moth-eaten deer and antler heads on the wall. Max noted the macabre way many of the animal faces were contorted, as if they were death masks taken from their final moments.
"Kind of a fresh take on Madame Tussaud's," suggested Logan dryly.
"Death masks of animals?" grimaced Max.
"Ah yes, remember those last precious moments of your loved one."
Max shook her head, trying not to smile. "I need a drink."
"Well, it does have a certain charm."
"For a junkyard," replied Max, careful not to knock down a suit of armour as she walked.
"Now there's a find," said Logan with real interest.
Looking around, Max saw him wheeling over to look at an old pinball machine.
"Hey, Jurassic Park, no less," he smiled at her. "They had one of these in this little shop around the corner from where a friend of mine lived. We used to spend all our pocket money on it."
"What, no Xbox, or Playstation for a rich kid?"
"Oh yeah, I had those, but we just loved the feel of it, you know, pull the knob back, flip the flippers."
"Waste your money," added Max dryly, amused nonetheless.
"Well, not many eight year olds understand the value of money."
"This must be part of their technological display," Max motioned, unimpressed, to the various old computers, bikes, and almost any defunct electrical item you could think of.
Everything in the 'bar' was displayed in a haphazard fashion, on a shelf if there was room, or, more often than not, just lying on the floor. The owner was apparently allergic to cleanliness, thought Max, because it was obvious that it had been a long time since a duster had been used on the place – if ever.
"You get us a table, I'll get the beers, and see what I can find out about Charlie."
The 'table' Logan found turned out to be half a wooden door. Nobody had even bothered to remove the handle – a not unattractive brass piece. Waste not, want not he thought. Snapping on his brakes, he watched as Max made her way to the counter.
"Ahoy there," she called to a man behind the counter, who was engrossed in watching a TV screen mounted on the wall above the bar.
The bar was virtually deserted; the only other occupants were two middle- aged men who appeared to be engrossed in their own conversation, and after a quick glance when Max and Logan first came in, they now virtually ignored the newcomers.
The barman turned to face her, and it was clear by his attitude that the art of hospitality was not one of his fine points. He looked to be about sixty, his hair grey, face lined, but Max had the feeling his age would have been closer to fifty. She could imagine that working in a place like this would age you.
"Two beers please," said Max.
While he pulled the beer, she asked casually, "I wonder if you know an old guy called Charlie? I'm tryin' to find him."
"Yeah?" He sounded completely disinterested.
"I think he may be a relation of mine - heard he was in these parts, thought I'd look him up," Max elaborated with ease.
Just then, a group of men came in, obviously all from the same work place, as they were similarly dressed for the outdoors in heavy jackets and boots. Perhaps they worked for a timber mill, thought Max, looking at them. There were about ten of them, and they split up when they came in, some heading for the bar, others for tables while their friends got the beers.
Two or three nodded in a friendly fashion to Logan as they came in.
"Hey Brandon," called the bartender suddenly to a man, who looked to be about thirty, as he came in the door. "This here girlie's lookin' for old Charlie."
Max saw the man called Brandon look at her, a reasonably good-looking man in an outdoors sort of way. He seemed to be with two other men of about the same age.
As he came closer, Max said to him, "So you know Charlie?"
"Maybe," he answered. Max sighed - she knew the signs. What was it about these hick towns anyway? She decided not to look in Logan's direction.
Logan felt himself tensing, but he had no intention of interfering.
Brandon came up to stand close to Max. "I know Charlie reeeel well," he drawled. "Wouldn't mind knowing you reeel well either," he added.
"Yeah?" purred Max back at him. "So where does Charlie live?"
"What do I get if I tell you?" Sure of himself, he put a hand to her hair, considering her beauty.
Max resisted the urge to snap his arm, her own smile barely slipping from her face, mindful of Zack's words to not draw too much attention to themselves.
"You'll just have to see," she murmured suggestively, hoping that Logan wasn't watching too closely.
Brandon couldn't tell her fast enough. "To get to Charlie's, you head up the old mine road, about five miles north of town. It runs off the main road."
"Gee thanks." Max flashed him one of her brilliant smiles. "Have a coupla beers on me." And she passed on the two fresh beers in front of her.
It slowly dawned on the lumberjack that 'beer' was all he was gonna get. His two friends began to snigger.
"Whaddya find so funny?" he snarled at them.
Max turned to walk away from the bar, when Brandon grabbed at her arm. "I think you owe me a little more than that." He was a large man, tall and broad. Obviously he thought it would be easy to grab a kiss from the dark haired beauty before him.
Seeing his intention, Max hesitated for a moment. Keeping a low profile did not include starting a bar room brawl in a small town where you were the only strangers.
Making up her mind, she quickly wrapped one slim leg around the leg of the lumberjack, at the same time releasing his hold of her arm with a quick twisting movement. Before Brandon knew it, he was flying backwards and onto the floor. It was all done so quickly that anyone watching would have thought he'd simply lost his footing.
Wasting no time, Max turned, indicating to Logan with her eyes to head for the door –mission accomplished.
Most of the other men hardly bothered to look up. It appeared this was a town where you minded your own business.
Brandon jumped to his feet with surprising speed for such a big man.
Max had had to slow down while Logan maneuvered his way out of the bar. She could sense the large man coming up behind her, and tensed herself accordingly, but this time the man made no attempt to grab at her. With an ugly sneer on his face he ground out, "You little smart-ass bitch."
Ignoring him, Max followed Logan through the door, relieved to find they weren't being followed.
Wordlessly Logan pushed himself along the sidewalk.
"Well, we got what we wanted," Max said to him, casting a quick look at his profile.
"Yep," replied Logan, looking with interest down the road.
"You want me to get the key to the cabin?"
"Sure," he replied.
Giving her the money she would need, and their sector passes in case they were required as well, he said, "I'll wait here," and then seeing Zack approach from the opposite end of town to where the drugstore was, he added, "for ...Zack."
Biting his lip, he watched thoughtfully as Zack approached, his blonde hair standing out against the dark of the sky.
Max, busy putting the money in her jacket pocket, didn't notice anything unusual in his tone, or she may have had second thoughts on splitting up. She was just glad he'd taken the episode in the bar so well – reasonably well, she amended to herself. Sometimes, even now, she wasn't always sure of what Logan was thinking.
Logan watched her walk off, then turned to see Zack approaching.
For once he was pleased to see Zack's soldierly bearing, his own green eyes narrowing for a moment with purposeful intent as he watched the approach of the X5.
Logan was neither a vindictive nor violent man by nature, however it would appear to be a facet of human nature that once you're 'un'able to do something, you only desire to do it all the more.
He'd wheeled out of the bar knowing that Max wouldn't even give someone like Brandon a moment's thought, but in Logan's world, men didn't talk that way to women, and somewhere along the way, he still held to those ideals.
Then he'd seen Zack, and the seed of an idea had begun to grow.
"Max has gone to get the key," Logan said to Zack, wheeling back a little to let a few men from the bar pass by.
"What did you find out?" asked Zack directly.
"Max was able to get Charlie's whereabouts from a guy inside."
Zack showed no inclination to ask more, so Logan suggested, "You wanna beer while we wait?"
Zack thought for a moment, and then, deciding the idea had merit, he nodded slightly and went inside.
Logan watched him as he paused in the doorway, as he and Max had done. He saw the blue eyes sweep the room, but disappointingly his expression didn't change.
Remind me not to play poker with him, thought Logan.
They both headed towards the bar itself. Logan was pleased to see that Brandon and his two friends were still there, now seated at one of the tables.
Logan was about to order when Zack said, "I'll buy," and reached into his pocket for some money.
Not really surprised by Zack's words - he had a fair idea the blonde young man would prefer to be obligated to Logan as little as possible - he headed over to the same table he had been at before, leaving Zack to follow with the beers.
Waiting for the beers, Zack looked around with distaste. He had been taught to admire order and cleanliness – this jumbled mess had no attraction for him whatsoever.
Turning the brass doorknob idly, Logan wasn't quite sure how to play out his scheme. He was even beginning to think better of his idea, and wondered if he should just forget about the whole thing, when fate played beautifully into his hands.
Brandon and his friends were sitting immediately on Logan's right, the large man already regarding Logan with disfavour. He looked to be spoiling for a fight. Logan smiled inwardly.
It was at this point that a golden opportunity presented itself, and even Logan was surprised by the suddenness of it all.
Coming towards him, Zack said to Logan, "I don't think much of this place."
There was the sudden loud noise of another half dozen lumberjacks coming into the bar, calling loudly to their friends
At that, Brandon grabbed Logan roughly by the shoulder and said menacingly, "What did your friend say?"
Before Logan knew what had come over him, he heard himself saying, his head turned away from Zack, "He said he doesn't think much of your face."
For a moment, Logan thought the big man was going to let fly at him, but suddenly he turned towards Zack with a look of sheer pleasure on his face - these two men knew that girl, and now he was going to have some fun with them.
"Oh you don't, huh?" he snarled at Zack.
Zack had no idea what the man was talking about, Logan's words having been well and truly drowned out by the tramping of boots and loud voices of the lumberjacks, but he perfectly understood the man's intent. Fight.
Quickly putting the two beers down on the table, he looked up to see the large man attempt to throw a right hook to his jaw.
Zack's blue eyes glowed. This was exactly what he needed after a day in the car with Max and Logan
He avoided the blow with ridiculous ease, his own right hand glancing the other man's jaw. Well, he didn't want it to end too quickly.
At that point the other two men decided that they should join in as well. No one else in the bar showed any inclination to get involved, but watched with an almost polite interest.
One of the two tried to grab Zack from behind, but the Manticore soldier simply reached up and behind, grabbing the other worker under his arms and somehow managing to flip him over and send him sprawling to the floor.
Brandon meanwhile, had recovered from the light blow he'd received and was coming at Zack again, determined to take him down. Logan could see he was an experienced fighter, but he was no match for Zack. The man's left hook was intercepted once more, and this time Zack hit him with a little more force to the stomach. With a look of pain on his face, the man doubled over, even though Logan could tell that Zack had himself well in hand and was only toying with the man.
At this point, the third man decided to join the fray.
Brandon struggled to his feet once more and charged at Zack, all thought of finesse long gone, as did the man Zack threw over his shoulder.
Logan thought it was time he lent a hand. As the third man came past him, eyes intent on Zack, Logan spun his chair around so that the man ran full force into Logan, his shins catching on the footrest of Logan's chair and sending him crashing to the ground. Pleased with the result, Logan looked around to see Zack deliver the final blows and Brandon and pals sank to the floor, either stunned or deciding that 'down' was the safest place to stay.
Barely out of breath, Zack turned to Logan. "Nice move," he stated, downing his beer with satisfaction.
Yessir, he thought nothing like a fight to loosen the muscles
Logan drank some of his own beer, and then said with meaning to Zack, "I think Max should be back soon."
Zack held the door for Logan as he wheeled through, commenting, "I wonder what that was all about?"
"He just probably had a bad day or something, you know,' replied Logan airily. It was unlikely Max would have been so easily deceived.
The blonde man nodded, and together they went outside just as Max reached the door.
"That's all ..." 'set', she went to say, but stopped to look from Zack to Logan.
She thought they both looked suspiciously pleased with themselves.
"You didn't have any trouble, did you?" she asked.
Zack looked to Logan to see how he would play it.
Logan put in, "We just had a beer. Kept a low profile."
Max looked at him for a minute, but before she had a chance to say more, Zack said decisively, "We should get goin' and check Charlie's place before it gets dark."
Logan nodded and started heading in the direction of the car. He was keen to put as much space between Max, and the bar, as possible.
TBC
Once again, the reviews are fantastic – thanks so much. They make me feel very inspired!
Thanks again to Alaidh – I'm slowly getting the hang of this beta thing!!
Chapter 5
Logan was surprised to find they'd made surprisingly good time in getting to Morristown. It would have been a breathtakingly beautiful town in its day, nestled against the mountain as it was, it's main street lined with picture postcard shops built in the 1800's.
Before the pulse, the town had sold a variety of tourist items and beautifully crafted quilts, furniture, wood carved products and other handicrafts. The now barely readable signs told a story of a once thriving community. Sadly, most of the shops were boarded up; those not used as housing had become a home to the vermin of the area.
They drove once down the main road to get their bearings.
"My top pocket has the address of the agent we're renting the cabin from," said Logan to Max, motioning with his head.
She leaned across and took it out. "87 Main St," she read out, "Morris Drug Store."
"There it is," pointed Zack, as they drove past a building in slightly better repair than the others on the main street.
Logan was glad they weren't here to sightsee. Dilapidated timber sidewalks ran either side of the street, which had a high and a low side. It was definitely not wheelchair friendly – some parts had ramps, some steps, and in some places you simply had to jump to get back to street level. Logan noted that Morris Drug Store was on the high side.
Knowing what was running through his mind, Max said "I can get the key for you and pay - that is if you trust me with your wallet."
I'd trust you with my life was his immediate thought.
"Fine," he smiled.
"I say we split up and ask around, without drawing attention to ourselves," said Zack, his eyes taking in every minute detail as they drove through. "We need to keep a low profile. It should be a reasonably straightforward task to find where Charlie lives - said he'd lived here all his life."
Zack's mind was on the task at hand. He'd be glad to get out of the car. He'd found it surprisingly difficult being in such close proximity to Max – her total ease in Logan's company was an annoyance that was slowly eating away at him. He needed some action, he thought, stretching his muscles as he got out of the car.
"Logan and I will take this side," said Max, indicating the lower side as she went round to the back to get Logan's wheelchair out.
Zack followed her, his voice tight, "I said we should split up," he went to say to her, but one look at her face told him everything. "Have it your way," he snapped, walking off without another word.
Looking after him, Max sighed. Why did there have to be so much antagonism between Zack and Logan. It seemed as though Zack had decided to dislike Logan from the first time they'd met. She thought back to Logan's words in the hospital – "He cares for you Max, and I don't mean like a brother." Closing the hatch with a bang, so too did she close her thoughts on the truths Logan's words implied. She wouldn't think about it.
Once Logan was ready, Max said, as naturally as possible, "We should start with the bar."
"Best place for gossip," agreed Logan easily.
In both their minds was the memory of the incident with B.C. and the others in the bar at Cape Haven.
I have no intention of repeating that incident, thought Logan.
No way am I letting something like that go down again, thought Max.
Entering the bar, they both stopped on the threshold and looked around in amazement.
Logan suggested cautiously, "I think this is what you'd term eclectic."
Max made a face. "Where do they sell the beer?"
"I think that would be the er, ships hull."
Max looked around her. As far as bars went it was truly unique. The building looked as though it had once been a barn, which probably made the stuffed horse in the corner feel right at home.
Seeing her gaze, Logan murmured, "Barman by day, taxidermist by night".
"Whatever, he sure had a lot of clients," grimaced Max, as she stared at the various squirrels, dogs, birds, even a kangaroo, and of course there was the ubiquitous moth-eaten deer and antler heads on the wall. Max noted the macabre way many of the animal faces were contorted, as if they were death masks taken from their final moments.
"Kind of a fresh take on Madame Tussaud's," suggested Logan dryly.
"Death masks of animals?" grimaced Max.
"Ah yes, remember those last precious moments of your loved one."
Max shook her head, trying not to smile. "I need a drink."
"Well, it does have a certain charm."
"For a junkyard," replied Max, careful not to knock down a suit of armour as she walked.
"Now there's a find," said Logan with real interest.
Looking around, Max saw him wheeling over to look at an old pinball machine.
"Hey, Jurassic Park, no less," he smiled at her. "They had one of these in this little shop around the corner from where a friend of mine lived. We used to spend all our pocket money on it."
"What, no Xbox, or Playstation for a rich kid?"
"Oh yeah, I had those, but we just loved the feel of it, you know, pull the knob back, flip the flippers."
"Waste your money," added Max dryly, amused nonetheless.
"Well, not many eight year olds understand the value of money."
"This must be part of their technological display," Max motioned, unimpressed, to the various old computers, bikes, and almost any defunct electrical item you could think of.
Everything in the 'bar' was displayed in a haphazard fashion, on a shelf if there was room, or, more often than not, just lying on the floor. The owner was apparently allergic to cleanliness, thought Max, because it was obvious that it had been a long time since a duster had been used on the place – if ever.
"You get us a table, I'll get the beers, and see what I can find out about Charlie."
The 'table' Logan found turned out to be half a wooden door. Nobody had even bothered to remove the handle – a not unattractive brass piece. Waste not, want not he thought. Snapping on his brakes, he watched as Max made her way to the counter.
"Ahoy there," she called to a man behind the counter, who was engrossed in watching a TV screen mounted on the wall above the bar.
The bar was virtually deserted; the only other occupants were two middle- aged men who appeared to be engrossed in their own conversation, and after a quick glance when Max and Logan first came in, they now virtually ignored the newcomers.
The barman turned to face her, and it was clear by his attitude that the art of hospitality was not one of his fine points. He looked to be about sixty, his hair grey, face lined, but Max had the feeling his age would have been closer to fifty. She could imagine that working in a place like this would age you.
"Two beers please," said Max.
While he pulled the beer, she asked casually, "I wonder if you know an old guy called Charlie? I'm tryin' to find him."
"Yeah?" He sounded completely disinterested.
"I think he may be a relation of mine - heard he was in these parts, thought I'd look him up," Max elaborated with ease.
Just then, a group of men came in, obviously all from the same work place, as they were similarly dressed for the outdoors in heavy jackets and boots. Perhaps they worked for a timber mill, thought Max, looking at them. There were about ten of them, and they split up when they came in, some heading for the bar, others for tables while their friends got the beers.
Two or three nodded in a friendly fashion to Logan as they came in.
"Hey Brandon," called the bartender suddenly to a man, who looked to be about thirty, as he came in the door. "This here girlie's lookin' for old Charlie."
Max saw the man called Brandon look at her, a reasonably good-looking man in an outdoors sort of way. He seemed to be with two other men of about the same age.
As he came closer, Max said to him, "So you know Charlie?"
"Maybe," he answered. Max sighed - she knew the signs. What was it about these hick towns anyway? She decided not to look in Logan's direction.
Logan felt himself tensing, but he had no intention of interfering.
Brandon came up to stand close to Max. "I know Charlie reeeel well," he drawled. "Wouldn't mind knowing you reeel well either," he added.
"Yeah?" purred Max back at him. "So where does Charlie live?"
"What do I get if I tell you?" Sure of himself, he put a hand to her hair, considering her beauty.
Max resisted the urge to snap his arm, her own smile barely slipping from her face, mindful of Zack's words to not draw too much attention to themselves.
"You'll just have to see," she murmured suggestively, hoping that Logan wasn't watching too closely.
Brandon couldn't tell her fast enough. "To get to Charlie's, you head up the old mine road, about five miles north of town. It runs off the main road."
"Gee thanks." Max flashed him one of her brilliant smiles. "Have a coupla beers on me." And she passed on the two fresh beers in front of her.
It slowly dawned on the lumberjack that 'beer' was all he was gonna get. His two friends began to snigger.
"Whaddya find so funny?" he snarled at them.
Max turned to walk away from the bar, when Brandon grabbed at her arm. "I think you owe me a little more than that." He was a large man, tall and broad. Obviously he thought it would be easy to grab a kiss from the dark haired beauty before him.
Seeing his intention, Max hesitated for a moment. Keeping a low profile did not include starting a bar room brawl in a small town where you were the only strangers.
Making up her mind, she quickly wrapped one slim leg around the leg of the lumberjack, at the same time releasing his hold of her arm with a quick twisting movement. Before Brandon knew it, he was flying backwards and onto the floor. It was all done so quickly that anyone watching would have thought he'd simply lost his footing.
Wasting no time, Max turned, indicating to Logan with her eyes to head for the door –mission accomplished.
Most of the other men hardly bothered to look up. It appeared this was a town where you minded your own business.
Brandon jumped to his feet with surprising speed for such a big man.
Max had had to slow down while Logan maneuvered his way out of the bar. She could sense the large man coming up behind her, and tensed herself accordingly, but this time the man made no attempt to grab at her. With an ugly sneer on his face he ground out, "You little smart-ass bitch."
Ignoring him, Max followed Logan through the door, relieved to find they weren't being followed.
Wordlessly Logan pushed himself along the sidewalk.
"Well, we got what we wanted," Max said to him, casting a quick look at his profile.
"Yep," replied Logan, looking with interest down the road.
"You want me to get the key to the cabin?"
"Sure," he replied.
Giving her the money she would need, and their sector passes in case they were required as well, he said, "I'll wait here," and then seeing Zack approach from the opposite end of town to where the drugstore was, he added, "for ...Zack."
Biting his lip, he watched thoughtfully as Zack approached, his blonde hair standing out against the dark of the sky.
Max, busy putting the money in her jacket pocket, didn't notice anything unusual in his tone, or she may have had second thoughts on splitting up. She was just glad he'd taken the episode in the bar so well – reasonably well, she amended to herself. Sometimes, even now, she wasn't always sure of what Logan was thinking.
Logan watched her walk off, then turned to see Zack approaching.
For once he was pleased to see Zack's soldierly bearing, his own green eyes narrowing for a moment with purposeful intent as he watched the approach of the X5.
Logan was neither a vindictive nor violent man by nature, however it would appear to be a facet of human nature that once you're 'un'able to do something, you only desire to do it all the more.
He'd wheeled out of the bar knowing that Max wouldn't even give someone like Brandon a moment's thought, but in Logan's world, men didn't talk that way to women, and somewhere along the way, he still held to those ideals.
Then he'd seen Zack, and the seed of an idea had begun to grow.
"Max has gone to get the key," Logan said to Zack, wheeling back a little to let a few men from the bar pass by.
"What did you find out?" asked Zack directly.
"Max was able to get Charlie's whereabouts from a guy inside."
Zack showed no inclination to ask more, so Logan suggested, "You wanna beer while we wait?"
Zack thought for a moment, and then, deciding the idea had merit, he nodded slightly and went inside.
Logan watched him as he paused in the doorway, as he and Max had done. He saw the blue eyes sweep the room, but disappointingly his expression didn't change.
Remind me not to play poker with him, thought Logan.
They both headed towards the bar itself. Logan was pleased to see that Brandon and his two friends were still there, now seated at one of the tables.
Logan was about to order when Zack said, "I'll buy," and reached into his pocket for some money.
Not really surprised by Zack's words - he had a fair idea the blonde young man would prefer to be obligated to Logan as little as possible - he headed over to the same table he had been at before, leaving Zack to follow with the beers.
Waiting for the beers, Zack looked around with distaste. He had been taught to admire order and cleanliness – this jumbled mess had no attraction for him whatsoever.
Turning the brass doorknob idly, Logan wasn't quite sure how to play out his scheme. He was even beginning to think better of his idea, and wondered if he should just forget about the whole thing, when fate played beautifully into his hands.
Brandon and his friends were sitting immediately on Logan's right, the large man already regarding Logan with disfavour. He looked to be spoiling for a fight. Logan smiled inwardly.
It was at this point that a golden opportunity presented itself, and even Logan was surprised by the suddenness of it all.
Coming towards him, Zack said to Logan, "I don't think much of this place."
There was the sudden loud noise of another half dozen lumberjacks coming into the bar, calling loudly to their friends
At that, Brandon grabbed Logan roughly by the shoulder and said menacingly, "What did your friend say?"
Before Logan knew what had come over him, he heard himself saying, his head turned away from Zack, "He said he doesn't think much of your face."
For a moment, Logan thought the big man was going to let fly at him, but suddenly he turned towards Zack with a look of sheer pleasure on his face - these two men knew that girl, and now he was going to have some fun with them.
"Oh you don't, huh?" he snarled at Zack.
Zack had no idea what the man was talking about, Logan's words having been well and truly drowned out by the tramping of boots and loud voices of the lumberjacks, but he perfectly understood the man's intent. Fight.
Quickly putting the two beers down on the table, he looked up to see the large man attempt to throw a right hook to his jaw.
Zack's blue eyes glowed. This was exactly what he needed after a day in the car with Max and Logan
He avoided the blow with ridiculous ease, his own right hand glancing the other man's jaw. Well, he didn't want it to end too quickly.
At that point the other two men decided that they should join in as well. No one else in the bar showed any inclination to get involved, but watched with an almost polite interest.
One of the two tried to grab Zack from behind, but the Manticore soldier simply reached up and behind, grabbing the other worker under his arms and somehow managing to flip him over and send him sprawling to the floor.
Brandon meanwhile, had recovered from the light blow he'd received and was coming at Zack again, determined to take him down. Logan could see he was an experienced fighter, but he was no match for Zack. The man's left hook was intercepted once more, and this time Zack hit him with a little more force to the stomach. With a look of pain on his face, the man doubled over, even though Logan could tell that Zack had himself well in hand and was only toying with the man.
At this point, the third man decided to join the fray.
Brandon struggled to his feet once more and charged at Zack, all thought of finesse long gone, as did the man Zack threw over his shoulder.
Logan thought it was time he lent a hand. As the third man came past him, eyes intent on Zack, Logan spun his chair around so that the man ran full force into Logan, his shins catching on the footrest of Logan's chair and sending him crashing to the ground. Pleased with the result, Logan looked around to see Zack deliver the final blows and Brandon and pals sank to the floor, either stunned or deciding that 'down' was the safest place to stay.
Barely out of breath, Zack turned to Logan. "Nice move," he stated, downing his beer with satisfaction.
Yessir, he thought nothing like a fight to loosen the muscles
Logan drank some of his own beer, and then said with meaning to Zack, "I think Max should be back soon."
Zack held the door for Logan as he wheeled through, commenting, "I wonder what that was all about?"
"He just probably had a bad day or something, you know,' replied Logan airily. It was unlikely Max would have been so easily deceived.
The blonde man nodded, and together they went outside just as Max reached the door.
"That's all ..." 'set', she went to say, but stopped to look from Zack to Logan.
She thought they both looked suspiciously pleased with themselves.
"You didn't have any trouble, did you?" she asked.
Zack looked to Logan to see how he would play it.
Logan put in, "We just had a beer. Kept a low profile."
Max looked at him for a minute, but before she had a chance to say more, Zack said decisively, "We should get goin' and check Charlie's place before it gets dark."
Logan nodded and started heading in the direction of the car. He was keen to put as much space between Max, and the bar, as possible.
TBC