Disclaimer: Nothing's changed since the previous three chapters.
A/N: Thanks to alaidh and catherder for the beta, and thanks to you all for reviewing.
Chapter 4
Original Cindy looked at Max with concern as she stirred her coffee. Cindy had stayed the night, sleeping on the sofa as she had several times in the past. "Did you sleep at all last night?"
"Not really." The exhaustion and worry were apparent on Max's face.
"Max…"
"I don't sleep, remember?"
"I shared a crib with you. I know how much you sleep. Don't give Original Cindy the 'I don't sleep" BS, sugah, 'coz I know that just ain't true. Besides, you got the little one to think about. He needs his mama to get plenty of rest."
"He?"
Original Cindy gave a glowing smile. "Original Cindy knows these things. Never been wrong 'ceptin' maybe once or twice." She bit into her toast.
"You hear that in there?" Max patted her belly and cocked her head, pretending to listen. "You better listen up good, 'coz Auntie Original Cindy is always right, aiight?"
They smiled at each other. The smiles turned to a laugh when there was an answering movement from the baby.
"Doesn't that hurt?" asked Cindy, suddenly curious.
"Does it hurt you when someone runs their elbow across your belly? Of course it hurts. But it's a good hurt. It's kinda hard to explain…"
"Right."
*~*~*~
Logan took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. He'd worked on cracking the codes all night, but it was slow going. The coding was more complicated than anything he'd ever seen. He wondered what the installation really was – whether Deck had told him the truth or just some lie so that he could get what he wanted. But then he remembered what Max said, "He's never lied to me, not in any substantive way. Just never told the whole story." Logan pushed back from the table and did some stretches, easing the knots in his shoulders. He wondered what Max was doing, a soft smile passing over his face.
A soft beep from the computer got his attention and he looked at the screen to see that a video was playing. Where the hell did that come from? Then he looked more closely at the content. It was some sort of surveillance tape. The picture quality was grainy, the photographer had shaken the camera a few times, but Logan had no doubt as to the subject.
Logan tried to cancel the looping video and retrace the steps he had taken to cause it to pop up on his screen. He couldn't figure out where it came from, unless someone had hacked into the satellite feed to the laptop and sent it to him anonymously. There seemed to be a date in one corner of the video window. He squinted, trying to read it without his glasses, then put them on and tried again. It was no good. The script was too small. He paused the video and took a still image from it, enlarging and enhancing until he could read the date clearly. What he read, chilled him more than he thought possible and had him reaching for his phone.
*~*~*~
Max walked down the street headed for Jam Pony. Original Cindy walked beside her, wheeling her bike.
"Are you sure you wanna do this?"
"Do what?" Max frowned, not understanding.
"Listen to Normal all day."
"Oh, that," she responded. "Not really, but what am I gonna do if I don't go to work?"
"Sleep." Original Cindy's voice was deadpan.
Max flashed her a slightly irritated glance. "Yeah, right. That's so gonna happen."
Max suddenly stopped walking and looked behind her. She felt odd – like she was being watched. "Think I'll take the bus the rest of the way."
Cindy again looked concerned. "You aiight, boo?"
"I'm feeling kinda punk."
"Okay…" Original Cindy looked at her doubtfully.
Max looked back again. She wasn't sure…but there was something.
*~*~*~
Alec groaned as the phone rang, waking him. He'd spent the night at Crash after leaving Max – too much beer, pool, and noise. He was hung over. The last thing he wanted was to be rung at the crack of eight in the morning. He snatched the phone off the table beside his bed and snarled into it. "Yeah, whaddya want?"
"Alec?"
"Logan?" Alec sat up slowly, rubbing his head. "What's up?"
"Need your help."
"Well, I figured that. You don't call just to pass the time of day."
"Right."
Alec was slightly miffed that Logan couldn't see fit to say more than "right" to that. "Logan, why are you calling me at the crack of dawn."
"Aside from the inaccuracy of that particular statement, I need you to keep an eye on Max."
She is really gonna love that, Alec thought. "And why am I doing this? She can look after herself. That's just my opinion, you know."
"Yeah, I know. There's something going on. I'm not sure what yet, but someone is after Max…and right now, she's vulnerable."
"Well that's new," came the sarcastic response. "Does she know this?" There was silence. "Logan, you are going to tell her, aren't you?"
"She has enough on her mind at the moment."
"Jesus, Logan. You gotta tell her, man. She'll have my butt in a sling as soon as look at me. When're you coming back?"
"I-I'm not sure. Depends how long this takes."
*~*~*~
Logan put down the phone after ending his call. He thought about phoning Max, but didn't. Something told him that in her current jumpy state, she'd already be alert, and he'd done what he could. It was up to Alec to deal with her.
*~*~*~
Max gratefully sank into the first available seat on the rickety bus. She looked back again, trying to see whatever it was that had pricked at her sub-conscious, but it was gone. She was also glad to get away from Original Cindy for a while. Her friend was just slightly overdoing the mama routine and it had been getting on her last nerve.
Max didn't know why she was doing it, but she rummaged in her backpack for her cap, pulling it low so it shadowed her face, and tucking her hair under the back of her sweater – just causing a subtle change in her appearance. Gee, Max, you're a bundle of nerves. She wondered idly if it was hormones making her so nervous, or if there really was something out there. When she came down to it, though, she trusted her instincts.
When she walked into Jam Pony fifteen minutes later, the first wave of messengers for the day was already on its way out the door. Alec was comfortably sitting on the counter talking to Normal. She walked past, ignoring them both for now. Original Cindy was at her locker and Max joined her briefly. She roughly stuffed the cap back in her pack, shook out her hair, and pushed the backpack into her locker. She handed Cindy the clipboard she'd use the previous day. "Give this to Normal. Back in a minute." She gestured at the bathroom.
Cindy put out a hand to stop her for a moment. "You look as white as a ghost. Something wrong?" Cindy asked.
"I'm fine." Max's reply was a little too sharp.
"Don't bite my head off. I was just askin'."
"Sorry, guess I'm a bit jumpy." Max immediately headed for the bathroom.
"Remind me to beat on Logan's skinny ass when he gets back where he belongs. I ain't never seen you like this before," she said to the vacant piece of air where Max had been a moment before.
Cindy slowly walked out from the lockers. She casually dropped the clipboard on the counter beside Alec and waited as Normal handed her a bundle of packages.
"What, no wise-ass remarks this morning?" Normal enquired.
Cindy just looked at him blankly. "Huh?"
"Out of here. Bip bip bip."
Casting a look behind her at Max, she mounted the bike and headed out.