Glad to hear you're all enjoying this – thanks so much for the reviews. They are very much appreciated!
Thank you once again Alaidh for the beta!
Chapter 4
Martin had moved from the doorway when he saw Logan and Max separate, and now moved cautiously along the pavement, still on the opposite side to Logan, making sure he kept his cousin in view.
Puzzled, he watched as Logan disappeared through the opening of a small, ramshackle warehouse, where double doors had once kept its contents safe from theft. Now there was nothing left in it to steal, birds being the only ones who found it useful as they flew in and out through the many gaps in the roof. Prime real estate, but who had the money to buy it?
With a quick look along the road, he darted across and had just cautiously put his head around the corner when an arm that felt like a steel bar suddenly hooked itself across his neck and proceeded to slowly squeeze and constrict his airway until he found breathing almost impossible. Terrified, he clawed at the arm, trying to splutter out, "I didn't do anything!"
A harsh voice in his ear grated, "You get your kicks outta pervin' on pretty girls?"
With relief, he felt the pressure on his throat relax slightly, and he was able to gasp, "I wasn't perving on anyone."
"Yeah, well what were you doing watching us from that shop – or else you're just plain sicko?" the voice added with disgust. "Do you know what I do to dirtbags like you?"
Max was enjoying herself, so she was a little disappointed to see Logan come forward at that point, having heard the noise outside.
Martin looked at his cousin with relief, at the same time a suspicion forming at the back of his mind that he'd been 'had.'
"Logan. Tell her I'm your cousin," he ground out with more control.
Torn between exasperation and amusement, Logan said one word with emphasis – "Max."
Max let go and pulled Martin roughly around. She eyed Martin in astonishment. "Logan, you gotta be kidding me. This dirtbag's your cousin? Never saw a Cale dress like that before," she finished disparagingly, giving him a particularly scornful once over.
Martin eyed her with fury, feeling the colour rise in his cheeks.
Feeling that Max had gone far enough, Logan said to Max, "You wanna check and see that no one else is listening in?"
Max favoured Martin with a final ironic scrutiny before heading to the doorway.
Martin looked at Logan. "I had no idea Max was your bodyguard." He tried to smile as he spoke in an attempt to regain his usual self-assured composure, but all in all it sounded more like petulance. "She has quite a sting in her tail."
"She does some legwork for me," Logan replied evenly, thinking if this whole deal had been only about Martin, he wouldn't go near it with a ten- foot pole. "I think you owe me a few explanations," he continued with a decided edge to his voice.
Leaning back in his chair, he had the distinct impression Martin was feeling guilty. It only served to confirm his own suspicions.
"What?" said Martin defensively at last, beginning to wilt under his cousin's stare.
"You knew you were being tailed?" It was more a statement than a question.
"I didn't know they'd go after you. I would have stepped in if anything had happened," Martin snapped back.
Logan seriously doubted that.
"Everything's clear," said Max, returning.
"Besides, you seemed to have everything well in hand – you didn't look too bothered about the whole thing."
"Had 'what' well in hand?" asked Max.
Logan grunted with exasperation. "It's not that Martin. It's that you haven't told me the truth. Firstly, what was in the envelope?"
"What envelope?" asked Max, hands on her hips.
"I had no idea they were after it," Martin said coldly.
"Okay, who's 'they'," put in Max, looking from one to the other.
"You wanna tell us the whole story this time Martin?"
"Someone had better," threatened Max.
Trying to assume a confident air, Martin stuffed his hands into the pockets of his bomber jacket and launched into an explanation.
"I had a P.I. look into Emma's disappearance when she first went missing. The stuff in the envelope was the little he'd discovered. The guy cost me a small fortune too," he added with disgust, "and that's all I was able to get from him."
"You did make a copy didn't you?" Logan had a feeling he already knew the answer to that one.
Martin's embarrassed shake of his head confirmed his expectations.
"Well, what was the P.I.'s name? We'll just get it from him again," shrugged Max.
"They fished him out of the bay four days ago," Martin admitted quietly.
Max and Logan exchanged glances.
"I don't know for sure if it had anything to do with my case," Martin protested.
"Where's the envelope now?" Max was beginning to feel uneasy about this whole affair.
"Two guys had been following me. I swear I didn't know they were here, Logan," he added quickly. "I wouldn't have given it to you if I'd known."
Max shot a look at Logan. "They took it from you?"
"Yeah."
"And you knew about this?" She directed her scornful glare at Martin.
Feeling as if he were being pinned to a wall with the daggers coming from Max's impossibly rich, chocolate brown eyes, Martin squirmed inwardly. He did have 'some' conscience, and he hadn't been happy to see his cousin escorted down the alley. He just hadn't known what to do. "Nothing happened, okay! They just took the envelope – isn't that right, Logan?"
Max looked at Logan suspiciously.
"Well, we can't do anything here," Logan said to Martin, unaware of the deadly glare Max was directing at his cousin. "You'd better come to my apartment and tell me what you remember from the P.I.'s stuff there."
"He's being tailed, Logan," Max put in flatly.
"Since when has any tail got the better of you?" he smiled up at her.
"Okay," Max relented, not entirely happy. "We'll all go in your car."
"I've got my car parked nearby," Martin said.
"Leave it," Max responded brusquely.
When Martin looked like he was going to argue, Max turned on him and said hotly, "You want Logan's help on this? Then you're gonna do whatever he says, or you can just forget about our help!"
Martin looked at her for a moment with dislike written on his face, but wisely said nothing and followed Logan to the door.
"How do you wanna play this?" Logan asked her quietly.
"Tell Martin where your car is parked. We'll head there first and load my bike in. How much time will we need?"
"It's not far from here – five should do it."
Turning to Martin, Max gave him his final instructions. "You understand what you have to do? We need to make a clean getaway when you come, so you've got to give us time to load the car."
"Of course I understand," Martin returned with more of his usual bravado.
Max watched him closely as Logan gave him directions to the Aztek.
"You got it?" she checked.
On Martin's nod of agreement, she followed Logan back out onto the sidewalk.
"So, you think he's on the level with us?" Max asked Logan as she caught up with him after unlocking her bike.
Logan cast a quick glance up at her, raising his eyebrows sceptically. "Guess only time will tell."
Dissatisfied, Max determined to keep a very close eye on Martin Cale.
"You wanna give me the keys and I'll go on ahead and load my bike?"
Logan stopped and tossed her the keys saying, "I'm parked just around the corner."
"Don't dawdle," she grinned with a quick backwards glance as she hurried along the sidewalk in front of him. Within seconds she'd turned the corner and was out of sight.
Logan glanced at his watch. They still had at least three minutes before Martin was due, but he pushed that little bit faster just in case.
By the time he'd arrived at the car, Max had her bike in and the driver's door opened.
Logan was just preparing to transfer when a figure came bounding around the corner at full pace as if a pack of wild dogs was at his heels.
Logan looked up to see Martin looking at them with relief, but then his cousin quickly cast another glance behind as the sound of a second figure approaching could be heard.
Taking the situation in a glance, Max turned to Logan. "Quick, get in, key's in the ignition," she snapped.
Once he was in she grabbed his wheelchair and stowed it in the back with her bike, while Logan started the car.
Martin had made it to the car by this time and had dived into the back.
Max closed the hatch and tailgate and turned to find herself confronted by a man holding a gun.
Without giving the man a chance to speak, Max's right leg stretched out and up with a speed almost too quick for the eye. Her foot caught the man on his wrist and hand, forcing the gun into the air as the man cried out with pain. Stepping in quickly, Max delivered a sharp right hook to the man's jaw and this time he fell to the ground without making a sound.
She was about to make a dash for the front passenger door when another man came around the corner.
"Don't you have a gun or something?" Martin asked Logan with genuine concern when the second man came into view.
"Max can handle it," Logan snapped tensely.
"Can't you do something?" Martin asked Logan frantically, whether out of concern for himself or concern for Max, Logan wasn't sure. Even less sure was he of what he was supposed to do to help Max since his wheelchair was inaccessible in the back of the car. Martin was, after all, the able bodied one. If the situation hadn't been so serious he would have laughed outright.
Instead of waiting for the second man to approach her, Max ran straight at him, at the last minute throwing up her forearm as if to defend herself, but in a sudden movement she changed her action and gave him a paralysing karate type jab to his larynx. The man sagged at the knees, trying to whoop in a breath with agonizing gasps.
Looking around quickly to see if Martin had any other 'friends' and finding the coast clear, Max ran around to the front passenger seat and dived in.
Logan had the car in motion before she'd even closed her door, and headed down the road as fast as he dared in a built-up area. He had no desire to be pulled over by sector police, and there was the danger of knocking down a pedestrian as people ambled back and forth across the roads around the market.
"Turn here," said Max, motioning to a road on the left.
Logan swung the car quickly, the tires screeching a little in protest as he turned, then turned again almost immediately into another street on the right that Max indicated, all the while his eyes darting to the rear-view mirror.
Max turned her head to look out the back. "No sign of a tail so far," she murmured.
Concentrating on the road ahead, Logan nodded.
"We'd better wind around a bit before we head to your place, just in case."
"Right."
"Either of you boys recognize those two back there?"
"Not me," answered Logan.
"Nor me," added Martin.
All of a sudden, Max turned to Martin. "We told you to give us five," she admonished sharply.
"I was waiting like you said, and then this guy showed up across the street and started heading towards me," put in Martin quickly.
"So you panicked and decided to bring your heap o' trouble down on us," she retorted scathingly.
Martin eyed her angrily. "Listen, it may surprise you to know that I'm new to all this, and I'm certainly not used to people chasing me with guns."
"It's a funny thing, when you lie down in the dirt, some of it tends ta stick," Max said pointedly.
"What's that meant to mean?" grated Martin, barely holding on to his temper.
In the front seat, Logan rolled his eyes. Maybe bringing Max in on this hadn't been such an inspired idea after all. "I'd say we're clear," he said to Max. "I'm gonna head home."
"Mind if I use the bathroom?" Martin asked Logan as soon as they were in the door.
"Sure. You know where it is."
Max waited until she was sure he was out of hearing before she turned on Logan. "You sure you know what you're doing? He's nothing but trouble, Logan," she stated flatly.
Quickly checking that there was nothing incriminating lying around that Martin may come across, at the same time picking up his notebook and pen, Logan simply said, "There's a missing girl out there somewhere who has no one to bat for her."
"So?" replied Max callously, "just add her to the many."
"You don't mean that, Max."
Max thought for a moment, before finally saying with a small, slow smile, "It's what I'd like to do if it meant getting Martin out've our hair."
Logan looked up at her, giving her a small answering smile back – maybe it was the way she'd said, 'our' ... like a partnership.
"Don't forget who he has for a father," he reminded her, looking away to close the sliding doors to his study.
"Yeah, well at least he has one."
Logan looked up at her. "It just goes to show that growing up with a mom and dad doesn't necessarily make for perfection."
"Maybe it would have been nice to have been given the choice," Max said quietly.
"I need a drink, Logan. Something strong," Martin started talking before he'd even reached the living room, his voice assertively loud.
"That can wait until you tell us what we need to know," Logan responded, setting his brakes and picking up the notebook and pen he'd put between his legs.
"There's not much I can tell you, Logan. The guy was hopelessly inept."
"Yeah, so 'inept' he got himself killed," put in Max dryly from where she stood at the window.
"Like I said ... I have no idea what that was all about."
"I'm glad you're strong-minded enough to resist feeling guilty about it," she congratulated him.
Logan folded his arms, fast losing patience. "Can we stick to the matter at hand? Martin, what was in the envelope?"
"Mostly just information I already knew: that she worked for Quintor, hadn't been seen there since the 6th of this month, the same day I last saw her, she didn't appear to have many friends, kept to herself, and I was about the only person she seemed to have regular contact with."
"An exciting life," said Max dryly.
"Nothing else?" queried Logan.
"Just one thing. He thought he may have had a sighting of her."
"Major news, wouldn't you say?" Logan suggested ironically.
Martin shook his head. "It was nothing confirmed. Sounded unlikely to me. Supposedly one of the people she worked with thought they'd seen her down at South Market."
"What's so unlikely about that?" asked Max.
"Emma go to South Market? By herself?" Martin looked shocked.
"Maybe she was dragged there unwillingly."
Martin shook his head. "The whole thing sounded pretty vague. They weren't sure it was her, just looked like Emma from a distance."
"Then why were you even bothering to give it to me?" asked Logan, becoming increasingly frustrated.
"I just thought I should give you everything I had. I thought the background information would be useful."
Max looked across at Logan. "Maybe there was a jewel amongst all the crap?"
"I guess we'll never know, will we," he answered her, their eyes meeting.
"I oughtta get back to work," Max said abruptly, quickly walking over to one of the kitchen counters where she'd dumped her bag.
Not bothering to excuse himself to Martin, Logan followed her. "Thanks for your help ... again."
"Sure."
"You'll have Normal on your case," Logan remarked, for once feeling the need to see her to the door.
Max let a subtle smile light up her eyes. "I'll tell him I had a flat tire. See ya."
Logan was about to close the door when Max turned back to him. "Logan, you'll keep me in the loop on this, won't you?"
Logan looked up at her a little taken aback - the question had been unexpected. He hesitated, not entirely sure it was something he wanted to commit to. He took a deep breath. "Yeah," he finally agreed.
At least his answer seemed to satisfy Max.
Logan closed the door, a puzzled but quietly pleased look on his face.
"So, is Max ex-military or something?" Martin asked jokingly, breaking in on his thoughts as he called to Logan from the living room end of the hallway.
"She's into martial arts," Logan said curtly, in a discouraging tone.
"You two seem to be quite a 'team' at any rate," he continued.
"Do you want that drink before you go?" asked Logan pointedly.
For an answer, Martin strode across to where he'd seen his cousin get the drink the previous evening. "Great. You want one?"
Logan shook his head, thinking that if he accepted it would only delay Martin's departure.
Pouring his drink, Martin asked, "So, have you two known each other long?"
Logan could feel the irritation rising. The last thing he wanted was for Max to become scuttlebutt for the Cale family. This was a side effect he hadn't counted on when he had asked Max for her help on this.
"She's just a friend, Martin. Like I said, she does some legwork for me."
Martin looked at Logan, but the sarcastic comment he was about to make about 'friends' died on his lips. He had quite a few memories of having been on the receiving side of Logan's sarcasm, and for all his confident manner, he still had a regard for his cousin's temper.
Instead, he nodded his head diplomatically, quickly gulped down his drink, and said his goodbyes.
Not bothering to see him to the door this time, Logan called after him, "You'd better watch your back. Whoever it is you're messing with are fond of the word 'kill'."
Martin came back down the hallway at that remark to look at Logan with a face that looked slightly paler than usual.
"They said that to you?" he asked, trying to appear calm, but looking quite shaken nonetheless. "What should I do?"
"I think I'd lay low and put up at a hotel where no one knows me, under an assumed name," Logan stated matter-of-factly.
"How can I do that? What would Dad say? He'd be expecting me at work."
Logan shrugged. "You asked me what I'd do."
Martin looked past Logan for a few moments, his mind quickly adding up all his options.
"I'll have to think about this," he said finally.
"Fine," Logan replied, unlocking his brakes, preparing to turn around.
With a distracted nod, Martin walked to the door and let himself out.
TBC