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The Cavalry

Max was at crash shooting pool with Sketchy. Sketchy was going on about his latest scheme. Max was only half listening. She knew that she should be listening, because eventually she was going to have to bail him out of whatever screwed up situation that he got himself into. It would be easier later if she already knew what was going on. Perhaps she could even talk him out if it, if she knew about it in advance. She knew that she should be listening, but for some reason she was just too distracted. Unfortunately for Sketchy, Max was also too distracted to remember to tone down her game, and ran the table on her first turn.

"Damn, Boo. You got some skills!" O.C. said from the sidelines as she finished her beer. "You been practicing with your roller boy?"

"No. And don't call him roller boy." Max held out her hand for her winnings.

"Whatever you say, Boo. But he sure been keepin' you on a short leash lately." O.C. refilled her glass from the pitcher. Max just rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Well, whatever you two have been up to, it sure improved your game. I only got one shot!" Sketchy reluctantly handed over a bill.

"If that improved you pool game I would be a master!" laughed Kendra. "I would love to find a rich boyfriend. What I can't figure is; why are you here with us?"

Max sighed. She was getting so tired of this argument. She couldn't tell them the truth, and suddenly she couldn't think of a reason she cared what they thought. Wouldn't it be easier if they thought Logan was her boyfriend? Wasn't like she was going to let anyone else get close to her. Still, she didn't like being thought of as a kept woman. "It's not like we are joined at the hip!" Max's pager picked that exact instant to go off. She checked the number on her hip. It was Bling's cell phone.

O.C. and Kendra caught the humor and laughed. Sketchy joined in even though he missed the irony.

"Roller boy!" Kendra and O.C. said to each other.

"First, his name is Logan. Second, it's not from him. It's from Bling," Max stated.

"Who's Bling?" Sketchy asked.

"Logan's physical therapist," Max reluctantly replied.

"Uh-huh. Short leash!" O.C. smiled and nodded wisely. Kendra just laughed.

Max sighed. She knew it was no use arguing with them. What could she tell them? "I'm just going to see what he needs." Max put the pool cue down and handed Sketchy the bill back "Here, go buy another pitcher and I'll be right back"

She wasn't.

On her way to the payphone in the back of Crash, Max felt her adrenaline start flowing. She knew something was wrong even before Bling answered.

"Max?"

"Bling, what's wrong?"

"Some one grabbed Logan. Meet me at the safe house."

"Who? Where is he now?"

"I don't know. I wasn't there. He went with Ethan, he's already at the safe house getting patched up."

"Where's GPS say he is?"

"They are taking him somewhere in Sector 7. Meet me at the safe house."

It took all of Max's self control not to blur out of Crash.

Sketchy noted her running up the stairs and grinned like the idiot he was. "Booty call."

O.C. and Kendra looked at each other. "You think Logan is OK?"

"Dunno. I mean, know he's in a chair and all. You think something else is wrong with him?" O.C. asked.

"Maybe that's why Max has been spending so much time with him lately." Kendra only then began to worry.

"Max would tell us if something was wrong, right?" Sketchy asked. O.C. and Kendra just looked at him like the idiot he was.

Once Max got outside she let go. She hoped no one saw her as she ran to her Ninja and pushed it to the limit. Max raced across Seattle at speeds no ordinary human could control a motorcycle at.

Max ran into the safe house. Bling and three men she didn't recognize where around the computer.

"Look at how many of them there are," Dan said.

"We can't do this. We should call the cops." Ethan tried to be the voice of reason.

"What makes you think that the cops are going to help?" Jesse replied bitterly.

"We have to try something," Dan insisted.

"That's crazy," Ethan reiterated. "It would be suicide!"

"I think that Logan is Eyes Only," Dan said quietly.

"Tell me you are kidding." Bling didn't know what else to say.

"No. I am not. Think about it ..." Dan started to expose his theory when Max interrupted him. She had heard enough.

"Report!" she shouted, startling all of them.

"Max …" Bling began.

"Where is he?" she demanded.

"His signal stopped moving. We are pretty sure he is inside. But the place is an armed camp." Ethan gestured to the computer screen with his one good hand.

'My specialty,' thought Max, as a grim smile crossed her face. She laughed softly at the irony. "Show me," she commanded.

Bling did. "There are two goons at the front gate, two more on the roof. And those are just the ones that Alison could get shots of without being noticed. The whole thing has a 12 foot fence around it. No telling how many inside."

'Exactly the type of situation I was made to deal with,' Max thought. She reached out and scrolled through all the pictures that Alison sent. She did a good job. This was good reconnaissance. "What's the address?"

"2715 SW Yancy," Bling answered.

"What are you going to do?" asked Jessie. He knew he wasn't very active in the Eyes Only network, but he had never even heard of Max. He just couldn't believe that this little female could be of any help.

"Go get Logan," Max replied calmly as she zipped her black leather jacket up over the too bright shift she wore to Crash and retrieved her stash of clothing from a dresser.

"Umm, Max? Listen, I appreciate your enthusiasm but…" Ethan began.

"Any of you have any combat experience?" Max asked the new faces as she changed her shoes. They all shook their heads. "Then all I need from you is to drive the car we put Logan in when I get him out."

"You can't just go up to the front gate!" Jessie stated incredulously.

"Fence is only about 12 feet. Not a problem." Max stated. She was far beyond caring about her 'secret identity'; they might actual obey better if they were a little frightened of her.

"Not a problem?" Ethan asks disbelievingly.

Max grabbed a headset. "You" she pointed to Ethan, "Stay here and monitor. The rest of you take a car and follow after in about 10 minutes. Stay at least five blocks away until I signal."

"And you're just going to march in there and do what?" Dan asked.

"Get to Logan, take down anyone in my way, get Logan out."

"We don't even know if Logan is still alive." Dan was chivalrously trying to talk the little woman out of this reckless course of action.

"If he's not then there is going to be a bloodbath that would make 'dad' proud, and you won't want to be anywhere near it." Max's voice was cold, her expression grim. She turned on her heal and dashed out of the room at transgenic speed. Four scared men stared after her in silence for some time before anyone found a voice.

"Um … Bling?"

To Be Continued ...