Author's note: Thanks for all those who reviewed. You know the drill about who's owned by what. Much of Nace's information is provided by Soul Reaver. Lopresti, Lascari and Storm are mine. Enjoy and remember: Be kind, R & R…
Chapter 2: On the Road Again
Next day, 7:00 AM
Deric stifled a yawn as he sat outside ACME, awaiting his partner to come back from the ACME commissary with coffee and for the Special Agent from the FBI to show up with their wheels for their special assignment. 'All I know is it better be something with some leg room,' Deric thought, 'If I have to drive all the way to D.C. in some little wind-up car, there will be blood.' Standing up, Deric stretched his six-foot, four-inch frame to try and stimulate blood flow, to help wake himself up. With his size, trying to drive cross country in a small car would, indeed, be rough. Deric turned when he heard the automatic doors whoosh open revealing Nace carrying two Styrofoam cups in his hands.
"Ah, my hero." Deric said, taking one of the cups as Nace sat down.
"Any sign of them?" Nace asked, referring to the FBI. Deric shook his head before taking a sip of the coffee. "When do you think they're gonna show?" Deric shrugged his shoulders. Just then, a Chevy Avalanche followed by a Crown Victoria pulled into the parking lot, heading for the main entrance. The two vehicles pulled up to where Deric and Nace were and stopped. Agent Lascari stepped out of the truck, which Deric noticed resembled his own truck, right down to the color.
"Morning, detectives." Tom shook both detectives' hands. "So, Detective Storm," he addressed Deric, "does this," Lascari patted the truck, "meet your approval?"
"Oh yeah." Deric had a huge grin on his face. "Is this an FBI special?"
Lascari nodded. Patting the hood of the car, he said, "Reinforced bulletproof steel." Tapping on the window, "These windows are laced with Kevlar, so they'll absorb everything except a point blank shot or a missile. It also has a GPS system and a 5-CD disc changer." He sounded like a car salesman selling a Sherman tank.
Two agents stepped out of the Crown Victoria with a man between them in shackles. "So I'm guessing this is Mr. Lopresti?" The man matched the picture that was in the file. Lopresti was a short man with a small bald spot forming on the top of his head, with large glasses and a beak-like nose. He was the stereotypical nerdy accountant. Deric figured the only reason he was a prominent witness was because he knew their accounting practices by memory.
"Okay, guys," Lascari tossed Deric the keys, "here's the drill: you have five days to get Lopresti to D.C. I would try to drive in four to five hour shifts." He handed Nace a large manila envelope, "Here's a set of driving directions, as well as money for food, tolls, gas and hotels. Try to stay under the radar."
"Shouldn't be too hard…" Nace said, going over the directions, which were a pretty straight shot to D.C. Deric snorted, knowing that their luck wasn't that good. Once the paperwork was filled out, Deric, Nace, and Lopresti filed into the truck and headed out onto the road.
After driving for ten minutes, just listening to a sports talk radio station, Deric decided to strike up a conversation. "Okay, you've been my partner for about a month now, and I realized I don't know very much about you." Deric said, 'Tell me a little about yourself, like where you're from, family, et cetera, et cetera."
"Well, I was born in Wellington, New Zealand and my family moved to Johannesburg when I was four. My father and grandfather and grandfather are native South Africans. We moved after my mum had finished her obstetrics residency and my father was reassigned with Special Forces. I'm the second of five children. My eldest sister Rey currently lives in London with her own family. She actually is expecting her first child."
"That's cool, congrats." Deric shook Nace's hand. "Do you know the father?"
"Actually, yes I do." Nace answered, "Anthony Carlyle." Nace grabbed a hold of the armrest as the truck swerved.
"You mean 'Anthony Carlyle' as in 'Chief Inspector Anthony Carlyle' of ACME's London branch? That's your brother-in-law?" Nace nodded. "You do realize that he is the leading candidate to replace the Chief when he calls it quits. Man, talk about job security… Great googly-moogly, next thing you're gonna tell me is that you're distantly related to the Queen."
"No such luck. Next in line are the twins, Michael and Danielle, both are currently enrolled in universities in Britain. They're about five years younger than me. Rounding out my family is my baby brother David, who enrolled in the ACME training center in Johannesburg. He and I played for the rugby team there. David didn't play much considering he is barely sixteen now."
"What did you do before ACME?"
"After secondary school, I joined the South African Defense Force. Served for about two years before I tried to join Special Forces, like my father and grandfather before me. It's a physically grueling course. Many, including myself, needed medical attention. I was twenty years old, physically fit, and the course ground me into powder. Two years later, my tour was complete, and I joined ACME." Looking at Deric, he said, "Since we're swapping stories, what's yours?"
"Well, despite my Midwestern accent, I was born in New York. Actually, I was born on Long Island..."
"What part of the Island?" Lopresti interjected, "I got family scattered throughout Nassau."
"Manhasset, but my family lived in Rockville Center. I was orphaned by the age of eight and moved to Nebraska to live with my paternal grandparents. Spent the rest of my life there before going to college. I was a bit of an athlete in high school. I made All-county in basketball, All-State in volleyball. Basically a normal All-American childhood."
"Where'd you go to school?" Nace asked, implying college.
"I'm Irish… of course I went to Notre Dame." The others laughed at that. "I majored in History, with a minor in Education. Almost made the football team, played club lacrosse and volleyball. Graduated in about three years, and then I was approached to join ACME. Graduated from the academy and joined the undercover division, where I was sent to infiltrate VILE. And the rest is history…" The rest of the trip out of San Francisco was spent in idle chatter about sports and music and the like.
After driving along I-80 for a few hours, the gang decided to stop and get something to eat at a local truck stop. Eating at a picnic table allowed all three to get out and stretch their legs and other extremities. During lunch, it seemed that Deric had something on his mind. Nace decided not press things until they got back on the road.
"You know what really bothered me about the meeting with those CrimeNet jack-offs yesterday?" Deric broke the silence, once they were back, heading east. Lopresti had fallen asleep in the back seat of the truck.
"No," Nace responded, not looking up from his book, "what?"
"The fact that Ivy Darren is dating Jayson Steadman." Deric responded, "I still can't wrap my brain around that fact. I know 'love is blind,' but come on."
"Love is blind, deaf, and dumb in this instance." Nace spat.
"Okay, spill…" Deric said, with a chuckle, "what is the deal with you and Steadman?"
"We had a bit of a disagreement at a rugby match."
"Bull," Deric snorted, "need details." Lopresti leaned forward to listen as well, just waking up.
"Okay," Nace sighed and closed his book, "It was at the annual rugby match between the San Francisco and Johannesburg branches. I was a winger for the Johannesburg team. We were cruising to a victory, and being the gracious sport that he was, Steadman was giving some cheap shots to my team and arguing with the refs when he got called. On one possession, I had the ball and hurdled him when he dove low on me, making him look foolish. Instead of complimenting me on a good play, the prick said 'I didn't know dingoes could jump like that' and just walked away. Two of my teammates had to hold me back so I wouldn't throttle him."
"Damn," Lopresti remarked, with Deric nodding in agreement, "that's not cool."
"Oh, it gets better. It's about ten minutes left in the game, and coach decides to put my little brother into the game to get some playing time. With most of our non-starters in, San Fran's getting a little chippy." Nace continued, "We're marching down the field, and my brother has the ball, running well, considering he got bit by a shark less than a year before." The others' eyes widened, "Steadman knocks my brother down with a forearm right to the face, bloodying his nose. I lost it. Next thing I knew, two of my teammates and a ref were pulling me off of Steadman, who had a busted lip and a bloody nose himself."
"Were you kicked out?" Deric asked with a smile, knowing that Nace did lose his temper.
"Surprisingly, no," Nace said, "We were both given yellow cards, but neither of us was ejected. Four minutes left, and Jayson was at it again. This time I figured I'd cut him off at the pass. We collided in mid-air. The result was a concussion for Steadman where my elbow hit his eye socket and a blown knee for me from where he landed on it." Deric cringed at that, "That's how I got my trick knee."
"Between rugby and our cases, I'm surprised you can still walk." Deric joked, "I swear they should add a new event to the X-Games or what ever. Call it 'Extreme Case Solving' and we would definitely be the Gold medalists."
"I don't think ESPN could afford the insurance they'd need," Nace answered, "Besides 'Extreme Case Solving,' what 'X' sports do you like?"
"Snowboarding, rollerblading" Deric answered, thinking about the answer, "I've picked up surfing since I moved to California, but I did a little bouldering, and I skydived a few times. Other than that, I usually stick to some of the more traditional sports. You?"
"Before I got hurt, I was big into rugby," Nace rubbed his trick knee, "Also, I boxed from time to time. Now, I'm more into swimming, kayaking, and mountain biking. Less strain on the knee. If you're ever interested, you could come back to Johannesburg with me and I'll show you some of the good trails near my parents' home." Deric looked interested, since he had never been to South Africa. "Also," Nace said, continuing the conversation's original subject, "unlike 'Extreme Case Solving,' there is usually less damage to the surrounding area." Deric ran his hand through his hair.
"Hey," Deric exclaimed, "It's not like I was trying to hit that bike's front tire!" Nace held up his hands in surrender. "Or the cable car in Venice. How was I supposed to know that if a cable car goes above 40 miles per hour, it'll jump the tracks? I can't help if I'm accident –prone"
"I'm not saying you did, mate," Nace explained, "It's just that we have a tendency to cause a little mayhem while doing our jobs." Deric had a sour look on his face. "Besides, we seem to be developing a following at ACME amongst the younger recruits. We're like, oh what's the movie, David Cassidy and the Sundown…"
"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." Lopresti answered.
"Yeah, that's it." Nace acknowledged, "We're mavericks, yet everyone seems to like us."
"Except CrimeNET and Ivy," Deric pointed out.
"Well, I don't think Ivy hates me," Nace responded, to which Deric stuck out his tongue, "I've wondered that, too. Why do you always have to get under her skin?"
"Truth?" Deric asked, to which Nace nodded. Flashing a grin, Deric said, "Because it's fun and it's so easy." Deric chuckled, "That girl needs to chill and stop taking everything so personally." Nace gave Deric a scrutinizing look, but let it go.
The truck pulled into a small motel in Colorado later that night. They were able to rent a room with two beds and a fold down couch. Since Deric would be doing most of the driving, he got one of the beds. Lopresti won the coin toss and got the other bed, leaving nace with the couch. Lopresti fell asleep almost instantly. Kicking off his shoes, Deric just collapsed onto the bed.
"I can't wait to get this case done with and get back to my apartment." Deric exhaled.
"You don't live in the ACME dorms?" Nace asked.
"No," Deric answered warily, "You?"
"Yeah."
"I never lived in the dorms, except when I was in the academy." Deric said, "Once I graduated, I moved right out. Found a small apartment since I didn't have much stuff because of my undercover work. I actually just found a new place about 15-20 min from San Francisco. You interested in moving out of ACME?"
"I wouldn't want to crowd you." Nace reasoned. Deric brushed him off.
"It's a two bedroom apartment, I was just gonna use the other one as a spare bedroom." Nace sat up and pondered this. "Sleep on it. We can discuss it after the case." Deric turned off the light to get some sleep. Nace laid on the couch thinking about Deric's proposal. He had felt a little bit of an outsider in the ACME dorms, being a 24 year old living with 16 to 18 year-olds. It was definitely something to think about.
