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 3: Road Rage

The next day…

"Jesus, Bilby," Deric said, throwing his bag into the truck's cargo area, "if it takes you…" Deric glanced at his watch; before they had checked out of the hotel at 8:25 am, Nace had told Deric that he just wanted to ring up his parents and say 'hello.' Deric's watch now read nine-thirty; "Holy crap, over an hour to say 'hello' to your folks back in Johannesburg, I don't wanna be there when you have an actual conversation."

Nace paid him no mind, except to flip him off, which elicited a snort of laughter from Lopresti. "Well Mum," he spoke into his cell phone, "I guess that's why she didn't come home for Christmas. Raye must have had a good reason… Mum, it's a long flight from London to Johannesburg… Mum, if I had known, I would have told you...Mum, listen, I have to go now. We're somewhere in Colorado… I invited him to visit, but we're both busy… Okay, I love you too, Mum… Okay, Mum… Hey, Dad…" Deric groaned in semi-frustration. He wanted to get going. "Okay, Dad, I'll call you soon. Say bye to Grandma and Grandpa for me… Talk to you later. Bye." Nace closed his cell phone, to which he got applause from Deric and Lopresti. "Bite me. Let's go." Nace said as he got into the truck.

Deric waited until they were on the road before he started needling his partner, "I swear to God, you're worse than my cousin Trish. I would hate to see what your phone bill is. I bet AT&T wants to sell you stock."

"We're a close family."

"I guessed that." Deric responded, "So, who spilled the beans on your sister?"

"My brother Michael," Nace snickered, "he was wondering out loud who the godparents would be. My dad asked 'godparents for whom?' and Michael said 'Raye's kid.' You could hear my parents' jaws hitting the deck."

"Doh!" Lopresti said, imitating Homer Simpson. Deric nodded in agreement.

"Poor Raye," Nace snickered, "My parents were upset at first, but soon they were happy to find out they were going to be grandparents. Raye's actually due in a couple weeks; I guess she was nervous about not telling for so long, she was going to wait until she gave birth."

"So," Deric said, changing the topic, "you think about my offer?" referring to Nace moving out of the ACME dorms and becoming Deric's roommate.

"Yeah, I think I'll do it." Deric tapped his fist on the wheel. "It'll take me about a week or so, to get my stuff together and fill out the paperwork with ACME. How's that?"

"A week or two's fine." Deric answered, "Plus I'll have to talk to my landlord about getting your name added to the lease."

For the next three hours, they listened to the local radio stations, even calling in to talk with a sports talk show who was bashing Deric's favorite baseball team, the New York Mets. This sparked a debate about the intricacies of the game for Nace who was more used to cricket. They eventually pulled into a truck stop in the middle of Kansas, just outside of Great Bend, for lunch and refueling. Nace was fingering a business card while Deric finished his sub. Nace stared at the card as if he could uncover the secret of life within it. Deric noticed the card in his partner's hands when he looked up from his meal.

"Whatcha got there?" Deric asked, pointing at the card.

"Nothing," Nace said, quickly trying to put the card back into his wallet. Unfortunately for him, Deric snatched the card before he could put it away.

"Nothing, my ass," Deric said, looking at the handwritten side of the card. "Lydia… 876-0935…" Deric read, looking with sudden admiration at his partner, "Way to go Bilbs." Turning the card over, Deric saw that it read "Shannon Neal, 415 Magazine, Contributing Writer." Deric had a puzzled look on his face.

"415 Magazine… where have I heard that before?" he asked, rapping his knuckles against his forehead. Nace took the opportunity to snatch the card back.

"They were at ACME about two weeks ago," Nace said, finally putting the card back in his wallet, "doing some sort of cover story. That's why they had you, me, Josha, Armando, Zack, & Ivy sitting on that picnic table outside ACME." The two got back in the truck, where Lopresti had been sleeping. Within minutes, they were back on the highway, continuing their conversation. "Where did they do your part of the piece?" he asked Deric.

"In the gym and in the 'bullpen,'" Deric said referring to the area where their desks were. "They took a picture of me working out on the heavy bag, sparring with Manny, and working at my desk. The interviewer said," Deric struck a pose, "I 'looked like a young cross between Chris O'Donnell & Josh Lucas.' What about you?"

"Well, I wasn't compared to any actors," Nace said, "but they got a good shot of me practicing at the firing range. I think they also got a good shot of you, me, Zack and Armando playing basketball."

"So, whose number did you get and how?"

"Actually, I had a very nice conversation with the photographer, Lydia, over lunch that day and again at the range. It turns out she and I work out at the same dojo."

"Which one?"

"The dojo or the photographer?"

"Both."

"Lydia was the one with the short brown hair, about an inch or two shorter than me," Deric nodded, knowing whom his partner was talking about, "the dojo is the one over on Weston Road. You know… the kung fu dojo. I take some classes over there and she recognized me from them. She gave me her card at ACME and told me to give her a call sometime."

"And have you?" Deric stared him down.

"Not yet," Nace answered. Deric gave him a look that asked for the reason. "I don't know what to say."

"How about 'hello?'" That came from Lopresti. Deric, with his mouth full of food, began to choke he was laughing so hard. Even Nace smiled a little.

"All right," Nace surrendered, "I'll call her when we're on the road." Nace looked at his watch, "Speaking of which," he balled up his food wrapper, "let's get going." The trio headed back to the truck. Nace stopped before getting into the truck and took a quick look around. Deric, seeing his partner, did the same. "Deric," Nace said cautiously, "do you get the feeling that we're…"

"Being followed?" Nace nodded, reaching under the trailer cap and pulling out two duffel bags. "Yeah, my spider-sense is tingling, too. Let's bounce." Deric started the car and pulled out of the parking lot and, minutes later, back onto the road. For the next half hour, Deric and Nace would glance into the mirrors to see if they were being followed. After looking again, Nace tapped Deric on the shoulder and thumbed backwards. Deric peered into the rearview mirror and took stock of what was traveling behind them. He saw a light blue minivan with Missouri plates, a beat-up red pick-up with Kansas plates, a tractor trailer, and then…

"Grey sedan?" Deric asked, to which Nace nodded. Lopresti looked back to see what the two were talking about. "That car's been following us since we left Colorado," Deric said, answering what seemed like an unsaid question from Lopresti, "there's just something wrong about it." To Nace, he said, "Call Lascari and ask if he assigned us a babysitter."

"What makes you think it's an FBI car?" Lopresti asked.

"Too clean to be a regular car," Deric made sure to keep an eye on the car in his rearview mirror. Nace got through to Lascari and apprised him of the situation. After a quick call, Nace hung up the phone. Looking at Deric, he shook his head, which meant that there was no sitter called. "Figured as much," Deric said, adjusting the mirror, "I guess Tom was right, there is a mole."

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Nace asked. Deric looked around, thinking of something. Passing a sign which read "Wichita 25," a smirk formed on Deric's face as he stepped on the accelerator.

Once they pulled away from traffic, Deric let the cruise control take over. "I've got an idea, but it's risky." Nace groaned when Deric said that; 'risky' usually meant 'large amounts of property damage are on the horizon.' "We're gonna lure em into a trap," Deric said, keeping an eye on the signs indicating the way to Wichita. "Nace, when you grabbed those two bags out of the back, were they what I thought they were?" Nace opened the blue bag to reveal Deric's two handguns and opened the red bag to reveal part of Nace's rifle. Lopresti's eyes widened with shock. "Now…" Deric said, reaching down to unfasten his seatbelt, "comes the tricky part. Nace, I need you to switch with me."

"You mean now?" Nace asked, incredulous, "That's nuts."

"Trust me, I've got a plan." Deric finished taking off the seatbelt. Focusing on Lopresti, Deric said, "Joey, I'm going to need you to lie on the floor…" As Lopresti got on the floor, Deric put the seatback all the way down, and told Nace to do the same. "Okay, Nace, here's what I need you to do: Grab the wheel." Nace did as he was told. Deric then began to shimmy his way onto the back of the chair. "Good, now try to keep us straight and switch seats." Nace put his leg over very gingerly and carefully brought the other leg over. Deric, meanwhile, was prone across the backs of the chairs. Once Nace was in the seat, Deric slid into the passenger seat and raised the seatback back up. Nace did the same, allowing Lopresti to return to the backseat.

"Okay, mate…" Nace said, "What's the plan?" Deric pointed to a sign that said 'Wichita 15.'

"First, we get off the highway at Wichita." Deric said, searching for the sedan in the side-view mirror. "Then we head for Sedgwick County Mall; there's this 5-level parking garage that is usually empty at the top level." Finding the sedan about 200 yards back, Deric said, "and then we're gonna lay a trap for these jack-offs." Deric had that grin on his face, which both psyched Nace up and worried him at the same time. He knew Deric had a plan, but also knew there was probably going to be some massive property damage. "Now, Nace," Deric said, looking back at the grey sedan, "I need you to slow down…"

"SLOW DOWN?" Nace exclaimed, "Are you out of your bloody mind?" Deric just smiled that cocky smile, as if to say "trust me". Nace slowed down the truck until the grey sedan tailing them was now alongside them. Inside the car were three men in charcoal grey and black suits, none of whom looked very friendly. So, naturally, Deric smiled and waved at them. Nace got the gist of what Deric had in mind and stepped on the accelerator.

Minutes later, Nace navigated the truck off the highway and approached the mall. Deric pointed out the garage that was going to be used as the trap. Noticing that the grey sedan was in pursuit, they pulled into the parking garage. Deric opened the bag with his guns inside and removed them, loaded them and turned the safeties off.

"Okay," Deric said, "once I hop out, head straight for the roof." He checked the mirrors to see if the sedan was gaining on them, but it was no where in sight. "Around this time of day, it should be empty. Head for the farthest corner, but leave enough room where I can sneak up on their car. Then, get your gear and situate yourself and Lopresti in the truck bed. Even though Tom told us it could stand up to some heavy artillery, I don't want to take any chances," Deric opened up the passenger door, "Here we go…" Deric said as he jumped out of the truck. Nace reached over and pulled the door closed before speeding towards the roof of the parking complex.

A minute later, Deric spied their pursuers heading past his position. He took stock of what he saw in the car. Inside were three men, all clad in dark colored suits; one of which could be seen cocking a semi-automatic. 'Three guys… more than likely all are packing automatic weapons,' Deric thought as he headed for the nearest staircase, 'shouldn't be too hard…' Reaching for his phone, Deric called the local authorities for some back-up. Once that was finished, Deric began to sprint up the steps, knowing that the trap was set.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty…" Deric said to no one in particular as he ascended the stairs.