Chapter XIII: Good Samaritan

"Logan? What are you doing here?" Agnes asked, getting out of her broken-down car.

"I was on my way back from taking my brother's friend home, and I saw your emergency lights," Logan explained. "Can I give you a tow? I have a chain in my trunk."

"That would be nice. Thanks." Logan detected the sad tone of her voice.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I'll tell you in the car. Can you help us with our bags?"

"'Us'? 'Bags'?" Logan looked at Agnes's car and saw Cristina sitting shotgun and their luggage in the backseat. Deciding not to question further, he helped Agnes put the bags in his trunk before hooking her car to his with the chain. They started back down the road with Cristina sitting between Logan and Agnes. "So, what's going on?" he asked.

Agnes sighed and said, "Crissy and I just got evicted from our apartment. Can you take us to the nearest motel?"

"I'll do you one better. Just sit back and enjoy the ride, ladies," Logan answered.

...

Agnes started to doze off during the drive, but blinked in confusion when she realized that they were in the driveway, not of a motel, but of an ordinary two-story house.

"Logan, where are we?" she asked blearily, rubbing her eyes.

"I brought you to my place. I live alone, but I have some spare bedrooms," Logan said. Agnes started to say a cluster of weak-sounding protests, to which Logan replied, "It's clear to me that if you can't afford to pay rent, you can't afford to stay in a motel. Therefore, mi Casa es tu Casa. Now come on, let's get your bags." Logan helped them carry their luggage again, then seeing as they were all soaking wet from the rain, he directed them to his two bathrooms so they could take a nice hot shower and change into dry clothes.

Agnes couldn't even remember the last time she had showered with hot water, and she almost wept with how good it felt. After their showers, Agnes and Cristina sipped on hot tea while Logan showered himself. Logan then made them hearty burritos to eat, and he took Agnes aside to talk to her privately while Cristina watched cartoons on his TV.

"I can tell that there's more to the story. What's the real reason you were leaving in such a hurry?" he asked, causing Agnes to sigh.

"It's our landlord..." she began.

"What? Was he violent? Was he being rude?"

"No, not exactly. It's what he offered to make up for the late payments...a threesome with me and Cristina."

"You're kidding."

"No, I'm not. He's been obsessed with us ever since we started living there."

"If that's the case, good riddance to him! The two of you are more than welcome to stay as long as you need to," Logan declared. He was taken by surprise when Agnes pulled him into a tearful hug.

"You don't know how much this means to me. Thank you! Thank you so much!" she sobbed. Logan smiled and hugged her back, gently stroking her spine.

...

Late that night, Logan was brought out of his slumber by a small hand tapping his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Cristina standing by the side of his bed.

"Cristina? Is something wrong?" he asked, turning on the lamp on his nightstand.

"C-can I talk to you?" she peeped, looking slightly bashful. Logan smiled, sat up, and patted the spot next to him.

"Now then, what's bothering you?" he asked when she crawled onto the bed and sat beside him.

"It's about me and Mom's situation," she said. "I may be only nine, but I pay attention to things. I know that I was unplanned. I've never met my dad or my grandparents, and Mom doesn't like talking about either one of them. I grew up in Mom's dorm room at college, and we celebrated holidays and birthdays with her friends' families instead of our own. I didn't know just how bad off we were until one time I saw Mom crying over our bills."

Logan was shocked; Agnes hadn't told him any of that.

"She won't admit it, but being a single mom is hard for her," Cristina continued. "She works so hard to provide for both of us, but I want her to be happy, too. I don't want her to keep skipping meals so that I can eat. It would mean the world to me if you could do that for her. Please?" Cristina looked like she was about to cry, so Logan pulled her into a small side-hug and rubbed her shoulder.

"Not gonna lie, kid, what you just said was a big surprise. However, I have the resources and connections to help however I can. Your mom just has to let me help," he said with a warm smile. "If you've been sleeping in the same bed, you should probably go back before she notices you're missing." Cristina thanked him profusely before going back to bed, leaving Logan to go back to sleep.

...

The next day, a bright and beautiful Tuesday morning, Logan made Agnes and Cristina a big pancake breakfast complete with hash browns and bacon. Since he had leather furniture that was easy to clean, Logan allowed Cristina to eat on the couch while she watched cartoons until it was time for her to get ready for school. When it was time, Logan drove the two of them to the school building with the promise that he would pick them back up. He then made his way back to his house, turned on his desktop computer, and used his badge to log into the national criminal database for another day of research on future targets. There were at least two of them whose last known locations were near Royal Woods, but he had yet to receive permission to investigate.

Most days were that boring, unlike the life of a spy portrayed in movies.

When it was time to pick up Agnes and Cristina, Logan stood up and cracked his stiff neck before grabbing his jacket and keys. He drove them home, and both of them used his dining room table, Agnes to grade homework and Cristina to do homework. Soon, the doorbell rang.

"It's probably one of my siblings. I'll get it," Logan said and stood up from the couch to answer the door. Instead of one of his relatives, Logan found an unfamiliar overweight man standing on his porch. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah. Is Agnes there?" the man asked.

"Gus? What are you doing here?" Agnes asked, appearing behind Logan.

"You disappeared before we could discuss the terms of your rental agreement. You were supposed to give me two weeks' notice before moving out," Gus explained. Agnes was about to retort, but Logan held up his hand to stop her.

"Actually, Gus, from the story Agnes told me, you were the one who evicted her and her daughter. Therefore, any rental agreement that was in place before is now null and void. She also told me about your not-so-subtle amorous advance." Logan walked a short distance to an umbrella stand, pulled out a loaded tactical shotgun, and racked the chamber. He pointed the firearm at Gus and said, "Get your fat, slimy keister off of my property before I pump your guts full of lead!" Gus turned and waddled away as fast as his beer-belly would allow. When he was only a few yards away, Logan yelled, "Hey, Gus! Smile!" When Gus turned around, he was knocked backwards by the blinding flash of the special camera in Logan's hand. Logan then closed the door, locked it, and engaged the deadbolt.

"Give me your phone," he told Agnes and held out his hand.

"What do you need it for?" Agnes asked as she handed it to him.

"How did he know where you were if you never told him?" That sentence sparked fear in Agnes's mind. Logan went to his computer, plugged the phone into a USB cable, and proceeded to transfer all of Agnes's pictures, videos, and other data to The Cloud. When the process was done, he broke the phone over his knee after removing and destroying the SIM card. "There, that should stop him from tracking you," Logan said. He then plugged the camera into the same cable as the phone and did a different process. While that was happening, he took Agnes to his bedroom and opened a small safe, revealing over a dozen spare smartphones. He pulled one out at random and gave it to Agnes to replace the one he broke.

"What did you take his picture for, though?" Agnes inquired.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that 'Gus' isn't who he says he is. My computer will look for a matching profile picture in the national criminal database. I do this all the time in my line of work," Logan answered and showed Agnes his badge. His computer made a chiming sound before long, and the screen said MATCH FOUND in bold green letters. Logan opened the link to the information attached to the profile and gave an impressed whistle. "Looks like I was right. His real name is Melman Greene, and he's wanted in five different states for stalking, attempted kidnapping, breaking and entering, trespassing on private property, and molestation. Oh, I'm gonna have fun with this one!" Logan eagerly rubbed his hands together, already planning how to best apprehend the man.