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Max's Entries
It was nearly a week since my adventure in Langford, I made several trips out to make sure Maria was alright. She was, I never saw a person so happy before. Maria had even gained a little weight, I rode up on my bike and she greeted me on her new pony. "Hi, girl you look almost like those chick's on the old westerns." I said smiling, "I guess I do look like a cowgirl but I'm so happy your here, do you know that I have my own room and they gave me all these toy's and they threw a big party for me and...."said an excited Maria beaming. "Whoa, girl and I thought my bike was fast..." I said jokingly "I'm glad your happy and your getting all these toy's but your new mom and dad said they heard you crying at night, they're concerned about you." I told her softly. "I, .. it's.. it will just take some time that's all, you know..." said Maria a little sullenly. "You know he's gone now, can't hurt you anymore and anyway you seem fine to me but if you ever do need me have them get in touch with Logan" I said in an assuring voice. "How's Original Cindy?" asked Maria all of a sudden. "Oh, she fine and so's Kendra, that was another reason I'm up here they wanted me to give something" I told her. I tossed her a wrapped package from the back of my bike "Here, I can't stay long but they really wanted you to have this, do you have anything you want to tell OC or Kendra for you?" I asked. Maria deftly caught the package in the saddle, maybe I'll teach her to ride a bike someday I thought, "Yeah, could you tell them thank's for all they did for me and Logan too and Max, Thank You for everything." said Maria. I left the ranch satisfied that Maria was happy and would be safe, what more can you ask in this world. Now how was I going to get past those guards at the barricade? oh! well, everyday was an adventure. I would drop by Logan's for awhile, give him Maria's message but I should stop by the market and get him a present for everything.
Logan's doorman let me go on straight up, apparently I've become a fixture. Logan greeted me at the door but he seemed a little distracted. "Max, I'm happy to see you, why don't you leave you jacket over there and grab a bite in the kitchen." Logan said politely. He left for his fortress of video solitude as I laid down my jacket on his couch, I was a bit famished and food did sound good. I ate in silence watching Logan in the other room watching some video, it seemed like he kept rewinding it over and over again. I finished up my sandwich and went over to Logan, he was watching some woman wearing a bandana saying she wanted to find her father. She seemed like she really missed him. Logan explained that the woman was the daughter of his former mentor "Robert "Nathan Herrero" who disappeared under mysterious circumstances several years back and she still thinks he might be alive. Logan wasn't so optimistic about that, apparently the father had a great number of people upset with him at the time of the disappearance including several members of law enforcement and the usual thugs. The way he explained it this guy was most likely dead and Logan just wanted to find those responsible for his "disappearance".
"That's Elane and her father" he said showing me some family photo's. I looked at the photo's she seemed like a happy little girl and that look on her father's face, I wonder if my father..I thought. In the picture there was a red balloon, it looked like the one I saw as a kid at Manticore, we had been in the field doing training when I noticed a balloon stuck up in a tree, it was the first one I'd seen in fact no one in my squad had seen one. We all gathered around the tree as Zack climbed up to get the balloon. When he got back down we all held out our hands to touch it. It was so different than anything we had seen, it was colorful and it said "happy birthday!". None of us knew our birthday's and in fact the sergeant was fond to point out that we didn't have birthdays because we were military issue, "only serial numbers matter!" he told us. When the sergeant tried to take the balloon from us Zack disabled him but Lydecker had been standing there watching us all, studying us. He gave me the look that said ditch the balloon or that's where you'll end up. I wanted to keep the balloon but not if at the cost of attracting Lydecker's attention, we all lived in fear of him. I stood there watching the balloon float up, up and away; far way from Manticore......away from Lydecker I thought.
"Max fond birthday memory?" Logan asked. "Manticore wasn't big on that kind of thing". "What's yours?" he asked "November 11th" he answered. "I got you an early present" I told him. "A grapefruit, wow! I haven't seen one of the se in a while." he said surprised and amused at the same time. "Got them over at the market on fremont, they had chickens, too." I told him. "We must be in a recovery." he said jokingly. checking my watch I saw I was going to be late for work again unless I left now, "I got to jet." I told him. "Max... if I need you to look into the herrero thing for me..." Logan asked. "One hand washes the other." I told him. He told me that I should pick a birthday telling me that in this short, brutal life you got to seize any opportunity you can to celebrate, I had to agree about the celebrating but the birthday I wasn't really into that.
That night I went to police headquarters, Logan thought that Herrero's disappearance had something to do with some crooked cops and it might be a good idea to check there first. I'm glad he has such confidence in me and my abilities, luckily for him he was right. The place heavily guarded and it was but not for me. I was in the building in a matter of minutes. There was one guard make the rounds on the floor I was on, I waited until he started to circle again. I headed for the mens bathroom and proceeded to stuff the sink with a rag. I turned the water on full and waited a few moments for the water to fill the basin. I slipped into the archive room hoping the guard would become too preoccupied with his new duties to notice me. "Hey, cap, are you there? Yeah, I got a moisture situation. Fourth floor, men's room. Well, no floating pieces of corn...which is good news." said the guard. It took me longer than I thought to find the disk. I was getting set to leave when the guard shows up. "Hold it right there!" he screams at me. "What if i want to hold it over here?" I asked him sweetly. "Don't make this any worse than it's got to be." he tells me. I feel so bored that I decide to play with him, I still have a few moments before help arrives, I run him in circles "You're the one holding the gun." I informed him. "I dated a guy like you once. Everything had to be his way....know what I told him.." I said still playful, until more started to show. I thought it was tome to leave and since they were blocking the entrance I thought the window seemed like a good idea. Luckily for me cats always land on their feet or so they say. I ran for my bike and split as a couple of them took pot shots at me, I hope they didn't damage my bike I thought, worried. I got away clean but it took awhile, I had to make sure I wasn't followed. I checked my bike to make sure it wasn't damaged.
Logan was all that surprised that the cop's didn't kill Herrero but it narrowed down the list of suspects, it seems that several contracts were put on Herrero's life but no one collected, the only eye witness to the whole thing was the maid "Rebecca Cuthrell" and that made her our new prime suspect. I did some digging on the housekeeper she's been unemployed since Herrero died but 18 months ago, she bought a place on Alexander." said Logan suspiciously "so where did she get the cash Alexander s not exactly park avenue" I said. "Still she bought an apartment" Logan continued. "So Rebecca Cuthrell helped kill Herrero waited a safe amount of time then used the blood money to move into a new crib?" I ask him. "That s how I figure it the problem is, trail s cold unlikely we could ever prove anything, but if we knew who her friends are, who she talks to maybe we could shake something loose give Elena the last chapter of her father s life to that end i was wondering if i could impose on you to install this" Logan asked. "Voice-activated parabolic mic, with a high-gain noise filter lithium-powered rf transmitter broadcasting at, what 400 meg I excelled in telecommunications as a child" I told him with a look of amazement on his face. Most me melt when I talk electronics and Logan was no different in this respect. "450 meg, actually" he stated. "Really, I stand corrected" I said. Logan told me he got me something and boy was it a surprise. He got me a gun, I couldn't believe this ultra idealistic type would be advocating killing with a fire arm. He told me that "Max this is a kick or be kicked in the ass world". I had to agree to his statement but not the gun I don't do gun but I do love kicking ass.
It wasn't all that bad this time I didn't need too much equipment, all I was going to do was plant some bugs. I had to climb across from an adjacent building to reach Rebecca's rooftop, I threw down a line and slid to a stop in front of a window and placed the first bug, it was easy from then except for the last one which required me to swing across to the opposite window. I watched Rebecca in the window dressed in a frilly little thing kissing someone, who's back was to me at the time. The man slowly turned while enjoying the passionate affections of Rebecca ....that's..that's .."Nathan", Logan missing mentor. He wasn't dead after all, but why the elaborate ruse and how would poor daughter "Elena" all take this? I watched for a little while longer to see if this was some kind of game but when she spoke his name I was sure. Luckily for me they were too busy enjoying each others company to notice me. I knocked on the window and they literally jumped. I signaled for them to open the window, which they did after recovering from being startled. I told them that Logan sent me and that Elena was looking for Robert her father. They digested the whole thing, Rebecca seemed frightened and wanted to flee. Robert calmed her down and gave me a number which Logan could reach him to discuss this.
Logan asked me over to his place to tell me that at his meeting with Robert, he expressed a desire to see his daughter. Logan asked me to try to convince Elena to show, he told me how much Robert loved his daughter and had to leave to protect her and himself.
"I can't believe that he could have just abandoned me." Elena said with pain in her voice. "Look, it's pointless to try and figure out who left who and why." I said trying to convince her and myself. "Who's more right or less wrong. Doesn't matter. That both of you get a second chance is all that matters." I continued. I told her not to over think the situation. "If you were me, would you see him? Elena asked unsure. If I could see my family I'd give up.....everything, I thought. "In a heartbeat." I told her. I'm different, is it all right for me to tell her to see her father because I've never had a chance to see mine? Unfortunately it's the only way I can see things.
Original Cindy and I decided to take a short through an alley, what do we see hanging chained upside down like a susage in a window but no other than sketchy. I needed some humor in my life a this definitely was humorus. We wondered how...and why he was hung up as it were. He explained that he owed some Russian mob guys fifteen thousand and he had 36 hours to come up with the cash or he would end up like his smoldering pile of clothes lying near by. I was glad I had to bounce before OC freed Sketchy but know her she would probrably let him stay there for awhile.
That night I came up with a plan to get Sketchy his money with Original Cindy's help, if he would just stop whinning. We meet up at the bar and Skeetchy came up with a hundred dollars as the stake, if it weren't for Natalie... I guess I'm a soft touch when it comes to dumb poor animals "Men" in particular. OC and I got dressed up and went to the Russian social club, "Hi there, We just got off work Dancing over at the cherry bomb. Big tip night and we heard we could play that game with the little white ball that spins" we asked in unison making our voice sound sweet and innocent as possible. Why do men always seem to go for the dumb beautiful type? maybe it's in the genes. I took me nearly an hour with my enhanced hearing and a little math to get up to three thousand and unless they kick us out I should be able to get Sketchy his money I thought. The Russian mob boss and his lackey invited us to a little game of poker "Is it okay if we help each other? I'm just remembering now. This is that really confusing game with all those different cards. Which is probably why i always end up with n o clothes on" we said giggling. Men would agree to almost anything if it involved the possibility of sex or nudity. We ended the night with me taking their money, just enough to pay off Sketchy's debt. The Russian and his friend didn't seemed all to pleased with us leaving with his money so they tried to jump us on our way out. OC enjoyed giving them an ass whopping and I didn't even use a gun I thought. We gave Sketchy the money and I warned him that he had better not get into any more trouble because I ain't bailing him out of it.
This was the first time I've ever tried to let myself feel a sense of accomplishment in helping someone, I was so almost happy at being given the chance to help Elena and her father get back together. The world is a cruel place and I needed a reminder, Logan and I were watching a news broadcast reporting on the fire that killed two people that was under investigation. I tried to think of someone else who knew of the location but I knew only one other person knew of the meeting tonight. Logan blamed himself, he knew that it was who Elena that did it, he seemed almost demoralized by this turn of events, I couldn't let him shoulder this burden alone. Logan stated the obvious, that someone recruited Elena to track down her father so he could be killed; was it all for the money or hate? "We got played." I told him and no one plays me I thought.
I went over to Elena's apartment and found a train schedule, apparently she was planning on taking a trip, I've always wanted to ride the rails I thought. She seemed to be in a hurry, I guess selling out family must be profitable, at least based on the way she was holding the briefcase I thought. I followed her aboard the train and sat myself right down next to her. She was amazing, I didn't think someone could just kill their father without an ounce of remorse. Elena got up and left, I followed her to a different car, I had to know why she did it, for the money or hate? Elena tells me it was both, she whines about not having her father while growing up. I almost strangled her but restrained myself, I wonder how he would be having my life instead? I choose to throw her briefcase of money off the train, "at least you still have your hate" I told her while leaving.
I called Logan to let him know what happened with Elena, I thought I heard him cry, maybe he did and maybe I should too. I went home to change for work, having Normal yelling at me about being late almost seemed comforting at this point. I took a quick shower and dressed, Kendra was there with her students in the living room. She was teaching them Japanese again, "Domo Arigato, Sensai!" the children said in unison as they began to dress and file out the door. Kendra got up off the floor from her lotus position, "Max, there's some food in the pot, one of the kid's brought it over if you want some, I'm not sure what it is but it's better not to question." said Kendra cheerfully, slowly putting her books away. I began to cheer up a little, Kendra has always seemed to that effect on everyone. I looked into the pot and saw a substance which could be generously reffered to as "brown stirred mush", but it smelled good. I took a small sample only because I had a superior constitution, it was surprisingly salty and little taste. I decided to pass. I told Kendra that I was going to work, she waved me goodbye.
I finally get to work and what do I see but Sketchy, he was trying to convince me into scamming casino's with him. I told him to take a hike, OC was a little less tactful. OC explains that the society we live in is C.R.E.A.M., which translates into "Cash Rules Everything Around Me" and that there will always be people like Sketchy who will follow the green and not what's in between. I already saw an example I thought to myself. Logan "Eyes Only" was on the TV screen, telling the world that the guy running for police commissioner killed a former DA. That it was due to Robert Herrero that this information was brought to light and that he died a Martyr to the cause Logan said in a sullen tone.
That night I went up the needle to sit and think about birthdays, family, how truly screwed up people really are and whether or not I would be Logan's next Martyr. Maybe I should choose a birthday like Logan said "In this short brutal life take any chance to party". April Fool's Day? No. My life is enough of a joke. Every time I come up here the lights of the city seem so cold and distant, but I always hope that one day it would be different. It won't, not until I find the others.
"My bike look and sounded as good as new" I thought to myself. "Finally got my baby fixed", I decided to take her bike out for a spin and grabbed my gear. The room was a mess but I would clean up afterwards. I think she was getting depressed being stuck inside the apartment for so long. It took sometime to get my bike down with little Omar playing in the hallway, I see so much of Theo in him. "Max can I ride your bike?" asked Omar excitedly while touching my helmet. "No, when your older I'll teach you but you must be a good little boy!" I said smiling.
I keyed the ignition and kick started her up. The streets seemed like a blur as I tried to hit ever corner. Logan had wanted me to be more careful because of my condition, he's such a guy. Think's I can't handle it, Logan seems to have brightened up since I talked to him last week maybe I can get him to speed up on finding Zack and the others. "What the....!" I screamed as another bike raced past me. Whoever it was seemed like they could ride at least or so Max thought to herself. "Come on baby let's see if you still got it!" I said encouragingly to my bike. I kicked the bike into another gear and speed after the Phantom on the other bike. "I don't sleep much, but that's okay. Takes up an awful lot of time, and I can always find something productive to do." I said to myself while smiling. This was definitely more productive in her mind than sleeping.
Sometimes I think "what's wrong with all you people snoring your lives away?". The night is the best part of the whole day. I speed up and see the other rider ahead putting more and more distance between us. I'll take a short cut and catch him, it was exciting. It had been so long since anyone was stupid enough t o challenge me on a bike. The alley seemed like the best choice if I wanted to get ahead of that other rider. The other rider seemed to have vanished as I got out of the alley, maybe he was ahead of me.
"Just when I thought this would be a good day!" I thought to myself as a patrol group stops me. I slowly pull over and stop in front of the cops. "Can I see some id, please? Step off the motorcycle please." asked a patrolman. Why did I sense this was a shake down. They always seem to want my money when I didn't have any but then again I usually don't, that probably comes from being poor. I tried to act nice and smile for the cop, maybe he'll let me off. " What's the problem, officer?" I asked. "Did you know that your tail lights out?" asked the cop as his partner circles around to the other side. I gets off my bike and check, everything seemed okay. "It's working fine." I told him as his partner started to bring down his baton on my tail light. "Guess I'll have to get that looked at." I said as calmly as I could trying to resist the urge to strangle them both."I'm going to have to impound this vehicle." stated the first cop smugly.
I asked him what for and he said some junk about it being a public safety hazard. I show you who's a public safety hazard I thought. They just wanted money I just needed to calm down and pay these dirt bags. "No way...! Look, if this is about money." I told him but instead of taking the offered bribe the cop told me to pick up my bike at the impound yard at 7 in the morning. "The buses have stopped running. How's a girl supposed to get home?" I said hoping he would be a bit sympathetic. "Somehow." the cop said smiling. "But then there are those nights that just plain suck." I thought to myself, amending what I thought previously.
I got home by hitching a ride back, it wasn't that bad the guy only lost four teeth. Kendra was waiting at home fuming over the giant mess I had made. I told her I would clean up but she was insistent that I make the place presentable for the kids she tutors to see. "Max ...a..where's your bike?" asked Kendra. "The cops took my ride, now I have to get it back form the impound yard." I told her in a tired voice. Kendra started to pick up the mess I made, I guess she was trying to be nice seeing that she knows how much I love my bike. "No, it's okay Kendra I clean it up but thanks for being a friend." I said smiling at her hoping that she would buy it. "Max I don't have alot of money but I could loan you a few bucks if you need it." Kendra offered. I told her no and shooed her out of the room so I could be alone. "My bike used to sit right there ..." I thought while wiping some grime from a corner. It took nearly an hour before I got the last grease stain off the floor.
I went to the impound yard at seven, "why is it that they tell you seven when they really mean seven thirty?" I thought to myself sitting on my bicycle. I tried to get a peek at my bike through the fence but I couldn't find it anywhere. A few workers started to trickle in but they still wouldn't allow me in. A large man in the ugliest blue plaid shirt I've seen in awhile ordered to open the gate and allow folks in.
"Hey you the man in charge?" I asked. "Yeah, let me guess you here for a car." he said sarcastically while walking towards the only main building. I followed him trying to tell him about my baby. "It's not a Nomad, Nemesis or a Nirvana. It's a Ninja. A Ninja 650, black. Black like my mood thanks to you" I said to him as I followed him inside. "Ninja, Ninja, Ninja, Ninja, Ninja.." the impound manager kept repeating while checking his entry log. "Right there!" I said noticing it as he flipped quickly past several pages. "She's coming home with momma!" I thought. "Ninja 650, Black like your mood" he said looking at me. I asked him how much was it to get my bike out and he quoted me an outrageous figure of three thousand dollars." I told him it was robbery but all he said was that he perfered it in twenties. "If you don't got the cash get out of here and come back when you do but I don't guarantee your ninja will be here" said plaid boy. I left fuming, checking my watch I could tell I was gonna be a little late if I didn't leave now.
I got to work and the dispatch center was as hectic as usual. My locker was a mess and Original Cindy was chating with Herbal. I told O.C. what happened last night but all she did was nod her head. "Just what the cops do to pass time when they aren't beating on people." Original Cindy explained to me. I told her I thought it was extortion what they were doing, even Herbal agreed with me saying it was pure wickedness and then mumbled something about rising above the wheels of Babylon. "I'm not in the mood for Ozron theory, 9 kensington." I told him. He said I should let the injustice roll off like water. I was tired of letting things roll off like water; like Normal screeching at me or like my cheating boyfriends. I've let everything that is wrong and lousy in this world roll off me like water but this is my motorcycle.
"Check the classifieds out, boo. You could probably find a used ride for less than the po-po's jacking you for." offered Original Cindy. I told her I didn't want a used ride. I want my motorcycle. "It's just a machine." said Cindy. "It's an extension of my soul if there is such a thing" I said while checking the newspaper.
My heart nearly skipped a beat as I noticed my barcode number, right there in the newspaper. Herbal said some stuff about a key to heaven. Normal came over and asked about what we were doing. " I don't want to interrupt your social life with my petty concerns so why don't we just close down the business and live off the charity of strangers, huh?" Normal asked while I was leaving. I had to find out about my barcode and the phone number seemed like a good place to start. It was obviously a trap but what if it wasn't. I should ask Logan for advice and help.
Inside Logan's apartment; he started to ask me how a random series of numbers was signifigant. "Those numbers are me." I told him. "This is your bar code?" asked Logan.I told him it was printed there in black and white for the whole world to see. "It's like opening the paper and finding my panties" I tried to explain to him. Logan asked me about who knew this number and the only people who would know would have to come from Manticore. "Lydecker." he stated. "Or Brin. Or Jondie. 12 of us got away that night." I offered. You could be walking right into a trap." said Logan a bit worried. "I'll be careful." I said promising him. "But you can't expect me to turn my back on this. They were brothers and sisters to me. When we escaped that night, Zack made us split up. I've been looking for them ever since." I hope he would understand.
The phone began to rang and the machine picked up "Hi, you've reached Logan Cale..." it continued on. "I know how much they mean to you, max but what if Lydecker..." said Logan as he was interrupted. "Hey, loogie...It's me. God, it was good seeing you. And just so you know you're the same beautiful man with the sly smile I fell in love with." said some woman on the machine. "Hey, Val. Hi, um... Yeah, I know I'm kind of in the middle of something right here. Yeah, call me back." Logan said quickly trying not to look at me. "Okay, bye. So... Where were we?" he said turning back to our conversation. "I don't know. Where were we?" I asked wondering that same question about us. "Uh...My ex-wife." he said nervously. I was surprised because he never mentioned it before.
"So, anyway, about this bar code business you're out of your mind if you go anywhere near this." he said hoping to deflect any more questions from me. I told him that I never pictured him as the married type. "You're more the lone warrior. You know, windmills, armor." I said trying to get him to tell me more. Logan asked if it was okay if we didn't talk about his relationship, he seemed awfully uncomfortable with the subject. I asked him if he was embarassed or something but he said he was not. "Do I not have the proper security clearance to know about Mrs. Eyes only?" I asked only half jokingly. He explained that his ex wife Valerie didn't know about that stuff. Eyes Only came along well after they had split up. "All I'm saying is it's no big deal-- you were married. There's tons of stuff you don't know about me." I said deciding it was time to let it go for now. "Including whether or not you plan on using common sense and staying away from Yesler and Viaduct tonight." wondered Logan. "Oh, loogie. What would be the fun in that?" I said trying to sound like his ex. "I mean it, max. It's dangerous." Logan said very seriously. I pointed out to him that it's never stopped him from doing what he needed to do.
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