Haley

The police station was right where she remembered it being. Grateful that it wasn’t more than a few minutes’ drive, she pulled into one of the empty parking spaces along the street in front of the building. The meter swallowed her coins, ringing up her spot for thirty minutes’ worth of parking.

“Good enough,” she said, eying the flashing meter for the other spot.

There was no time left on their parking, but the owner of the red pickup she’d parked behind didn’t seem to care. Haley wished she’d had enough money that she could be unconcerned about a parking ticket, but alas, life had not seen to equip her that way unfortunately. Maybe one day. If she got a promotion at work, she could start to whittle away at her school debt, and perhaps one day emerge from under it. That was a big maybe though. Until then, she would continue to be frugal with every dollar.

Taking the concrete steps quickly, she entered through the revolving door. The station wasn’t big, only three stories high, and with a small footprint as well. The department headquarters downtown was a huge, sprawling thing, but this was a much more compact location. She emerged into a neatly finished lobby. A cafeteria occupied the corner on her right just as she entered, the sight of food making her stomach rumble. She hadn’t eaten in ages.

Unhappy about the prospect of spending more money, she grabbed two premade sandwiches, one for her and one for Maximus. Thinking about it, she grabbed a third one and a bottle of juice. The total cost made her wince, but it was worth it. They needed food.

Stowing the items in her bag and telling her stomach that it was just going to have to wait a bit longer, she headed across the lobby to the reporting desk. The area was mostly empty. A uniformed officer was talking to someone in a suit in one corner, probably a lawyer or something. Three other individuals were sitting in waiting chairs, two of whom sat next to each other. None of them looked at her, and she didn’t pay much attention to them.

“Hi,” she said as politely as she could to the woman sitting on the other side of the counter.

“Hey, what can I do for you today?”

“Um, I’d like to report that I’m okay,” Haley said, making a face at the words.

“Pardon?”

“Well, this is really weird,” she said with a small laugh. “But you guys seem to think I’ve been kidnapped. But I haven’t been.”

It took a moment, but she saw recognition flicker in the officer’s eyes. “You’re Miss Salvannah,” she said with a smile. “I see. So, you weren’t kidnapped?”

Haley shook her head. “Nope. Whoever came to the scene got it all wrong. I tried to tell them, but none of them would listen to me. They just wanted to drag me away, even though I said I wasn’t comfortable leaving, and that I had no reason to press charges either.”

The woman was scribbling things down. “You don’t want to press charges?”

“Not at all. Yes, he was uninvited onto my show, but Maximus was extremely polite, well-mannered, and apologetic for what he was doing. He’s not a criminal; he never kidnapped me or anything.”

“I see. And the two officers that were found unconscious at the scene?” the woman asked.

Haley frowned. Right, she’d forgotten about them.

“Falling asleep on the job?” she asked meekly, not sure what else to say. “I don’t know what happened to them. Maybe they fought each other and knocked each other out somehow?”

The officer snorted, keeping her laughter down. “That would be something I could see those two idiots doing. Okay, so you want me to close this case then?”

Haley nodded. “If you could, please. There’s no need for it.”

“I would love to do so. Frank and Nash are a pair of dicks,” she said with brutal honesty about her fellow officers. “And they…” her voice trailed off as her eyes glanced behind Haley.

She wanted to turn, to see what was going on behind her, but she didn’t. “Is something wrong?” she asked the officer quietly.

“I was informed that if you were brought in, that I was supposed to give you a chance to talk to two special agents,” the woman said, looking around as if she wasn’t sure she should be saying it. “But they don’t work for us…or for the government at all.”

The look that was exchanged told Haley all she needed to know. Her mind flashed back to the two men sitting in waiting chairs.

“Are these two people sitting behind me currently?”

The cop nodded.

“I see. Why are you telling me this?” she asked, wondering if she should be believing everything the woman was telling her. Maximus had told her to be paranoid, and she was going to start practicing that right then and there.

“Because I know who they do work for,” the woman said. “And that’s not why I became an officer of the law.” Fire glinted in the woman’s brown eyes, a look that couldn’t be faked as far as Haley was concerned.

“Thank you.” She turned to leave.

“Wait.” The officer’s hushed words stopped Haley before she could walk away. “Let me show you out the back. Just to be safe.”

Haley smiled. “That would be amazing, thank you.”

The officer opened up a door for her and escorted Haley through the warren of hallways that was the police station. Eventually they emerged via a side exit.

“I can’t do anything more for you,” said the officer, whose name was Sherry, she learned. “I’d love to provide you an escort to wherever you’re going, but…I can’t.” She looked apologetic.

“You already did plenty for me, Sherry. Thank you so much,” Haley said, giving the other woman a quick hug.

They parted ways and she moved quickly around the corner of the building and headed for her car. Her steps were long and powerful, as she was filled with a fierce pride. Her city wasn’t completely full of Institute crooks, and she’d just had her faith in them confirmed. Maximus wouldn’t understand, but she was going to tell him anyway. Not all humans were evil and easily bought, and it was time he started to understand that.

Not only that, but she’d shown him that she could be trusted to do tasks as well. That she wasn’t helpless. Haley appreciated his protective streak, but she also didn’t want him to think that she needed to be babied and kept in a bubble. She was an adult, and needed to be treated like one. He hadn’t done anything to make her angry about that yet, but she wanted to cut anything off before it started, so that down the line it wouldn’t be an issue.

Down the line.

Her fingers slipped the keys into the ignition and brought the car to life with practiced ease.

“You act like you’re going to be around him for a long time, brain. Why do you keep making those assumptions? You’re no longer on the run. You can do whatever you want now.”

No answer to her own question presented itself as she pulled away from the red pickup that was still parked without any money in the meter. She glanced over her shoulder to look for tickets, but didn’t spot any. So far the owners had gotten lucky. If only she could have some of that luck here and there. Like when she bought lottery tickets on the rare occasion she wasted her money on them. That would be nice!

Don’t avoid the issue.

“I’m not,” she told herself aloud. “I just don’t have an answer. I haven’t had a chance to sit down with Maximus yet, to see exactly what it is that’s driving me to stay near him, okay?”

It was the first time she’d admitted to herself that she wanted to stay near him, to be close to him. Which was crazy! She’d only just met him that morning. How could she be so sure that they had a connection after such a short period of time? Haley had never really been a big believer in love at first sight, and she wasn’t now. Was it love she felt for Maximus? That didn’t ring right, but there was something present, some sort of connection.

She just had to puzzle out what it was. Whatever it was, her life was certainly a little more exciting now that he’d come into it.

Ugh, really? You enjoyed the talk show. But now you want to be a movie star in some sort of bizarre real-life drama?

Annoyed with her own thoughts, she glanced in the rear view mirror to see herself, to check if she was still the Haley she’d been that morning. A flash of color in the glass caught her eye as she turned the corner, heading back down the road toward the bar where she’d met Maximus. Butterflies rushed through her stomach as she realized she’d be seeing him again soon. Pushing that aside, she focused on what she’d seen in the mirror.

It was a red pickup.

No, it couldn’t be. You’re just making this up in your mind because Maximus told you to be paranoid. It’s just a coincidence, Haley.

Maybe. Or maybe it wasn’t. She waited two lights, and then turned right down the next street. She took the second left, and continued down that road. The red pickup didn’t appear in her mirror. Haley sighed, and continued on her way. It had all been just her overactive imagination. Now all she needed to do was make another left, and she would come back to the road she needed to take. She’d almost made that turn when her stomach dropped out from under her. There, well behind her, just making the previous turn, was the same red pickup.

She gunned it through the light, cutting her path through traffic far closer than she was comfortable with, and sped down the road. There was no waiting to see if the pickup followed her; it was already clear they were. Now all she could hope for was to get back to Maximus before they got to her. He would protect her, she was sure of it. This was his sort of thing, fighting and all that.

A throaty roar dragged her attention back to the rear view mirror, as well behind her the red pickup began to accelerate. Even at this distance she could hear its exhaust, the noise rattling her windows slightly.

“Overcompensating much?” she muttered to herself, flying down the road at speeds that would get her pulled over instantly if an officer saw her.

The bar wasn’t far down the road, and with her head start, and initial acceleration advantage as well, Haley knew she would make it there well in advance of her pursuers. The only question that remained was what would happen after that? Would they come after her and Maximus, or would they back off? She didn’t want to force him into a fight, but neither was she prepared to just let herself be captured.

Haley was so wrapped up in the potential outcomes of the situation that she almost missed the dilapidated sign for the bar.

“Shit!” she shouted, slamming on the brakes and spinning the wheel to angle her into the parking lot. She came to a halt thirty feet from the door. Not bothering to remove the keys, she simply slammed it into park and dashed for the door.

Behind her, the roar of the pickup grew louder.