The Max Effect. 3

Miss....Max?

Max was up early. The first job of the day was to check in with her business. She ran a successful white goods installation service, they were the leading specialists, trusted by the top brands, and gave excellent customer service.

Once she checked her daily tasks she closed her laptop. It was time for a coffee. There was a knock at the door. Max checked her security system which Langer insisted on having installed. There was a man, a young man in great overalls with a black baseball cap, he was carrying a clipboard.

Max opened the door.

"Hello, Miss...erm.." the man struggles to find a second name.

"It's Max."

"Ahh, okay sign here please," he asked

"What for?"

"This"

He held up an Audi key fob

"Courtesy of Mr..erm...Langer"

"We don't have second names"

"Okay, sign here, please...Max...thank you"

"Thank you," said Max

A beautiful Audi R8 roared up in metallic Suzuka grey.

"It's a start," said Max to herself, "he's got 4 years and my career to go. Good start if a little late!"

She got in the car immediately. The delicious new car smell, the sleek lines of the interior. She started it up and revved the engine, it sounded sweet. Sweet petrol head emotion.

Max got back to looking at her patterns to see what she could work out, dgevwas desperate to find a clue.

Max's eyes were straining after staring at her laptop for a few hours, enough was enough. She decided to take her new R8 for a spin to Old Teasingford, one of the biggest towns. The R8 pulled away from Max's house purring as moved away at the street speed limit, Max was an
advanced driver and a fast driver, but there was always a place and a time.

When Max got to the highway she opened up the R8 pressing her foot down. There was a fantastic roar as the V10 woke up.

At the speed Max drove at it did take her long to get to Old Teasingford. Max headed for where the crime reports triangulated where the missing people were before their crimes occurred.

Again there were the usual shops, some street performers and a few stalls. Balloons, cheap jewellery, some free food samples doubt handing out cheese again. So, Max hung around, sitting on a park bench whilst watching the busy people move around like ants.

The C.S.A. could hack into any camera, why had they still not come up with the answer? Max was getting more convinced that Langer was somehow involved. Nothing was going on here, she watched a man with grey hair and a beige trench coat get some cheese, he seemed to have a cheese freeze, as he stopped dead in his tracks and gazed into nowhere.  It's like it's the first time he's tried cheese or he's a food critic savouring the moment and looking for flavours. Still, the guy running the stall checked up on him making sure he was okay. After that, he seemed a bit dazed but he carried his way.

There was nothing else here. Max returned to her car as she walked closer she could see a van blocking her in. She went and sat patiently in the car awaiting the return of the driver.

An alert came through on her C.S.A. phone as they always did when there was a crime in progress. More often than not the C.S.A. wouldn't attend and allow local law enforcement to deal, only taking over if it was a serious crime.

The text read: Robbery in progress at Nightingales Fine Jewellery in Lawson Street. The suspect is a white male, 5ft 10, of average build, wearing a beige trench coat. The suspect has grey hair.

It took a moment but the Max thought it must be the guy from the cheese stall. She now had a dilemma, Did she rush around to Lawson Street and assist with the suspect or did she head for the cheese stall?

Max checked her rearview mirror, the delivery van was still blocking her in. She quickly got out of her car. She went up to the van and started to push, her muscular arm tensing hard as she pushed the van forward, the back corner of the van crushed from the force Max was applying as the van moved despite the van's brakes being on, the tyres screeching as she pushed the van forward with one arm. She gave a final push and the van skidded forward a few more feet. Max quickly got back into her car reversing out at high speed, the R8's powerful V10 roared as Max raced to the cheese stall.

Skillfully cutting through the traffic and driving at high speeds Max soon reached the centre of Old Teasingford. The traffic was heavier so Max carefully mounted the Kerb and drove along the path for a short distance, pedestrians jumping out of the way. Max apologised as she was speeding along the kerb, they couldn't hear her apology for the burble of the V10. Max was in full control at all times and although they thought so nobody was at serious risk.

Max took a hard left onto the park, taking Ina small jump. She winced, knowing that her new R8 would probably need a new front bumper after that small jump. The Suzuka grey R8 skidded to a halt, Max jumping out and running the short distance to the cheese stall. She had made good time but it was closed and covered. Max's hands ripped through the tarpaulin cover, and the shelves & storage areas were empty.

"Where did the cheese guy go?" she yelled to the other stallholders.

"He left a few minutes ago on a motorcycle, headed towards the docks," said the balloon guy.

Max ran back to her car, super fit and super strong, but she disliked running. Give her a mountain bike any day. Anything with wheels and preferably an engine!

The bumper was slightly hanging off after the previous jump. This is going to break my heart she said to herself as she ripped the white of the plastic bumper off the front of the R8.

She got in the bumper-less car and headed towards the docks at speed. Max weaved through the traffic using all of her skill to catch up with the cheese guy. The mystery cheese guy had a rucksack on his back and that was where Max thought the chemical for mind suggestion was.

Being on a motorcycle gave him an advantage even against Max's driving skills. He nipped through gaps that Max couldn't fit through and was able to weave around the traffic, Max annoyingly didn't have any police lights so had to wait for others to move for her. Not all of the public responded well to her aggressive style of driving and excessive horn use!

Max just couldn't get close enough to grab the bike. Her muscles would have easily overpowered the motorcycle and brought it to a halt. Max continued to catch up as they raced down towards the port. The road carried on straight but the motorcyclist suddenly swerved left catching Max off guard. The reason she was caught off guard was because there wasn't a road for the motorcycle to go down. Instead, he went up a ramp and jumped off the bridge. Max had to go the long way, it would lose her valuable seconds!