Taylor awoke the following morning after a restless night’s sleep, having been up for most of it staring at the black void of a ceiling above her head. She had walked around the house to try to calm herself, only to discover that not only had her mother turned Chris’ room into the guest room, but had actually wiped all trace of him from the other rooms. All photos, achievements and things he’d made as a child that had once adorned the walls and sides were gone. Needless to say, her nocturnal walk hadn’t calmed her at all.
After watching her mother feed Flack an enormous breakfast (she had just watched him eat, only sipping at a glass of orange juice) the two had left for the short drive into the city.
“Is California always this warm?” Flack asked, winding the window down.
“We usually have mild winters,” Taylor shrugged. “But we are just above the border of Mexico.”
They pulled into the parking lot of a small building.
“Do you want me to wait outside?” Flack asked, watching Taylor stare at the big black door.
Taylor shook her head. “No, I’d rather… will you come in with me?”
“Sure,” he agreed, before following her lead and exiting the car.
The secretary buzzed through to the attorney as soon as they introduced themselves, and they were quickly ushered into his office. “Ms. Turner,” smiled the attorney, shaking her hand. “So glad that you made it.
“Can’t say that I had much choice,” Taylor muttered dryly as she took a seat opposite Bernstein. “This is my boyfriend, Detective Don Flack,” she introduced Flack as he took a seat next to her.
“My client-”
“Please,” sighed Taylor. “Call him Chris.”
“Very well,” he nodded. “Chris has requested this meeting to discuss your automobile situation.”
“I don’t have a situation. I don’t have an automobile,” Taylor frowned, growing increasingly confused.
“Precisely,” Bernstein agreed. “He wishes you to have his.” He glanced down at one of the documents in front of him. “His “67 Pontiac GTO.”
Taylor’s jaw dropped. “He wants me to have Maggie?” she cried incredulously. “Are you having serious?”
“I’m afraid I’m quite serious,” he told her. Bernstein pulled open one of his draws, pulled something out, and placed it on the far side of desk, just in front of Taylor. It was a black wallet and two sets of car keys.
Taylor sat back in her chair and ran her hands through her hair as she stared in disbelief at the keys. “He can’t expect me to accept that offer after he’s returned every letter I’ve ever sent him, refuses to see me and with no explanation.
Bernstein nodded. “He said you would say that. Which is why he has agreed to a visitation today at 2pm.” He pulled out a yellow slip of paper from the folder in front of him and placed it over the folder.
“And if I refuse?” Taylor asked, staring at the visitation document.
“Chris also said that you would say that, but I wasn’t to worry because your curiosity would get the better of you.”
“Chris said that?” asked Taylor, taking a swipe at Flack, who was smirking at her. Bernstein nodded. “I am going to kill him,” Taylor muttered under her breath as she gathered up the various items Bernstein had presented to her, and stalked out of the building.
“Taylor?” Flack called, hurrying after her.
“I’m fine, Don,” she snapped at him, walking straight past the car, across the road and to the view point opposite, and stood, staring out at the empty beach.
“Do you miss the ocean?” Flack asked her, leaning against the wooden fence next to her.
“I’m sorry,” she sighed. “I shouldn’t take it out on you.”
“Who else are you going to vent it on?”
Taylor smiled and glanced down at her watch. “You want to go grab a drink, or something? We still have a few hours to kill.”
After watching her mother feed Flack an enormous breakfast (she had just watched him eat, only sipping at a glass of orange juice) the two had left for the short drive into the city.
“Is California always this warm?” Flack asked, winding the window down.
“We usually have mild winters,” Taylor shrugged. “But we are just above the border of Mexico.”
They pulled into the parking lot of a small building.
“Do you want me to wait outside?” Flack asked, watching Taylor stare at the big black door.
Taylor shook her head. “No, I’d rather… will you come in with me?”
“Sure,” he agreed, before following her lead and exiting the car.
The secretary buzzed through to the attorney as soon as they introduced themselves, and they were quickly ushered into his office. “Ms. Turner,” smiled the attorney, shaking her hand. “So glad that you made it.
“Can’t say that I had much choice,” Taylor muttered dryly as she took a seat opposite Bernstein. “This is my boyfriend, Detective Don Flack,” she introduced Flack as he took a seat next to her.
“My client-”
“Please,” sighed Taylor. “Call him Chris.”
“Very well,” he nodded. “Chris has requested this meeting to discuss your automobile situation.”
“I don’t have a situation. I don’t have an automobile,” Taylor frowned, growing increasingly confused.
“Precisely,” Bernstein agreed. “He wishes you to have his.” He glanced down at one of the documents in front of him. “His “67 Pontiac GTO.”
Taylor’s jaw dropped. “He wants me to have Maggie?” she cried incredulously. “Are you having serious?”
“I’m afraid I’m quite serious,” he told her. Bernstein pulled open one of his draws, pulled something out, and placed it on the far side of desk, just in front of Taylor. It was a black wallet and two sets of car keys.
Taylor sat back in her chair and ran her hands through her hair as she stared in disbelief at the keys. “He can’t expect me to accept that offer after he’s returned every letter I’ve ever sent him, refuses to see me and with no explanation.
Bernstein nodded. “He said you would say that. Which is why he has agreed to a visitation today at 2pm.” He pulled out a yellow slip of paper from the folder in front of him and placed it over the folder.
“And if I refuse?” Taylor asked, staring at the visitation document.
“Chris also said that you would say that, but I wasn’t to worry because your curiosity would get the better of you.”
“Chris said that?” asked Taylor, taking a swipe at Flack, who was smirking at her. Bernstein nodded. “I am going to kill him,” Taylor muttered under her breath as she gathered up the various items Bernstein had presented to her, and stalked out of the building.
“Taylor?” Flack called, hurrying after her.
“I’m fine, Don,” she snapped at him, walking straight past the car, across the road and to the view point opposite, and stood, staring out at the empty beach.
“Do you miss the ocean?” Flack asked her, leaning against the wooden fence next to her.
“I’m sorry,” she sighed. “I shouldn’t take it out on you.”
“Who else are you going to vent it on?”
Taylor smiled and glanced down at her watch. “You want to go grab a drink, or something? We still have a few hours to kill.”
* * *
“Tell me again why Chris is in prison,” Flack asked as he watched Taylor stir her spoon around a, now cold, cup of hot chocolate.
Taylor dropped the spoon and stared out of the window. “He had just returned home from somewhere in Asia, and was at a bar with his girlfriend, celebrating. Some guys started harassing her, and it carried on outside. It was two on one, Don, and one of them had a knife. But he stood his ground and knocked them both out. Only one of them never got up. The DA pressed for Murder Two, but Chris admitted to manslaughter and the judge threw the book at him - wanted to make an example.”
“Have you appealed?”
“Dad has tried to pull as many strings as he could, but so far, nothing. Actually, that’s not true. He was sent down with no chance of parole, but I think Dad has managed to get him up for it sometime next spring.”
“That’s some good news, then?”
Taylor sighed. “He shouldn’t be in there in the first place.” The sigh turned into a groan as she dropped her head into her hands. “Okay, so he did kill someone, but... now I’m just going around in circles. It’s just so frustrating.”
Flack reached over and patted her gently on the head, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” she told him with a sad smile as she lifted her head. “But thank you.” She glanced down at her watch and frowned. “We should probably get going.”
Taylor dropped the spoon and stared out of the window. “He had just returned home from somewhere in Asia, and was at a bar with his girlfriend, celebrating. Some guys started harassing her, and it carried on outside. It was two on one, Don, and one of them had a knife. But he stood his ground and knocked them both out. Only one of them never got up. The DA pressed for Murder Two, but Chris admitted to manslaughter and the judge threw the book at him - wanted to make an example.”
“Have you appealed?”
“Dad has tried to pull as many strings as he could, but so far, nothing. Actually, that’s not true. He was sent down with no chance of parole, but I think Dad has managed to get him up for it sometime next spring.”
“That’s some good news, then?”
Taylor sighed. “He shouldn’t be in there in the first place.” The sigh turned into a groan as she dropped her head into her hands. “Okay, so he did kill someone, but... now I’m just going around in circles. It’s just so frustrating.”
Flack reached over and patted her gently on the head, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” she told him with a sad smile as she lifted her head. “But thank you.” She glanced down at her watch and frowned. “We should probably get going.”
* * *
Taylor had come to the conclusion a long time ago that prison was the last place she ever wanted to go, especially after seeing the one Chris was in. Alright, so it wasn’t like it was the worst place to be, but just from the outside of the place, the armed guards patrolling the area were enough to give her the shivers.
Leaving Flack outside chatting amiably with one of the guards, she went in, signed all the relevant documentation, allowed the guards to search her and surrendered all the items they wouldn’t let her enter with. Eventually, she was led into the visitation room where she spotted her brother instantly.
There were only four years between Taylor and her brother, but it had never seemed that big of an age gap. Although he had obviously been keeping in shape, now, that age gap seemed to have grown and her brother now seemed a lot older, Taylor realised as she sat down opposite of him. “Hi Taylor,” he said brightly. “How are things?”
Taylor glared at him, “I don’t know. Maybe if you read a letter every now and again, you’d know, rather than sending them back unopened.”
“I was doing it to protect you,” he told her with a pained expression.
“Protect me from what, Chris?” Taylor snapped at him. “If you had any idea what I have been doing this past year, you would know that the things I need protecting from are things you can’t even see.”
“What does that mean, Tay?”
“No,” said Taylor, shaking her head at him. “You aren’t going to get anything out of me until I know why you sent me a letter out of the blue, from your attorney, rather than from yourself, demanding I drop everything to fly to the other side of the country, to give me your most prized possession.”
“Things change, Taylor,” he sighed.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she demanded.
“I needed the money.”
Taylor shut her eyes with a groan. “What have you gotten yourself into in here?”
“Nothing,” Chris insisted.
Taylor opened her eyes and stared at him. “Uh huh?”
“No, really,” he took a deep breath. “I needed the money to pay for child support.”
“Who the hell have you managed to get pregnant in this place?”
Chris managed a small laugh. “No, not in here. It’s Megan.”
“Megan? As in that stupid-”
“Yeah,” he told her quickly, before she could launch into the tirade of expletives aimed at his ex, she was about to. “I have a daughter.”
Taylor frowned. “But she would have to be at least six,” she told him with a frown as she tried to do the math.
“Six years and four months,” Chris agreed.
Taylor slumped back in her chair. “Oh.”
“I found out a few weeks ago. Megan came in with her. She’s beautiful, Taylor. She has my hair and smile, and Megan’s eyes.”
“And you want me to buy Maggie off you?”
Chris smiled and shook his head. “Dad already bought her for you. He said you’d told him that you were after a car a while back, and when I told him that I needed the money: it was the perfect solution.”
“Chris, how do you expect me to get her back to New York?”
Chris looked at her like she was stupid. “Um, Tay, wake up those Nancy Drew genes for me. She’s a car. Drive her.”
“I get that, doofas,” she rolled her eyes at him. “It’s forty years old. Is it going to make it?”
“I practically rebuilt that engine from scratch. She’ll get you there and back ten times over, and you helped me, so if anything does go wrong, you’ll have an idea of what to do. And if that wasn’t enough, Dad has already signed you up with AAA.”
Taylor rubbed her temples. “This is why you didn’t buy me a return ticket.”
Chris shrugged, “I figured you wouldn’t say no once I eventually got you out here. I know how much you don’t like flying. Just do me a favour, send Maddy a plane ticket and get her to drive back with you. I don’t want you doing it alone.”
“Maddy’s dead,” Taylor told him shortly.
Chris looked mortified. “What?”
“Yeah, but you’d know that if you’d stayed in touch,” Taylor told him, not feeling the slightest bit guilty for the bitter hint to her tone.
“Oh, Taylor, I’m sorry.”
Taylor shrugged. “For what? Maddy dying or for not writing?”
“Taylor, that’s not fair.”
“Fair?” Taylor scoffed. “Don’t even start on a fairness lecture, Chris, because you can’t win.”
Chris nodded. “You’re right.”
Taylor stared at him, chewing on her lip. “Fine, I’ll take her. But you can’t go back to pretending I don’t exist. Because next time, I’m not flying out here.”
“Deal.”
Leaving Flack outside chatting amiably with one of the guards, she went in, signed all the relevant documentation, allowed the guards to search her and surrendered all the items they wouldn’t let her enter with. Eventually, she was led into the visitation room where she spotted her brother instantly.
There were only four years between Taylor and her brother, but it had never seemed that big of an age gap. Although he had obviously been keeping in shape, now, that age gap seemed to have grown and her brother now seemed a lot older, Taylor realised as she sat down opposite of him. “Hi Taylor,” he said brightly. “How are things?”
Taylor glared at him, “I don’t know. Maybe if you read a letter every now and again, you’d know, rather than sending them back unopened.”
“I was doing it to protect you,” he told her with a pained expression.
“Protect me from what, Chris?” Taylor snapped at him. “If you had any idea what I have been doing this past year, you would know that the things I need protecting from are things you can’t even see.”
“What does that mean, Tay?”
“No,” said Taylor, shaking her head at him. “You aren’t going to get anything out of me until I know why you sent me a letter out of the blue, from your attorney, rather than from yourself, demanding I drop everything to fly to the other side of the country, to give me your most prized possession.”
“Things change, Taylor,” he sighed.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she demanded.
“I needed the money.”
Taylor shut her eyes with a groan. “What have you gotten yourself into in here?”
“Nothing,” Chris insisted.
Taylor opened her eyes and stared at him. “Uh huh?”
“No, really,” he took a deep breath. “I needed the money to pay for child support.”
“Who the hell have you managed to get pregnant in this place?”
Chris managed a small laugh. “No, not in here. It’s Megan.”
“Megan? As in that stupid-”
“Yeah,” he told her quickly, before she could launch into the tirade of expletives aimed at his ex, she was about to. “I have a daughter.”
Taylor frowned. “But she would have to be at least six,” she told him with a frown as she tried to do the math.
“Six years and four months,” Chris agreed.
Taylor slumped back in her chair. “Oh.”
“I found out a few weeks ago. Megan came in with her. She’s beautiful, Taylor. She has my hair and smile, and Megan’s eyes.”
“And you want me to buy Maggie off you?”
Chris smiled and shook his head. “Dad already bought her for you. He said you’d told him that you were after a car a while back, and when I told him that I needed the money: it was the perfect solution.”
“Chris, how do you expect me to get her back to New York?”
Chris looked at her like she was stupid. “Um, Tay, wake up those Nancy Drew genes for me. She’s a car. Drive her.”
“I get that, doofas,” she rolled her eyes at him. “It’s forty years old. Is it going to make it?”
“I practically rebuilt that engine from scratch. She’ll get you there and back ten times over, and you helped me, so if anything does go wrong, you’ll have an idea of what to do. And if that wasn’t enough, Dad has already signed you up with AAA.”
Taylor rubbed her temples. “This is why you didn’t buy me a return ticket.”
Chris shrugged, “I figured you wouldn’t say no once I eventually got you out here. I know how much you don’t like flying. Just do me a favour, send Maddy a plane ticket and get her to drive back with you. I don’t want you doing it alone.”
“Maddy’s dead,” Taylor told him shortly.
Chris looked mortified. “What?”
“Yeah, but you’d know that if you’d stayed in touch,” Taylor told him, not feeling the slightest bit guilty for the bitter hint to her tone.
“Oh, Taylor, I’m sorry.”
Taylor shrugged. “For what? Maddy dying or for not writing?”
“Taylor, that’s not fair.”
“Fair?” Taylor scoffed. “Don’t even start on a fairness lecture, Chris, because you can’t win.”
Chris nodded. “You’re right.”
Taylor stared at him, chewing on her lip. “Fine, I’ll take her. But you can’t go back to pretending I don’t exist. Because next time, I’m not flying out here.”
“Deal.”
* * *
“How did it go?” Flack asked her a while later when she returned.
“I have a car,” she sighed.
“Um, I don’t think a car is going to fit into the luggage hold of a plane.”
“Nope, probably not. Which is why I’m going to drive her back.”
Flack stared at her. “That’s about three thousand miles.”
“Yup,” Taylor agreed, taking the car keys of him as they neared the rental.
“And Alex will let you take the time off work?”
Taylor shrugged. “I’m not going to ask for it off. I brought my lap top with me, and I can write in the evening from whatever motel I’m in and email it to him. I don’t have to be in New York to write it. And if I need any information, I can hook my phone up to my laptop: instant internet.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Flack asked, almost rhetorically as he regarded her.
Taylor shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to drive across the country.”
“Then I’m coming with you.”
“Don, you’ve been back at work for two months. Not even that if we just talk about how long you’ve been back in the field. Your chief is understanding, but I don’t think he’s that understanding.”
“You don’t want me to come?” Flack asked.
“Of course I want you to come. I just don’t want you to lose your job to do so.”
“Let me talk to him. I’m still owed holidays, and I’m not due back until next week anyway. Besides, I’m not letting you drive all the way back across the country by yourself. If worst comes to the worst, I’ll drive with you for a week, fly back from wherever we are, and send Danny out to go the rest of the way.”
Taylor arched an eyebrow at him. “Danny?”
“It was the first name that popped into my head,” Flack shrugged.
Taylor laughed at him. “Alright. Well, let’s go introduce you to Maggie.”
“Why do you call the car Maggie?”
“I have a car,” she sighed.
“Um, I don’t think a car is going to fit into the luggage hold of a plane.”
“Nope, probably not. Which is why I’m going to drive her back.”
Flack stared at her. “That’s about three thousand miles.”
“Yup,” Taylor agreed, taking the car keys of him as they neared the rental.
“And Alex will let you take the time off work?”
Taylor shrugged. “I’m not going to ask for it off. I brought my lap top with me, and I can write in the evening from whatever motel I’m in and email it to him. I don’t have to be in New York to write it. And if I need any information, I can hook my phone up to my laptop: instant internet.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Flack asked, almost rhetorically as he regarded her.
Taylor shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to drive across the country.”
“Then I’m coming with you.”
“Don, you’ve been back at work for two months. Not even that if we just talk about how long you’ve been back in the field. Your chief is understanding, but I don’t think he’s that understanding.”
“You don’t want me to come?” Flack asked.
“Of course I want you to come. I just don’t want you to lose your job to do so.”
“Let me talk to him. I’m still owed holidays, and I’m not due back until next week anyway. Besides, I’m not letting you drive all the way back across the country by yourself. If worst comes to the worst, I’ll drive with you for a week, fly back from wherever we are, and send Danny out to go the rest of the way.”
Taylor arched an eyebrow at him. “Danny?”
“It was the first name that popped into my head,” Flack shrugged.
Taylor laughed at him. “Alright. Well, let’s go introduce you to Maggie.”
“Why do you call the car Maggie?”
* * *
MAG 413
“That’s why,” Taylor told him, pointing to the licence plate.
“MAG 413,” Flack read.
“Maggie.” Taylor pulled the rest of the tarp off the car, revealing a ‘67 GTO Fathom Blue four door coupe in pristine condition.
Flack let out a low whistle. “Nice. But is it going to make it across the country?”
Taylor unlocked the door and popped the hood. The engine, she was pleased to see, was in just an immaculate condition as the rest of the car was. “This baby will do it.” Her brother had been right, and thanks to him, she knew exactly how to look after the car, as well as service it if need be.
“You sure?” he asked her dubiously.
“I spent hours in our garage with Chris as he restored this. I know her almost as well as he does.”
“I hope you’re right,” Flack muttered as he watched Taylor tinker under the hood.
Originally posted: 20/09/2006