Jackie led them carefully through the streets, staying away from the main thourofares whenever possible.
When they had gone out to the parking lot they saw
the BMW motorcycle that the other "biker" had owned, and Gary got the
sense that Jackie was fighting down the urge to shoot out the tires.
While Gary got into his van, Jackie had walked
around the back of the side of one of the little kiosk type buildings.
Even through the closed windows he could hear the roar of the engine
coming to life. The chopper slid smoothly out from
behind the small building, and seemed to glide along the ground, low
and slow, though Gary realized that was an illusion. He was moving along
quite fast through the parking lot, but it was so smooth, it looked
like it was moving in slow motion. He didn't know
the make or model, but he suspected that it was a custom job, from the
paint, to the handbars, to the rims, and even the gas tank.
When they finally arrived at the garage Jackie slowly, almost reluctantly stepped off the chopper, and stroked it, almost lovingly, while looking it over for dings and imperfections.
"Have you set a date yet?" said Gary sarcastically. Jackie looked at him with unamused confusion. "Have you named your children yet? Let me guess 'Harley,' and 'Davidson.'"
Jackie sighed in irritation.
"Relax man, I'm just giving you some crap," said Gary placatingly, laughing a little. "Seriously, she's freaking gorgeous. And from the sound of her you've got, what a 440 heat conversion matrix on the exhaust? That would get you another three or four MPG I'd guess right?"
Jackie looked slightly mollified. "450," he said, still showing a little annoyance.
Gary smiled. "Does she have a name?"
Jackie looked a little uncomfortable. "Lucile." He nodded at the bike. "Cause she's got a sense of humor."
Gary smirked, and tapped the hood of his van. "Buttercup," he said. "My little princess, and my.... Twu Wuv."
Jackie nodded, and said. "Very cute." But he was smirking now. "Okay, it's like ten after one now. I have to go talk to the boss, and I'll be back in about an hour or so. Do you need anything?"
But Gary had already started dragging an extension cord from his van over to the electrical outlet on the wall. When he plugged it in, there was a barely perceptible lull in the power for a second. He smiled and waved at Jackie.
"Got juice, got pizza, got coffee, got entertainment..." He smiled and tossed the little oive green and red figurine in his hand. "I should be good for an hour or so." He was already climbing into the back of the van, and setting things up when Jackie got back on his bike and started off again, Gary barely noticed.
He was studying the contents of the drive, which appeared to be a series of picture, that for some reason had some odd digital color distortion. They were all along the lines of that famous picture where the two faces looking at each other, when lined up correctly. looked like a vase, or a candle holder or whatever that thing was.
And the old lady who was also the young lady with her head turned. And Marilyn Monroe, and a saxophone player.
He sat back in his chair, staring at the picture, trying to discern any hidden meaning in any of them. Was it in the context? The fact that they were all black and white? After sitting and thinking about it for a few minutes, he decided to take a break, and stretch his legs outside for a minute.
He took a long pull from his chai, and grabbed a slice of pizza.
He hadn't looked too closely at the garage when he came in, but now he noticed a few things he hadn't seen before, like the big garage doors at both the front and back, and the big mural of a devils head on one wall. The floor was smooth and painted, and clean. There were motorcycle parts all over the place, but along one wall was a huge metal locker...
...that seemed to contain an arsenal.
"Huh," he said, but quickly dismissed it, still thinking about the problem, only sparing a little processing power in his brain to take in his surroundings. There was a red painted metal safety door set into one wall, that led into an office. The office had a few windows along with some fairly distasteful and mismatched furniture, around a TV. There was also a desk with a computer, but it looked fairly disused. The big blue metal door that led outside was locked, so he flipped the deadbolt, went out, and started pacing around the garage, in the fresh air.
His mind though was still locked on the problem, which is why he didn't see the black bag until it was down over his head.
"Relax man, I'm just giving you some crap," said Gary placatingly, laughing a little. "Seriously, she's freaking gorgeous. And from the sound of her you've got, what a 440 heat conversion matrix on the exhaust? That would get you another three or four MPG I'd guess right?"
Jackie looked slightly mollified. "450," he said, still showing a little annoyance.
Gary smiled. "Does she have a name?"
Jackie looked a little uncomfortable. "Lucile." He nodded at the bike. "Cause she's got a sense of humor."
Gary smirked, and tapped the hood of his van. "Buttercup," he said. "My little princess, and my.... Twu Wuv."
Jackie nodded, and said. "Very cute." But he was smirking now. "Okay, it's like ten after one now. I have to go talk to the boss, and I'll be back in about an hour or so. Do you need anything?"
But Gary had already started dragging an extension cord from his van over to the electrical outlet on the wall. When he plugged it in, there was a barely perceptible lull in the power for a second. He smiled and waved at Jackie.
"Got juice, got pizza, got coffee, got entertainment..." He smiled and tossed the little oive green and red figurine in his hand. "I should be good for an hour or so." He was already climbing into the back of the van, and setting things up when Jackie got back on his bike and started off again, Gary barely noticed.
He was studying the contents of the drive, which appeared to be a series of picture, that for some reason had some odd digital color distortion. They were all along the lines of that famous picture where the two faces looking at each other, when lined up correctly. looked like a vase, or a candle holder or whatever that thing was.
And the old lady who was also the young lady with her head turned. And Marilyn Monroe, and a saxophone player.
He sat back in his chair, staring at the picture, trying to discern any hidden meaning in any of them. Was it in the context? The fact that they were all black and white? After sitting and thinking about it for a few minutes, he decided to take a break, and stretch his legs outside for a minute.
He took a long pull from his chai, and grabbed a slice of pizza.
He hadn't looked too closely at the garage when he came in, but now he noticed a few things he hadn't seen before, like the big garage doors at both the front and back, and the big mural of a devils head on one wall. The floor was smooth and painted, and clean. There were motorcycle parts all over the place, but along one wall was a huge metal locker...
...that seemed to contain an arsenal.
"Huh," he said, but quickly dismissed it, still thinking about the problem, only sparing a little processing power in his brain to take in his surroundings. There was a red painted metal safety door set into one wall, that led into an office. The office had a few windows along with some fairly distasteful and mismatched furniture, around a TV. There was also a desk with a computer, but it looked fairly disused. The big blue metal door that led outside was locked, so he flipped the deadbolt, went out, and started pacing around the garage, in the fresh air.
His mind though was still locked on the problem, which is why he didn't see the black bag until it was down over his head.
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