"Still, our techies did a good job. The girl was on shift for nearly 18 hours, so we got plenty of shots of her face. The techies spliced a couple of images together and we have a decent profile to run by the state media for identification."
"Remind me again why I care." he said, with a hint of exasperation.
"Because the girl is a witness to one crime, a potential suspect in another, and the only person to survive seeing the face of the man we're after. Until now, he's been careful to kill anyone who saw his face so he couldn't be identified easily. Even these security cameras didn't catch more than his back or his hood. We only know for sure it's him because we recognize the woman he has in tow when he arrives and leaves the store. She's currently being used as a hostage in case we corner him."
The chief glared at the agent.
"That was a rhetorical question." he said before walking out of the room. The agent, however stayed. He boredly refreshed the email on his phone because he was waiting on the physical profile to be sent back to him. The email would contain a rough picture created along with a basic description for the police to release to local media. If they could find the girl then they could maybe get the answers they needed to help take down the bomber. But no matter how far they got, the agent couldn't help but feel that the bomber was always 3 steps ahead of them.
##########
"And in other news the police department of Brittlewall, North Carolina are on the hunt for a person who may be a witness to a crime involving the California Bomber. The police spokesperson released a statement asking the citizens of North Carolina to be on the lookout for a young woman around the age of 18. She's wanted in connection with a killing that police believe she was witness too, performed by the California Bomber according to security camera footage. Police have provided a partial profile including a rough sketch of what the girl may look like." As the newscaster spoke a black and white computer generated sketch of a young teen girl appeared in a box on the upper right corner. The box zoomed in to fill the whole screen and a description and phone number appeared across the bottom underneath the sketch. "Residents are advised to call the number on screen if they see the girl or know her whereabouts."
The man watching the television stood up and smiled evilly.
"Found you, bitch." said the man. "Daddy's coming to get you."
With that, he turned off the television and grabbed his car keys. Brittlewall was about 8 hours away, not counting any breaks he'd have to take on the way. If he left now, he'd arrive around midnight. Not that he cared. He wanted his daughter back, and would do anything to return her home.
Chapter 4:
History Repeating
Max sighed deeply as she watched the video of the news broadcast. There, in crystal clarity, was a sketch of her. They said she'd been wanted in connection with a crime. The only crime she could think of was the killing. However, as the story segued into the next she found out that the gas station she had worked for was a shell company for a terrorist organization. Then as the segue continued she also found out that the guy who had shot at her and killed her manager was wanted for killing several hundred people.
Max smashed her forehead into her desk. Whatever had been happening without her knowledge when she worked there, the police clearly thought she was in on it. Her running away from them hadn't helped matters any. She picked her head up but failed to notice the small dent she had left in the wooden desk.
She'd run because she knew she had faked her application to the store, which was illegal because she'd used a fake ID to get the job in the first place. She also didn't want her life outside the school to be known by the school. The school had a history of only allowing rich and privileged students in its doors. Max had, for the most part, played her part perfectly. But if the school had found out that she was working 3 jobs and using bank loans to pay her way through school, they would expel her. And then they would make an example of her to the rest of the state. The board had already been fined 3 separate times before for publicly outing the personal information of students they found to be 'less than acceptable', though the fines amounted to less than 1% of their income, so they didn't care to heed the warnings.
She couldn't afford the attention if she was going to stay away from her father. He still lived in the same state and would easily notice the commotion they would cause. Then she would be back to being forced to live with him. After all he'd done, Max would rather die than live with him again.
She sighed once again and stood up. She'd lucked out in finding a weekend job. Incredibly so. The school had a weekend opening for a part time worker. The pay was more than five fold what she had received at the gas station and was only 4 hours each day Saturday and Sunday. It was a simple job that the school had created to help its students prepare for their role in their families businesses, for those that had them. While it wasn't necessary to pay them, the school felt that the lesson in a private income would be beneficial to the students. But Max suspected part of that was posturing after it became public knowledge that the school board was unhappy with the school for not teaching enough business classes.
Max smiled a little without any trace of happiness. It had been incredibly lucky she even got the job. It was only by virtue of her grades in her required classes being absolutely perfect, despite her electoral class grades being just barely above failing, that she'd managed to snag it. Realistically she wouldn't have normally snagged the job, but lately she'd managed to pull her failing grades up just enough to pass. As long as she held the job, which had an expiration date, until the end, she would have enough money to get through the last of her semesters at school. Then she could graduate and find a good college somewhere.
To that end she had pressed the send button on an email she'd prepared months ago. It went out to an acquaintence of hers who was skilled in creating fake identities. She had the name and fake information she needed already, but universities, especially more prestigous ones, checked the backgrounds of incoming students far more thoroughly than the boarding school she was currently in had.
Max didn't know how exactly the man worked out the details, but she knew he'd been in the process for 20 years without any of his identities ever being flagged. That was an incredible feat on its own but the fact that he guaranteed his work or the customer would receive their money seemed even more incredible. He was literally daring people to test him, a bold move for someone working on a less than legal business.
Max left her dorm hall dressed in her best school uniform. She scoffed at that slightly. This single school uniform had literally cost over 600 dollars in total, including dry cleaning for 4 years. Her total clothing cost for school had been several times that. But it was necessary. And it seemed to finally be paying off too. That was if she could keep the rest of her jobs long enough to graduate. She only had the rest of this year and one more after that before she would get her diploma. She hoped that the impossible would happen and that she'd be able to make it that long.
Max finally arrived at the office building she would be working in after walking literally all the way across the campus. This job was literally the simplest job she could imagine. All she had to do was be a student secretary to the student governments president. And she would get paid about twice minimum wage for it too, which was a hell of a bonus in her eyes.
##########
Max's father walked out of the grocery store in Brittlewall. The same grocery store where Max worked every evening. He hadn't found out much of anything though. They had no idea where Max lived or anything about her personal life. Still, he had found out for sure that she was here. And with that information he set about tracking her down.
His first clue was her early life. He knew she had wanted to go to school and become a recognized actor. For that she'd wanted to attend an acting school. His first place to check then would be the nearby boarding school. They would be the most likely school to get her into a good acting school.
He stalked quietly alo
ng the forest near the school, which was, conveniently enough, right behind the grocery store as well. He planned to camp out for a week to see if he could spot her. If not he'd move on to other locations. It was currently Sunday night and he had enough money on him to last a full week in the town. After that he'd have to head back home. He was thankful that he often made 'business trips' outside of town that lasted for weeks on end because no one would be suspicious if he suddenly disappeared.
After a few moments of searching he found an excellent hiding spot. Using the camping thermal blanket he had bought on his way to the town he covered himself up underneath some brush where he wouldn't be spotted. He then pulled out some binoculars and adjusted them. After a moment he found the focus he needed.
He saw a very large and grand looking campus laid out before him. After a moments searching he found what was obviously the door room plot based on the building design. There were two 3 story high T shaped halls. The bottom of each T met at a one and half story high lobby with a floor to ceiling glass window.
He wasn't sure which side was the mens and which was the womens, but given that the only entrance he could see on this side of the building was the lobby he assumed it didn't matter. The other side was a complete mystery and might have more entrances, but he didn't want to risk going to check it out to be sure.
##########
Max's father woke up from a nap underneath his thermal camo blanket. He rubbed his eyes and grabbed the binoculars. It was now midnight on a Saturday night. He'd been watching the place for a whole week and hadn't spotted anything. He was already preparing plans for where he'd search next for the girl, but first he'd have to head back home and spend a few weeks there.
He pulled the binoculars out and began taking one last glance at the dorm hall that he'd determined to be belonging to the womens wing. He sighed as she saw nothing and was about to put the binoculars away when he noticed a lone figure quietly stalking across the grounds towards the womens side from the forest across from it. He focused in but couldn't see the persons face. After a few minutes of tense and slow movement the person became visible underneath a light. Max's father grinned evilly at the sight.
"Found ya." he said softly.
##########
Max walked into her dorm room and flopped down onto her bed. Ever since the job had started she was getting tired of her boss. The man was an insufferable asshole of a human being. He was the sort of man who was against women holding jobs. He also made comments about how women shouldn't be allowed to divorce or get abortions. Every break she took he had some new condescending tone to take about womens rights, even taking care to tell Max that she was worthless and should just find a good man to settle down with instead of attending college.
Sadly Max had to endure it all. She needed the money badly and would not let his attitude towards women or towards her personally ruin her income for her. Even though at times she thought about pulling out a blade and knifing his genitals as brutally as she could.
Max sat upright on her bed and leaned back against the wall. She had already finished the next 2 web design projects she had been contracted for. One had payed poorly, only half of what he promised. The other hadn't payed at all. But at least Max's new income would mostly make up for it.
Before long she fell asleep. She would hopefully get a full nights sleep for once. She didn't need to work tomorrow because her boss would be away on a business trip in the next town over, which was why she was only now getting back to her dorm room. She'd worked for 8 straight hours with no break to insure she'd still get a full weekends pay.
##########
Max awoke at the end of a terrible nightmare. One she had never had before. She'd dreamed that her father had found her at her new school and broke into her room to drag her back with him. She sat up in bed and wiped her face with her hands. She swung her legs over to the side of her bed and hit something. After letting out a quick swear she looked up...
Right into the face of her father.
Max jumped back on her bed instantly and tried to scream. But before she could her father had his hand around her throat. He choked her, preventing her from breathing or making much noise.
"Now now, daddy's here to take you home." he whispered cruelly. "You'd like that wouldn't you?"
Max tried to shake her head side to side to indicate her displeasure at the idea, but the mans grip was too tight and she was unable to do so.
"Now now, don't struggle. I promise you'll be happier at home sweetheart."
He grabbed max and started walking towards the open window, which was obviously how he'd gotten in originally. Though Max was on the second floor, so how he'd gotten up there was up to debate. Max started struggling again. She brought up her hand to grab the mans large wrist and she instinctively yanked down. Suddenly she heard a crack and she fell to the ground as his hand fell limp and was unable to hold her.
Max's father cursed as he grabbed his arm. His wrist was certainly broken, he was sure of that. He rounded on Max and stared her in the eye with as much anger and hatred as he could muster through the pained look on his face.
"I'm gonna kill you for that you little bitch." He whispered, his previous demeanor was completely forgotten. He pulled a small knife on her and swung at her. Only he never reached her.
Before the knife had closed half the distance to Max she reached out with her foot and kicked the man in the groin. He stopped dead in his tracks as the pain caught up to him almost instantly. He doubled over for a moment but quickly pushed aside the pain. He'd have to deal with that later. Forgetting everything but killing the girl in front of him, he roared loudly, waking up the entire dorm floor.
Max reached her feet up to stop him and landed the soles on his shoulders. He instantly stopped moving but pulled his knife back to his side. Max reach up to try and grab the knife but with her eyes now closed she managed to grab his head instead. Suddenly the man stabbed Max in the side of her stomach. Max tightened her grip and jerked her entire upper body away, trying to escape the pain.
There was a sickening popping sound and suddenly the commotion died down. After a few moments Max opened her eyes and instantly regretted it. She puked at the sight before her. In her lap lay her fathers head, completely disconnected from his body. It was oozing blood all over Max's lap. The body lay limp, being held up by her feet as she continued, involuntarily, to hold the shoulders up.
Max passed out shortly afterward as the school security guard entered the room.
Chapter 5:
Darkness
Max opened her eyes at the end of a long sigh. She looked around the room she'd been assigned at the hospital. It had been only 12 hours since the incident with her father. She had woken up a mere 2 hours later after having the worst nightmare she could imagine.
The school had gone on full lockdown since then. Police officers from every level, including the FBI, had come to aid in the following commotion before the situation got out of control and more people ended up dead. In the mad rush to run away upon hearing of a potential rapist or murderer on campus 13 girls and 2 boys had ended up in the hospital with various trampling-related injuries.
Max sighed again. Since then the dorm halls had been closed and the entire school was being searched thoroughly. The next 2 days classes had been cancelled while the school had ordered various new security measures, measures they had once deemed a 'black hole for money', to be installed. Among them were alarm systems and security cameras and a wireless perimeter 'fence' that would alert the guards when someone crossed the school boundaries. These were all measures the school didn't have before due to the greedy, money-hungry staff.
In addition they were replacing all the locks on every door and replacing all of the glass with bulletproof glass. The door and window frames were being replaced with metal frames that were covered to make them the same appearance as the originals because the aging wood was incredibly easy to break. They even added a simple and hidden hydraulic door system th
at was capabled of generating enough force to keep the door open or closed against a small army. And the windows for the dorm rooms had been replaced with ones that couldn't be opened, since it was determined that the man had entered using a window.
All of it was for their reputation more than the students protection though. The school hadn't given a fuck before the incident and Max knew they still wouldn't even after the previous night. The school board was meeting already to decide the fate of the school due to the nature of the crime. And many of the students families sat on that board.
They were worried about the safety of their children and had called an emergency Sunday session to try and fix the problem before anyone could turn the spotlight on them, which they would do since the board was technically the schools superior. The school, on the other hand, was doing it's damnedest to assure the school board that they were in fact a safe school so they could stay open, even if it meant spending nearly half their money on security they didn't care to ever use.
Max closed her eyes to try and rest. The wound in her side was clearing up quite fast and the doctors said she would be able to go home on tuesday at the latest. The wound hadn't been that deep but she still needed stitches. As well they had to check her out to ensure there were no other injuries such as a concussion.
Just as she was drifting off to sleep again, the door opened. Then, and only then, did the person knock. Max scowled slightly but quickly covered it up with a fake smile. She opened her eyes to see a man in a very old suit. He had a frown on his face and a badge hanging from a chain around his neck. Max focused her eyes and saw the badge was an FBI badge. She glared at the man standing in her doorway as he closed the door behind him.
"Maximiliana Einhardt?" he asked as he turned around.
"Yes" she answered shrewdly.
Chronicles of the Supers (Book 1): Born From Darkness (The Story of Max) Page 3