Reine shook her head at the vehicle parked in front of the main entrance. "Forget it. I'm not getting in that with you," she said.
"It's either this or walk, babe." Mal laughed as he rounded the hood to get to the driver's side. "Your choice, but make it quick. I haven't got all day."
She stared at the sleek white sports car with mild trepidation. It was obvious from the three pointed star emblem on the rims that it was a Mercedes, but otherwise, the style was completely foreign to her. She was never a car buff, and until now, she'd only seen upward opening car doors in the Back to the Future movies. Anything this extreme had to be super-fast, and the little she knew about Mal didn't ease her apprehension. Nevertheless, if Max trusted him enough to take her home in this bullet with wheels, then she could as well.
"Time's up. What's it gonna be?" asked the young man as he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.
She got into the passenger seat without answering.
Did this thing even have trunk space? Mal didn't seem to care any more about her comfort to volunteer any help, so she placed her bag on the floor between her feet.
He pushed a button to silently lower the doors. "You better buckle up."
They whipped down the driveway to the sound of screeching tires, but she didn't expect the pace to hold for the duration of the entire trip. After almost two hours of heading south on the highway at a breakneck speed while aggressively darting from lane to lane in order to avoid the increasing morning traffic, she couldn't keep quiet any longer.
"I guess the dead do travel fast," she said under her breath.
"What?" He asked without taking his eyes off the road.
"Unless you want me to vomit inside this fancy-schmancy car, you may want to slow down," she said with a frown.
He unexpectedly agreed and settled into a more steady rhythm. "As you wish."
"Well, if that's the case, I do want to talk to Gabe as soon as possible. I'm assuming you have his number, and I can borrow your phone?" Reine asked, holding out her hand.
He shook his head. "Use your own damn phone."
"I would, except I haven't seen it since the airport. I think I lost it," she said.
"You sure about that?"
"Of course I am. I've checked my bag. Several times," she added for emphasis.
"Doesn't mean it can't be there now." Mal took one hand off the steering wheel and pulled out a small black device from his pocket. "Here. Dial."
Taking the phone, Reine entered her own number and waited for the connection. Instead of just hearing a ring through the handset, a much louder noise also came from the travel bag on the floor.
"What the hell?" Reine pulled the bag into her lap, finding the ringing phone at the bottom. Declining the call, she saw there were no other missed calls.
"I swear it wasn't in here," she muttered, before coming to an unexpected realization. "Max?!"
Mal's lack of denial indicated her assumption was correct, but she didn't waste time analyzing his reasoning. Instead, she called Gabe. He picked up almost immediately and agreed to meet at her house, no questions asked.
This either meant he didn't know about her amnesia or he was also hiding something. In either case, it confirmed Reine's need to see him.
As promised, Gabe was already there when they pulled up to the curb.
Mal opened the car doors, but Reine struggled to get out of the low vehicle. Managing to exit as gracefully as she could, her heart raced at seeing Gabe again. She became even more nervous when she greeted him with a hug, only to realize too late that he intended to kiss her on the cheek. They both pulled away with an awkward "Sorry" just as Mal reached them.
"Looks like the eye's healing nicely." He shook Gabe's hand. Turning to Reine, he held out a business card. "You can reach us on this number at any time. Call if you need anything."
Taking the rectangular piece of paper, she silently read the company's name: 'Pennsylvania eXpress Logistics.'
Reine smiled. She never even bothered to ask Max what his business was called, and the corporate logo immediately stood out. It consisted of the stylized capital P and X, which to most people would just represent the abbreviated name. However, to anyone with Classics knowledge, they clearly symbolized the Greek Rho and Chi. These not only represented Jesus' Crucifixion, but also His ultimate resurrection. It was a subtle nod to immortality.
"Clever. Thanks." She stuck the card in her pocket and turned her attention back to Gabe.
He was busy looking at her BMW. "Sorry about your car. I had nothing to do with it."
She surveyed the vehicle parked in front of his SUV. "I don't see anything wrong. What am I supposed to be unhappy about?"
"Maybe you didn't pay attention to how it was before, but do you really think you're the type of woman who'd drive this?" He pointed to the wide tires. The rear bumper and exhaust also didn't look to be factory specifications.
"Since you brought it up, I'm going to have to say no," she said, raising an eyebrow. "And I'm assuming Max is responsible for it, right? Does that man think he can change everything to suit his tastes?"
Gabe scoffed. "I'm sure he'd call them enhancements, performance tuning, or some other bullshit. Forget about him. Come on, let's go inside."
He put an arm around her for emphasis, but the surprises hadn't ended yet.