Chapter 8: Siege

ROUGHLY FIFTEEN MINUTES before the clock struck one o'clock, they heard a low, thumping sound move into the car park followed shortly by a loud blaring noise. Daniel had his suspicions about what and whom it was, and by the look on Pete's face as he watched Daniel, he knew it too.

They had spent the previous two hours mostly arguing over the hand over; Pete's resistance had collapsed fairly quickly and he had agreed to take on full ownership of the business. Surprisingly, Sam had approved wholeheartedly and had assisted Daniel in convincing Pete by reminding him that he loved it and that, although the company's actual worth was now well in excess of the ten million that Daniel had originally offered him, it was all locked up in real estate, company assets and market value; therefore not as potentially life-ruining as cold, hard cash.

Sam, refusing to accept an official position within the company by citing his 'independant spirit' as an excuse, had volunteered to handle the paperwork and smooth over the transition. Pete whined and groaned about the extra workload; but they all knew he was capable, having handled everything since Daniel's accident.

Moving down the stairs, they continued to discuss minor details and laugh occasionally over Daniel's newfound wealth; probing him occasionally for details about his 'new woman'.

They were jolted to a crashing halt before the glass doors at the entrance and stood there in stunned silence as they saw the source of the thumping sound. A dark red Porsche had pulled up opposite the building on the other side of the parking lot, gleaming in the sunshine like freshly spilt blood. Chaz had opened the car door and was sitting with her legs stretched outside, tapping her fingers against the car body.

Sam whistled.

"Told you so," Pete said.

"Danny, Danny, Danny. What have you been doing?" Sam spoke softly as he slowly shook his head, his narrowed eyes still fixed on the car and its owner.

"Nothing!" Daniel said, then he sighed and gave up. "Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Let me know would you, when everything's ready?"

"Sure thing."

"Hey, don't just disappear off to the Bahamas though eh? Stay in touch!" Pete said suddenly.

"As if. I'm just thinking I'll be busy for a while."

"Certainly looks like it," Sam said as he watched Chaz, now kicking her feet and bobbing her head in time with the music.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, I'd better move. Don't want to keep her waiting."

Sam grunted a barely intelligible reply as Daniel exited the building.

"Lucky bastard!" Pete called after him.

"Hey! Everything okay in there?" Chaz asked lightly as Daniel approached her. She stood up and kissed him on the cheek again, grinning mischievously as she glanced back at the building.

"Hmmm... kinda."

"What do you mean, 'kinda'? Something wrong?" Chaz asked, a look of concern flashing in her eyes. "Wait, get in. Talk on the road."

"Sure," Daniel replied. He glanced back at the office he had nearly called home for the past few years, not quite believing that he no longer had a place in it.

Settling into the passenger seat, he noticed immediately the differences between the Mercedes and this car - besides the make, of course. Where the former had been stark and strictly businesslike, the Porsche's interior was a chaotic display of female absentmindedness. A hair grip jammed beneath the gear stick, another discarded on the rear panel. Various items of makeup scattered in unlikely places, a packet of tissues with one remaining on the dashboard. Empty cases and naked compact discs were jammed into a black carryall beneath the glove box - mostly dance, techno, hip hop or general pop music. Daniel approved wholeheartedly.

"Is the music too loud?" Chaz asked as they pulled away.

"No, no. It's fine, thanks. Actually, just a tiny bit."

She reached over and turned the volume down slightly. "Dan, what's up? You look like crap."

"Oh, cheers."

"You know what I mean. What happened? Company not doing well?"

"Oh, no! Everything's superb. Almost. The business is superb, but that's not my problem anymore. I got one helluva shock though."

"What?" she asked, her concerned look dissolving into puzzlement.

"Wellll... Depends on your perspective I suppose. My friend handed me a present earlier. Here, have a look when you have a moment." He handed her the envelope.

Two minutes later they arrived at the traffic lights before the main intersection leading to the downtown area. Putting the car into neutral and lifting the handbrake, Chaz opened the envelope and looked at the contents. She raised her eyebrows.

"Shit. What's that for?"

"Oh, it wasn't his money." Daniel hesitated momentarily before continuing. "He decided to sue the Police Department while I was busy sleeping."

"WHAT!? What for?"

"How much do you know about what happened that sent me into a coma?"

Chaz shrugged as she watched the lights. "Not much, just that you got electrocuted or something, at least that's what Elaine said I think. But that was ages ago."

"Well, basically there were some police cars chasing after a drunk driver or something. A big delivery truck. Had water in it. Anyway, the truck lost control and busted one of those street poles holding up the power lines. Ran over and killed a guy right in front of me when it crashed, real messy. I pushed the girl he was... ah, shit."

"What?" she said impatiently, mildly irritated at the interruption.

"I got a letter from her, asking me to get in touch. I forgot. Anyway, I managed to push her out of the way, but he was hit. Died instantly I think. I hope. Thing is though, the water in the truck had spilled out and the road was soaked. Both me and the girl too, but mostly me because I was closer. Then the cops showed up and started yelling at us."

"Why?"

"Probably thought I'd just come from the truck. Who knows? Whatever it was, they were yelling at me to do the 'hands behind your head' routine when the pole collapsed."

"And?" Chaz's eyes were wide open, her mouth slightly parted as she hung on Daniel's every word.

"Well, the power lines snapped. I tried to run for the kerb but one of the cops shot me."

"He SHOT you!? Shit!"

"Yeah. In the leg."

"But why?"

Daniel shrugged. "Haven't a clue. Oh, I'm not too clear on this but I think one of the other cops died there. Poor bastard was standing in the water next to the truck when the power lines fell."

"Jeesuus!" Chaz breathed. "What about that girl?"

"Oh, I'd already pushed her over to the kerb. I figure she made it alright."

"Wow, not only a god but a hero too!" Chaz said, her eyes shining.

Daniel looked at her sharply.

"Christ, Dan! I'm joking!" She laughed. "I admit I was a bit, oh, excited last night. Anyway, go on. What happened next?"

"That's an understatement. Well, that's about it. Next thing I knew, I was in the clinic... with, uh, Elaine."

Chaz leaned back and glanced at him quizzically. "So that was legit? You crawled out of bed and stuffed her?"

Daniel blushed. "Not quite like that... Well, I didn't get out of bed for a start."

"Oh, come on! Either one of you is lying or you've got a helluva technique seducing women."

"Chaz, you're forgetting why I showed up at Elaine's yesterday."

"Yeah, true. I still can't get my head around it, even after your, um, trick earlier. And last night. Hey, this is taking ages. What's the holdup?" Chaz clucked irritably as she tried vainly to peer over the top of the car in front.

Daniel watched her stretching for a moment, then opened the door and leaned out to look down between the columns of metal.

"Smartass!" Chaz scowled approvingly as she slumped back. "See anything?"

"Almost... there's some cops in front. They're holding back the traffic for some reason. Probably another driveby or something."

"Great. How typical." Chaz glowered at the dashboard.

"Hey, chill out Chaz. For all we know some poor bastard just bought it up there."

Chaz winced and blushed in embarrassment. "God, sorry. It's just that - "

"Yeah. Still. So, how about you? How do you feel about - hang on, something's up."

All around them, frustrated drivers were beginning to demonstrate their ire, tooting their horns and shaking fists out of their windows - some of them extending a finger at someone in a nearby car as they screamed insults at one other. Some had exited their vehicles, winding their way to the front in an attempt to find out what was causing the delay or simply watch like vultures if there was an accident.

And then Daniel could hear it. In the distance was the faint sound of people shouting, intermingled with the strangled intermittent whooping of police sirens and the loud blaring of fire engines.

"Dan, look!" With her jaws slowly falling open, Chaz slowly raised her hand and pointed down the road to where a low footbridge crossed the wide roadway between a department store and a large hotel. Coming around the corner beneath the bridge was an increasingly numerous stream of people - executives, beggars, secretaries, whores - all pushing and shoving at each other indiscriminately in a frantic bid to escape whatever was behind them.