Parker watched as Alyse leapt towards Fisher. The deputy reacted as smoothly as any Parker had ever seen, but Alyse beat him out. She was just that damn fast. Parker knew, just from watching her that the way she moved was not in any way human. She was all predator.
The gunshot rang out, but it didn't seem to slow Alyse at all. She whipped her hands across his head, and the slap of the hit resounded through the hall. Whatever she did, she did it right, and Fisher slumped to the floor.
Parker started to race to Fisher. "What'd you do?" He asked, disbelief in his tone. He'd never seen someone move like that, and had never seen such a fast hit.
"Disabled him. I hit a nerve, and the man should be out for a few minutes at least." Alyse brought herself back up to her full height. Parker saw the gunshot wound.
"Jesus, you've been shot." Parker said. Indeed, there was a bloody stain on the sleeve of her white blouse, with a neat hole. The back of the sleeve, however, had a much larger splatter of blood.
"It's nothing." She insisted, her voice a pained hiss. "We need to get out of here." She said. "Can you drive stick?"
"Uh, yea," Parker nodded.
Alyse nodded, and Parker knew she was trying to mask the pain. "Then let's go." She started down the hall again.
"You need to get to a hospital, Alyse." Parker said. "That's nothing to laugh at."
"Trust me," She grunted. "I'll be fine. Come on, Parker!"
"You really like ordering people around, don't you?" Parker mused as they headed out the back of the building.
Alyse fished out her keys and tossed them to Parker. "And yet, you follow along while I incapacitate a fellow officer of the law, abduct you, and have you be my driver."
Parker paused for a moment. He
was
being irrational, he realized. None of this made any logical sense. She was just a woman he had seen in his dreams. "I drive, you answer questions." He said, trying to convince himself as well.
"Indeed, Parker." Alyse said. Parker unlocked the door on her side, and then opened up the driver's side door.
"Where to?" Parker asked, and Alyse gave him directions to the north outskirts of town.
Once they were past the limits of Cold River, he asked. "So, who are you?" He asked.
Alyse sighed. "My name is Alyse Harcourt."
"That's a name, that's not answering my question."
"Quite the philosopher, aren't we?"
"What do you want to know?" Alyse nursed her injured arm, hissing occasionally. "I run the tavern, have lived in Cold River for a few years..."
"What the hell was that back there with Fisher?" Parker asked, his voice hitting the "cut the crap" tone.
Alyse shrugged a little. "I hit one of his nerves. I've trained a long time. Just because a man is bigger than me and has a gun, does not mean I need fear him."
"I've never seen anyone move that fast."
"You're not in the best of states right now. I'm not as fast as you thought I was." She said it as if to reassure him.
"So your solution is to tell me my brain is playing tricks on me?" He grumbled. Parker was not happy with that answer.
She sighed. "I promise, just follow the directions, and then I'll answer any questions you have."
"Where are we going?" He asked.
"It's a safe house. A cabin that I use for times when Kelly or someone like her might want to find me and I do not wish that."
"Someone like her?" Parker arched an eyebrow. He started to wonder what he was getting into. And then it hit him. She was a drug dealer. Or something, she had to be. Or mafia. Something that Parker wanted nothing to do with. Crap on a cracker.
Alyse turned her head to him, noting. "You're nervous, Parker." Her voice was touched with concern. "As to Sheriff Kelly, we find ourselves on opposite sides of many issues."
"Are you a criminal?" He asked.
A chime of a laugh sprung from Alyse's lips. "Oh, that's a new one. No, I am not a criminal. Far from it. I work inside of the law."
"And what you did to Fisher back there?"
Alyse sighed. "That was...quite foolhardy of me. But necessary." She said. Alyse directed him to go down a dirt path, and after about five minutes of driving, they had reached the cabin.
