A Special Case

How could he honestly be so stupid?

Matt grimaced as he was taken out of the cafe, feeling Matsumoto watched amusedly, cackling to himself as he drank his coffee. From beside him, he could hear the woman rebuking him about running away and put all her threats in the air, but the words merely left through his other ear. How could she have known? Making a face, he guessed that it was simply pure coincidence. It didn’t look like she was on duty, and entered the coffee shop with an intention to drink up. But she saw him, her eyes flickered in remembrance and she had trudged up to him, greeting Matsumoto and showing her ID.

His superior faked a look of shock and let her take Matt away from the table. From the corner of his eye, he saw the Japanese hold in a laugh and resume reading the newspaper that was on the table. Blast it. He’d probably charm his way out of this one just like he did two weeks ago.

“So where exactly are you taking me?” he asked, stiffening slightly at the feeling of handcuffs around his wrists. Fuck. How to charm her if his hands were bound... “I reckon you’ll take me to the big house?”

“Don’t waste your breath,” she snapped, making him get into the back. Matt sighed, climbing into the black car and watching as she shut the door and got into the driver’s seat. “I’ve had enough dealing with the likes of you. Honestly, running away like that weeks ago? That just tells me you’ve got something under your sleeve.” The car came alive and before he knew it, they were on the road. “So what are you? Illegal immigrant or a smuggler? Or are you a drug dealer?”

Damn, she was nosy.

“None of the above.”

“Must be part of the mafia or something,” she grumbled under her breath as she drove on. She played no music nor turned on the radio. Eyeing her from the mirror, he observed the young woman as she drove the black car, most likely to the police station or wherever she worked.

Black hair in a ponytail, face contained an amount of foundation, eye liner and lipstick – the lipstick starting to wear off. The woman had on a button-down white top with the sleeves folded to her elbows, black pants, and probably two inch high heels. In the other seat, he noticed, there was a long coat. It most likely reached her hips. Aside from that, she had a small bag in the seat as well – Matt guessed it had her phone and tissues, maybe a few pens and post it notes.

She started tapping her finger on the steering wheel as she slowly stopped the car, they arriving at a terrible case of Tokyo traffic. He could hear her swear under her breath and she took her phone out – a smart phone – and dial a number after setting the gear to neutral. Immediately she started talking, her words quick and sharp.

“Remember that man who ran off two weeks ago? I’ve got him.”

“What – really, now? You taking him here?”

“No, to the police. What good will bringing him to HQ do?”

“Good point.” A pause. “Just inform the police on who he is and they’ll take care of the rest.”

“But how can I?” her voice was frustrated, now. “His files are unreachable.”

“...unreachable?”

“Search the files. Whether written or not, I couldn’t find a single one.”

“That’s strange...I’ll do some searching for you.”

“I appreciate that, thanks.”

And the call ended. She put her phone back in the small bag and turned around, looking him dead in the eye. She’d probably start questioning him at this point.

“Alright, blue eyes. Where are you from?”

“America.” He replied easily. “Came from Los Angeles after a year’s stay.”

He could actually see her smirk. “No, I mean your birth place.”

Fuck.

"England.”

“And I thought the gentleman there were pretty okay.”

“Let’s not make this all about me, sweetheart.” He sat up. “How about you?”

“And why does it matter to you?” Matt shrugged.

“Seeing as I’ll probably never see you again, might as well make this meeting worthwhile.”

“Point taken.” She turned back to the road. “England.”

“And your age?”

The woman stopped.

“...eighteen.”

“Eighteen and driving as well as working,” he mused.

“I’m a special case. Is that all?”

“For now. Keep your ears open.” From that point on, it was quiet. The kind of quiet that made Matt want to continue the conversation. But he couldn’t, because he wasn’t sure if that would irritate her even more. And at the same time, they let out a sigh. Hers was tired. His was out of nothing to do. He glanced up at the mirror and saw her eyes, slight circles under them. He guessed this was due to lack of sleep and smiled to himself – he wasn’t the only one, then.

In an instant, the words came out of his mouth.

“I was nearly assaulted, see.” Matt started. Her eyes flickered to him. “Wrong place at the wrong time. Was going back to my apartment from a friend’s place, and I happened to pass by the outside of that warehouse. There weren’t any cabs around, so I couldn’t hail one and had to walk. They spotted me and then demanded I give them back a sum of money which I didn’t even have.” He sat up. “Tried to consult and negotiate because I didn’t know them, but they didn’t believe me, saying the real bloke that owed them the cash looked just like me – because I was ginger!”

“Because you were ginger,” she repeated, slightly dubious.

“Well, you don’t see a lot of ginger folk around Tokyo, do you?”

“That’s true.”

“So anyway, I tried and they dragged me in. One of the bastards started attacking and then I had no choice but to defend myself, hence the bloody hulk you and your friends captured.”

“So, why did you run?”

“State of panic, love.” Matt chuckled. “What would you do if you were caught in self-defence, with a bloke’s weapon in your hand and he bleeding while the others looked like they wanted to beat the hell out of you? I had the instinct to run away.”

“...so you had me against the wall because you were afraid.”

“I played to my strengths.” He shrugged.

“Your strengths?” she snorted. “The art of seduction?”

Matt flashed a grin.

“Exactly.”

He thought he saw her cheeks redden as she huffed in disdain. The traffic cleared up and she shifted the gear to drive, and started driving. Matt leaned back and waited for another word, but there was none. He sighed quietly. It probably didn’t work. Tough one to crack, this woman.

In his own thoughts, he didn’t notice as they stopped nearly ten minutes later. When the vehicle stopped, he looked out the window, expecting the police station. But he was surprised at the sight of a park with a few people here and there. Matt blinked as she got out and opened his door, making him step out and she eventually removing his handcuffs.

He stared, too shocked to speak.

“I’m an agent at Tokyo HQ.” She started. “But before that, I was a student back in England. We were trained to spot whether someone was lying or not, and that was one of our major tests before we were let off from school. They trained us well.” She looked at the children playing, and then turned back to him. “I keep my mirror like that for a reason, to keep an eye on people when they tell me their story. A fidget here or a stammer there and there’s usually a lie involved – except it was a little harder to detect from you, seeing as your hands were bound.”

“So, what you’re saying is...”

“You’re off the hook. Try not to panic a lot, yes?” she was about to turn back to the car when he grinned widely and grabbed her, pulling her in for a brief hug.

Her eyes widened in shock.

“Thanks, love. I appreciate that.” As he pulled away, he gave her a wink and turned in the other direction, starting to walk off. Stumped, she watched until he was a small dot and went back inside her car, checking the back for something he may have forgotten.

A folded piece of paper caught her eye, and she unfolded it.

Written on it were his name and a cell phone number.