A lawless man

The sound began as a faint whine, scarely noticeable above the music blaring from car Stereo. Noah Kings simply turned out and turned the knob on the tape deck to the right, until Marcus Parker was singing to her even more loudly about stupefaction. A warm wind burst through the open window on the driver's seat, tossing her short,blond curls fiercely about her head. The sunny afternoon was hot and pleasant, just the way she like the spring days, and unless she thought about what lay Ahead when she reached her destination, she hadn't a care in the world. Until the faint whine Grew louder, and she glanced into her rear view mirror. Immediately she realized the whine was actually the screech of a siren thus, a siren attached to a police motorcycle. She also noticed that the policeman sitting aAtop the motorcycle was closing in on her fast Thinking he must be hot on the trail of some Evildoer, Noah Downshift and urged the brake pedal carefully toward the floor, edging her car to the side of the road as she slowed enough for him to pass.the policeman kept moving forward. But instead of shooting past her and off to right some wrong, he pulled alongside her car and offered her a very stern expression. Jabbing a leather clad finger toward her right, he also mouthed the word "pull over." Only then did she realize the evildoers he was pursuing was apparently none other then she herself . She reacted as he requested, more out of shocked surprise than any sense of duty or submission to authority. She'd been doing nothing wrong of that she was certain. No doubt this was some mix up that would soon be rectify. And then she could be on her merry way. As She rolled her little Volkswagen beetle to halt, she glanced at her watch and frowned. She was already fifteen minutes late for lunch with Tyson. Her brother was difficult enough to deal with when he'd been kept waiting. Now Officer motorcycle man Was about to make Noah even later, and the afternoon with Tyson would be even more strained than usual as a result. She glanced anxiously in her rear view mirror again, pushing back her overly long bangs, watching every move the policeman made. He seemed to take his time in steadying the big machine beneath him, his foot clad in a shiny black leather boot pushing down the kick stand with much familiarity. Nearly everything about this man was black, right down to the skin tight jodhpur and short sleeved shirt that has earned the clemente, Ohio, police department some strange fashion award two years in a row. As he drew nearer, she saw that his helmet, his gloves, mustache and aviator style sunglasses were black, too the final item reflection the sun as if two fiery orbs burned behind the lenses. Noah swallowed with some difficulty astabbs the policeman paused by her window, then she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head "Hi," she greeted him cheerfully. "Is there a problem, Officer?" "Turn the music down, please" was all he said in reply. Obediently she punched the cassette from the tape player and switched it off. "License and registration, " he stated efficiently. Even his voice was dark, she thought as she leaned across to the passenger side for her purse. When she'd extracted her driver's license from her wallet, she reached for the gloves compartment to search for her registration. "Move slowly, please," the policeman added in a no nonsense Tone of voice. "No sudden move." Noah turned to gape at him. What did he think she was going to do, pull a gun at him? He must be joking. Noah flora king Greyjoy back to kings again, den mother, room mother, pta representative, coordinator of the annual Fulton Street bake sale and all around normal citizen. Without commenting, she reached for the gloves compartment again and punched the metal button with her thumb. But instead of flipping it open, the door remained steadfastly shut. She stabbed the button once more, to no avail. Noah sighed in frustration. She dearly loved her thirty year old Volkswagen beetle. Unfortunately, time had not been good ti the little car.she still carried fond memories of her teenage revels in the yellow bug,and of driving it to college out of the state for the first time. But these days, the bug was no more a bright, excited kid than she Was. Both of them Has left their shining youths long behind. Noah was three years older than her car, a divorced mother of two, and her little VW had become more liability than a fun possession. She dreaded to think how she would stand up to a similar comparison. Still, anything that went wrong with the bug she could pretty much fix herself. She even knew how to rebuild the engine if times called for such an overhaul. The fact that She knew how her car worked better than she understood the working of her own mind was what had kept her from trading it in for something new and unfamiliar. That and the fact that she just couldn't afford something new right now. Optimistically she tried to curl her fingertips under the gloves compartment door to yank hard as she pushed the button one last time. But the effort was futile. The Door remained fixed tight. She turned back to offer the policeman a nervous smile. "It's jammed" sha said unnecessarily. "This, ah,this happens alot. Well,not a lot, actually. But sometimes." She kept her gaze level with his as she repeatedly bashed the oblong piece of metal with her doubled fist."when it's most......inconvenient. " The policeman did not seem to be amused. With a sign that fell somewhere between impatient and resignation, he surveyed Noah intently, one hand settled on an intriguingly trim hip,the other placed menacingly on the butt of his gun. It was position she duly noted, and she couldn't help herself when she help up her hands in a gesture of surrender that was only half joking "The registration is in there, I swear it, "she told him. "I just can't get the stupid door open." After a moment's pause, she added hopefully, "maybe....maybe you could give it a shot?" "Lady, I....." He stopped speaking as quickly as he'd started, sighed deeply again, Then Shook his head as if he couldn't believe what was happening to him. For the first time, Noah noticed the name tag pinned To his shirt above his badge. Rowan, it said. She wondered if that was indeed his name,or some kind of dubious honor the department had bestowed upon him. "Your name is Rowan? "She asked before she could stop herself,unable to halt a smile she felt forming. "A cop named Rowan? " "Yeah," he replied wearily. His tone assured her, he had been through this before and did not intend to go through it again with her. Noah chose not to pursue the subject and instead worried her lower lip With her teeth. Out of nowhere, she wondered what color his eyes were behind the dark glasses. Probably black, just like everything else about him,she thought. Gingerly she extended her license towards him in silence, but officer Rowan didn't take it right away. He only continued to stare at her in that maddeningly accusatory manner