Remember the Future by Bryant Delafosse

her window but continued staring out into the dumpster.  “There’s a reason why those men have a file on me.”
    Grant nodded, turning away from the wheel and giving his full attention to her.  “Okay, I’m listening.”
    As promised, here comes the crazy, Maddy thought.  Be smart now.  Soft peddle it.
    Maddy turned back to Grant, folding her hands pensively in her lap.  “I've got this ability that makes me valuable and dangerous at the same time.”
    Grant nodded more fervently.  “Go on.”
    “A certain skill-set,” she continued, staring him straight in the eye.  “Call it an insight into probabilities.”
    Grant furrowed his brow, his mind spinning around like a roulette wheel until he narrowed in on an explanation like the dropping of a ball into a pocket.  “So, wait.  These men are after you because of some kind of special gambling technique?  Like a system?  Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”  His eyes flickered to the satchel lying securely on the floor beneath her feet.
    She cocked her head at him and searched his face.  “No, not exactly,” she started to say, then waved distractedly at the dumpster where they sat parked.  “Look can we please start moving away from the guns.  I’m getting a little jumpy and that makes it hard for me to concentrate.”
    Nodding, Grant pulled away from the dumpster and headed back toward the feeder road.  As an afterthought, he reached into his jacket and sheepishly handed the bottled water to Maddy.  “Almost forgot.”
    Maddy took the water and stared at it, appearing close to tears.
    Grant glanced furtively at her then down at the bottle in her hands.  “Is this the wrong brand or something?”
    Maddy gave a little laugh then took several gulps from the bottle.  “It’s always like this when I’m coming down off an adrenaline rush.”  She held out a hand, shivering uncontrollably.  “Look at me.  I’m falling apart,” she began to sob quietly and turned away to look out her window.
    Grant drove in silence for a few minutes.
    He arrived at the transition to the Highway 69 intersection and spontaneously decided to get on.  There was no method or plan.  He was winging it now.  Going on sheer instinct.
    Maddy stared at Grant with wide eyes.
    “What?” Grant asked, noticing her attention.
    “You—You’re..?” Maddy started to say, then simply shook her head.  “I didn’t know you were going to do that just now.”
    “No,” Grant replied with a sigh.  “Neither did I.”
    Through her puffy, tear-stained face, Maddy studied Grant with an intensity reserved for museum pieces.
    Feeling vaguely awkward, Grant glanced over at her.
    Giving him a gracious smile, she blotted her eyes on her sleeve and relaxed back into her seat, feeling more secure in the moment than she could remember feeling in a very long while.
    She had no idea where she was headed right now.
    Which meant, neither did the Blank Men.

16
    As they approached downtown Houston, Maddy watched the tall buildings and let her mind drift into neutral.  She gently grasped at the loose threads of potentiality, glimpsing all the alternatives like road signs passing outside.
    The feeling of not knowing was glorious--of luxuriating in all the possibilities, instead of calculating the path of least potential danger.
    She glanced over at Grant when she was sure he wasn’t watching and observed his profile.  His stately, larger than average nose.  His rugged jutting chin.
    Stop what you’re doing, right now , she chastised herself, and returned her attention to the city flying by outside.  Can’t afford attachments like that.
    Attachments equal confusion.  Confusion equals dead.
    “I still can’t figure it,” Grant finally stated, fracturing the silence between them.
    Maddy lifted her chin inquisitively, a peaceful smile on her tired face.  She had almost fallen asleep a moment ago, that’s how relaxed she had become in this warm, protective space.
    “You