by Hadley Quinn
“Bad news?” Mary asked.
He glanced to the left of him at the woman who was now his personal assistant. She’d come highly recommended by Cole, along with the driver he now had as his personal bodyguard.
“Yeah, maybe,” Max mumbled. “Anyway. I’ll need my schedule for the next few—”
She handed something over; the 8x11 bi-fold calendar he gave her that fit nicely in the front pocket of his work satchel.
Flipping it open, he saw Mary had the production schedule neatly penned in for the next few months, with every single item highlighted in different colors. Screw technology. Sometimes he just wanted a tangible piece of information to look at.
“You’re green, main cast and crew is yellow, stunt crew orange, meetings are in purple, and blue is your personal schedule. The key is in the margin for reference. The same schedule is also synced on your phone, just in case. Text me any changes or additions and I’ll enter them straight into it from my computer and it will update on your phone and laptop. I’ll text you a reminder two hours before each item you need to attend.”
“Make it three hours,” Max sighed. Who knows where he was going to be and when in the upcoming weeks.
“Three hours, then,” she repeated, jotting something down on a notepad. He saw her even put a date and time by it.
Hmm, so this woman was legit old school, even noting when he told her something.
She noticed him looking and paused. They didn’t quite know each other well enough yet for Max to tell her how extremely anal she was, but he decided to tell her anyway.
“I see you run a tight ship.”
Mary pursed her lips but put the pen down on the notepad. “I do, Mr. McCallan. But I assure you it’s for your own benefit.”
“Oh, I know it is,” Max smiled. “But let’s get one thing straight right off the bat. You will not call me Mr. McCallan, are we clear? Please call me Max because I’m not going to respond to anything else. That goes for you too, Jake,” he called up to the front seat. Jake looked at him in the rearview mirror and nodded. Max turned to Mary and raised his eyebrows for a response.
“I’ll do my best,” she answered.
“Nah,” Max smiled, shaking his head. “Call me Max or you’re fired.”
Or course he would do no such thing, but he was so fucking serious about his name preference. He hated being called ‘Mr.’ or even ‘sir’, but the latter he’d take into consideration because some people were raised to be respectful that way. However, he didn’t need to be addressed that way by people who dealt with him on a daily basis.
“Yes, of course,” Mary nodded. “My apologies.”
“Mary, I’m giving you a hard time,” Max assured her, noticing she looked completely stressed out right now. The natural wrinkles on her forty-six-year-old face were even more prominent now. “I’ll let you guys in on a little secret, okay?” he asked, glancing up to the front so he knew Jake was listening too. “I’m very laid back, I never wear any ‘I’m too good for you’ pants in case that’s what you’ve assumed, and you can be very straight and upfront with me. I don’t handle lying or deceit very well—if you have any intention of doing either of those, I suggest we go our separate ways this very second. You are not allowed to discuss any details of my life with anyone, including my father or grandfather. I don’t have to be clearer about that, do I? You both read through your contracts thoroughly, I hope?”
“Yes, of course,” Mary answered.
“Yes, sir,” Jake nodded from the driver’s seat. “And we’ve arrived. Which entrance do you prefer?”
“South, please. Thank you.”
Jake pulled the SUV up to the south entrance of the Gleason building. It was a small underpass at the back entry, so both Max and Mary exited the vehicle. Jake spoke to the security guard, who then gave a nod to each of them as they entered the building.
“Hello, Mr. McCallan,” the petite brunette smiled from the end of the hall. She announced his arrival to someone on her headset and then removed it as she stood from her desk. “I’m Benita Diaz.” She held out her hand.
“Please call me Max.” He shook her hand and she nodded. “This is Mary Klein, my personal assistant.”
“Hello, Mary. It’s nice to meet you.” Benita smiled and shook her hand too, and then went straight to work. “So these are your keycards for the building.” She set two lanyards in front of them with attached i.d.’s. “I’m sure you really won’t need them after a couple of days, though. We’ve got great security and employees here. They’ll recognize faces quickly and you won’t have a problem.”
Max knew she meant Mary, who scooped up the cards for both of them, but he only nodded. He’d really never needed i.d. anywhere he went.
“But when you go out to all the sets in the back lot and you’re not with other crew members, you might need it at first. I know you have your own assistant—” Benita’s smile traveled from Max to Mary as acknowledgement— “but we also have assigned the best one here for you. His name is David Sawyer, and he can assist you directly or work side by side with Mary, whichever you prefer. And speaking of Dave…”
A balding man in his mid-thirties came through the double doors to the right. Benita made introductions, and then they were on their way through the studio. Max was given a brief tour, even though he’d been in this place before. It was a pretty sight, really—a four-story warehouse building that had been used to film countless movies. This was where all of the regular filming would take place. For military flashbacks later on, and a few other scenes, they’d travel elsewhere.
“Max! Hey man!”
They’d entered the main set where dozens of bodies were milling about. Jeremy Robb, his main actor, stood with a few of the crew and waved him over.
Day One was about to begin.
***
“It didn’t take her long,” Harvey said as Max entered his home office.
Mary had been dropped off at her own house at the end of the day, and Jake took Max to Malibu to meet with his attorney at nine that night.
“To strike back?” Max asked.
“Yep. Pretty sure she’s been waiting for it. Getting all her ducks in a row like you’ve been doing.”
He didn’t like any reference to doing anything the same as Kate, but whatever. Max sat down when Harvey motioned to a chair. “So what next?”
Harvey dropped into his desk chair across from him. “I’m going to prep you for facing the judge next week. Can’t say we have a good one or a bad one, so no promises for what she will be like to deal with. I’ve heard she’s fair, though.”
“She?” Max replied drably.
“Yeah,” Harvey nodded. “You can always expect sympathy for the mother no matter who the judge is, but you’ve given so much money to Kate and you’re always asking to have Chase. You have text messages and notations in your banking for what the money is supposed to go toward—the apartment, the car and driver, a private tutor and other things for Chase. It’s not like you’re a deadbeat dad who has never paid child support. That is going to work very much in your favor, so kudos to Ms. Donnelly for being such a selfish bitch. You want to be in your kid’s life. There’s proof of that, no matter what she throws at you.”
“What do you mean? She doesn’t have anything on me personally. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Good, but you know she’ll try. Regarding the money you’ve given Kate, is there proof that it’s for anything in particular? Has she flat out said anything like ‘Give me this much or I’ll make sure you never see your son again.’ Or, ‘Give me this and I won’t spread such-and-such about you everywhere.’”
“Yes. Definitely.” Max chuckled, but it was more out of disbelief. “When she first told me Chase was mine, she demanded ten-million dollars if I wanted to keep it quiet.”
“And you agreed.”
Max sighed. “At the time, yes. It was a personal decision to keep everything confidential until I could figure out the best way to handle thi
ngs. I didn’t want my brother to find out in such horrible way. Not like I could prevent that anyway,” he mumbled.
“So you gave her the ten mil?” Harvey jotted something down on his notepad.
“I gave her five. She was supposed to stay out of town, break things off with my brother, and not cause any drama until I could finish the current project I was working on; then I’d give her the rest. But she came back and saw me on the set, and that’s when my brother saw us together.”
Again Harvey wrote on his notepad. “I need dates.” He pulled out a thick file and plopped it on the desk. “Cole has your financial records here, so help me piece all of it that’s associated with Kate.”
“Alright.”
“Hope you don’t have anything to rush home to because we’re going to work on this all night.”
“Not a problem.”
“She’s going to make you look as bad as possible.”
Max sighed. “Yeah, I know. It’s her specialty.”
“So you need to be completely upfront about anything she might use against you, and I also need you to answer something for me.” He paused and stared at Max across the desk. “I can make you look like a saint, or make her look like the devil. Which do you prefer?”
Chapter Thirty
“You directly asked her for more time with Chase and she flat out said no?” Teague asked. He stilled the punching bag and waited for his brother’s response.
Max was removing the tape from his hands but took the time to choose his words carefully. Teague had come to the set with him the next week, and at the end of the night, they made use of the training gym. It was actually a facility Teague was very familiar with since he’d trained there for stunt work so many times.
“How’s the shoulder feeling?” Max asked as he sat down on a nearby bench.
Teague stripped off the gloves and went to work on the tape. “I’m going easy, so it’s okay. And don’t change the subject. You can’t let her do this, Max. You have as much right to Chase as she does. This has to stop. I know you have shit going on and you’ve wanted your life to be in order, but when are you going to take care of this? Getting your shit together works in your favor, but how long is that going to take? Maybe Chase will be an adult by then. Hell, who’s to say you’ll ever have your shit together perfectly.”
He couldn’t blame Teague for the harshness. He’d chewed himself out so many times for putting it off, but the truth was, he’d either been waiting for things to fall into place, or was hoping Kate would magically grow a conscience. And when he realized neither was going to happen, he really had been organizing his life better. He felt he was in the best place he could possibly be in right now. He just didn’t know how much of one thing he was going to have to sacrifice for another. If Kate decided to go after the rest of his family like she’d threatened…he wasn’t sure how he was going to deal with it.
“Sorry, man,” Teague said, tossing the tape on the floor in front of him. “I’m just… All of it pisses me off. You know it’s still a sore subject. But even so, I want Chase to be around. For you, for me, for all of us. And for Kate to get what she deserves. I know vengeance isn’t classy, but I guess I have that evil McCallan payback gene in me.”
Max lightly laughed and tossed his tape on top of Teague’s pile. “I think it’s in everyone. It’s hard to be fucked over and not want to punish the people who did it.”
Teague paused for a few seconds. “You talking about Kate or Olivia,” he stated.
“Mm, both I guess. I mean Olivia was sort of a different story. That was just straight up getting my heart crushed and handed over to me. Humiliated. Devastated. She never set out to ruin my life publicly, though. Kate was never important to me like she was to you—”
Teague grunted. Max smiled with sympathy, knowing what his ‘vengeance isn’t pretty’ comment really meant. He couldn’t imagine having romantic feelings for someone like Kate Donnelly, so it was understandable why Teague felt utterly gutted by his time with her.
“But there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about,” Max continued. “Maybe we can go grab something to eat and discuss it?”
Teague slowly nodded, but it was obvious he was worried or confused. Max scooped up the tape from the floor and tossed it in the trash. He called Jake and told him he would be riding with his brother, so he’d just see him in the morning. When they’d gathered their things, they headed for the private parking garage.
“God, this feels amazing,” Max exhaled when they both sat down in Teague’s Mustang Boss. “I’m feeling a bit rebellious just from sitting in it.”
Teague laughed knowingly as he turned the engine and they both listened to it rumble. In the cement parking structure it sounded even meatier.
“Some fun times for sure.” He pulled out of the spot and made an exit from the private garage, giving a stiff wave to the security guard when he gave them a nod. “What about your beast? Don’t you drive it?”
“Oh, I wish I could,” Max replied. “Timing’s a bit off but I just haven’t had a chance to work on it. Plus, it’s kind of hard to be anonymous in it. I need to tint the windows better.”
“So you haven’t been heading out in the middle of the night to go for a drive?”
“Yeah, I have the last few years. Not with that car lately, though. Either the Lexus or my truck.”
Teague nodded. They drove in silence for a bit. The sun was still setting, but between the buildings of the city it was a bit darker. It felt good. Peaceful. Riding in a familiar car with the one person who used to also be so familiar to him. It was somewhat bittersweet, but Max felt like it was a sign of things to come.
He wanted that. He needed it.
“What do you feel like eating?” Teague asked.
With a smirk, Max pulled out his phone and made a call ahead. Teague smiled and headed west as soon as his brother hung up, knowing exactly where he was going. He pulled over on Santa Monica Boulevard ten minutes later and Brian came out of the restaurant himself with their order.
“Oh my God, both of you together? Oh shit, and the muscle car. What trouble you guys gonna wreak tonight?”
“No trouble, man,” Teague answered. “Just been at the warehouse messing around.”
“You both on the same set?”
Max and Teague glanced at each other, but Max answered, “Something like that. Thanks for the food, brother. Still can’t find better barbecue than yours.” He handed him a Franklin.
Brian tucked the money in his front pocket and passed over the bag of takeout. “Well you better not even try. Thanks guys, be safe.”
It was sort of hell to wait thirty minutes to eat, but in respect for the beautiful classic car they were riding in, they held off until arriving at Max’s house. They spread the food on the table and went to town.
“You like how isolated you are here?” Teague asked after a few minutes. “I mean it’s cool up here—your closest neighbor is a quarter-mile away, I dig that sort of privacy—but doesn’t it take a bit longer to commute?”
“Only five minutes difference. Just seems longer since it’s a mountain road. And yeah, I do really like it here. I’m barely here anyway now that this movie is going full time, though.”
“And how is that progressing? You have Alex directing it, he’s amazing.”
“Yeah, it’s going great. Did some press again for it yesterday, and even though we’re only a couple of weeks into filming, people seem excited for it.”
“I’ve been hearing the hype, so yeah, you know it’s getting around. Cool. I really can’t wait to see it. And hey, you changed Kellie and Tate’s names, right? To protect the not-so-innocent?”
Max laughed but answered, “Yeah, of course.”
They ate for another minute, but he knew he needed to talk to Teague about the custody battle.
“So about what we were discussing earlier,” he began. “I’m going to be in court with Kate. Fighting for joint custody of Chase. That’s what I
was leading up to back at the bags.”
Teague dropped his fork in his coleslaw. “Seriously? That’s…that’s great. Right? I mean why do you look so worried? Take her on, man. She deserves it.”
Max took a bite of food while he gathered his thoughts. “It might get ugly. I only asked her for shared custody, but she’s countering with full. She’s going to drag whoever she can through the mud and—”
“Just tell me when I need to be there to testify.”
Max stared at him for a moment. It wasn’t anything he ever expected, so he was trying to process it.
“Why do you look so stunned?” Teague asked. “Wait a minute, were you seriously not going to ask me to help?”
“Help with what?”
Scoffing, he said, “Max, she fucked up my life too. She has continued to fuck up yours—all of ours. This became your fight when Chase became your son, but you’ve been putting it off. Now that you feel you’re ready, you honestly think I don’t want to help?”
“Is it to help me, or is it to get back at her? I mean I guess it doesn’t matter, but I just thought you wouldn’t want to get involved.”
Teague gave him a frown. “Dude, are you serious?”
“Am I serious about what?”
“Does it matter which it is? Yeah I’d like to nail her ass in court. She fucking blackmailed you to keep me from finding shit out. She lied to me, she purposely deceived me, and she dragged me through hell like it was my fault. So yeah, she needs to get what’s coming to her.”
“This is a family court matter, not criminal. There’s no trial, just the case presented to a judge. And I don’t know if any of that would hold up in a criminal case anyway. It’s her word against mine.”
“You paid her money.”
“But she has my kid. She’ll just say it was for him. For me to walk out of his life.”
“Is that seriously what she’s claiming?”
“Yes, apparently so. But I have my texts and stuff to counter that claim.”
Teague scoffed. “Unbelievable. And what about the money you keep paying her?”
