by Hadley Quinn
“Well, I was instructed not to tell you,” Dr. Richie answered coyly. “Even when Kellie was in hard labor she specifically instructed us not to tell a soul until they were ready.”
“That turd,” Camryn frowned with a chuckle.
“She’s been set on torturing us,” Sarah finally spoke. “I guess we can let her for a bit longer.”
“Ha,” Rayne narrowed her eyes. “I can’t even believe they’ve kept it this long. My brother even locked that baby room at their house after he finished it.”
“Yeah, I haven’t seen it either,” Melanie agreed.
There was a short lull before the doctor said, “Well, if that’s all for now, I’m going to get back to baby and mom.”
Everyone thanked him before he left, and then turned to each other for more chatter.
Max retreated back to his corner for a bit. His mom told him goodbye and asked him to update her. She had a flight to catch to Tucson to discuss filming a new series there. He knew she’d been considering it for a while now, but his earlier thoughts about her being concerned and supportive of Kellie seemed a bit misplaced now.
Teague had a short conversation with him about his movie and the locations they’d be filming at. There were some combat scenes coming up and Max was set on authentic action scenes without digital effects. There would be a special effects team on site, but the less computer technology used as embellishment, the better.
“If you’ve got the budget for it, that sounds awesome,” Teague said.
“I’m willing to splurge on the budget just so it’s realistic. It’s important to me. Still stateside, but that’s the only option.”
“Totally understand.”
“And…I think you should come on location with me when we go.”
Teague didn’t even seem surprised by the invitation. “New Mexico?”
“Yeah, for five days. And then Colorado for three. After Christmas through New Years.”
His brother slowly nodded his head. “Man, I’m so tempted…”
“I’ll add you to the set, Teague. Seriously, Justin and his crew would love to have you. Talk it over with your wife. She and C.J. can come too if you want. They can spend the time with Anna. I mean I’ll keep you busy as hell, but I’m just saying the family is always welcome. Spend New Year’s with us. They’re hosting a huge party at the resort for the cast and crew the night we get to Denver. Nothing too crazy, though. We can take turns sitting with the kids while they sleep up in the room.”
“I’ll talk to her, and I’ll tell you right now she’ll say yes.”
“Well I’ll have Mary book you guys a room where everyone else is staying. Cool?”
“Who’s Mary?”
“My new assistant.”
Teague leisurely nodded his head in thought. “I guess you’ll have to introduce me to all these new people in your life. You know, if they’re gonna have to put up with me showing up now and then.” His attempt at hiding a smile was weak.
Laughing, Max agreed.
***
After they were finally admitted into a recovery room to see the new baby, there really was preferential treatment granted when they were allowed as an entire family. The room was large enough for them all, but again, Max hung back and let the women ogle the baby first. From a distance, though, as she was still in a cautionary state and being passed around was not on option.
“So what the hell is it?” Jay finally asked after a few minutes.
It’s true there were no true signs of gender in the room. The blanket the baby was swaddled in was white, and Camryn had even looked for a name label on the little bassinet in the room but there wasn’t one.
Kellie looked absolutely exhausted, but her smile was beautiful. Max was happy she and Tate looked happy, and that was good enough for him. But she said, “We named our baby Phoenix.”
Everyone paused in silence, and it was pretty obvious that name could go either way.
“And a middle name?” Melanie inquired.
Kellie smiled at Tate, giving him the go ahead. “Elizabeth,” he told them.
There were all sorts of reactions, from oohs and ahhs, to “I knew it!” and other comments. And upon hearing that name—the name of Tate’s Grandma Sullivan—Max reflected on the woman’s insistence that some baby was going to be named after her. No one was surprised.
“Phoenix Elizabeth Sullivan,” Melanie blubbered. She was crying, saying something about pregnancy hormones turning her into a huge wuss. “That’s so cute, you guys.”
“Hmm, it’s kinda weird but whatever,” Jay added.
“Shut up!” Melanie swatted him in the chest.
While everyone conversed about the name, something triggered Max’s memory. He was remembering Tate’s journals, and he made eye contact with him at that very moment. Max knew the significance of the name—the baby he’d called a phoenix, the one that had kept him alive when he was about to die—and his heart felt a tremendous amount of respect for the guy.
Max whispered to Anna that he was going to head out but she could stay if she wanted. She only shook her head no and slipped her hand into his. They heard the nurse tell everyone she was putting an end to visiting because they needed to keep the baby safe and run some more tests.
Upon returning home, it was clear that Max’s new house had been discovered. There were a few extra cars in the area, parked unsafely along the mountain road in the dark. When they were about to hit the somewhat concealed driveway entrance that led to the house, Jake asked, “Would you like me to keep driving, sir, to throw them off? Looks like they’re probably not sure which drive is yours.”
With a sigh, Max replied no. It was inevitable anyway, and even though today was not a day he wanted to deal with anyone trespassing on his property, he just wanted to be home.
“I’ll implement our security plan as soon as possible,” Jake added as he pulled up to the gate. He used the remote that was in the vehicle for entry instead of on the gate keypad; yes, just in case binoculars were being used to spy on the code. Extra measures had to be taken.
“I hope you’re ready for this nonsense,” Max said as he squeezed Anna’s hand. “I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. I’ve been through this too. Well, not quite at your level,” she smirked.
Chuckling, he kissed the back of her hand. “You remember everything we went over, right?”
“Yes.”
“And I’m serious, Anna. I don’t want you to risk your safety. Use the drivers, use the security, and please don’t talk to anyone.”
She leaned over to kiss him. “Got it.”
“I’m wondering if it’s even worth it to make all the changes here, or just go back to the Malibu house.”
“You hate that house.”
“I don’t hate it, I just don’t prefer it. It’s way too big. But…the security in the area is top notch.”
“You don’t need to worry about your safety, sir,” Jake said as he pulled the SUV into the garage. “I assure you, I have it covered. You and the Miss can go inside and I’ll go straight to work.”
“You’ll be living in the guesthouse full time now, correct?” Max inquired.
“Yes sir, that was the plan. Seems like moving day for me tomorrow.” He offered a tiny smirk, which was the most Max had ever seen him smile.
As he and Anna entered the house, Max stopped suddenly, just to pull her in for a hug. No words were exchanged, but he felt a rush of relief that everything was okay with Kellie and baby Phoenix.
The day had been an extremely long one, and after five minutes lying down on the bed with Anna, his mind went blank with sleep.
Chapter Thirty-Five
After Max had checked on Kellie and the baby, the gate intercom buzzed on Saturday morning. When he answered it, it was Jake who asked, “Are either of you expecting anyone? Says his name is Ryan and he’s delivering something.”
Max shook his head no, but Anna said, “If his name is Ryan Fields, then yes, I a
m.”
Surprised, Max gave her a look of inquiry.
“It wasn’t supposed to be today, though,” she said. “I’m not sure why he’s here a day early.” She pulled out her phone, which had been silent in her purse since they’d been at the hospital. Scrolling through it, she cringed. “Crap, he called twice today.”
“What’s up?” Max gave her a teasing smile and said, “You know, if you want to do online shopping so I don’t see what you’ve ordered, you gotta do better than that, Anna.”
She laughed and shook her head. “This is better than online shopping. Can you let him up?”
Max gave Jake the go-ahead and then pulled Anna to his chest and kissed her forehead. “You, little lady, are a bit sneaky. I’m not sure what is up.”
“Good. Because it was supposed to be a surprise for you tomorrow, but I guess it’s happening today.”
“ ‘It’ is happening today?” They both heard a vehicle pull into the driveway, so Max stepped onto the front porch. A man slid out of the driver’s seat of a canopied truck and then walked around to the back. Two bodies hopped out, both black-and-tan…and furry.
“What’s this?” Max asked.
“This,” Anna spoke with a huge smile as she tugged him along to follow her, “is a surprise I’ve been holding onto for about three weeks now. Max, meet Bo and Luke. They are one-year-old German Shepherd cousins, and are also police trainee flunkies. We’ve officially adopted them. And this is Ryan Fields, he’s been their handler for the past month to make sure they are healthy and ready for a home and family.”
“Nice to meet you.” Ryan held out his hand to shake Max’s while holding the leashes with the other.
“You as well,” Max replied. He looked at the dogs, surprised that this was something they were actually doing. He and Anna had talked about adopting a dog, but here were two of them. And both were beautiful with wagging tails and seemingly eager personalities.
Anna was already petting them both. They must have been familiar with her because she knew who was who. “This one is Luke,” she told him as she knelt down. “He has a bit more black on his face and is a tad smaller. And this one’s Bo.” She moved over to give him a hug too. “His tail is all black and he’s a little bigger than his brother.”
“Wow, okay.” Max took a moment to pet them both. “So…police dog flunkies?” he asked Ryan with a chuckle.
“Yes, sir. They were raised in my police K-9 program but didn’t exactly pass. If they aren’t one-hundred-percent guaranteed for the job they are being hired for, then I can’t sell them to a police unit.”
“So you breed these dogs and train them yourself?”
“Some of them I’ve bred, but most I’ve adopted from shelters or unwanted litters of puppies. They go through a myriad of personality screenings to determine if they’re suited for the job.”
“And these two weren’t,” Max concluded.
“Not really,” Ryan laughed. “As you can see, they love people a little too much. There was also an issue with them being separated when I got them at three months old. They were cousins from separate litters, but they bonded instantly. Neither of them could handle it, so I had to put them back together. I thought maybe they’d make a great narcotics pair and I trained them as such but…”
“But what?” Max wasn’t so sure about owning two supposed guard dogs that would fail at a simple job.
“They are excellent dogs, don’t get me wrong. They just have a little issue with…playing too much.”
“Playing too much?”
“Mmhmm,” Ryan nodded. “They’re, uh…they’re total screw offs.”
Something about that made Max laugh out loud. And as Ryan unclipped the leashes to let Bo and Luke go, they immediately started wrestling with each other.
“Wait a minute,” Max chuckled. “Bo and Luke? Seriously? And they’re cousins?”
“They’re just a couple-a good ol’ boys,” Ryan shrugged sheepishly.
Max turned to Anna and gave her a smug smile. “What a coincidence.”
“It’s a total coincidence!” she laughed. “I hadn’t even met the dogs yet when I called Teague and Jay the Duke cousins. But…come on! Isn’t it funny?” She laughed anyway, even if Max didn’t think so.
But he couldn’t help it and laughed with her, because every time they made mention of the Dukes of Hazzard and some of the stupid shit they did, Teague and Jay were always mentioned in the same sentence.
“Yeah, this is a bit weird,” Max agreed. “But seriously…”
He watched the dogs for a few seconds, still messing around, biting each other’s necks.
“Heal!” Ryan barked sharply. Both dogs stopped playing and immediately came to him and sat. Ryan looked at Max and said, “See, they’re very obedient, know every command you need them to know, and are very watchful. But their attention span is a little out of whack. Just watch…”
The dogs were sitting there calmly, waiting for another command. Sure enough, one of them wagged a tail and it caught the attention of the other. A neck bite occurred, and then a little nip back, but they were both still sitting there.
“Attention,” Ryan commanded. They both looked at him again, upright and waiting for another command. Looking at Max, he said, “See, they’re just a bit glitched.”
“Glitched? Well hell, I can barely sit at attention like that either,” Max joked. “But in all seriousness, what’s the worst to expect?”
“You’re not gonna have to deal with anything like attacking someone, or growling at the wrong person, or anything serious like that. You’ll have them fetch something, a butterfly will pass by and one or both goes frolicking after it, and when it’s out of sight again, they’ll go right back to fetching what you asked them to bring you.”
“Well that doesn’t sound so awful.”
“No, they’re not defective dogs. They’re not top-notch for a serious police job, but they’re definitely more trained than the average pooch. I think you’ll be very happy with them. You just gotta love their quirky moments and let them slide. Focus on the good things they can do.”
Anna tugged on Max’s arm, purposely like a little kid. “Please, can we keep ‘em? Please, please, please? Wait, you haven’t even seen what they’re capable of. Just watch.”
There was no way Max was going to say no. These dogs were gorgeous, and if their only weakness—if it even was a weakness—was screwing around too much, then that wasn’t a big deal at all.
But he watched Anna work with Ryan, making the dogs sit, stay, walk, run, and fetch. Ryan used the command “go check the fence” and pointed down to the gate. He said eventually they would learn “gate” instead, if that’s what was preferred. They all followed the dogs down the driveway—even Jake, who seemed extremely interested in what was going on.
Bo and Luke were sniffing along the ground, but mainly peering out through the wrought-iron bars to observe beyond the property line. They did this for a couple of minutes, going left along the fence and then right, until Ryan told them to report. Both dogs sat in front of him peacefully, tails wagging just a bit.
“This is how they report if everything seems okay,” Ryan informed them. “And if something were off, like maybe someone was lurking around or hiding in a bush somewhere, they’d be barking during their search and when they report back to you, to let you know something’s wrong.”
Max nodded, thoroughly impressed. “Okay, so there are a few acres here. Will they be able to do the whole perimeter?”
“Yes, sir,” Ryan concurred. “I’d walk them on a ‘full search.’ You have to do it with them a few times to get them familiar with what you want them to do and they’ll do it until you tell them to stop. Of course, you know, they might have to mess with each other here or there, but they’ll go back to work.”
Jake finally spoke up when he said, “And I have security lights available that can be triggered by motion or the specific bark of your dogs. They’re pretty cool, can light up an area
instantly and scare off any trespassers pretty easy. No one likes to lurk in the light,” he smirked.
Max cast him a suspicious side-glance. “Were you in on this too?”
He tried to hide a smile. “Yes, sir. Anna asked if it would interfere with your security here.”
“And?”
“And…I told her I would implement them as needed.”
“Hmm, interesting.” Max eyed Anna, who still looked a bit sheepish.
“And you can whistle for the dogs like this—” Ryan made a quick chirp—“if they’re close enough to hear, or their collars have this little thing here…” He grabbed Luke’s collar and showed Max the tiny box connected to it. “It operates only from a remote and it just emits a quiet little hum that tells the dog to ‘return to base.’”
Max couldn’t have been more impressed, but damn, he actually had a pair of dogs now. This domesticated stuff was rolling right along.
“Anna has arranged for me to continue working with the dogs until they’re completely ready to operate their best for you. We can work on specific routines or jobs for them…whatever it is you need from them. I think this place will really be fantastic for them, to be honest.”
Max glanced at Anna again, who was seriously beaming from head to toe. She was petting both dogs at the same time, and just seeing her that happy made him feel like one lucky bastard.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“I really thought you were upset at first,” Anna said as she cuddled up to Max in bed that night.
“What? Really?”
“Yeah, the look on your face,” she giggled. “You just looked a bit scared.”
“Nah, not scared. It was just new to me. We had one dog growing up that I can remember. A Doberman, and he was fucking mean. Definitely not a family pet. He was literally meant for being a growly little shit to anyone who came close to our gate. He didn’t do all the things Mickey and Minnie do, though.”
“Oh my God, will you stop calling them different names?” Anna laughed.
“Fred and Ethel?”
