“Of course, I care what you think. But they’re part of our team. I think it’s good that we’ve included them. I think it’s a good thing.”
“You’re infuriating; you know that?”
“Madison, this is ridiculous. I’m the one going out there and putting myself in danger. Me, not you. Surely I have more of a say than you do over who knows and who doesn’t?”
“Oh, wow, nice one, Max. I thought we were a team? And anyway, that’s not true at all. I’m always right there. I’m always at just as much risk as you are.”
“We are a team. But so are the other members. Yeah, I know it’s been you and me doing most of the dirty work here, but they’re still a part of the team regardless. And yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything, maybe I’m the one that is too trusting in this whole thing, but so what? What is done is done. I can’t change what happened, so you’re going to have to just man up and accept the fact that I told them.”
I didn’t say anything after that. I felt too annoyed with Max to talk to him, so I just drove to the office and dropped him off. He tried to say something else to me, but I waved him off. We’d had arguments before, and we always made up after a while. But right then I was just too angry at him and annoyed that he still thought he was in the right. There were times, like this, when I saw what the rest of the world saw when they looked at Max. A tough guy, with no time for other people and no concept of when he was in the wrong.
I made my way back home and wondered if I was spending too much time with him. The two of us had been friends for a long time, ever since I’d first started on the job. But this past year we had been thrust into a situation that neither one of us had been prepared for. If we weren’t on the job together, we were off the job but still talking about the job. The whole year had been the two of us focused on this drug ring.
I didn’t enjoy letting other people get close to me. I’d lost way too many people to ever want to get too close to anyone again. But, despite this, I had to admit that I was close to Max. He’d become more than a friend to me over the years. He had become part of my family. And no matter how annoyed or frustrated I was with him at the moment, it didn’t take away from the fact that he meant a lot to me. I couldn’t have something happen to the bust, or even worse, to Max. Not after everything we had been through together. I knew that the only reason that I was so upset with him was because of how much I cared. And because, deep down, I was a lot more nervous about Friday than I was letting on. I had been nervous about it for a long time, and with every passing day, that feeling just seemed to intensify. Please don’t let anything happen to Max. I thought it, but couldn’t bear to even say it out loud.
I took a long shower and made myself something to eat. I couldn’t be bothered with cooking after these long days at work, and I had started to rely on those ready-made meals that you get from convenience stores. I had a whole stack of them in my freezer. I took one out and popped it into the microwave. Exactly five minutes later and my meal was ready to eat. I cracked open a beer and sat down to watch TV, but I couldn’t get the thought of Max out of my head. Finally, I sighed and got out my phone.
How about we get a good cup of coffee on the weekend? Not that horrible office crap.
Max and I weren’t the sort to apologize after a fight, but I knew he would read that message and take it as it was intended to come across. The meaning was clear—let’s not fight anymore. Moments later a message came back to me.
Good idea. Let’s put some whiskey into that coffee and make it even better.
I smiled. Everything was going to be fine. The only thing left to do was somehow get some sleep and get ready for the next day. The big day that we had all been waiting for was finally about to happen. I flipped through the channels until I found an old movie that I enjoyed, and watched without really watching at all. After a few hours, I got ready for bed, climbed in, and tried to imagine what sort of holiday I would be going on with Max once everything was done. Every time a bad thought came into my head I pushed it away and tried to replace it with an image of us lying on a beach drinking a cocktail.
Chapter Five
Max
I woke up on Friday morning with a heaviness that I hadn’t expected to feel. I thought I’d be excited or relieved, so the heaviness that weighed on my shoulders was a huge surprise. It was an uncomfortable feeling and one that I couldn’t shake off. It didn’t help that I had hardly slept the night before. The two cups of coffee I had hadn’t helped, either. Coffee usually calmed me down and set me aright, but today it had just made me more anxious. I was in the van with Madison now, discussing what was going to happen. I was glad that we were at least talking again, and that we were doing what we usually did—triple checking everything until we felt confident.
“I shouldn’t have had that coffee,” I said to her. “I’m feeling so nervous.”
She chuckled. “It’s not the coffee. You would’ve felt nervous with or without it. Don’t worry about it, Max. If you weren’t nervous, I’d be more worried. And you’ve been nervous before. Hell, remember your very first day out there? You were petrified. But the moment you are with them you immediately go into character. So, I wouldn’t worry about anything.”
“I’m glad we’re talking again,” I said. Having her on my side always made me feel better.
She smiled. “I can’t stay mad at you too long. You know that. Anyway, maybe you were right all along. There’s nothing to worry about. The time has come, and it’s obvious that nobody has said anything. Everything is going to go according to plan just like we always wanted it to.
“I think you’re right,” I said and felt my confidence slowly creeping back.
“That’s the Max I know and love,” Madison said.
“What? You love me? And you’re telling me now?” I teased.
She groaned. “You’re impossible. Now, let’s go over the drop off one more time. The moment you’re inside, we’re going to get our team to surround the place, but we need to make sure that you are in a safe enough place to not get hurt.”
I nodded. I liked this side to Madison. She was like me in so many ways when it came to our profession. Some of the other team members got annoyed with us because we always felt the need to go over things a million times.
“Okay, let’s go over it again.”
We planned the entire process down in an almost minute-to-minute procession. Of course, a lot of this was speculation because we couldn’t know exactly what was going to happen. But we could get close to it. Just in case, we went through a few different scenarios and planned what I would do in those situations. By the time we were finished, I felt good.
“Thanks for going through this with me, Madison. We make a good team, you and me. Such a good team that if you want to take my place, you’re more than welcome to.”
Madison laughed. “Uh, no thank you. Now, make sure you don’t get shot.”
I rolled my eyes. “I never do.”
And just like that, I was making my way over to the den with Madison listening in on me for the very last time. I still remember how nervous I had been the first time. We’d hidden the microphone so well on me that it was impossible to tell without literally stripping off my shirt. Even then, it was hidden in a seam. To an untrained eye, you would never know. I was almost certain that they could check me out and tell me that there was nothing on me. That was how well everything was hidden. Nevertheless, it was something I worried about each time. I patted the microphone nervously and then chuckled to myself as I imagined Madison cringing at the sound that was coming through her speakers. She’d told me once that I would do it often in the beginning, and the sound was elevated on her side. I did it every now and again now just to mess with her. The thought of her getting annoyed by it actually put me at ease.
I made my way into the den and saw Shell, who ushered me into a van. It was the first time that we had driven together as we’d always done our meet ups in the same place. I had no idea why things we
re different this time, and I wasn’t sure if I should ask him, or if I should just let things slide. I tried to figure out which one made me seem more trustworthy. Finally, I decided to just ask.
“Where are we going?” I said in what I hoped was a calm voice.
“We’re going to an old abandoned warehouse. It’s our backup in case anything goes wrong. The boss changed the location.”
“Why would anything go wrong?” I said, and I swear I could hear an edge of nervousness in my voice. I forced myself to stay calm.
“There’s a chance there might be a rat in the group. I don’t know too much about the situation. I’m just following orders. But if there is a rat, then it’s obviously best that we meet somewhere else. Thankfully we were smart enough to have a plan b.”
“Thank god for that,” I said. I was glad that Shell wasn’t looking at me, because while my voice said one thing I was sure that my eyes said something else. I was sure that if he just looked into my eyes for a few seconds, he would see that I was lying. We drove for about fifteen minutes, and with each passing minute, I felt more and more nervous. Madison had been right all along. Someone in our team had let word out to the boss, and now we were in trouble. I had fucked up.
The worst part was that everyone was waiting for me at the location that I had told them to be. My only saving grace was that Madison had been listening to this exchange and would know that things had changed. It wasn’t just a microphone that I had on me but also a tracking device. She’d be able to get to this location if everything was in place. I just prayed that nothing had been tampered with. If someone from our team had tampered with the tracking device then there was no way of her knowing where we were going. The thought of being all alone out there made me break out into a sweat.
We clambered out the van and made our way to the warehouse. There was absolutely nobody else around and when we got inside, I felt nervous at the thought that they would see Madison and the team arrive. I wasn’t sure how she was going to hide, and I desperately wanted to make my way inside. The moment we walked in, I saw that there were already few people inside. How they had gotten there and where their cars were, I had no idea. I noticed a tall man walking up to four men and could tell immediately that he looked different from everyone else. For one, he was in a suit. And there was an air about him that screamed of authority. I knew immediately that I was getting my first look at the boss. I could see the way the four men responded to him that my assessments were correct. Shell and I walked towards them.
The boss didn’t introduce himself to me. Instead, he moved to the outer edge of the circle and addressed us. He had soft features, and an almost squeaky voice, and in any other world, he would come across as somewhat nerdy. He wasn’t nearly as scary looking as Shell, and yet seeing them side by side I was far more intimated by the boss than I was of Shell. I had no idea why.
“There’s a rat in my unit,” he said immediately, and I felt my heart race quicken at his words. “A stupid little rat that thought he could get away with it.”
We all looked around nervously at each other and then looked back at the boss. In one swift movement he pulled out a gun, and we all gasped. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I felt the room start to spin around me and I had to force myself to breathe and stay in control. Of course, the boss had a gun. He was just trying to scare us. That’s all. He slowly pointed the gun at each and every one of us and then surprised us by pausing at Shell. I saw that Shell seemed confused by this.
“I want you all to know that I don’t take kindly to rats,” the boss said. The gun was still pointed at Shell.
“I . . . I’m not a rat,” Shell said in a small voice that I had never heard come out of him before.
“I know,” the boss said and then fired the gun anyway. We all jumped in fright as Shell fell to the floor. We all desperately wanted to run away, but we were too frightened. So, we all stood in place, staring at Shell’s lifeless body. I couldn’t believe that the man that had just driven me to the warehouse was now dead on the floor. I heard the man next to me let out a small whimper. I didn’t blame him. I wanted nothing more than to burst into tears myself. I didn’t like Shell, but I didn’t want to see him dead.
“So, Shell says he wasn’t a rat. And I believe him. Of course, I do. Shell wouldn’t do that to me. He was loyal to me to a fault. So, why did I shoot him? Because he was the one that made us keep the rat around. He might not have known what he was doing, but that’s not good enough. It was his job to know. Shell is the one that let the rat in. And I will not have anyone on my team who doesn’t know what’s going on. I put all my trust in Shell.”
Suddenly the gun was pointed at me. I didn’t say anything. I was barely breathing at that point. I also wasn’t surprised. I knew that the boss had figured out it was me.
The boss laughed. “You silly man. Did you really think I wasn’t going to find out? Well, I have something even better to show you. Bring her out!” he yelled.
I turned around and cried out when I saw a man holding Madison with a gun pointed at her head. Her eyes were large, and I’d never seen her look so scared before. I knew that it was all my fault. She had warned me not to say anything, and now she was skirting on the edge of life and death because of me. I felt sick at the thought of it.
I needed to do something, and I needed to do it fast. I had a gun stuck into the inside of my jeans. It had been a huge risk bringing the gun in this time and one that we had debated on for a long time. But we figured they wouldn’t search me after an entire year of getting to know me. I was glad that we had made that decision now. I wasn’t sure if I could save myself, but I was definitely going to do everything in my power to save Madison. With a flourish, I pulled out my gun and shot the man that was holding Madison. At that exact moment, I heard another shot and felt the bullets hit me. I yelled out in pain and shock, and just before I passed out, I saw a blurry vision of the rest of my team running through the doors and the boss running out. Then, there was nothing but darkness.
Chapter Six
Madison
I looked around in shock. I closed my eyes and hoped that when I opened them, I would be waking up from a nightmare. But it wasn’t a nightmare. It was reality. Things had happened so fast that I was battling to come to terms with it. The room was going hazy, and I was sure that I was going to faint at any moment. Part of me wanted the darkness to take over me so that I didn’t have to deal with the reality of the situation. But then my eyes zoomed in on Max, and everything came into focus again. Max! My heart was jumping in my chest.
“Max!” I shouted out. “Max!
Blake was by my side almost immediately and helped me to my feet. I wasn’t even sure when I had fallen to the ground. It was then that I noticed the man next to me covered in blood. Max had shot him. I must’ve blacked out while it happened. I remembered standing there, seeing Max’s gun, and then watching as Max fell to the ground. Two shots had gone off. I didn’t see the person who had shot him, and I couldn’t see anyone around now. I had definitely lost some time somewhere, and things were not adding up.
“What happened? What happened?” I asked Blake in a panic.
“Max was shot. Come on,” he said and helped me steady myself. We ran over to Max, who was lying on the floor, his head propped up on Peter’s lap.
I knelt down and took his hand. There was a pool of blood surrounding him, and it was hard to see where he was shot. All I knew was that Max had saved my life. He must’ve known that shooting that guy would’ve resulted in someone shoot him. My heart broke at the thought of that decision that had gone through his mind. He’d put me before himself. I could see that he was still breathing, but his eyes were closed, and he was not waking up no matter how much we called his name. I had never seen anything scarier in my entire life. We’d gone through so many different scenarios over the year. Each time Max went into the den, we tried to figure out which way it could go and come up with a way to deal with it. But in all of those scenarios, Max was alive. I c
ould never bring myself to actually admit that he might be in danger. I looked at Blake.
“What are we going to do? Is he okay? We need to take him to the hospital.”
“I’ve called the ambulance,” Blake said. “Don’t worry. He’s going to be fine.” But I could tell by Blake’s tone that he wasn’t so sure of that himself. I wasn’t sure if Max was ever going to be fine.
“Are they on their way?”
“They’re on their way,” he said.
I have no idea how long it took the ambulance to arrive. It was probably nothing more than ten minutes, but it felt like hours. Each minute, Max seemed to be getting worse, and I could swear his heart rate was decreasing. I squeezed his hand and told him to keep fighting, and when the ambulance finally arrived, I watched as they put him on a stretcher and took him away. It didn’t feel real. I didn’t even feel like it was me standing there and watching it all happen.
“Come on,” Blake said. “Let’s go.”
“Where? I want to be with Max.” There was no way I was going to go home with all this happening.
“I know. We’re going to the hospital. I don’t want you to drive. I’ll take us there,” Blake said.
I nodded and followed him soundlessly to the car. I was grateful to have someone calling the shots, and I was glad that we were following Max. I needed to be by his side when he woke up. We heard the sirens from the ambulance the entire way as we made our way to the hospital. I’d always hated that sound, but it was so much worse knowing that it was because they had Max inside. I knew that I’d always think of Max now when I heard it again.
When I arrived at the hospital, I paced back and forth, waiting for someone to tell me what was going on. Finally, one of the nurses told me that Max was in critical condition and would call me when they knew more. A nurse told me to go home as it might be a while. But there was no chance that I was going anywhere. I’d wait there all night if I had to. I wanted to be there when Max woke up, and nobody could tell me otherwise.
Dirty Maverick (The Maxwell Family) Page 3
