Maximus

by Riley Edwards

  There was no sense in going down that road. My mother hadn’t changed, she didn’t protect me, she forever altered my life and made me into the man I was.

  “Hey, Max!”

  I turned and feigned surprise when Eva called my name from across the museum parking lot.

  “Eva,” I greeted, mostly annoyed we were playing this charade.

  “Boys. This is my friend from work, Max Brown. Max, these are my boys, Liam and Elijah.”

  Eva gently placed her hand on each of the boys’ shoulders when she mock-introduced them to me.

  “Elijah.” I tipped my head to the younger of the two, then slid my gaze to Liam.

  I hid my flinch when I looked at Eva’s older son.

  Guarded. Untrusting. Angry.

  For a moment, I wondered if that was what I’d looked like at his age. The time of my awakening, when I coldly discovered what kind of people I lived with. When I learned how cruel life really was.

  The kid couldn’t hide it. Not only did it break my heart, it pissed me right the fuck off.

  “Liam. Nice to meet you.”

  He didn’t answer, he just moved closer to Eva. A wholly protective maneuver.

  Jesus Almighty—this kid!

  Chapter 5

  “If you work with my mom, why are you all the way here?” Liam asked suspiciously.

  “Maybe he likes trains, too,” I cut in.

  “Do you?” Liam looked up at Max.

  “Trains are okay.” Max shrugged. “But that’s not why I came here.”

  What was Max doing? He said he wouldn’t tell the boys the truth. Liam shuffled his way closer to me, which was damn close, and his little body went on alert.

  Fucking Max Brown was scaring my son.

  “Then wh-why are you here?”

  Max’s glittery cold eyes came to mine—pure ice. Yet the burning fire was present. He was angry at something. Oh, well, fuck him, I’m angry, too.

  “There’s a veteran exhibit I came to see.”

  “What’s that?” Liam asked.

  “A veteran is someone who served in the military,” Max quickly explained. “Here at the museum they don’t only have trains, they also have a room with a military display.”

  “Oh.”

  “Maybe when you’re done looking at the trains, you could have your mom take you in to see it. I’ve heard there’s a cool motorcycle in there.”

  Liam glanced up at me, his question clear, so I answered. “If you’d like to see it, we’ll go in.”

  My son nodded and Max just stared at him.

  What the hell is that about?

  “Eli, would you like to see a motorcycle?” I asked.

  “Yeah.”

  My baby boy; shy and quiet. That had always been Eli. At four, he often deferred to his brother and I wondered if that was a biproduct of the trauma he’d endured, or if Eli simply had a case of big-brother hero worship. Liam had always been the protector, especially in my absence.

  “All right. Maybe I’ll see you in there.”

  Now, that had been part of the plan, Max agreed not to push the boys into spending time with him. We’d introduce them and wait for the boys to get comfortable. I knew Max wasn’t going to leave to go inside. He’d said he was going to watch us, but do it at a distance so the boys—mainly Liam—couldn’t see him.

  “It was great seeing you, Max,” I lied.

  It wasn’t great seeing the man, he was the reminder that someone was trying to kill me. An invisible threat that had me lying once again.

  God, when does it end? When can I just be normal?

  “You, too, Eva. Nice to meet both of you.”

  Max started to walk away—his long legs ate up the distance—and as I watched him leave, I wondered where he was going. The two-and-a-half hour drive had given me the opportunity to think about what was happening. Not that I didn’t think about it last night as I lay in bed awake, but driving away from my home, it hit me hard.

  Someone out there was hunting me, which meant someone wanted me dead. My first guess at who that someone could be was Jay. He was the most obvious choice, but Tex had told me Jay would never be an issue again—he’d promised. And for some reason, I trusted the mysterious man. I didn’t think Tex made promises unless he knew without a doubt he could keep them.

  So if it wasn’t Jay, then who the hell had I made so angry they wanted me dead?

  And knowing that there was someone gunning for me terrified me. I didn’t want Max to disappear into the crowd. I wanted him next to me. He was huge—tall, broad, muscular, with the coldest eyes I’d ever seen. Someone would have to have a death wish to cross him.

  Fire and ice.

  “What do you want to see first?” I asked Liam.

  “Is Max nice?”

  Sweet Jesus, that question coming from Liam hurt. I knew what my son was asking and it wasn’t whether or not Max was nice, he wanted to know if Max was a bad guy who might hurt him. Liam was inquiring about Max’s character. I did that. I made my son afraid of men—of people. I brought Jay into his life and the man he’d once considered a father had turned on him.

  “As far as I know. He seemed nice all of the times I’ve spoken with him.”

  That was the best answer I could give, which happened to be the truth. Anything beyond that, I didn’t know, because I didn’t really know Max.

  “I want to see the motorcycle,” Liam told me.

  “Okay. Let’s go check it out.”

  I scanned the area, looking for Max, but he’d blended into the background. There weren’t hordes of people around but enough small groups gathered that I couldn’t find him. Without warning, my heart started pounding in my chest.

  What if we were followed? What if someone was pointing a gun at me right now?

  “Mommy?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Who are you looking for?”

  Shit, Liam was watching me, he always was. Since everything happened, he’d seemed unnaturally aware of what was going on around him. Max would likely be happy, considering he’d already told me I pretty much sucked at paying attention.

  “No one, sweetheart. I’m just looking for the entrance.” The lie casually rolled off my tongue and I silently cursed.

  “This way.”

  Liam pulled me in the direction he wanted to go. Little Eli, happy to follow his brother anywhere, held my hand and trotted along.

  For months, I’d been without my boys. Months I’d missed them until my body physically ached from the loss. I cried for them. I raged at their absence. At times, I could swear I felt their pleas stabbing me in the heart.

  “Eva?” Max’s voice boomed, pulling me back into the present.

  He was frowning at me as if he knew I hadn’t been paying attention. He was correct of course, since we were standing inside of an exhibit hall and I had no recollection of how I’d gotten there.

  You have to do better than this if you want to stay alive.

  “Hey. Liam wanted to see that motorcycle you told him about.” I tried to interject as much enthusiasm into my voice as I could.

  “It’s right over there.” Max pointed across the room to a green motorcycle on display. “Come on. I was just about to go over there. We can all go together.”

  Oh, boy, Max doesn’t sound happy.

  It didn’t take us long to come to a stop in front of a Harley painted OD green with a big white Army star stenciled on the tank.

  Max read aloud the plaque near the bike explaining that the Harley had been donated by a local Army veteran who’d served in Iraq. The bike that proudly displayed the 121st Infantry Regiment was meant to honor nine soldiers the vet had fought alongside who’d died in action. As Max continued to read, something funny happened to his voice—rougher, deeper, full of emotion.

  “What does POW mean?” Liam asked.

  “Prisoner of war. That means that someone was captured and held by the enemy until his or her friends could come rescue them,” Max answered.

>   Liam’s body went solid and he glanced over his shoulder at me. Shit, I knew what he was thinking.

  “You know a lot about this,” Liam mumbled.

  “I was in the Navy.”

  That’s right, Tex did say Max was in the Navy. A SEAL.

  “You were?” That announcement piqued Liam’s interest.

  “I sure was. I joined when I was eighteen and served twelve years.”

  “So you’re a veteran, too?”

  “Yep.”

  Eli and I stood slightly to the side during Max and Liam’s exchange, and I watched Liam visibly relax after he heard Max had been in the military. My son assumed that made Max a good guy.

  “Which uniform did you wear?” Liam pointed to a group of mannequins wearing different uniforms.

  Max moved to the exhibit, Liam hot on his heels ready to soak up any information Max imparted.

  “This one.” Max motioned to the typical white sailor uniform. “We called it our crackerjacks. But it’s really the enlisted dress uniform. This one is white, but it also comes in a dark navy blue. The blues are so dark it looks black.”

  “What did you do in the Navy?”

  Max blinked before he quickly covered his discomfort.

  Interesting.

  “I was an intelligence specialist. That’s just a fancy way of saying I read reports, then I wrote reports about what I read.”

  Intelligence specialist? I thought he was a SEAL.

  Liam nodded his head up and down like he understood what Max was talking about, even though it was very likely Liam had no clue.

  We spent the next twenty minutes wandering around the room. Liam asked a thousand questions, Max patiently answered, and Eli and I just followed.

  When Liam ran out of questions, he suggested we go outside to look at the trains. My son did this under the guise of his little brother wanting to see them. Which was interesting, because if I didn’t know any better, I’d think that Liam was trying to act older than he was in front of Max.

  During the tour, Liam stood a little taller, got closer to Max, and listened to every word he said with clear interest.

  An hour later, I was starving and I’d learned more about trains, thanks to Max, than I ever wanted to know. I was also paranoid. The longer we were out in the open, the more worried I became.

  “Stop worrying. Nothing’s going to hurt you,” Max whispered, standing close. “You and the boys are safe.”

  Safe?

  I didn’t think we’d ever truly be safe. Not that we’d ever been.

  I nodded instead of speaking and Max sighed like he was annoyed at my noncommittal gesture.

  “I’m serious, Eva. I won’t let anyone hurt any of you.”

  “Thank you.”

  Max stepped away from me just as Liam turned to look at us.

  “I’m hungry,” Liam announced.

  “Me, too,” Eli agreed.

  “Then let’s go get some lunch.”

  I turned to invite Max but my son beat me to it.

  “Max, would you like to come?”

  “Where are you going?” Max asked teasingly.

  Liam smiled, picking up on Max’s tone. “Anywhere that has burgers. Right, Mom?”

  “Right.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Max approved.

  “Eva?”

  I heard Max call my name but I couldn’t respond. I was too busy basking in the warmth of my kid’s smile. A smile Max had put there. He was being kind to my boys. No, that wasn’t right, Max was going out of his way to be thoughtful and gentle.

  Why does that realization make my eyes sting and my nose tingle?

  “I’m ready,” I muttered and cleared my throat. “Max, if you know a place, we’ll follow you.”

  “I know a place.”

  Of course he did. Max seemed to know everything.

  Chapter 6

  Halfway through lunch, my phone vibrated with a text from Brooks giving me the name and address of the hotel he’d booked for us and our room numbers.

  Eva and I hadn’t discussed how we were going to play this, but I hoped like hell she’d follow along.

  “Are you guys staying in the area tonight?” I asked Eva and waited for her to look away from helping Elijah with his burger.

  Her gaze met mine and I raised a brow in hopes she’d follow along.

  “Yeah. What about you?”

  Good girl.

  “Yep, at the Tifton Suites.”

  “Really? That’s where we’re staying.”

  Perfect.

  “We are? We’re staying?” Liam asked hopefully.

  I didn’t miss the pain that crossed Eva’s features.

  “I told you we were going on vacation. An adventure, remember?” she gently reminded her son.

  The soft tone Eva used when she spoke to her boys was like a kick in the gut. Every time I heard it, it was sweet agony. It was a tenor my mother had never used while speaking to me, nor had my aunt when I went to live with her and my uncle. As a matter of fact, no woman in my life had ever spoken to me with so much care and concern. Not even Pam, and she’d said she loved me.

  “We’ve never had a vacation,” Liam continued, and deep lines appeared on Eva’s forehead.

  “I know, honey. From now on, we’ll try to have one cool adventure a year.”

  Fucking hell. The sadness in her voice was unmistakable, but so was the determination. Eva wanted to give her boys a better life. And for some unknown, crazy reason, I wished I could help her do that.

  “Eli, honey, would you like another drink?” Eva asked, drawing my attention to the younger boy.

  He was painfully shy and barely spoke. If he wanted or needed something, he tapped Eva and gestured. The times he did speak were quiet and meek.

  The kid just turned four so I had no idea if that was normal or not. But I didn’t think it was. I’d seen plenty of little kids in passing that were loud and boisterous.

  The boy shook his head in the negative and I racked my brain for something to talk to him about.

  “Did you like the trains, Elijah?”

  He just stared at me with apprehension and fear. It was the fear that gutted me.

  “Eli, Max asked you a question,” Eva prompted.

  “Yeah,” Elijah muttered.

  Damn. What now?

  “What was your favorite part?” Eva smoothly interjected and I shot her a grateful smile.

  She didn’t return the gesture, but her lips did curve up ever so slightly.

  I bet she’s prettier when the worry isn’t weighing her down.

  “I liked the room with the toy trains the best. The one with the bridges,” Elijah quietly responded.

  “Yeah? I liked that one, too,” I told him. “Do you remember how many cars were on the track?”

  Elijah shook his head and Liam blurted out the answer, “There were five.”

  “There’s another museum right up the road. Would you like to go look around?” I asked.

  “Are you going there?” Liam inquired.

  “Yep.”

  “Mommy, can we go, too?”

  Eva glanced at me, her head tilted to the side, probably trying to figure out what I was up to.

  Good luck with that, sweetheart. I didn’t even understand what I was doing. Though in my mind, I did make the excuse that it was just past lunch and there was plenty of time before we went back to the hotel for her boys to get comfortable around me.

  “Sure, honey, if you want to.” Then Eva looked to Elijah. “Would that be okay with you?”

  Elijah nodded, then cuddled into his mother’s side. Eva’s arm automatically went around the boy and she kissed the top of his head.

  “I’m just gonna take the boys to the bathroom to clean up, then we’ll be ready to leave.”

  Eva and the kids stood and made their way across the restaurant. Thankfully, the bathrooms were within eyesight because I wasn’t sure how I’d explain to Liam if he saw me waiting outside the door. And the kid
would notice. He watched everything, his eyes always busy, taking in his surroundings.

  I pulled out my phone, sent a quick text back to Brooks, then tapped one out to Tex.

  I shouldn’t have been surprised when my phone vibrated with an incoming call.

  “I only have a minute,” I told Tex.

  “We have a problem.”

  Of course we do.

  “What kind of problem?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the door Eva and the boys had disappeared behind.

  “The kind that goes boom.”

  “Come again?”

  “My team got to Eva’s place. Shit, they didn’t even have to do a sweep—they smelled the gas as soon as they entered. The place was rigged. If she’d gone in…”

  Tex didn’t need to finish his explanation, I knew what would’ve happened if Eva had gone into her house and tripped the detonator.

  “Where’s Chris Peters?”

  “In the air, on a flight to Florida.”

  “Shit. What’s your take on this? Two people hired to take her out, or did Peters contract out the work?”

  “My gut says two. But I cannot find a second hit.”

  Instinct was screaming at me to snatch the trio and head to Maryland immediately. But I knew Eva would fight me, and now that the boys were present, it would be even more difficult to talk to her.

  “Your gut’s never wrong so we’ll assume there’s more than one person in play. I was going to take Eva and the kids to another museum but now I don’t want them out in the open.”

  “You need to check her car.”

  “I’ve been watching her for five days. Last night, I spent the night in front of her house. No one’s been near her car.”

  “Right, in the last five days. That doesn’t mean jack shit. I’ve been tracking this for over a month.”

  “A month?” I grunted. “Why the hell—”

  “You don’t think I would’ve sent a team down earlier if I could’ve connected the dots? I had disjointed chatter. A hit was put out to bid on a woman in Florida. Nothing else. So I waited, then more details came to light. Jacksonville area. Then finally a woman with two kids. Things were becoming clearer. I called you in as soon as the woman in question was said to be a pilot. I’m going back now to see if I missed a second request.”