by Mimi Barbour
“Because it was the police that took my stuff.”
Chapter 10
Maya finally broke down and did something she’d sworn never to do again: she went to Max’s house. The last time she’d approached Max’s mother, Nellie, about his disappearance, it had been a disaster. The woman had shrieked, slid to the floor and left Maya feeling terrible for having shaken her world to such a degree that she’d collapsed.
Not wanting to put the nice lady through another incident like the last time, she’d purposely stayed away. Hell, until they found a body, they had no evidence Max was dead. Surmising anything at this point could drive a person crazy. He could have decided to take off; that was not likely, but without proof of wrongdoing, other than filing a missing persons report, his disappearance had languished under more critical and current cases. Sadly, there was never a shortage of those.
On her own, Maya had continued with the search to find her missing partner with zilch to show for all her efforts. It was like he’d disappeared into thin air. His apartment had been left in its normal state—bed slept in and unmade, his personal gear spread everywhere, and the contents of his fridge, consisting of orange juice, oranges, beer and white wine… oh, and a few condiments, looked normal. Seems like her partner had a fetish for vitamin C and alcohol.
His stylish suits, of which he had many, were all arranged on one side of the walk-in closet while the casual wear took up a smaller opposite space. Also, his personal paraphernalia like razor and toothpaste, hair gel, and dryer were still scattered around the bathroom, just as they should have been for a person without any plans of leaving. Truthfully, it had looked like the man had left for work and just never returned.
Approaching the front door of one the prettiest homes she’d ever been in, Maya swallowed and reached for the bell. Before it could ring, the door swung open and Nellie appeared, hopeful smile in place, her astonishing blue eyes shining.
“You’ve found my Max? Maya, tell me you’ve had some news. He’s not dead. I’d know.”
Fearful of Nellie’s reactions, Maya reached out her arms before admitting that they hadn’t heard a thing. When the older woman began swaying, Maya stepped into place to catch her and it was a good thing she did. Nellie’s instability increased and her knees gave way.
Maya held her upright and guided her to the plush porch swing before she went down fully. “Here, Mrs. Foster. Sit here and take a deep breath. You might like to put your head down between your knees for a few minutes.”
With her arm, Nellie wiped away the moisture pooling on her forehead. “Don’t patronize me, young lady. If there was any way I could stop this ridiculous habit of fainting, I would do so in a heartbeat. But, due to an earlier injury, it’s not something I can help. Bear with me for a few seconds, let me catch my breath and I’ll be fine.”
“I was worried my appearance would upset you, and I was right. I’m so sorry. But I need to ask you a few more questions about Max.”
“No, I haven’t heard from him in weeks and no, I don’t know where he is. The last time I saw him, he brought his brother home and introduced me to a son I thought long dead.”
Whoa! That must have put you on the floor! Not saying her thoughts out loud didn’t stop a fleeting grin before Maya could wipe it off. However, the canny woman saw it and nodded.
“I was out cold for longer than a few minutes, I can tell you. I remember coming to and looking at a man who wasn’t Max, yet was his double. I didn’t want to wake up in case I’d dreamt the image. You don’t seem surprised by my announcement?”
“I’m not. I’ll tell you why, but you go first.”
Nellie seemed lost in a world of her own, so Maya leaned forward to pat her hand and prompt. “You saw the stranger too? Max’s lookalike?”
“Yes, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. Except he isn’t Max’s lookalike, he’s Max’s identical twin brother, Nik Baudin. When they were babies, people—except for me that is—couldn’t tell them apart. Other than different clothes and haircuts, it’s still the same today. They’re identical down to that one dimple on the right cheek.”
“I don’t understand? How come Nik doesn’t live with you and Max?”
Nellie pointed at the other side of the swing and reached over to the nearby table. She produced two beautifully-painted fans and passed one to Maya to ward off the debilitating heat. Once comfortable, both women leaned back against the light-colored seating, pushed the swing with their feet and fanned the air.
Nellie seemed to be gathering her thoughts. Finally, she began. “Nik wasn’t with me because I had been told he was dead. You see, Max and I were fleeing from an abusive situation with my ex-husband while Nik was being cared for in the hospital where the Bastard had put him.”
“Hold it! You mean your ex physically abused him? How old was Nik?”
“The boys had just turned two.” Nellie proceeded to share the circumstances of her escape from one form of imprisonment to the next. “So we ended up here. Since I was completely devastated by Nik’s ‘so-called’ death, and we had nowhere else to go, we came here to live in New Orleans with my sister and her husband. Another bastard who’d obviously lied to me, and who is probably in hell chuckling with the devil.”
“You weren’t happy here?”
“Not at all. I tried to make things the best I could for my boy. But as their personal slaves, they made me—and Max as he got older—pay for our keep. Ha! In the end, we won. Max escaped as soon as he’d finished basic training and was accepted into the FBI. Then, first Ed, and eventually my sister Vi died and I inherited the property.”
“And you never remarried?”
“Are you kidding? I didn’t trust my judgment and would never take the chance of making another mistake like the first. In fact, I hated Max’s father so much for killing my other son that, after my divorce, I reverted to my maiden name and had Nik’s changed legally too. I wanted nothing to remind me of the animal I had married.”
“It must have been a shock to find that Nik hadn’t died. Is he here with you now?”
“No. That’s just it. He came that day with Max and then left, promising me he’d return as soon as he’d sorted out some personal stuff. I haven’t seen him since. I’d hoped you might have some word about either of my boys.”
“All I can tell you is that Nik is fine. I saw him yesterday in the market and he seemed well. My problem was that I thought he was Max, and I was furious with him for disappearing.”
“Oh, he’s nothing like Max. He’s hard and bitter, has a lot of ghosts, just like his mom.”
Maya giggled. She couldn’t help herself. Turning to the petite, gentle, ladylike person sitting next to her, she admitted to being shocked. “You? Hard? I can see bitter perhaps, but I would never have described you as hard.”
“Aha! But then you don’t know what living with the Bastard could do to a person. I got away. Nik had to hang on for another fourteen years before running.”
“You mean he ran away at sixteen?” Now Maya was shocked.
“Yes. After putting his father in the hospital. When he told me that part, I laughed, felt happier than I had in a long, long time. Payback is sweet, even if I wasn’t there. So you see, he is my son.”
“And you don’t know where he is now?”
“Actually, I do. He’s coming up the street. And a very strange-looking person seems to be following him.”
Chapter 11
Since it was a neighborhood filled with heritage homes and tree-lined streets that echoed with the grandeur of generations past, there could be no explanation for the drive-by shooting that ensued.
One moment, Nik was sauntering along, trying to ignore his pesky shadow, and the next a black SUV passed with the windows rolled down, a rifle barrel extended and bullets flying.
He heard a female-like, high-pitched scream from behind, which prompted him to pivot and pull down the screecher whose hands were flapping in time to the stupid dance he performed. At least the d
ummy had enough sense to hit the ground with him.
Nik tried to push off the frenzied idiot so he could get the license plate, but the bullets whizzing too close convinced him to stay down. Besides, the strangling arms securing him weren’t letting go anytime soon. Clamping his hand over the squawking idiot’s mouth helped stop the confusion somewhat, but he wished he could have done more. Yet, punching the guy out seemed like overkill.
Screeching tires signalled the end of the attack, but not before Nik noticed a red-headed woman flying out from his mother’s yard. Maya! She had her gun cocked and sent a few bullets after the fleeing vehicle—all to no avail. It had made its escape.
In seconds, quiet had returned to the street. Pushing away his clinging burden, Nik rushed to where Maya was returning her gun to her holster. “Did you get the license number?” He hoped she had, but knew by her disgusted expression that she hadn’t had any success either.
“No. I couldn’t see it clearly, too many trees. Did you?”
“Nope. Too unexpected. Why the hell would someone shoot at me?”
“Maybe they took you for Max?”
“Yeah, I thought of that too.”
“Has he contacted you?”
“Who?” Nik stalled.
“Who else? Max, of course.”
“No, not lately. How did you find out about us being brothers?”
“You’re kidding, right? First of all, you’re identical. And in case you didn’t know, I’m FBI and I have a few resources at my disposal. Other than Max’s name change, it really didn’t take too long to find out that he had a twin.”
Before Nik could answer, more screams erupted from Nellie’s veranda. Dropping his head in disgust, Nik swore and then strolled swiftly to the stairs. There he found his new pain-in-the-ass pal holding Nellie in his arms while waving a fan in front of his own face and screeching like a banshee. “I think she’s dead!”
“Oh, for chrissakes! Give her to me and fetch a glass of water.” Nik gently lifted the small-boned woman in his arms and sat with her in the swing. Then he wrenched the fan from the departing idiot and used it to help her return to consciousness. All the while he talked softly, in a soothing voice. “Come on, Mom. Everything is fine. We’re all okay. You can come back now.”
Maya helped by undoing Nellie’s top buttons and loosening her clothing. Soon the color slowly seeped back to the older woman’s face.
Maya turned to see the over-emotional dude put a glass of water close to Nik. Hovering, wringing his hands, he waited. “It’s all my fault. Those maniacs were after me. Is she dead?”
“Of course she’s not dead. She just fainted.” Nik’s disgust sounded in his voice.
Switching from fear to worry, the skittish guy’s expression changed instantly. “Poor sweetie. She’s probably terrified. I know I was. If it hadn’t been for Rambo saving my ass once again, I just know I would have been lying in a pool of my own blood and guts.”
Nik glared his warning and the stranger covered his mouth like a child would, using both hands.
When no one bothered to introduce her, she couldn’t help but ask questions. “Who are you? A friend of Nik’s?”
“Nik? So that’s his name. Even though he let me spend the night with him, he refused to tell me.”
Nik interrupted sourly. “You didn’t spend the night with me, you slept on the couch in my hotel room. And…I didn’t let you.” His irritation was evident. “You picked the lock while I was having a shower and hid under the blanket. Hell, I didn’t even know you were there until this morning.” The disgust on his face was comical.
“And when you did find out, you didn’t beat me up or throw me out. You let me share breakfast.” Switching his gaze to Maya, the toadying adorer added, “I admit the poor dear wasn’t very happy to see me. I thought for a minute he’d have a cardiac arrest. But he didn’t get mean and he did let me eat.”
Realizing her question had been sneakily ignored, she asked again. “So, who are you?” Maya tried to hide her grin from Nik, the glowering giant whose gentle maneuvers with his mother were paying off. Nellie was starting to recover.
Speaking overly loudly, he answered. “I’m Julian Freed. My friends call me Juli. And you?”
“I’m Special Agent Maya Barnes, and my friends call me Maya.”
“And I’m pissed… that you two are having a love-fest when my mother is out cold.”
“Oh, Nik, I’m not. Just resting my eyes and enjoying being held by my long-lost son.” Nellie opened her blue wonders and flashed a smile to all three caregivers. Her gaze stopped at Juli. “I’m pleased to meet you, young man. I’m Nellie Foster, Nik’s mother.”
Chapter 12
Wanting to get a squad car to the address as soon as possible so they could do a sweep of the street, Maya called in the incident. If by any chance someone saw something that could be useful, the uniforms would do a door to door canvas, interviewing the residents and hopefully getting new details.
While she waited for the phone to be answered, she studied Nik. The handsome bastard looked so much like Max. They were identical when it came to their features and hair coloring and those mind-blowing eyes were bad enough to deal with in one man’s face but in two? He’d cradled his mom until suddenly, his face paled and his hands begin to tremble.
Hmm… Strange!
Gently, he lifted her to a chair of her own and then bolted into the house. Ending her call, Maya approached the other two.
“Julian—”
“Make it Juli.”
“Right, Juli. What makes you think the drive-by was because of you?” Nellie seemed taken by the younger man and had allowed him to fetch her footstool and a pillow to relieve her back.
“There’re some bad guys after me. And the cops are looking for me too. I can’t win.” Juli hung his head, and his affected sorrow made both Maya and Nellie smile.
Cutting into the conversation, Maya asked. “First, why are the cops after you?”
“Like I told Nik… By the way, he suits that name—”
“Stick to the subject. Cops! Why?”
“Right. So anyway, they want me to tell them what I saw at the nightclub where I used to dance.”
“What did you see?”
“Well, that’s just it. I didn’t see anything, except for a bunch of guys forcing a truckload of young immigrant girls, who looked quite poorly by the way; some had bruises and they were crying—”
“Ju-li!”
“…into the basement of the building.” Juli held his hands out in front of him as if to ward off her frustration. “That’s it. Next thing I knew, one of the big bruisers caught me peeking and came after me. I never ran so fast in my life. That crazy-assed Neanderthal scared the crap… excuse me, Nellie… the poop right outta me.”
Nellie nodded graciously. “Crap works for me, it’s a good descriptive word and less graphic than shit.”
“That’s what I thought myself.” Juli shared a grin with her. He winked and nodded toward Maya, who really didn’t appreciate their childish humor.
“This isn’t funny, you two. It’s a serious business. What would you say if I told you that those girls had been kidnapped, are all underage, and being forced into prostitution?”
“I’d tell you not to worry about those particular young ladies. They’re free. I let them go. Don’t know where they are now, but at least those animals don’t have them anymore.”
“Free? How the hell did you do that?” Shocked, Maya leaned forward to listen.
Fanning himself with one of the fans, Juli’s self-satisfied grin appeared before he got serious. “I have a handy Taser I’ve been forced to use on occasions when fellows get the wrong impression. I snuck back to my room and collected it. Later, when I returned to the building, I just waited until the big truck took off with most of the men. The two bruisers they’d left to guard the girls were pretty dozy from the spiked beer I’d paid big bucks to a waiter pal from upstairs to deliver. I gave it twenty minutes, the
n I picked the lock, Tased one frisky fool who wanted to stop me, and released the girls. I sent them to a safe house downtown. Not sure if they followed my directions, but they did vamoose. The problem is, one of the guys came to long enough to make me before I tased him again. Now, I suppose, they want payback.”
“What’s the address to this safe house? I’ll check and see if any arrived there?”
Juli pulled his wallet from his pocket and started searching through scads of papers.
Not wanting to waste a minute, Maya went to the entrance of the house and called, “Nik?” Stepping into the hallway, she called again. “Nik?” In the distance she heard a door close and never did get an answer to her demand. Blasted man! Maya couldn’t believe that the annoying jerk had pulled the disappearing act again. One minute he was sitting with them on the veranda, the next he’d split.
Shaking her head, she lifted the mass of red hair off her neck and twisted it quickly on top, anchoring it with a clip. Then she grabbed the fan away from Juli and, pulling her white, prettily embroidered cotton blouse away from where it stuck glued to her chest, she viciously fanned herself while digesting what she’d been told.
Having no doubt that Nik had overheard Juli’s story, she couldn’t believe the prick would pull the MIA card again. Torn between wanting to spend her time trying to find her partner, Max, and knowing she had to follow up on this new lead in the Trafficking Case, she chewed on her lip, trying to make up her mind.
“Where’s the address?”
Juli had stopped his search.
“Don’t have it on me. Must be in my other pants.”
Nellie broke into their conversation and aimed her remark to Juli. “Doesn’t that just drive you batty? Happens to me all the time. I’m positive I have something and, sure enough, when I go to look for it, it just isn’t there.”
Juli nodded effusively at the older woman. “I know! It’s so annoying… ”