by R B Hilliard
“Did you know them?”
“No. I had never laid eyes on them before. I figured by the way they were dressed that they were probably detectives. When I called Sarah over to talk me, one of them asked if I was her brother. She answered him and he nodded as if giving her permission to come to me. I remember how pissed off that made me. She was crying hard and babbling shit I couldn’t begin to understand so I knew that something bad had happened. The men gave us a minute to talk before introducing themselves.” Pausing, he looked up at me. “They were FBI agents, Ells.”
“What did your father do, Max? It had to be really bad to call in the FBI, right?”
“Oh yeah. Agent Marshall and Agent Caldwell informed me that my dear old dad was involved in a drug ring. Apparently the local police arrested him in a raid six months earlier and he agreed to become an informant in order to avoid jail time and a possible prison sentence. He was to help get evidence on the head of the organization, a real winner of a guy named Rocky Ponterelli.”
I started to tear up but swallowed and tried to hold them back. “Benny swore it was something to do with your dad, but I never dreamed that it was this. By the way, does Benny know you are back?”
“I stopped by to see him on my way out of town. I’ll tell you about that later.”
“Okay, sorry to interrupt. Please continue.”
He reached for my hand. “In addition to dealing drugs in North Carolina, Rocky was also dealing in South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia. Because he went across state lines, the local police brought in the FBI. The plan was for my dad to arrange a drug buy. The FBI was going to swoop in and bust them all. Unfortunately, the previous purchases always went down at our house, so that was the location they needed to use to set this up. It was supposed to be a cut and dried operation.”
I gasped, clamping down on his hand. “Please tell me your dad was smart enough to get Sarah out of the house!”
“Not quite. Something went wrong with the plan. Sarah was supposed to be at her friend’s house while I was working, but somehow Rocky was tipped off that the meeting was a sting and sent three of his guys to our house hours before the designated time. When my dad saw them pull up, he knew something was wrong and told Sarah to get into her closet and not to come out. Rocky’s guys came in, found my dad in the living room and shot him in the back.”
“Dead?” I whispered.
He nodded.
Clapping my hands over my mouth, I gasped, “Oh my God, Max, that’s what the stain on the floor was?” He stared at me quizzically. “Kurt and I knew that the stain on the floor hadn’t been there when we were last at your house. We thought it was coffee or something like it but never considered blood.” The thought made me sick.
“When were you at the house?”
“Joss and I drove by the day after you didn’t show up at the café. Both your truck and your dad’s car were sitting in the drive. I knew how you felt about your dad and didn’t want you to be mad at me so we didn’t stop. A couple of days later, Kurt knocked on your door but got no answer. Your cars were there the whole time.” I swallowed back the tears. “We knew something wasn’t right. We couldn’t take it any longer, so Benny helped us break into your house to see what we could find. We found some of your things gone and thought you might have headed to school early. We checked in at ASU but you weren’t there either. The school said that you hadn’t finished your enrollment and they hadn’t seen you.
Clearly agitated, Max ran his fingers through his hair. I wanted to comfort him but also wanted to hear the rest of the story. “God, Ells, it was all so damn complicated.”
“Go on,” I encouraged. I needed to hear the rest. “What happened after they killed your dad?”
Taking a deep breath, he continued. “Sarah sat in her closet for several hours before the FBI decided that the coast was clear.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“Because the FBI had our house bugged and had been listening in for quite some time.”
My pulse spiked and I could feel my face turning red. “Please tell me your room wasn’t bugged?”
His blue eyes twinkled. “I think the whole house was, why?”
My eyes widened in surprise.
Holy hell, the FBI has tapes of me doing who knows what.
Max grinned wickedly and, as if reading my mind, said, “I told them I would pay my whole inheritance to have those tapes of us.”
“You did not!”
He busted out laughing. “Na, I just wanted to see your face when I said that.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Did they really tape us?”
“No, they skipped over mine and Sarah’s bedrooms.”
“Anyway,” he continued, now seeming a little more relaxed, “the FBI knew when Rocky’s guys showed up early that the bust had gone south. They waited for over an hour after seeing the guys leave before approaching the house, making sure the coast was clear. They didn’t go in when they heard the initial gun shots because they didn’t want to compromise the case. They still didn’t have Rocky but now, thanks to my dad, they had two of his guys on their radar. By the time the coast was clear, they were pretty sure that Sarah had been killed as well. When they got inside, they found her huddled in a ball and scared out of her mind. That was when she called me hysterically crying. When I arrived home, FBI agents told us to grab only what we could carry. They had discovered several recording devices planted in our house. This meant that Rocky had also been watching our house and would discover that his guys screwed up and missed an important factor when they took out my dad.”
“They missed your sister,” I filled in. “But Sarah didn’t see them, did she?”
“Yes, and the FBI knew she would be a target if she could point out the guys in a line up. The trail would lead them straight to Rocky. There was no way that he was going to let a twelve year old girl take him down, so they had to immediately relocate us. They gave us ten minutes to pack. Since I already had a duffle packed for school, I just grabbed it and helped Sarah. Another set of agents came by, picked us up and drove us to a safe house in Kentucky.”
“Wait a minute,” I interrupted. “Was the local police ever involved or was it always just the FBI?”
“The local police were involved until they realized that Rocky’s tentacles reached beyond North Carolina. Then they were obligated to turn it over to the FBI, why?”
“Because when Kurt and I went to the local police, Detective Copeland seemed interested in everything we had to say at first. When he got back to me, he implied that you had decided to move on without me and more or less told me that I needed to get on with my life.”
“I think the local police were pissed because the FBI took over their case and didn’t want their assistance. I bet that this happened sometime between the time that you first spoke to Copeland and the time he got back in touch with you. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” Pulling me to him, he wrapped his arms around me.
“So, you were in Kentucky?” I asked, needing to hear more.
“They relocated us to Danville, Kentucky. I became Jack Barnett and Sarah became Amanda Barnett. They put us in a two bedroom house and set me up with a job at the local garage down the street.”
I pulled away and looked in his eyes. “You just disappeared. You were there for the best months of my life and then you were gone. I can’t even tell you what that felt like, what it did to me.” I tried to stop the tears but couldn’t.
“I begged for them to let me call you and just say goodbye, but they told me that Rocky may already have some of his guys watching you and if I called you or came to see you, I would put you in danger. I couldn’t risk your life Ellison. I just couldn’t. I had to let you go. I had to walk away.” I could tell this was as hard on him as it was on me. The pain on his face said it all.
“I called you every night to hear your voice and left you messages for months.”
“I know babe, believe me, it’s the only thing that
got me through those months.”
“Wait, you listened to them?” I didn’t know whether to be hurt, angry or relieved.
“Every night, before I went to bed, I hit play and listened to your messages. I heard every one of them.”
Frowning in disbelief, I tried to grasp what he was telling me. “The AT&T operator said that no one had used your phone for months.”
“The FBI can do anything, Ells, including tamper with phone bills.”
Confused, I blinked up at him. “So, you knew I listened to your iPod and went with Kurt and Joss to ASU to look for you? You knew that I was sleeping in your bed just to feel close to you? You heard me pour my heart out over and over in all of those voicemails. Yet, you couldn’t manage to get a note to me or something telling me that you were alive and okay?” Years of pent up feelings were bubbling to the surface and I wasn’t sure I could stop them from boiling over. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to.
The intensity of his stare was a little frightening. “I couldn’t call you, Ellison. Fuck! I couldn’t write to you. Hell, for months I wasn’t even allowed to shit by myself!” He growled in frustration. “Don’t you think it killed me? All I thought about for most of that first year was that at the end of my day I was going to get to hear your sweet voice again. I couldn’t wait to get Sarah to bed each night so I could push play and hear about whatever it was you were doing. Night after night I went over scenarios in my head trying to figure out of how I could safely contact you. Yes, I knew you were sleeping in my bed and you know what? I wanted you there! I imagined that I was there with you! I knew that the FBI was watching over you, but so was Rocky! I knew that you were safe as long as I stayed away. I was protecting the only person, besides my sister, that I had ever let myself love! Don’t you get that?”
My eyes immediately filled. “Why did you get rid of your voicemail then? One day it suddenly didn’t work. If you missed me so much then why did you take that away? It almost killed me not to be able to hear your voice anymore.” I swiped at my tears, angry that I was shedding them like a weak little girl.
He pulled me in closer. “It almost killed me too, babe. You have to believe me. Unknowingly, Sarah told one of the agents that I spent every night on my cell phone. I wasn’t supposed to have a cell phone anymore. They found out that I had been paying Max McLellan’s cell phone bills in North Carolina and freaked. The agents in charge of us were sure that it was going to lead Rocky straight to us but I convinced them otherwise. They would let us stay in Kentucky if I got rid of the phone and the account. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Please believe me,” he choked out.
“Did you even go to college? Do you really own garages?” I asked, voice cracking.
Get some control here Ellie.
He wiped his eyes with the bottom of his shirt. “I used some of the money my mom left me to attend Centre College in Danville where I graduated with a degree in business. Right before I graduated, my boss at the garage decided to retire. I used the rest of that money to buy him out. Slowly, I built the business and now I have MMG’s all over the south. In fact, I just bought Benny’s. I was thinking that this might be my final expansion and maybe I would settle down here and grow some roots.”
“MMG?”
“It stands for Max McLellan’s Garage. For the past five years I have been known as Jack Barnett. I named my first garage MMG because I couldn’t name it McLellan’s. Seeing that sign sitting above that garage every day helped me remember who I was and where I wanted to be.”
“What made you come back here now?”
He frowned. “Do you even have to ask that?” When I failed to answer, he shook his head. “Sarah and I were told that we couldn’t step foot back in North Carolina until they had Rocky and all of his guys in custody. They got them one by one throughout the years, but Rocky always slipped the noose. Finally, last month the FBI told us that they were close.”
Something had been bugging me and, finally, it clicked. “Do you by chance know Garrett Lanier?”
He blinked and then glanced away.
I knew it!
“He was never my friend was he?” I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice.
The contemplative look on his face told me all I needed to know. “Garrett Lanier and I go way back and, no, he wasn’t supposed to be your friend.”
“Oh.” This really hurt my feelings.
“As soon as I found out that they had found Rocky, I sent Garrett here to keep an eye on you and Kurt.”
“Who is he…really?”
“He owns a contract security company. We have been friends since college.”
“Wow… so you paid him to watch me?”
“In a sense. We trade favors and he owed me one.”
It would take a while to process this.
Waving my hand, I told him to continue.
He eyed me speculatively for a minute and then continued with the story. “I had to leave you last week to go testify. Rocky is in for life and we have officially been released from witness protection.” Reaching up, he grabbed a strand of my hair. “There is nothing in the world that could have stopped me from coming back to you,” he murmured. His sexy blue eyes were eating me up. Realizing that I had put distance between us, he reached over and pulled me onto his lap.
“How did you know I wasn’t married? I could have been married and had six kids by now?”
“I became really good friends with the agents who have watched over you for the past five years.”
My eyes narrowed when he said this. “How good of friends?”
He laughed. “Relax babe, there was only one female agent and she was married with two kids.”
“So, you spied on me?”
“I wouldn’t call it spying exactly. I did, however, make some deals. If they kept me informed as to how you were doing, I would service all of their personal vehicles for free.”
“Oh, you bribed them then?”
“If that’s how you want to see it, yes. They made me walk away from the love of my life and, as if that wasn’t enough, they made sure that I couldn’t communicate with her for five fucking years. All because they couldn’t do their jobs and catch the fucker who killed my dad and wanted my little sister. The least they could do was tell me how you were doing. It’s how I survived. Hearing about you and what you were doing was the only thing that kept me going,” he shrugged unapologetically.
I never thought that I would hear these things from him. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that he would actually come back to me. “I have so many questions running through my head, like how you built your business. Where did you start? How did you expand? I want to hear all about Sarah. How is she? Where is she? What is she doing?”
“Sarah is great. She just finished high-school and we decided that the safest place for her to be was out of the country. So we researched and got her into Napier University in Edinburgh.”
My eyes widened. “Cool. Maybe I can go visit her?”
“Not without me, you won’t,” he seductively whispered. This sent chills racing through my body. Chuckling at my reaction, he began telling me about his business. “After I bought the garage I worked night and day until it could basically run itself. This only took a few months. Then I focused on a business plan to quickly expand. I had the money to open a second shop but didn’t want it in Kentucky. I talked the agency into letting me open another MMG in Tennessee. The location was close enough that I could travel back and forth by car or motorcycle. They agreed as long as I was willing to alter my looks. Fifteen pounds of muscle, a beard, much longer hair and I was ready to go. I bought a Harley and made sure that I was in tight with the locals in the area. By that time Sarah was forming her own life. She didn’t need me as much anymore, not at least, like she did when she was a kid. Still, I didn’t want to be too far away from her. It took me a few months to have the Tennessee garage up and running. After that, I scouted and found one in Mississippi, then Louisiana and last, Tex
as. My plan is to buy garages that don’t need too much work done for as little money as possible. I needed to find someone to manage each garage so that I didn’t have to be there every day. This is how I met my manager, Nolen. Originally, he worked with Garrett, but Garrett wasn’t looking to expand out of Kentucky at that time. Nolen’s degree was business management and, since Garrett ran his own business, Nolan was pretty much twiddling his thumbs and wasting his time.
“So, since you needed a manager, you hired him,” I finished.
“Exactly. He helps screen and hire dependable people for all of my garages. My goal was always to come back to Charlotte, to you. You asked how I knew that you weren’t married. That was something I thought about all the time. I knew that there was a chance that eventually you would move on without me, but something inside me just couldn’t give up on the dream of us. My deal with our protection detail and their weekly reports were the only thing that kept me sane.”
“Gee, my own personal stalkers,” I dryly replied. I wanted to hear more but was tired. We had been talking for hours.
Sensing this, Max asked, “Why don’t we try and get some sleep? We have the rest of our lives to play catch up. Sit up and let me get these clothes off of you. He stripped off my shirt and jeans, leaving me in my pretty black lace bra and matching panties. “God, I dreamt about this body,” he hummed as he unclasped my bra. Leaning his head down, he gently took my nipple into his mouth and I moaned in pleasure. He then crawled out of the bed and quickly shed his clothing.