Chapter Eighteen
Madison
There seemed to be some weird mutual agreement between Max and me not to talk about what happened. Despite this, the two of us were getting along well, and we continued to flirt. Mostly, it was Max flirting with me, but every now and again, I couldn’t help but flirt back with him. I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen again, but I was glad that it hadn’t made things awkward. If anything, things seemed to be better between us. Max seemed a lot calmer, and he hadn’t had another nightmare.
When I woke up that morning, I saw that Max was still fast asleep. I slowly crawled out of bed and closed the door behind me. I couldn’t bear the thought of waking him up when he looked so peaceful. For a while, I just sat there watching him and wondering what he was dreaming about. Every now and again, his mouth would turn upwards into a smile. I got up without making a sound and made my way downstairs and stepped outside into the small patio to call my sister.
“Sorry for phoning you so early,” I said the moment she answered the phone. It was so good to hear her voice again.
“Oh, I’ve been up for a while, and anyway, you can call me anytime you want. Even if it’s in the middle of the night. I will answer for you. You should know that. It’s good to hear from you, Madi. The chief called and filled me on what was happening.”
“Oh, good; he told me that he was going to do that. I wasn’t sure if he had remembered to do it.”
“You sure are getting yourself into a lot of weird situations lately. Are you sure we haven’t stepped onto the set of a movie or something? This is the most bizarre thing ever. I cannot believe you’re stuck in some safe house while guards protect you.”
I chuckled. “I’ve been wondering the same thing myself. It doesn’t feel real at all.”
“But are you okay? Should I be worried.”
“I’m fine. I’m treating it like a vacation. It actually doesn’t feel like anything is wrong while we are here. Like, I keep forgetting that we have been put here for safety. And, for once, I’m letting someone else take care of the bad guys. I’m much safer here than I would be on the outside.”
Lyndsey sighed. “Okay, that makes me feel better at least. Still, I hate the thought of something happening to you. But the chief assured me that they were going to get this guy. He seems to really like you and Max. I’m glad you’re there, but I also can’t wait for you to be out. And you still haven’t met my boyfriend. He’s going to think I’m making you up.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I’m dying to meet him. We’ll have to organize something when I’m out.”
“We better. So, are you actually able to relax? I know what you’re like. You have always been the worst when it comes to relaxing. Your work is everything to you.”
“Surprisingly, I’m finding it a lot easier than I thought I would. I also thought I would battle, but I’m not.”
“Really? That’s good. You’ve needed this break for a long time. I hope you have some alcohol at hand. That always helps with relaxation.”
I giggled. “Yeah. Actually, we were supposed to make cocktails yesterday, but we never got around to it. We still haven’t had any alcohol, but I think that’s about to change. I didn’t want Max to have too much because of his head trauma, but he’s a lot better.”
“So, he remembers everything now? Is the same Max from before?” she asked. I had told her all about how different he had been, so she knew my concerns.
I thought about the way Max looked at me now. Was the same Max? I wasn’t so sure. “Not really. I mean, he’s the same Max but a different Max at the same time. It’s hard to explain. There’s a lot of memories he can’t seem to access. Some come back the moment I mention them, some he dreams about and wakes up in a cold sweat over, and others just refuse to come. It’s bizarre. It’s like he’s learning about his life all over again.”
“Oh wow, I can’t even begin to imagine how weird that must be for him. It must be so frustrating. But he’s doing okay?”
“He’s coping. Max is a strong guy. You know what he’s like. Nothing gets him down. The best partner I’ve ever had, really.”
“Hmm.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It’s just that I haven’t ever heard you talk about him so fondly. You’re normally bitching and moaning about how annoying he is.”
I giggled. “Well, he is annoying.”
“Madi! Did something happen? You better tell me everything.”
I looked around. The door was closed, and I couldn’t see any movement from inside, so Max was probably still sleeping. Nevertheless, I lowered my voice.
“Uh, yeah. Something happened.”
“What? Did you kiss?”
“Oh, we did more than that.”
She squealed so loud I had to hold the phone away from my ear until she calmed down. “Tell me everything!”
“Well, I came out the shower, and my towel fell down.”
“Oh, that’s convenient,” she said and laughed.
“No, it wasn’t like that. I mean he walked up to me and kissed me first. It was all so sudden. He was asking me why the two of us were never together, and the next thing he was kissing me. Then my towel fell. Then he took off his clothes, then we finally made it to the bedroom. And, well . . .” I found myself blushing even though I was sitting all alone.
“I bet you’re blushing!”
“How do you know?” I asked and fanned my face.
“Because I know you. So, how was it? I bet it was amazing.”
I sighed. “It was. It really was. And strangely, it wasn’t awkward at all.”
“And what’s it like now?”
“Well, we haven’t spoken about it, but it’s still not awkward. We’re just having a really good time together. We haven’t had sex again, so I’m not sure what’s going to happen.”
“But you want to,” she said. It wasn’t a question.
“I don’t know.”
She laughed. “Of course, you want to. I can hear it in your voice.”
“Do you think I messed up? I mean, the two of us work together. I’m just scared that I’ve done something I shouldn’t have done. And he’s not even completely better. I’m so worried that I did the wrong thing.”
“Madi, you have to stop worrying. You’re on holiday, remember? Also, you said that Max wasn’t allowed to stress. So, make sure that this is not a stressful situation. Just enjoy it, and for once in your life, don’t worry about what the future holds. It will all work out. I promise.”
“Thanks, Lyndsey. I miss you.”
“I miss you too. Now stop going away so much.”
“I know. I don’t think this will be too long, though. The chief knows what he’s doing. I trust him. They’ll get the guy soon. I just know it.”
“Then we can all go out for dinner. Even Max.”
I chuckled. “Maybe. Just maybe.”
I ended the call and made my way back inside. I was feeling a lot better after finally talking to my sister. It was just what I needed to make me feel better about the whole situation. She always made me feel better. I went back to the bedroom and softly opened the door but saw that Max was still sleeping. I closed the door and made my way back to the kitchen. I was going to surprise Max by making him breakfast.
I looked around the kitchen for something to make and finally settled on eggs on toast and coffee. I got everything ready, surprised that Max didn’t come down, and made my way back upstairs. I’d made such a racket that I was certain he was going to come and find out what all the noise was about.
When I walked back into the room, he was sitting up. He smiled at me.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to wake you up. I was trying to be so quiet, and I kept dropping things.”
He laughed. “You didn’t wake me. What’s going on? Breakfast in bed?” he said as I put the tray of food down.
“Oh yes. My talents are vast.”
“I don’t doubt that,” he
said and grinned at me. “Hey, what about you?”
“What do you mean? This is for me. You have to go and make your own breakfast. What do you think this is? A hotel? I’m not your maid, you know.”
He laughed. “Sorry. I just assumed.” He was just about to get out of bed when I stopped him.
“I’m just kidding. Of course, this is yours. Mine is in the kitchen. I couldn’t carry it all. I’m going to get it now.”
I ran back to the kitchen and then joined him on the bed to eat. “I’ve become pretty domesticated these past few days, you know.”
“I know. I’m not sure if I’m even going to be able to call you Microwave Madison anymore.”
“What a pity. It was such a beautiful nickname. Oh well, you’re just going to have to change it to Marvelous Madison.”
“I can do that. This is great. Thank you, Madi.”
“You were sleeping so soundly. I just couldn’t bring myself to wake you up.”
“Yeah, I was sleeping so well. No nightmares. That’s always a bonus. I did have a good dream, though.”
“Oh yeah? About me?” I teased.
“I wish. No, I had a dream about a cheese and pastrami sandwich,” he said and sighed happily as he thought about it.
I burst out laughing. “Wow, that’s a random dream.”
“Yeah. I was sitting at this café, eating the most delicious sandwich. In the dream, I was saying how it was the best sandwich that I had ever had in my whole life. I said that I would be happy with eating that every single day. And now, it’s all I can think of.”
I sighed. “It does sound nice. Sadly, we don’t have the right ingredients for that. No pastrami at all. And what’s a pastrami sandwich without pastrami?”
“Not good enough at all,” he said.
“Uh, I can try to make something similar. I’ll have to see what we’ve got, though. But I’m not sure it will live up to your very high expectations.”
“Hey, why don’t we go out to the town today?” he suggested.
“Town? Do you think that’s wise though? Shouldn’t we stay here?” I was surprised by his suggestion. I hadn’t expected to go out into the real world for a while, at least until the chief told us that we had the all clear. In my mind, I had pictured it being a week or two, even though there was a possibility it would be longer.
“The chief said it was okay, remember? He said we have people watching us. Why don’t we give him a call and see what he thinks? We can go searching for a pastrami sandwich. We can come back straight after.”
I liked the idea of getting out for a while and stretching my legs. Relaxing was good, but so was going out and getting something to eat.
“Yeah, let’s do it. We’ll go for the Great Pastrami Search today. It can be our secret mission.”
“The Great Pastrami Search. I like that. It sounds like the name of some Agatha Christie novel.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, it does. I hope we find one that you’re looking for, though. Hey, then why don’t we come home and make those cocktails? We can get a few ingredients when we’re out.”
Max grinned at me. “I like the way you think, Marvelous Madison.”
We gave the chief a call, and he didn’t seem too keen on us going out but made us promise that we called him the moment we were back. He told us to go out for what we needed and to come straight back. Afterwards, I looked at Max and sighed.
“Think we’re being stupid to go out?” I asked. I didn’t really like the idea of making the chief upset especially after everything that he had done for us.
“I’m not worried at all. They have no idea that we are here. Right now, they’re probably just trying to stay away from our team. I bet they know that they’re onto them. Anyway, it will be good to get out, even if it’s just for a little while.”
I smiled. “Yeah, let’s do it. I need those cocktail ingredients. I’m going to make you the most amazing cocktail of your life. You will completely forget about your pastrami sandwich once you take just one sip.” I had never made a cocktail in my life, but he didn’t have to know that.
He chuckled. “We’ll see about that. I’m better at cocktail making than I am at Scrabble playing.”
“Thank god, because you’re terrible at that.”
I smiled to myself as I grabbed my coat. Things had always been good between Max and I, but they had never been as good as they were now. Things just felt so easy between us.
Chapter Nineteen
Max
I was looking forward to a day out with Madison. I thought of joking around with her and calling it a date, but I wasn’t sure how she would react to that. We still hadn’t spoken about what had happened the other night, but I was sure it was on her mind as much as it was on mine. It was probably a lot more intense for her considering she still had all her memories intact. For me, it was different; I had been thinking about sleeping with her since the day I saw her sitting on that hospital bed.
“Okay, are you ready for a day out?” she asked.
“Are you ready for the best pastrami sandwich of your life?” I said.
She giggled. “You’re very confident that you’re going to find one.”
“I am indeed. I will not rest until I find one.”
“Well, you better look quickly because we can’t be out too long. The chief will kill us. He’s probably not going to rest until he gets that call from us.”
I sighed. “Yeah. I know. It’s really frustrating, though. I mean, we could’ve handled this whole thing together. It’s what we do. Like you said, we are a great team. I sometimes wonder if we wouldn’t have done a better job than the chief at finding him. I know I don’t remember what he looks like, but that doesn’t mean I can’t find him. We almost got him once before, so I don’t see why we can’t get him again.”
“I know. But we’ve just got to view this as a holiday,” she said and then laughed. “Wow, I can’t believe I just said that. Usually, all I want to do is work. I think this last year really took it out on me. I actually didn’t realize I was so tense until now.”
I raised my eyebrows at her. I got the feeling that there was still a lot that she wasn’t telling me. I wasn’t sure if she was just trying to make me feel better, or because she just didn’t want to think about it herself. “Was it that bad?” I asked.
“It wasn’t bad. But it was exhausting. And every time you went out there, I would worry.”
“Really? You worried about me?” I said and smiled at her. I added in a wink for good measure, and she groaned.
She chuckled. “Only because I thought you couldn’t handle yourself of course.”
“Of course. I mean, it’s not because you cared for me or anything.”
“No, not at all.”
We chuckled to each other and made our way out. The town was brimming with people, which was good because it made it easier to blend in. I was pleased to see that the safe house was in a popular area and not somewhere too remote. Although, you couldn’t tell from the outside of the house. I had no idea how the chief had put something like this together, but I was impressed. I wondered how many more things he had up his sleeve.
We walked up and down the road, poking our heads into different cafes to see what sandwiches they had on offer. I found a few that offered pastrami, but I wanted to make sure it was the right one. I knew it immediately when I saw it. The small little café looked like it had been taken right from the heart of Italy. It was small, and the smell of coffee drifted through the air as we walked past. I found myself immediately drawn to it.
“This is the one,” I said.
“It is? But you don’t even know if they have the right sandwich.”
“I just know,” I said and pulled her inside.
Madison giggled and followed me in. We found a table in the corner, which gave us a great vantage point of both the inside of the café and the outside. That way we could see if anything suspicious was happening. The waiter came over and I asked her if she had any pastrami
and cheese sandwiches on offer. It was only when the words came out of my mouth that I realized what a chance I was taking. We probably shouldn’t have sat down without first asking what was on the menu. The waiter, a tiny woman with a smile so big it was impossible not to smile along with her, nodded her head.
“You’re in luck. We do, and they’re one of our most popular items on the menu. And today’s special is a sandwich of your choice with a free coffee. Shall I get you both one?” she asked.
“Yes please,” I said. Then, as she walked away, I looked at Madison and grinned. “I told you so. I just knew that this place would have.”
“You’ve got a nose for these things,” she said. “A pastrami nose.”
“It’s good to get out,” I said.
“Oh yeah? Are you bored with me already?”
I grinned. “Yeah. Horribly bored. You’re simply not providing me with enough entertainment.”
“Oh, you’re just a sore loser because I won at Scrabble. You’ve always hated losing to me. Actually, you’ve always hated losing to anyone.”
“Am I really that bad?”
She chuckled. “Yeah. But it’s okay. So am I. If you had been the one to beat me, I would be the one groaning about it. We just can’t help ourselves. It’s in our DNA.”
“I’m surprised the chief thought to put us on the same team, then.”
“Oh, I’m not. I mean, we work harder than anyone else just to prove a point. I think we’re the best team in that regard.”
“That’s true, actually. Hey, I think we need a team name. Unless we have one and I’ve just forgotten?” I said.
Just then, the waitress came by with our coffees and sandwiches, and I groaned in pleasure. I hadn’t had good coffee like that in a long time. I knew it was good just by looking at it. And the sandwich was even better. I picked up the coffee, took a sip, and closed my eyes.
“Oh man, I knew this was a good idea.”
“This was so worth going out for,” Madison said.
“So, team name. How about Team Pastrami?”
She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? That’s the worse team name in the world. The pastrami sandwich is good, but it’s not a team name. How about Team Microwave? No, scratch that. That’s stupid. Team Madix. Yes, Team Madix. Both our names.”
Dirty Maverick (The Maxwell Family) Page 11