Maximus

by Riley Edwards

  “Where the fuck do you find this shit?” I huffed.

  “You don’t wanna know.”

  “What, do you sit around scouring the dark web all night?”

  “Something like that. Just check her damn car.”

  Christ, he did. Tex spent his time looking for people he could save.

  “Tex—”

  “Don’t try to psychoanalyze me, Max. You of all people understand the type of men and women who lurk in the shadows. They prey on the weak. Hunt and terrorize. I may not be active duty anymore, but I’m still a SEAL.”

  “Damn right you are,” I agreed. “Listen, Eva’s coming back to the table with the boys. I’ve gotta go. I’ll check her car and call you back.”

  “Copy that.”

  Liam approached with a smile, Elijah with a blank stare, and Eva with a slight upturn of her puffy, pink lips—wait, where the hell did that come from? Puffy pink lips? Why in the actual fuck was I paying attention to her mouth?

  “Hey,” she greeted. “You ready to go?”

  “Let me take care of the check.” I stood and tagged the bill off the table. “I’ll be right back.”

  My conversation with Tex replayed in my mind as I headed outside to check Eva’s car. Hunt and terrorize was a good way to describe what someone was doing to Eva. Only, she didn’t know the extent of it. Had she gone home this afternoon, she’d be dead, and possibly her boys, too.

  Instinct told me something was wrong—I’d been too complacent, allowing Eva to control the situation. The barb of a sharp quill I’d long ago stopped ignoring pricked my gut. I slowed my pace and glanced around the parking lot, and out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a baseball cap before it dipped behind a car.

  Fuck. Eva was in the restaurant unprotected.

  Just as I turned to head back inside, a blast rocked the parking lot.

  Heat kissed my back right before the concussion rippled, knocking me forward. Pain ricocheted through me, my palms burned with road rash, the side of my face slid on the pavement. Finally, when my body stopped skidding on the asphalt, I was up and running with the singular focus of getting to Eva and the boys.

  Inside the restaurant was pandemonium. Patrons ran for the door, some hid under tables, mouths were moving but the pounding in my head made it damn near impossible to hear what they said.

  Fucking shit, the booth where I left them was empty.

  “Eva!” I roared, as fear ticked up to a whole new level.

  If she ran outside, she’d play right into the hands of the person trying to kill her. He was out there, hiding between two cars, waiting.

  Christ, where the hell is she? More people ran past me, knocking chairs over, dishes and menus littering the floor. What was wrong with people? The worst thing you could do in a situation like this was panic.

  Panic led to bad decisions.

  Though the chaos would provide us the perfect cover to escape. I just needed to find Eva.

  A cook rushed past me and I glanced over at the still-swinging door he’d come from and hurried to check the kitchen.

  Empty.

  “Eva!” I tried calling for her again.

  Slowly she came into view as she opened the door to what looked like a storage closet.

  “Let’s go!”

  Eva was saying something but I still couldn’t hear over the ringing, and her lips were moving too fast for me to read.

  No time.

  “I can’t hear you. We need to go. Where are the boys?”

  Eva’s head cocked to the side, a deep frown etched her face, but she stepped out of the closet, both boys clinging to her.

  Thank fuck!

  Without thinking, I rushed forward, scooped up Liam, and he went stiff in my arms.

  “I need you to trust me. Carry Elijah and follow me.”

  Eva nodded, and picked up her son.

  “You stay right behind me. We’re going to my car. Do not stop for any reason. Eyes up and pay attention.”

  Eva shook her head. She pointed to the back door and motioned for me to follow her.

  I quickly thought about where my SUV was parked in reference to the back door. It wouldn’t matter which door we exited, the Tahoe was right in the middle between the two exits. And hopefully, the front of the restaurant was enough of a distraction to give us a clear shot.

  “Liam, if I set you down for any reason, you stay behind me.”

  The boy nodded, eyes wide, fresh fear rolling off of him.

  “Let’s go!”

  Eva darted toward the back door, Elijah in her arms, long brown hair whipping behind her. I caught her arm right before she pushed the bar to open the door.

  “Behind me.” I fished the car keys out of my pocket, ready to beep the locks when we were near.

  Then we were out the door, running toward the vehicle. Blue and red lights flashed off in the distance and I was sure if my ears weren’t ringing, I’d hear emergency sirens wailing and people screaming. But I heard nothing but a high-pitched squeal—and that was dangerous. I couldn’t hear a fucking thing, including a threat if it approached.

  The SUV came into view. I pushed the unlock button, Eva shot around the rear of the car, and the passenger side door opened as I was depositing Liam into the back seat. Eva climbed in back, pulled both her sons close. I slammed the door and jumped in behind the wheel.

  We fishtailed out of the parking lot and hauled ass down the road.

  Jesus Christ, that was close.

  It wouldn’t be until later, when my heart stopped racing and my ears stopped buzzing, that I realized I’d asked Eva to trust me, and she did.

  Chapter 7

  “Here!” Max shouted.

  Liam flinched next to me, Elijah shoved in closer, and I fought the urge to cover my ears as I looked up from my boys to find Max passing back his phone to me.

  I had a thousand questions; none of them I could ask because Max said he couldn’t hear. What the hell was that about? And he looked like hell. The side of his face had pebbles embedded in his flesh, and his forearms and hands were shredded to shit.

  What the actual fuck happened? I heard the explosion but I hadn’t seen what blew up. Then bedlam ensured the restaurant turned to chaos. People were screaming, diving under tables, and running for the doors.

  For a moment, I’d sat frozen, unsure what to do, and scared Max had left us. Then fight or flight kicked in and I decided on flight. Thank God, Max had found us in the kitchen, because beyond getting away from the crowd, I hadn’t thought about our escape.

  “My password is seven-three-zero-nine-eight,” Max told me when I took his phone. “Tex’s number will be in the recent call list. Call him and tell him what happened.”

  My hands were shaking so badly I fumbled with the phone a moment, before unlocking it and pressing Tex’s name.

  “You find anything?” Tex’s voice boomed in my ear.

  “It’s Eva.”

  “Where’s Max?” Concern laced his tone.

  “Driving. There was an explosion at the restaurant. Max says he can’t hear.”

  Tex cursed a blue streak and I waited long moments until he got himself under control before he asked, “Are any of you hurt?”

  “Well, the side of Max’s face looks like he got into a fight with a cheese grater, and his elbows, forearms, and hands are bleeding, and he can’t hear, so yes, Max is hurt. Me and the boys were inside. I didn’t see what happened, only heard it.”

  “Tell Tex, he was right.” Max’s loud bellow filled the small space.

  I caught Max’s stare in the rearview mirror, his cool blue eyes full of worry. I wished he could hear me. I had so much I wanted to tell him. We needed to stop so I could clean his wounds. And he shouldn’t be gripping the steering wheel with his hands looking like they did. I wanted to tell him how much I appreciated him finding us, getting us away from the danger.

  But I couldn’t tell him anything.

  “I heard,” Tex told me. “He must’ve been
close to the explosion if he can’t hear.”

  “What?” I whispered.

  My chest tightened, my stomach felt funny, and my heart was beating too fast.

  “I was afraid someone had put a tracking device on your car. I asked Max to go and check it out.”

  “Oh my God.”

  Max was hurt because he was protecting us.

  “I’m thinking there was more than a tracking device,” Tex mumbled. “Max needs to get you to a safehouse immediately. No more vacations, no more screwing around.”

  “Okay,” I agreed instantly.

  I may’ve wanted to give my boys normal, but I wasn’t stupid.

  “You’re gonna have to find a way to communicate with Max. His ears are likely ringing like a son-of-a-bitch right now. I need you to tell him to head north. I’ll call you back in thirty minutes with a location. And tell him, I’ll call this in to his team. You’ll have backup soon.”

  Backup. Holy shit.

  “Okay.”

  “Stay calm, Eva. And listen to Max—he’s one of the best men I know. I wouldn’t have sent him to you if I didn’t trust him. He’ll keep you and the boys safe.”

  Staying calm was a thing of the past—no longer an option on this fucked-up adventure.

  But, I could listen to Max, and weirdly, I did trust him.

  “Mommy?”

  “Hold on, honey,” I told Liam, then went back to Tex. “I’ll wait for you to call and I’ll find a way to explain things to Max.”

  “Copy that.”

  Tex disconnected and I took a moment to gather my thoughts. I had some explaining to do to my kids, but I didn’t know where to begin.

  “Did Max save us?” Liam asked.

  “Yeah, sweetie, he did.”

  “I’m scared,” Eli whispered.

  “I know, baby, I am, too. But Max is going to help us.”

  “Where are we going?” Liam inquired.

  “I’m not sure where. Max has some friends that are going to help, too. The man I was speaking to is going to find us a safe place to go.”

  “Max’s friend is a nice guy?”

  I didn’t have time to allow my guilt to consume me. I’d think about it later—why my six-year-old had to ask if every man he met was a nice guy and how utterly fucked up that was.

  “Yes, Liam. We can trust him.”

  “Okay.”

  “I need to let you boys go for a moment and find something to write on.”

  Liam disengaged and sat back in the seat, his eyes going to the window. Elijah held on for dear life.

  “Baby, I’m not going anywhere. I just have to look around the car for a minute.”

  “Is Max staying at the place?” Eli asked.

  It took me a second to figure out what my son was asking, and when I did, my heart squeezed. “Yeah, baby, he’s gonna stay with us. You don’t have to be afraid of Max. He’s here to keep us safe. He’s a nice guy, too.”

  “I don’t want him to go.”

  “You don’t want him to go with us to the house?”

  “No. I don’t want him to go without us.”

  “Max isn’t going anywhere without us. He’s staying with us,” I reassured Elijah.

  My son’s arms loosened and he, too, sat back in the seat. But he didn’t look out the window—he stared straight ahead, not taking his eyes off Max, like the man was going to go up in a puff of smoke and disappear.

  I’ve made a lot of bad decisions in my life. There was a lot I regretted, but deep down I knew I wouldn’t regret trusting Max. He’d help us. I could feel it down to my bones.

  I quickly glanced behind me in the cargo area of the SUV. There was a backpack but nothing else. I unbuckled my belt, scooted forward, and reached for the button to open the center console. Max jerked when my hand brushed against his arm and I pinched my lips at the blood now smeared on my skin.

  Shit, his arm was seriously bleeding. When Max glanced at me, I slowly mouthed, pull over. He shook his head sharply in the negative and his gaze went back to the road. I opened the center compartment and found it empty.

  Who in the actual hell doesn’t have random shit tossed in their center console?

  I carefully shoved myself through the small space between the two front seats, mostly on my belly. I opened the glove box and hit paydirt. A small notebook and pen. I quickly grabbed them and scribbled Max a note.

  Head North.

  I shoved it in front of him and he glanced down to read it.

  With a nod he continued to drive.

  I wrote out another message.

  Tex is calling your team. Safehouse.

  I once again showed it to him and his gaze snapped to mine. I gave him a sharp nod of agreement and his eyes lit with approval.

  There was one more thing I had to tell him so I yanked the pad back and wrote.

  Thank you!

  I held it up for him to read, then I swear to all things holy, my insides warmed when he turned a dazzling smile my way. Sweet Jesus, he was pretty when he smiled. Max Brown looked like a sexy Southern California surfer with a touch of naughty when he wasn’t frowning. And his frosty blue eyes even thawed. Oh, boy, he was scary beautiful.

  My eyes caught on the scratches on his face and I winced. He was hurt and it was because of me. Then I thought of something else I needed to say to him.

  You’re hurt. Pull over. I’ll drive.

  “In a while,” he bellowed. “I want distance between us and the restaurant.”

  There was no use trying to argue. He couldn’t hear me and it was dangerous for him to keep reading my notes while he was speeding down the road. I eased myself back into my seat, buckled back up, and pulled my sons close.

  “Everything’s gonna be okay,” I promised, hoping I wasn’t lying to my kids.

  Neither boy said anything. It took a while, but with Liam and Eli both cuddled in tight, my nerves started to dissipate and I started to think clearly.

  There was no more denying the reality of my situation. It wasn’t that I hadn’t believed Tex when he told me someone had been hired to kill me. It was that I naïvely had no concept of the reality that someone was after me right that very moment. I’d only thought about it in the abstract: Tex found a threat and sent Max to neutralize it. I never dreamed someone would get close enough to actually try.

  I’d screwed up again. My good intentions had gotten Max injured, and worse, put my kids in danger.

  A vacation? Was I stupid? I should’ve listened to Max from the start.

  Chapter 8

  After nearly three hours in the car, my ears had finally stopped ringing, and thanks to pain killers and a bottle of water Eva had bought during a pit stop so the kids could go to the bathroom, my head had stopped pounding.

  During the drive, Eva handled all communication with Tex and my team. When there was something I needed to know, she’d jot down a few words, just enough for me to get the gist of what she was trying to tell me and hand me the notebook.

  The safehouse Tex found us in Atlanta was perfect. A man met us at the property and handed me the keys along with a drugstore bag and disappeared. Eva shuffled the kids inside and didn’t argue when I handed her the keys to the Tahoe and gestured for her and the boys to wait by the door. Miraculously, she understood I wanted to clear the house.

  I’d made enough mistakes in the last five days, assumptions that could’ve led to Eva and or her boys being killed. I wasn’t taking anymore chances. The house was small; an open floorplan, kitchen, living room, and dining room all within sight as we walked in. Two bedrooms down a short hall, with one bathroom.

  “Everything’s fine,” I told her and she smiled.

  “You’re not shouting anymore.”

  “Everything is muffled but I can hear again.”

  “That’s good news.”

  Eva had no idea. If I’d been any closer to the blast, I wouldn’t have been so lucky. That, and whoever set the explosive had set the charge in front of her car instead of at
the rear where the gas tank was. He would’ve gotten more bang for his buck if the initial burst had more power from the fuel.

  “Get the boys settled,” I told her. “There should be food in the fridge. I’m going to check in with the guys then I’ll help—”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “I’m cleaning the cuts on your face and arms first. It’s been hours. We need to take care of them before they get infected.”

  Eva’s eyes narrowed and I knew I’d failed to keep my smile at bay.

  “What’s amusing?”

  There was not one goddamned thing amusing yet I was smiling. There had never been a single person in my life who had offered to take care of me. Not my drunk of a father, not my weak as fuck mother, not my bitch of an aunt or dick of an uncle. None of them had ever showed the least bit of concern. Not when I fell off my bike and scraped my knees, not when I broke my collarbone, not even when I was a little boy and had a bad dream and was scared.

  Yet there was this woman, with more baggage than a cargo ship could carry, offering to help clean me up after her car had exploded and her kids’ lives had been threatened. Not that she knew her car was gone just yet—I was waiting for the right time to explain that—but the fact remained she wanted to take care of me. Knowledge that slammed into me with such force, I had no defense against it.

  Our situation was precarious at best. She knew I needed to check in with Tex and my team to secure our safety, but first she wanted to make sure my cuts didn’t get infected.

  What in the actual fuck was I supposed to do with that?

  “Nothing’s amusing,” I answered.

  “Then why are you smiling?”

  “Never had anyone offer to clean me up before.”

  Eva’s hands went to her hips, her gaze held mine, and her forehead wrinkled. “Are you screwing with me?”

  “Why would you ask that?”

  “No one? Really, not even when you were a kid?”