Chapter Twenty-One
Max
Madison was in my arms when I woke up that morning. She was still fast asleep, and I could feel the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. I had no doubt in my mind that I was starting to have real feelings for her. This was not just a crush on someone that I sort of remembered, or someone who I just wanted to get into bed. This was something more. I wanted to shake my old self and demand to know why I had never made the move before. Since being with Madison, I hadn’t had one nightmare, and I was certain that I could attribute that to her. I felt happy when I was with her, and more relaxed than ever. I lay there for a while, too scared to move in case I woke her up. But she must’ve sensed that I was awake because moments later, she turned around and smiled at me.
“Morning, sleepy head,” I said and kissed her on the forehead.
She grinned. “Good morning, handsome.”
“Wow, handsome? That’s much better than the usual names you call me.”
She laughed. “How do you know? You don’t even remember the things I used to call you. Horrible, horrible names.”
“I don’t believe you one bit. You’re too sweet to call me names.”
“You’ve got to be the first person to ever call me sweet. Not even my sister calls me that. She knows me too well.”
I chuckled and reached over to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Well, clearly I’m the only person that knows you well enough to see through the tough exterior.”
She grinned. “We’ll see. I’ll challenge you to another arm wrestle today.”
“Oh yes, good idea,” I said. “I like arm wrestling with you.” I thought of the night before and what had happened when we’d tried to arm wrestle after a cocktail. “In fact, I think we should have a cocktail before we try.”
“You know, Max? I think I’m good with that idea. I’m going to go shower. Breakfast?”
“How about we go out again? I’m dying to go back to that restaurant.”
“You want pastrami for breakfast?” she said and crinkled her nose in disgust.
“No, but I do want that coffee again. And I have a feeling that they will make some amazing breakfasts.”
“You do realize that we’re going to get in huge trouble with the chief when he finds out that we’ve gone out again.”
“Yeah, but he’s not going to find out, so we’re safe.”
“You’re not going to tell him?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I won’t tell you if you don’t.”
She thought about it for a while and then grinned. “They don’t call us Team Maverick for nothing. Okay, I’m just popping into the shower. Let’s go after that.”
I chuckled and resisted the urge to join her in the shower even though it was more tempting than anything else. I had to make sure that she was okay with everything that was going on before I got too serious with her. I knew that I wanted things to get serious, but I still had no idea where her head was at. Perhaps I’d ask her after a cocktail tonight.
We snuck out to the restaurant, and I wondered if any of the guards had seen us. It would probably be a good thing to have someone watching us, but I still wanted to be in and out without the chief finding out. I didn’t want him to get too annoyed with us, and I knew he was already upset that we had gone out the day before. Anyway, it was just one cup of coffee. We would be in and out in no time.
We made our way straight to the café and found the exact spot as we had the day before. The same waitress walked up to us and recognized us immediately. Her smile was just as big as it had been the last time.
“You came back!” she said.
“Of course. That was the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had in my life. Can we please get two of those? And, do you do breakfasts?”
“We certainly do. We make amazing chocolate croissants, but we also do a big bacon and egg breakfast if that’s what you prefer.”
I looked at Madison, and we said, “Chocolate croissants,” at the exact same time and burst out laughing.
“You made the right choice,” the waitress said. She turned to walk away but turned around and walked back to us. “You know, I just wanted to say that I think the two of you make a beautiful couple. I see a lot of people day in and day out, and it’s easy to spot the ones who are in a relationship that will last.”
“Oh, uh . . .” Madison started.
“Thank you,” I said and decided not to correct her. The moment she was out of earshot, I turned to look at Madison and grinned. “Beautiful couple? Team Maverick is on a roll.”
Madison was slightly pink, and she quickly looked down and pretended to be looking at something in her lap. When she looked up, she smiled. “Only the best team in the world,” she said.
The coffee arrived and once again I was reminded of what bad coffee I had been drinking all my life.
“This stuff is so good. I want to have it every day of my life. What are we going to do, Madi? I’m going to wake up every morning and want this stuff. Just the thought of waking up tomorrow without it makes me sad,” I said in exaggeration.
“We can’t keep sneaking out,” she said. “So, you better drink as much as you can today.”
“Good idea. Want to join me on a caffeine high?”
“Only always,” she replied.
The croissants, like the coffee and the pastrami, were incredible. Dark chocolate was melted in the middle of the perfectly flaky pastry, and each bite was like a taste of heaven.
“Okay, seriously, this is the best café in the world. They can do nothing wrong.”
“I’m totally buying one of these to go,” Madison said. “I’m almost finished this one, and I already want another one even though I’m full. These guys are amazing. I wish I had one of these places near my home. I’d go all the time.”
I took another bite and sighed happily. “I don’t know, but . . .”
“What’s wrong?” Madison asked as I trailed off.
I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. A man had just walked into the café and the moment I had laid eyes on him, my heart had started to beat uncontrollably in my chest. Flashbacks of the night of the bust came flooding to the forefront of my mind. He was skinny, almost soft looking, and from afar, he could easily be mistaken from just another office worker in a suit. And yet, there was something about him that was different from everyone else. He had an air of authority about him that was impossible to miss. And the moment he opened his mouth, his voice—squeaky and rat like—betrayed who he was.
“It’s the boss,” I whispered and ducked down so that he wouldn’t see me.
“What? Oh my god, Max. Are you serious?”
“I’m serious.”
“What is he doing? Is he leaving?”
I shook my head. “He just sat down. Quickly, if you look now, he’s not looking this way.”
Madison turned to look at the man in question, and when she turned back to face me, I saw that she looked surprised by who she had seen.
“You’re sure?” she asked again.
“Madi, I’m sure. I can feel it. And I remember him being there that night. Oh my god, Madi, I remember him shooting Shell,” I said as the memory came back to me. He’d shot Shell even though Shell had done nothing wrong. My stomach was twisted in a knot, and I resisted the urge to throw up. “What are we going to do?”
“Max, that man is from Congress. I recognize him from the TV. Holy shit. He’s a well-known public figure.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. Definitely. We have to call it in,” she said. “Oh, good, there’s a bathroom behind you. I’m going to casually walk over there now and call the chief.”
Madison walked away while I pretended to read a newspaper on the table. Every now and again, I shifted my gaze towards his table and was glad that he was not facing me directly. When Madison came back, I noticed that she had a fine bead of sweat on her forehead. I had never seen her look so nervous, and I resisted the urge to pull her into my arms and kiss her. But if I did, it might attract the attention of those around us, which would in turn attract the attention of the boss.
“What happened?” I asked quietly. “Did you talk to him?”
She nodded. “Yeah. They’re on their way. We have to keep an eye on him in case he bolts. Don’t stare at him too often, but just make sure he isn’t planning on leaving.”
I looked at the man again and shook my head. “I think we’re fine. He’s just received his coffee and doesn’t seem to suspect a thing. What the hell, Madi? Do you think he was here because of us? I mean, not this café, but this area?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea, but I assume so. I guess he figured it out somehow. Out of all the places in the world, how did he know that we were in this area? We’re such idiots. We shouldn’t have come out. We were supposed to be locked away until we found him. We were being too reckless.”
“Yeah, but if we didn’t come out, we wouldn’t have our eye on him,” I reminded her. “We’ve got him, Madi. We’ve got him.” I felt so much anger looking at the man. How could he just sit there drinking his coffee as if he were the most normal person in the world? It drove me crazy.
“True. Oh man, I hope the chief hurries. He said they are ten minutes away. Apparently, they’ve been patrolling this area.”
The ten minutes were the longest ten minutes of our lives. The boss thankfully ordered a second cup of coffee and seemed in no rush to go anywhere. Still, I kept worrying that he’d look up and see me. I couldn’t see his whole body from where I was sitting, but the chances of him having a gun on him were very high. When the waitress came by to ask if we wanted anything else, I almost jumped in my seat.
“Few minutes, thank you,” I said and quickly waved her away. I could see she was confused by my sudden change in attitude. I’d been so friendly before then.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I spotted the chief and his team walking towards us. I ducked while the chief ran in and arrested the man. Then I got up and walked up to them. The boss recognized me immediately and spat at my shoes.
“Rat,” he said to me.
“Thanks for coming so quickly,” I said to the team. Then I looked at the boss and smiled. “And finally, we have you where we want you. You’re going to be put away for the rest of your life.”
The man burst out laughing. “Oh, you have no idea what you’re talking about. And trust me, Max,” he said and hissed as he said my name. “You are never going to make it to testify against me. This isn’t over yet. Oh no, this is far from over.”