Chapter Three
Max
The week was going by faster than I had imagined. I’d met up with Shell again on Monday, and things were still going according to plan. This was good. I had to make sure that absolutely nothing went wrong. I’d been worried that I’d betray myself by sounding nervous, but Madison had assured me that I had sounded exactly the way that I always did. The closer it got to the big day, the more excited I got. But with every bit of excitement came the inevitable feeling of dread. I was starting to lie in bed at night and consider all the possible scenarios. The problem was that there seemed to be one good scenario and a million bad ones.
“What if it all goes wrong?” I said to Madison. It wasn’t like me to be negative. I was usually the one telling everyone that everything was fine even when it clearly wasn’t. But the lack of sleep was starting to get to me. I just wanted Friday to be over and for everything to have gone by smoothly. I knew I wouldn’t be able to relax until that moment. And while Friday seemed close, it also seemed so far away.
We were sitting in the conference room about to have a meeting with the team. As usual, I met up with Madison at least half an hour before so that the two of us could discuss how the meeting was going to go. We always wanted to make sure that we were on the same page so that the meetings ran as smoothly as possible. And, for the most part, our decision to do this had always worked for us in the past.
“It’s not going to go wrong. Why are you suddenly getting all nervous on me? You’ve been telling me all year that we’re going to get these guys. For an entire year I’ve had to listen to your cockiness, so don’t go getting all scared on me now. The time has finally come, and you should be excited for this.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” I said as I took a sip of my coffee and grimaced. “Gross. I still can’t believe how disgusting the coffee is in this place. It’s some of the worst coffee I’ve ever had in my life.”
“And yet you continue to drink it,” she said and took a sip of her own. She pulled a face. “And so, do I. I think we need to get ourselves a good coffee from down the road after this. I’m in need of some seriously good caffeine.”
“Good idea. So, before everyone comes in, I wanted to talk to you about finally coming clean to them about Friday.”
Madison looked at me in shock. “What? You want to tell everyone? Why on earth would you want to do that? Have we not been through this before? This is a bad idea, Max.”
I sighed. It was not the first time we were having this argument. I didn’t see what the big deal was. I had handpicked the five people in the team, and I knew that they were trustworthy. They all knew what we were doing, but they didn’t know that we had finally organized the big bust. As far as they were concerned, everything was as it normally was. But I was itching to tell them. The way I saw it was that the more people I had on my side, the better.
“Oh, come on, Madison; it’s not a bad idea. I don’t know why you continue to think so. They’re not going to say anything to anyone, and they’re certainly not going to turn me in after all this time. I don’t know why you’re so worried. They’re trustworthy, and I think we owe it to them to tell them. They’ve been there with us for so much of this. It’s good to have a solid team.”
“We’re a solid team. You and me. We don’t need anyone else. Anyway, we are going to tell them. I thought the plan was to tell them on Friday, just before it happens. That way there is absolutely no chance of anything going wrong.”
“I thought you said nothing could go wrong,” I said.
“Yes, but that’s if we stick to the plan. Nothing will go wrong if we just stick to the plan that we had from the start. Why tell them and take the chance of ruining everything for us? I just don’t understand. It’s only not worth it.”
“Take the chance? You’re acting like they’re going to go in and ruin things for us. They’ve had plenty of chances to wreck things in the past year, so I don’t see why they would do something like that now. They’re good people, Madison. They’re not just work colleagues to me; they’re our friends.” It wasn’t entirely true, but I was trying to prove a point, and I was hoping to appeal to her emotional side.
She groaned. “Yes, I know they’re good people. I’m not saying that they’re bad. I don’t think they’re going to do something on purpose. But all it takes is one person telling someone else who tells someone else for the whole thing to come crumbling down around us. That’s just how it works. People talk. We have to be smart about all of this. And anyway, we’ve been fooled before. Some people are damn good liars. For all we know someone in our team could be a spy. Or, they could just be human beings who like to talk. Either way, it could mean word getting out.”
I thought that Madison was exaggerating and being completely unreasonable. These were our friends. But I didn’t get the chance to say anything further to her because it was time for our meeting to begin and everyone was filtering in.
I smiled at the group around me and tried to imagine any one of them doing something harmful, but I just couldn’t. I was so sure that I was the one in the right with all of this.
“Does everyone have a cup of coffee? This stuff is amazing,” I said, and everyone burst out laughing. Nevertheless, everyone held up a cup. It seemed that bad coffee was better than no coffee at all. After this, I was going to have to have a serious talk with the chief about getting some proper coffee. Although, I’d been telling myself to say something all year and I still hadn’t said a word.
I began the meeting by updating them on what had been happening with the drug ring and asking them all for suggestions and comments. And near the end I was ready to announce the upcoming bust.
“Now, before you go, there’s something I wanted to tell you all,” I started, and I literally saw Madison stiffen in her seat. I tried to ignore her and hoped that she would see that I was doing the right thing. “I’m only telling you this because you’re a part of my elite team, but I need you to all promise that what gets discussed in here doesn’t get mentioned once you leave the room. Nobody can find out about this: not your mother, your brother, or your partner.” I then went on to tell them how I was going to meet with the leader of the drug ring on Friday and about the bust that was set to take place.
“I need you to all be prepared for the worst since we have no idea what is going to happen. Of course, we’re going to be on high alert, and we’re going to make sure that we all come out of this unscathed. I’ll be in the firing line, but I have every intention of walking out of there alive with proof that these guys need to go to jail. For the first time, we’re going to have them all together, and because they are preparing for one of their biggest drug hauls, it’s going to be huge.”
I looked at the shocked faces of the people around me and was startled to see the look of hatred that was clearly written all over Madison’s face. I knew she’d be angry with me but I hadn’t expected her to be that angry. Before I had a chance to wrap things up, she had walked out the room. Everyone seemed too entranced by what I had said to even notice. I gulped and carried on. I didn’t want the team to know that she was upset.
“So, do I have it on good authority that you won’t say anything?” I said to everyone in what I hoped was the voice of someone in charge. If there was anything I had learned in the past year, it was that it was easy to get people to listen to you. You just had to have the confidence, the right demeanor, and you always had to look at someone directly in the eyes. The moment your voice wavered, or you lost eye contact, was the moment that bit of authority lessened.
“Of course not,” they replied. And, despite what Madison had to say about everything, I believed them when they told me this. They weren’t going to do anything stupid. If anything, I felt safer knowing that they were all on my side.
“You’ve done well, Max. The fact that you’re in on such a big bust is a true testament to how hard you have worked on this case,” one of the team members said to me, and I beamed at him. It was nice knowing that other people thought that way. I had considered the same thing myself. We had told ourselves that it could take up to two years for them to let me into their circle, but it had taken a lot less time than we had initially thought. I had been a part of the inner circle for some time now and was now about to meet the big boss and be involved in one of their big hauls. I was proud of how much I had done in such a short space of time. I was also grateful because the thought of doing it all for another year was terrifying to me.
“I’m looking forward to it being over,” I said and thanked them. “And, that’s a wrap for today. Thank you all for coming. Please let me know if you have any concerns or questions.”
As they stood up to go, Peter, one of the older men in the team, looked at me and smiled.
“We’re going to going to get this guy, Max. I just know it.”
“Thanks, Peter. I sure hope so.”
Everyone except Blake had walked out the room. Blake was one of my best friends on the team and someone that I knew I could trust. We didn’t have the same relationship than I did with Madison, but we were still close. Another than the chief and Madison, he knew the most about the bust.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him. “Aren’t you excited about any of this?”
“I am. Well, I’m not sure if excited is the right word, but I’m definitely ready for it to be over. I’m just not sure if you should’ve told everyone so soon about the bust.”
I groaned. “Not you too. Why not?”
“Because if any of the team is involved with the bad guys, then they have time to tell the boss to call it off. Or at least to bust you before you get a chance to bust them. I know you trust them, but surely your years of working on the force have taught you that you can never truly trust anyone? Whenever something goes wrong, it’s always because of some inside thing that’s gone wrong. You’ve got to have eyes on everyone, even those that you assume you can trust.”
“Madison said the same thing to me.”
“I’m assuming that’s why she stormed off?”
I sighed. “Yeah. She’d literally just warned me not to do it. We had talked about it before everyone came in and she’d asked me not to say anything.”
“Well, I hate to tell you this buddy, but—Madison was right.”
I was surprised that Blake was on Madison’s side. I had been so sure that I was doing the right thing. Blake had been a good friend of mine since our police academy days, and I’d brought him onto the team to help advance his career. I wanted to see him do well, and I knew he felt the same about me. His words carried a lot of weight, and I couldn’t help but worry that I had done the wrong thing. The two people I was closest to couldn’t be wrong.
“I’ve messed up. I just really wanted to let them in on what was happening. I thought I was doing a good thing. I’m still not sure if I did anything wrong, to be honest, but I hate the fact that the two of you seem to think that I have.”
Blake smiled and patted me on the back. “Don’t worry, man. We’re just trying to be extra careful, but we’re probably paranoid for nothing. You’re more than likely right about the team. I’m sure they are fine. They’re good guys, and I honestly don’t see anyone of them doing something against us. But, I’ll tell you what: I’ll just keep an extra eye on the team throughout this week and on Friday to make sure that everything is fine. We’re in seriously close quarters here, so I’m sure it will be obvious if someone is acting cagey. I’ll make sure to let you know.”
“Thanks, Blake. I’d really appreciate it. I think that’s a great idea. Hopefully, everything will be fine, though. It’s only a few days away, and then we can finally rid ourselves of all this.”
“And don’t worry about Madison. She’ll forgive you once you bust this guy on Friday. She’s just being protective of you. I know she doesn’t like to admit it, but she obviously cares for you.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I guess you’re right.”
I made my way out the conference room to look for Madison, but she had gone out. I quickly sprawled a message for her and left it on her desk telling her to call me when she was ready for some real coffee. I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t hear back from her.