Seven Days Prior

Present

"I'm sorry, okay! I'm not perfect! I make mistakes!"

"No shit. I don't know how you get yourself into these situations all of the time."

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't recall ever being in this type of thing before."

"You know what I mean!"

"Go then. Get out of here. I can figure this out myself then."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily. Come on Sweetheart, we can do this."

"Sweetheart? Since when do you call me that?"

"Since . . . I don't know! This whole thing is insane."

"I'm scared."

"We'll be okay. We got what we needed, and we'll get out of this. I won't let anybody hurt you."

"They're coming."

He paused before taking her in his arms. Not saying anything at all, he kissed her softly on the lips.

Seven Days Prior

"You look happy," Kenny commented, "How is Tom?"

Max shot him a look, as they walked out to their cars after their shift, "Since when are you interested in my love life?"

"Can't I ask you a simple question?"

"I know you've hated everyone I dated."

"You should stop dating assholes."

"You should stop being an asshole."

"I hope he knows what he's gotten himself into with you," Kenny scoffed, wanting to shake her in frustration, "Come on, Max."

"Tom is fine."

"Glad to hear it."

Max let out a long sigh, "I'm sorry, okay? I . . . I don't know what is wrong with me today."

"Forget it. You want to go get a beer or something?"

"Sure."

"Not seeing Tom tonight?"

"He's working. Something about a merger."

"That's her."

"Is she screwing around on him?"

"No. That's some guy from work. A . . . Kenny Lacos. Her partner."

"They look close. Can we use that?"

He smiled, "This is going to be too easy."

Max yawned as she let herself into her apartment, after a couple of beers with Kenny. She paused as she entered the dark room, and an involuntarily shudder ran through her body.

"Tom? Are you here?"

The silence echoing around her, she tried to laugh off her trepidation as she flipped on the light switch. It's nothing. No one is here.

"Story of my life," she muttered, as she tossed her purse onto the sofa.

Tom. I wish that he was here.

"It has to be tonight," Tom Miller said, "I can't stay here any longer."

"What about the girl? You know that they'll go after her to get to you."

"She knows nothing. She thinks that I'm just some business man."

"That doesn't matter. They'll still go after her."

"I'll get her to come tonight. One way or another."

"Don't say a word," a voice whispered in Max's ear, as she felt the strong hands holding her down on the bed, "You have to come with me. Now."

Max froze, as the hands jerked her up, "What do you want with me?"

"We're leaving. You fight me, you get hurt."

"Please, just let me go."

"Shut up!" he yelled, as he stuffed the damp rag in her face. Holding her tight to him, as her body went limp, he sighed, "I'm so sorry darling. It's for your own good."

Kenny looked over at Max's empty desk and frowned. Where is she, he wondered, Max is never late. She's probably with that jerk Tom.

"Where is your partner?" Jimmy Brock asked, as he came out of his office.

Kenny shrugged, "Not sure. She's not answering her phone, and I'm not about to call her at Tom's."

"I'll give her a half hour."

"Where am I?" Max groaned, as she squinted against the sunlight streaming in the window, "What the hell?"

She sat up, and looked around the empty room. This isn't my bedroom, she thought, this isn't anywhere I've ever been.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake," Tom said from the doorway, "I know this has to be a shock."

"Tom? What is going on?"

"Sure. You're safe. We're both safe. I'm sorry, there was no other way."

"What is this?"

Tom sighed and sat down on the side of the bed, "I lied to you. They . . . This is our chance to start over."

"Start over? Why would I want that? I have a life! Where are we? Was that you in my room last night? I'm supposed to be at work right now."

"You never have to work again."

"Who are you?"

"Don't you trust me?"

"No! You kidnap me, and bring me . . . here. Where is here?"

"We're off the coast of South America. No one will find us. We'll start a new life. Be new people."

"Tom," Max choked out, "Please, tell me why you're doing this."

He looked at his girlfriend of six months, "I lied. I'm not a lawyer, well I am. Not for Varitek anymore. More of . . . my last name isn't Miller. It's Millani."

"Millani? The mob Millani? You're a mobster."

"I don't want to be! I refused to be part of it, but they needed me. They thought I told you everything, and they were going to kill us both. That's why we're here. They think we know!"

"Know what?"

"Family secrets. Where the bodies are buried. Everything. My boss at Varitek, he found out who I was. My father and his goons killed him, and made it look like I did it. I had to get away, and not let you get killed."

"There had to be another way. I'm a cop Tom, I could have done something."

"There wasn't time. We can't go back."

"I can't just stay here. People are going to worry about me."

"They won't have a chance to. Your apartment is going to blow up. As far as anyone knows, we're dead. We're safe."

Kenny stared at the wreckage that used to be Max's apartment, and felt his heart leap into his throat. Max. Dead. Not Max. It can't be her.

"I found them," Carter said quietly, "Or at least what is left of them."

"DNA tests," Jimmy said through gritted teeth, "We need to know for sure."

Carter nodded, as he walked toward the charred corpses, "Of course."

"Kenny?" Jimmy asked.

"She can't be dead. We were just talking last night. Not Max."

"We'll figure this out, and the people who did this won't get away with it."

Max and Tom walked out onto the beach silently. She tilted her face up, and looked up at the sun. This is nuts, she thought, we can't do this. I can't run away.

"It'll be perfect," Tom said, as he broke into her thoughts, "After the dust settles, we can find some place and start over. Anywhere in the world darling. Take your pick."

"I want to go home. I can't let my friends and family think I'm dead."

"You will be dead if you go back. Then they'll kill me when they realize I'm alive. Is that what you want?"

"There are ways to fix this."

"No! You're not going anywhere!" Tom yelled, "You can't go back!"

"You can't keep me here! Kenny and Jimmy will figure this out. Let's go back now."

"You want to go back to them? You know they claim to be your friends, but they're both a little bit in love with you."

"That's insane, so are you. Tell me how to get off of this island."

"Oh, you're not going anywhere darling," Tom snarled, as he pushed her down on the sand, "You think that Kenny will figure this out for you? He's going to take the fall for the explosion. I never liked the way he looked at you anyway."