Chapter Eleven
Trying to forget the scene that she had just left, Max sped away from the complex on a motorcycle. While not her Baby, the machine was still pretty nice. Most importantly, the bike had speed. Loosing herself in the ride, she was surprised when she ended up outside the Generation X building. Checking her watch, she saw that she had only been gone for an hour. Plenty of time to check in without being cornered by Zack or Logan.
She hadn't really had time to check her messages or even fill out paperwork after the Devareaux case. Stepping into the office she shared with Zack, she was surprised to find the lack of papers and folders on her desk. When she had left, there had been a stack of folders almost two feet tall. The intercom in the office crackled once and then came to life.
Eric's muffled voice filled the office, "Ms. Guevara."
Sighing, Max hit the button on the phone system, "What is it, Eric?"
"I just wanted to let you know, that I left your messages on Mr….uh…on your brother's desk," Eric hesitated. He was always uncertain about the relationship between the owners of Fifth Generation X. They claimed to be siblings, but they all had different last names. "He was busy clearing off your own, and I didn't want the messages to get lost."
"Okay, thanks."
"Do you need me to come find them?"
"No," Max replied, "no, I think I'm perfectly capable of finding them myself." Max rolled her eyes, it seemed that Eric's infatuation with her was growing.
"Are you sure I can't do anything to help?"
Hearing her stomach rumble again, she decided Eric might have some benefit after all. "Actually, I skipped breakfast this morning. Could you run out and pick me up some Sweet and Sour Chicken with fried rice and a few egg rolls from Mr. Miyati?"
"Anything for you," Eric replied.
Max heard a small commotion coming from outside the office door, as Eric dashed out the door, colliding with another secretary. Walking over to Zack's desk, she rifled through the messages. Flipping through the papers, she saw that Devareaux had left her several messages. Chucking them in the trashcan she noticed a crumpled newspaper.
Extracting the paper from the garbage can, she straightened out the wrinkles. Oil Tycoon, Richard Maxwell, dead at 54, the headline leapt off the page. So that's why Anna is back in town, Max thought.
Being the nosy sister that she was, she flipped through Zack's messages. Frustrated, she placed Zack's notes back on his desk. "Not a single one from Anna," Max said quietly, "but that doesn't mean that she hasn't called. I have been gone for a while."
Max sat down in her chair and spun around a couple of times, before propping her feet on her desk. "How did my life become so complicated?" she asked the empty room. Not only was she a multimillion dollar, highly trained super soldier with a few minor defects she was working for her older brother. And now, to make the situation worse she had fallen for the silent partner, which she had never known existed, of the company. "Could life get any more complex?"
Whirling around in the chair, Max leapt to her feet just as the knock resounded in the office. "Enter."
Sherise, from research, popped her head through the door. "Hi, Max," she bubbled with enthusiasm.
"Hi," Max replied. Sherise was a wonderful person, really she was, but her personality was a tad overbearing at times. This was one of those times.
"Is Zack coming in today?"
"I really don't know," Max responded, thinking of the scene she had fled.
"Oh," Sherise said looking disappointed, "well, I'll just leave his request on the desk."
"Request?"
"Standard work-up on the Maxwell case."
"Really?" Max took the folder from Sherise's hand, and flipped it open to scan the contents inside. "I'll make sure that he gets it."
"Okay."
Max rolled her eyes as Sherise closed the door behind her. Honestly did all of the employees have crushes on her siblings and herself? Sitting on the edge of the desk Max, was just getting past the preliminary workup when her intercom crackled to life.
"Mr. Jacobs is on line two for you, Max," came the disembodied voice of Krissa, one of the many interns in the office.
Max casually tossed the folder onto the desk beside her and picked up the phone. "Weren't you supposed to check in yesterday, Zane?"
"Max? What are you doing answering Zack's phone?"
Max bristled. "It's my office, too, you know."
"Well, yeah, but you're usually…"
"Babysitting," Max supplied for him. The siblings each had their strengths, and Max's just happened to be in protection. "Get to the point, Zane."
"I need a ride."
Punching a command into the computer, Max brought up Zane's current assignment.
Argentina. Cattle Farm. Investigating an explosion at a slaughterhouse that had crippled a major U.S. beef importer.
Skimming over the information, she glanced at the travel itinerary on file. "You have a flight on Wednesday."
"You're not hearing me, Maxie." Zane let loose a series of words that made even Max turn red. "Where the hell is Zack?"
"Occupied at the moment," Max gritted out. "Now, tell me why you need a new ride."
Exhaling deeply, Zane tried to get himself under control. Max was his sister, and it wasn't her fault that she didn't really know shit about how foreign ops could go wrong in the space of a few seconds. "I was sent down here to handle a situation, I handled it. The people who hired us are not happy with the job I performed, and they are looking for me. Now I need a new ride."
"Well, why the hell didn't you just say so?" Punching in a new series of commands brought up the locations of the other foreign operatives. "Jackson has a plane in Chile, he's the closest to you. He can pick you up on his way to rendezvous with Krit and Syl in Spain."
"Hell of a long way to go for a rendezvous," Zane muttered. Trying to picture Jackson, Zane ran through a list of memorized photographs. "Dark hair, my height and weight."
"Jackson? Yeah," Max agreed, opening a new screen to study to the man in the photograph.
"Have him a ticket back to the States waiting for him in my real name, not Samuel Peters. I'll fly on to Spain in his plane and collect Krit and Syl."
"Water that hot down there?"
"Hotter by the minute," Zane replied. "When I pick up Krit and Syl, I may do a little reconnaissance."
"Translation, I'm going to whether you like it or not."
"I promise, it'll be just a little trip to Johannesburg."
"I'm giving you a timeline of three days, starting when Jackson lands in Argentina."
"Got it."
Max heard the hum of the terminated phone call, "Good luck." Shaking her head, she disconnected and punched in another phone number.
"Trevor."
"Trevor, it's Max. Zane needs a new ride. I want you to pass the word to Jackson in Chile. When he lands in Argentina make sure that he has a passport waiting for him in Zane's name, Zane's real name, and that Zane has the necessary identification to get him safely to Krit and Syl."
"Understood."
Max paused a moment before terminating the connection. Listening to the flurry of activity in the small office was a comfort. The company had some of the best people in the intelligence community. "Thanks, Trevor."
Glancing from the phone to the Maxwell file, Max smiled. She had just reached to pick it up when the intercom crackled once more.
"Ms. Guevara, I have your food."
"Thanks, Eric." Max muttered distractedly as she snagged the folder and opened it. Intently she flipped through the pages and almost missed Eric's warning.
"One of your brothers called."
"Hmmm, what did he say," she mumbled reading about the circumstances of Richard's death.
"He said to tell you 'head's up'."
"What?" Shutting the file, Max laid it back on Zack's desk and gathered her jacket from the back of the chair. Exiting the office, she stopped in front of Eric's desk and grabbed her bag of food. "When did he call?"
"Just a minute ago."
"I haven't been here."
Eric grinned adoringly at her as Max practically ran out of the office. "Of course not."
Twenty minutes and one slightly pissed sector officer later, found Max perched high atop the Space Needle staring out over the city.
Ha, ha. I bet no one thought that this story would ever be updated. Sorry my friends, for the long delay, but life has truly been an adventure. College, kidney transplants (my dad), babies (my new niece), and work have been getting in my way. I'm reworking chapter twelve as we speak so look for it in May.