Max may be ticked at him, but our boy's in trouble. To the rescue!

Chapter Six

Max clutched the pay phone more tightly. "What do you mean you still can't get a location?" She'd been riding around aimlessly in Sector Seven for what felt like forever just hoping she might see the van, or catch a glimpse of anything even remotely off that might lead her to Alec.

"I mean there's nothing I can do," Logan answered. "The signal died. Either he shut it off, or they found the emergency transponder and broke it. Alec's cell phone is off, too. I can't ping it."

"Now what?"

Logan cleared his throat in discomfort. "I'm monitoring their phones, drone footage, and security cameras, although there aren't many in that area. Something will show up. The guy Alec was in the van with, Sheffield, was arrested. Alec sent me a message to call in an anonymous tip to keep the guy in the back from being killed."

"You're just now mentioning this?" She wished she could reach through the phone and strangle him.

"That was hours ago, Max, before you even got to my apartment. Sheffield was arrested, but there was nothing about Alec. I figured he talked his way out of it. I don't know what happened after that."

"You're sure he wasn't arrested?"

"There's nothing in the system. Whatever happened, the police don't have him."

"So you just want to wait?"

"I'll find something, Max. It's only a matter of time."

"Well, I'm not waiting." She was so angry she wanted to tear something apart with her bare hands. "Where is the boss guy from the bar? The one giving the orders."

"Max, I don't think-"

"Where is he?" Max snapped. "He will tell me where Alec is."

"Max you can't talk to Anderson. It isn't safe," he said, anxiety making his voice rise. "Look, we don't know what happened yet. We've been working on this operation a long time. Don't give them information they don't already have. It could make it worse for Alec."

Max had to bite her tongue to keep from snapping at him. She, of all people, knew what she was doing. "I'll know what to do once I get the lay of the land." But she had her priorities. Alec first. Bad guys second.

Images of Ben, injured, Manticore closing in… It all flashed in front of her eyes. This wasn't the same, and Alec wasn't Ben, but she couldn't do this. She'd lost too many people. Alec was sane and Alec could fight, but she needed him back. She needed him safe so she could yell at him herself for hiding this little operation from her.

"Tell me where he is."

Logan sighed heavily. "He's still at the bar, as far as I know. I don't have any video because he pays the Sector Police to keep the drones away from his properties," he finally answered. "But Max, I'm begging you not to go there. Don't put yourself on his radar. There's more you don't kn-"

"Let me know if you find anything else. I'll get him back."

Max hung up the phone and turned her bike. It would take some time to get back to the bar and as the minutes ticked past, and with each checkpoint where she had to wait in line and show her Jam Pony ID to get through, she got more and more impatient, more frustrated, and more frightened. It had been hours and hours now, and every second Alec was in their hands, the danger grew. She knew he could handle himself, but the fact that he'd set off his emergency button at all was a terrible sign.

Max stopped her Ninja outside the bar and hid it behind a nearby dumpster. Anderson must've called in a replacement for Alec, because the bar was open again for business. She took a calming breath and headed in.

The bar looked the same inside and out. Anderson was sitting at the same table at the back. There were two guys at a nearby booth who were probably his bodyguards, or at least thugs in his organization. A different bartender was serving a guy at the bar, and there were more patrons than there had been earlier, which stood to reason since it was later.

Max walked straight to the back and stopped right in front of the table. Anderson was looking down, shuffling through some papers. He had a glass of wine sitting in front of him, and he looked perfectly ordinary, not like a crime lord at all.

"You Anderson?" she asked.

He didn't bother to glance up from his papers. "May I help you?"

"Got a message for you," she replied.

That got his attention and he looked up. When he did, his ordinariness dropped away. Those eyes were just as cold as she remembered. His goons started to get out of their booth, but he waved them back. Anderson cocked his head to the side and his eyes narrowed. "Yes?"

"Give me Alec, and I won't rip your organization down brick by brick."

Anderson didn't even bat an eye, simply continued watching her with his cold, assessing eyes. "I see." He sat back in his chair. "I remember you. You were here at the bar earlier."

She nodded. "This is your only warning. Give me Alec, and I'll walk away."

"Who do you work for?"

"Me," she replied flatly. "Makes no difference to me who you are, or what you've been up to. Don't know, don't care. I just want Alec."

Anderson laced his fingers, and sat very still, continuing to assess her. His eyes roamed her face, as if he were interested in her features themselves, which was just pervy and weird. "You are an associate of his?" he asked.

"Did I say this was time for twenty questions?"

"You move like he does. Similar training, I would assume."

"You can assume all you want. As long as you assume I will make your life difficult in the next few minutes if you don't say something useful."

Anderson gave her a humorless smile. "I will make you a counteroffer."

Max sighed and crossed her arms. "I'm listening."

"I will take you to him. You convince him to answer one question and you can both leave."

She had to smirk. "Giving you some trouble, huh?"

"Do we have a deal?"

She shrugged. "I can try. Alec's been a pain in the ass since the day I met him. No guarantees."

Anderson rose from the table. "No answer, he doesn't leave."

"We don't leave, my warning still stands," she replied.

He clearly didn't believe her, but Max didn't care. She'd been underestimated again and again. He thought she was a stupid girl, probably there to rescue her boyfriend who'd gotten in too deep. He thought he could use her to get information out of Alec, and he probably had no intention of letting either of them leave, no matter what. Max was happy to let him think whatever he wanted as long as it got her to Alec.

Anderson walked around her toward the back of the bar. "Come with me."

There was a door to one side at the end of the hall. Anderson pulled the door open and Max saw a set of concrete stairs leading down into a basement. She immediately caught Alec's scent and knew he was there, but it was mixed with the heavy smells of blood and sweat. They'd caught him and brought him back to question him.

Anderson led the way down and Max followed. The basement was the same size as the floor above. There were crates, kegs, shelves and all of the normal supplies for a business: Paper towels, toilet paper, pretzels, peanuts, etc.

Max stopped at the foot of the stairs and took extra time to catalogue all the windows, another exit that led directly outside, and two guards standing close by. Both were over-muscled bodyguard types. One was in a dark suit. The other was clean-cut, wearing tan slacks and a polo, like he was fresh from the country club. The blood on his right hand and a spray of it across his shirt, however, ruined the picture. They were both wearing shoulder holsters, but Mr. Suit had his gun in his hand.

Max had to force herself to stand perfectly still. Every instinct told her to run toward the chair holding the bound collection of clothing, dirt and blood. If she didn't know it was Alec, she never would have recognized him. His face was distorted by bruising and swelling. Blood and grime streaked his clothing and she could see open wounds on the exposed skin of his arms. He was tightly bound to the chair with his hands behind him, and it was an awkward enough position he was having trouble breathing. Either that or he was in such bad shape he was struggling for air.

Max crossed her arms and cocked a hip, hoping she was a picture of vaguely annoyed nonchalance. "If this was how you wanted to make him talk, you guys are more clueless than I thought."

Anderson merely raised an eyebrow. "You don't approve?"

Max shrugged. "A bottle of expensive Scotch would have got you farther. He can put up with this for days."

Alec gave a tired smile through bloodstained lips and teeth, and his eyes met Max's. He was terrified that she was there, but he was desperate to hide it. "Way I was raised…," he said, "we had mind games for breakfast… torture for lunch. This is kinda amateur hour… to be honest."

"I see," Anderson said grimly.

"Doesn't matter. What's the question?" Max asked.

Anderson gestured to his men, pointing at Max, and they immediately turned their guns on her.

"Where is she?" he demanded, looking at Alec.

Max stood frozen in place, but Alec let out a wet, gasping laugh. "Really? You're gonna go with the… threaten-the-other-prisoner ploy?"

"Where is she?" Anderson repeated.

Alec shook his head. "I don't know what you think… I did… but I still can't tell you anything."

"Where. Is. She?"

"Who are we talking about?" Max asked, rather than listen to him repeat the same thing over and over. He'd probably been doing it from the beginning and obviously hadn't gotten anywhere.

"I didn't say this was time for twenty questions," he parroted her earlier remark.

"You want answers, I need to know what you need out of him."

Anderson gritted his teeth. "My mother is missing."

Max blinked in surprise. "Your mom?"

"Yes," he bit out, clearly furious that he had to tell her anything at all. "Someone disabled the security just long enough to get her out of the house."

Max looked at Alec and saw a mischievous glint in his eye and Max knew that Alec had definitely gotten himself involved far beyond mission parameters.

"Seriously, Alec?"

He just raised his eyebrows as if to say, "What did you expect?"

"Tell me where she is, or your friend is the next casualty."

"Sir?"

Anderson turned to look up the stairs where one of his men stood in the open door. "What?" he snapped impatiently.

"We found her, sir."

"Finally." He gestured to the guy in the suit. "You're with me." He pointed to Country Club Psycho Boy. "Kill him and dispose of the body. Keep the woman. I'll be back for her later."

With that ominous statement, Anderson hurried up the stairs followed by his bodyguard who closed the door behind them. Max didn't feel like getting tied up, so she didn't bother wasting any time. She blurred across the room and swept the man's legs out from under him. At the same time she landed a perfectly placed punch meant to knock a man out. He dropped like a ton of bricks and didn't move again.

"I wish you'd been here earlier," Alec said without a hint of sarcasm. He just sounded exhausted and hurt, not something she was used to hearing from him.

"Yeah, well, you sent me away and told me not to mess with your big secret mission or whatever."

"Yeah, well… I'm an idiot." His voice was slurred, and Max wondered how close he was to being unconscious.

"Can't argue with that." She finished searching the downed man, pleased when she found the key for Alec's cuffs. It was just faster than picking them or breaking them. She hurried to Alec and released him from the cuffs. Alec crumpled and fell forward, landing on the floor with a thud. Max moved to his side and turned him over carefully so she could get a good look at him.

She didn't know where to start.

"I'll be ok," Alec wheezed. "Nothing you can do anyway."

Uncuffing him seemed to have eased some of the stress on his lungs, but he still sounded bad, panting for air.

"What happened?"

"I told Logan to call in an anonymous tip… to keep Sheffield from… killing the guy… that I threw in the van. Anderson was already suspicious… Sheffield's arrest was one thing too many… then he got word his mom was gone. The Sector Cops had me detained… because I was in the van with Sheffield, but a couple of 'em… were on the take. They brought me here instead." He coughed, a wet, hacking cough. He curled into himself onto his side, struggling to breathe.

"Easy, Alec," Max said. "Easy." She placed a hand on his back and leaned over him, completely helpless to do anything for him.

After a few moments, Alec actually stopped breathing, but Max could see it was on purpose, trying to protect his ribs.

"No, Alec, you have to breathe," she ordered. "Keep it shallow. You know how this works. Don't make me hit you."

"Please, don't," he rasped, and coughed again. She had a feeling one of his lungs had been punctured by a broken rib and collapsed. He was in serious trouble.

Max rolled him onto his back again, and let him concentrate on breathing while she looked him over to catalogue his injuries. She needed to judge if he was even safe to move. She pulled up his blood-slicked shirt and bit back a gasp.

"Alec, these are stab wounds."

"Really? Had no idea."

"What happened?"

"Tried to get the info… out of me. Who I worked for… what I told 'em. The Sector Cop told… about my panic button. They were hoping someone… would come looking… for me." He pointed at her. "Doubt they were expecting… a looker like you."

"Seriously? You're gonna try that now?" Max tried to get a look at his injuries. Most of the cuts looked fairly shallow, like they'd been using fear and pain to get information rather than wanting to do any permanent damage, but at least one was definitely deeper and bleeding more than the others.

Max put pressure on the wound and Alec let out a strangled cry. "Remind me… to kill that guy," he said through gritted teeth.

"Any other injuries I need to know about?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No time. We have to go." Alec pushed her hands aside, and tensed his muscles as if to sit up, but fell back to the floor, panting.

"Not going to happen." She shook her head. "Not while you're such a mess."

Alec tensed again, and this time managed to make it to a sitting position, grimacing against the pain.

"Max, I…" He looked both angry and embarrassed. "I can't do this… alone. I need… your help."

"I'll help you to a doctor. That's it," she replied.

"No time. Mrs. Anderson… was nice to me. I told her… I'd help her. I can't let him… get to her."

"I'll call Logan," she tried offering a compromise. "He can get the sector police to go."

Alec sucked in a painful breath and forced himself to his feet. He immediately staggered and Max had to grab him to keep him upright. He took several seconds, breathing carefully to get himself back together.

"Anderson owns… the police," he said through gritted teeth.

"Whatever. You're a mess, Alec. You're no good to anyone like this."

Alec turned a murderous look on her. She didn't know if she'd ever seen determination like that on his face. He was always so laid back. It was startling.

"Get my gun… off the guy… on the floor. I want it back."

Max shook her head in disapproval, but truth be told, she didn't want anything of Alec's left down there. There shouldn't be any ties back to them. Max released Alec and waited a second to make sure he would stay upright. When he held his own, she went back to the guy she'd knocked out and pulled the gun out of his pocket. She hurried back to Alec and gladly handed it over. She didn't even like holding the things.

"Look, you're barely standing. Let me get you somewhere safe, and I'll take care of it myself."

Alec was already shaking his head before she'd finished making the offer. "I promised her, Max. I looked her… in the eye… and I promised her… I'd keep her safe."

Max sighed. She knew all about the burden of a promise like that. She'd made more than her fair share of them. Some she'd kept. Some she'd failed miserably.

"Where is she?"

"My safe house… on Barker Street."

"Are you serious? You have a safe house?"

Alec's eyes widened. "You don't?"

"Um… no."

Alec tutted. "Not smart, Maxie. Always have a fallback. Manticore taught… a lot of crap, but that was a… good lesson to keep."

Max pulled his arm across her shoulders and wrapped an arm around his waist to take some of his weight. Alec groaned at the movement, but didn't protest. He was shaking and Max was again worried about how much damage had been done to put him in this shape.

"I don't like thinking about Manticore's lessons."

They shuffled painfully toward the exit that led directly outside. It was a platform type elevator for bringing deliveries straight into the basement from the alley behind the bar. It was a good thing too. Max didn't know if Alec could make it up the steep concrete stairs.

"Doesn't matter," Alec answered. He was pushing himself to hurry. Anderson was already ahead of them. Max helped as much as she could, but she didn't want to hurt Alec more than he already was. "They beat the lessons in… and they stuck."

"We can still choose to let them go. We can change. We don't have to be soldiers."

The man Max had knocked out began to stir. Alec detached himself from Max and staggered over to the guard who'd tortured him and then been left behind to murder him. "Can't say I… didn't warn you, pal. Said… not to touch me."

"Alec, what are you-"

Alec shot him point blank.

Alec turned back toward her and shuffled toward the elevator. "I'll always be a soldier, Max."

Oh, boy. Alec's had a very, very bad day. More soon...