Chapter Seven
I started down the stairs as fast as my shoes would allow.
“Where are we going?”
I didn’t need to look back to know he was following me. The heavy thuds of his steps echoed through the stairwell just a little slower than the click of my heels.
“Basement. There’s a door to the trash dump area. I’ve had to use it once or twice when I locked myself out of the building. Max and I don’t keep the usual hours sometimes.”
“You don’t think they’ll be watching there?”
“We’ll just have to see.”
I didn’t think they would be, considering almost nobody working in the office knew of that door. I’d only discovered it out of desperation. Besides, as long as we’d been out there on that ledge I didn’t think they were waiting around for us to come out doors. I was right.
We slipped out the door and were on street level without picking up any notice. I led him to my usual bus stop and hopped on like it was any other day. Obviously I was losing my mind, but I didn’t have the gumption to deal with that at the moment. I just needed to get things ironed out as soon and as neatly as possible. I could have called Max at that point. My cell phone was easily assessable, but instead I sat there on the bus, pretending to look out the windows with every other person on board. Why? I still don’t know.
The bus stopped just a block from my building. There was still plenty of daylight left, which made my doorman’s eyebrows rise. “Early today, Miss McKenzie?”
I laughed as I continued to the elevator. “I’m living in the Twilight Zone today, Nate.”
He laughed heartily and asked no more questions. Jim was with me and that was enough for him.
The posh hallway leading to my apartment was quiet. That didn’t surprise me. Everyone had to be at work still. In mechanical fashion, I pulled my keys out and unlocked the door, fully aware that I was letting a man who had just kidnapped me into my apartment. I was still blaming Georgia at that point.
Jim let out a low whistle as I pulled my jacket off and hung it on the coat rack in the entrance.
“Did he pick this place out for you?” he asked. I could detect the slight edge of disapproval, but I believe it was directed at Max, not my living space.
“I told him I wanted a place with a nice sized bedroom, bathroom, and closet. The kitchen didn’t matter. Cooking just isn’t in the genes. It’s not like I entertain anyway.”
I surveyed the room like I hadn’t done in years. Max did well for me. The kitchen and general living space were “Manhattan sized,” otherwise known as small, but my personal space was nice and that was all that mattered. Of course, there wasn’t a finish in the place that wasn’t stainless steel or granite and the furnishings came straight out of a magazine. Max and I had to have something non-work related to occasionally discuss during lunch and dinner and furnishings was a regular one. For a man who couldn’t figure out that nobody should be wearing a polka-dot tie, Max did know décor.
My purse and keys safely deposited on the sofa table, I headed to my nook of a kitchen. “You want something to drink?”
“What’s the strongest thing you’ve got?” he said with a dry laugh.
“Cranberry juice,” I replied and pulled out the bottle.
“Cranberry juice?” he repeated incredulously.
I grabbed two glasses, traveled the five necessary steps to get to the dining table, and set them all down. “Yeah. I grew up Baptist. Some things you never get over.” I smiled and started pouring.
“But you did get over religion?” he asked as he took the glass I offered.
I stalled. That wasn’t what I meant. To be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure what I meant, other than I didn’t drink.
“Did I say the wrong thing?” Jim asked.
I shook my head and returned my gaze to my glass. “No. I just haven’t thought about it much lately.”
My mother would have had a fit if I’d said that to her. My father probably would have too, but Jim just nodded and drained his glass.
“Well,” I began with a sigh. “I guess I’d better call Max.”
“Make him wait,” Jim replied and leveled his gaze in a knowing sort of way.
I was about to roll my eyes and tell him I wasn’t going to play games when someone suddenly knocked on the door. I jumped a little.
“Who’s that?” he asked.
There were only two people Nate would have let come up without checking with me first. Max and…
“Georgia?” I said when opened the door.
She heaved a huge sigh of relief and threw her arms around me. “You’re okay! I knew you would be! Oh, thank God, you’re okay.”
My ribs started to crumble under the power of her embrace. “Georgia,” I gasped and shoved her back.
Her apologies were joined with stroking my hair and looking me over with soppy eyes.
“Okay,” I said calmly. “Why are you acting crazy?”
“You can’t blame me,” she returned. “When Max called me—”
I shoved back even more. “Max called you?”
Georgia nodded manically. “Yeah. I guess you listed me in his phone as an emergency contact number. Anyway, he called in a panic and said you’d been kidnapped and wanted to know if someone had been in contact with me concerning you and it was all a little strange because the voice on the other end of the phone was totally freaking out and from everything you’ve told me about Max he doesn’t really freak out about stuff, but he was really—”
“Breathe, Georgia,” I cried.
She gratefully obeyed and leaned back against the door, taking several deep breaths before continuing. “Sorry, it was the ride over here. If I’d just been able to teleport myself over I would not have had time to think about all the terrible things that might have happened. Honestly, I never believe you were kidnapped in the first place. I just had time on the ride over to consider the possibility.” She took another long breath.
“You didn’t think I was really kidnapped?” My eyes darted back to Jim.
“Well, the with way things ended at the park today, I figured you went back to the office, had some sort of fight with Max, and whatever he was trying to tell me over the phone wasn’t coming out the way it was supposed to. I thought I’d come here first and see if you’d actually just stormed out and, see, here you are. All is well in the universe.” Her bright smile dimmed when she finally looked up and saw Jim sitting at my dining table. “Who’s that?”
“I’m the guy who kidnapped her,” Jim replied flatly, before I could answer.
Georgia went weak kneed and I just barely caught her wrist in time to yank her up and forward.
“Police,” she cried hoarsely as I shoved her into one of the chairs. “We need to call the police.”
I put the glass of juice I hadn’t sipped yet in her hand and forced her to take a drink.
“Everything’s okay,” I said calmly then glared at Jim. “Did you have to do that?”
“Sorry, it just came out.” He shrugged shamefully and pursued the last drop in his glass.
I slid into my chair and folded my hands, trying to look calm and, well, sane. “It was just a bit of a misunderstanding.”
Georgia looked stunned for a while then finally threw her head back and her hands up. “This story better be good because I wasted about a year’s worth of my life span worrying about you on the way over.”
“Okay,” I began calmly. “This is Jim Wagner. He’s—”
There was another knock on the door. My spine went board straight again. That had to be Max. My mind promptly told me I couldn’t face him, partly because I was sitting calmly in my dining “area” while he was panicking over me.
“Aren’t you going to answer it?” Jim prodded.
After collecting myself, I forced out a nod. It was my door after all and
consequently my responsibility. Attempting to steel my quivering stomach, I walked over to the door again and wrenched it open before I could back down.
“Oh,” I said dully when, instead of finding Max, I discovered Georgia’s husband Dave standing on my threshold.
He laughed. “It’s great to see you too, Maddy. Thanks for the welcome.”
“I’m sorry, Dave,” I replied, rubbing my fuzzy feeling head. “I just—”
“Oops, I forgot I told him to come over,” Georgia called out.
“Wow,” Dave said dryly as he walked in. “I’m starting to feel the love around here.”
He walked over and gave Georgia a little hug as she tried to find a way to explain without having any of the facts to do so. I’d known Dave since we were sixteen. He’d transferred to our school to play for the basketball team. Georgia always did have a thing for athletes. I thought Dave was nice, but guys who were so tall I didn’t even make it to their shoulders were always hard for me to connect with.
Max, on the other hand, was only about six inches taller than me. I’d never really thought about until Dave walked past. With a deep sigh, I shut the door.
“So,” Dave began and sat down. “Why did I leave work early?”
Georgia shot me a look of suspicion then another at Jim.
Once again, I sat down at the table, tried to look composed, and told the facts of the story very calmly and straight forward. I didn’t make eye contact with anyone while I was talking. I didn’t make eye contact with anyone for several long seconds after I’d finished, but I finally willed myself to look up.
“You’re kidding me, right?” Georgia said the minute our eyes met.
“No.”
“And we’re not calling the police because?”
“I don’t know,” Jim cut in. He looked very shameful, as if he’d only just fully realized what he’d done.
Georgia gave me a crazy girl look and then said, “At the very least, why haven’t we called Max? He’s probably gone mad by now.”
“I told her to wait,” Jim said, before I could come up with a good reason.
Georgia’s eyebrows rose. “Oh, you did? I thought you weren’t actually holding her against her will.”
“It’s not like that,” I said, sounding a little more desperate than I wanted to.
“Yeah,” Jim continued. “It’s not like that. I told her to wait to call him because that’s a good way to get him to realize she means something to him.”
My cheeks flashed red and my mouth ran dry. Up until that point I didn’t think things could get any more twisted. Apparently, I was wrong.
Georgia slowly turned her head to me. “You told him about your feelings for Max?”
“No. Of course not.”
“It was pretty easy to figure out,” Jim said and shrugged.
I wanted to crawl under the table.
“Well, I’ll give you that,” Georgia said.
“Georgia,” I cried. “Isn’t anybody on my side?”
“We’re all on your side,” she said. “We’re trying to help you wake Max up.”
“Leaving him hanging is a good way to do it,” Dave added. “Georgia did that to me a couple of times.” He laughed. “She still does it to me when she thinks I’m working too much.”
Georgia nudged him with hers elbow, but laughed anyway.
Then Jim laughed and said, “When Sarah and I were dating we got to the point where I should have asked her to marry me, but I just couldn’t decide if I was ready for that big of a commitment. Know what she did? Didn’t answer my phone calls for a whole week. I suddenly realized how much I didn’t like being without her.”
Dave smiled and pointed to Georgia. “Did the exact same thing to me twice.”
Georgia rolled her eyes. “Can you believe it took him twice to push him over the edge?”
“I was eighteen. Going over the edge was a really big deal.”
They continued sharing stories and I began sinking down in my chair. I didn’t want to hear about things I’d probably missed out on. Plus the longer it went on more I was sure I could never talk to Max again. How could I face him without thinking like a high school girl crushing?
I probably would have made it all the way under the table if my cell phone hadn’t started going off.
Everyone in the room stopped and looked at me.
I waved them off. “I’m expecting a call from a prosecutor on one of our current cases. I told him if he couldn’t reach me at the office number to call my cell.”
They all nodded and returned to reminiscing while I got up and started running the questions I needed to ask through my head. True, I wasn’t planning on continuing to work for Max, but talking to a boring as dirt prosecutor was better than listening to, “And the first time I tried to kiss her she shoved me back so hard I thought she was a linebacker.”
“Hello,” I said flatly into my phone.
“Maddy!” Max yelled so loudly l jumped.