To the Max (33 page)

Bug-out bags? Meeting point? Camo pants? “Annie, it’s frigging two o’clock in the morning. You’re pregnant. We’re sitting this drill, whatever the hell it is, out.”

She let out a short, ironic laugh. “No one sits out drills. You don’t want to be left behind. They’ll throw that in our faces for months. Now get moving, recon Marine. You’re slowing me down.”

Annie was almost dressed, getting her running shoes on, so he shook the fogginess from his mind and threw on some clothes.

“There should be two bug-out bags in the closet,” she said, opening the doors. “Here they are.”

The backpacks were quite big, so when she started dragging them out of the closet, Max took things into his own hands. “Get the keys. I’ll carry these.”

“I can help—”

He lifted both backpacks. “Time’s ticking. You want to fight over something you’ll lose?”

“Let’s go.”

As they were leaving the guesthouse, they saw Annie’s mom and stepdad boarding an SUV. Max frowned. He hadn’t seen Larry driving that car before. Annie read his mind. “It’s their escape car. Rigged. Fully equipped.”

Man, and everybody had seemed so normal during the day. Well, relatively normal.

“Picking up Stella and Thomas,” Larry called out, rolling the window down. “See you in the staging area.” And they sped away.

“Thomas had his driving license revoked,” Annie explained. “Vision issues.”

Max dumped the bags in the back of their truck and held his hand out to her. “Keys. I’m driving.”

She didn’t put up a fight and jumped into the cabin. “Looks like we’ll make it on time.”

“Where exactly are we going?”

“An abandoned gas station on the outskirts of town. From there to the hideout.”

“They have a hideout?”

“They have a compound with reinforced windows, walls, and doors. There are two guard posts near the two roads leading in, so entry can be barricaded.”

Of course. “Are we going to be barricading anything today?”

“I hope not, but who knows.”

“What’s in the bug-out bags?”

“Weapons, gas masks, medicines. Food. Water. All you need for surviving the first seventy-two hours. I keep moisturizer, a sleep mask, a hair dryer, and an e-reader in there, just to spite them.”

Max so got that. If he’d been in the same situation, he would have been compelled to do something like that too.

When they arrived at the gas station, there were three cars already waiting. He recognized the guy who worked at the outdoor shop—José—with a woman. In a minivan there was a family of five: the parents, two kids around ten or eleven years old, and an older woman. The grandmother, maybe?

This was insane. If there was a major disaster, the population that would survive would include an incredibly high percentage of nuts. Either way, the human race was doomed.

Right after them, another pickup came, and then Larry’s SUV.

Larry stepped out, followed by an older gentleman carrying two rifles, one on each shoulder.

“Is that Thomas? The one with the vision issues?”

Annie nodded.

Fantastic. He couldn’t see well enough to keep his driver’s license, but that didn’t stop him from carrying weapons.

One person from each vehicle came out to meet Larry and Thomas. All of them in camouflage gear and armed. Max hoped they were just preppers. That, or they were getting ready to invade a neighboring state.

One thing was certain: seeing as today was Thanksgiving, he was damn glad they were heading for a hideout and this armed-to-their-teeth crowd was not hitting the malls on Black Friday.

“What now?” he asked. “It’s time. Fifteen minutes have gone by since the siren.”

Annie looked at her watch, yawning. “Two minutes more, probably. Emily and Jacob are late. Again. Emily is a professional panicker. A drama queen. Jacob hasn’t been on time for a drill since he hooked up with her. It must be true love, because he’d been bitching about her transforming his underground bunker into a wine cellar, but he put up with it.”

“How often have you done this?”

She propped her elbow on the door. “Give or take, almost every time I’ve come to visit. Not sure if they make the drills coincide with my visits on purpose or if I’m just unlucky. Probably the latter; I’m jinxed.”

A huge man who had come from one of the pickups headed for Annie. Sporting a big smile, he placed his arms on the open window. “Hi, gorgeous. When did you get into town?”

He seemed extremely familiar with her. Too familiar. “Hi, Crane. This is Max. Max, Crane.”

They greeted each other with a curt nod.

“We arrived yesterday.”

“I see you’ve let them drag you into another of their crazy drills.”

She shrugged. “Oh well, what else is there to do at two o’clock, right?”

“I can think of a couple more satisfying things.” Patting the car in farewell, he added, “Going to see what’s going on.”

Max studied the guy moving away.

“Crane is the mayor of the town,” Annie explained. “He participates reluctantly in the drills, but it’s a way to have a measure of control over them, I think. Making sure everything goes smoothly.”

“Who is he to you?”

“I went out with him several times.”

“He doesn’t seem your type.” Then again, neither did Max.

A guy with a rifle on his back lifted his arm and signaled to the others. The group spread, each person heading to his or her own car.

“We’re out,” Larry said, leaning on Max’s rolled-down window. “We both drive together. South entrance circumventing the interstate.”

“Okay,” Annie assented.

Larry turned to him. “We drive separate routes. A convoy—”

“Attracts attention. I know. Marine Corps, four years.”

Larry smiled at Annie. “Great addition, sweetie.”

When Larry left, she said, “You see how a gigolo with soft hands and a wonder dick as credentials would mean the end of the world for them, right?”

“You implying I don’t have a wonder cock?”

She looked at his lap and blushed. “No.”

“Good. I would hate to mess up their schedule by taking you aside for a demonstration of my…outdoor skills. Even at the risk of being confused with a deer and getting shot on the ass.”

Annie chuckled softly. “You’re taking this whole drill nuisance rather well.”

“You kidding? I’m in the middle of nowhere in the wee hours with twenty people armed to the teeth, some of them wearing thicker glasses than I’m comfortable with, carrying bug-out bags with gas masks and MREs, driving to a bulletproof hideout. This beats any Thanksgiving I’ve ever had, even the one when we were forced to dress up like pilgrims. Next trip we need to bring James and Cole. They would love this. I still have trouble reconciling my hippieish image of your mom with the woman riding a rigged escape vehicle in the middle of the night.”

“That’s nothing. Her pandemic drills are way worse. More flashy. With the hazmats and the masks and the isolating and sterilizing of the house.”

“That I have to see.”

“If you stick around, you eventually will.”

Again that underlying current of doubt in her voice. It was fading little by little, but still there. Bugging the shit out of him. Max reached for her and clasped her hand. “I will see it. Don’t doubt it.”

The compound was quite secluded, the position easily defensible and with a natural water source. The task of barricading the access roads fell upon others, and Max was glad for that small reprieve. Annie was five months pregnant, and although she wanted to play along, he was not above putting his foot down, never mind the shit storm that it would stir.

Once inside the compound, they headed for their assigned cabin. Leaving Larry and two other men, who seemed to be the leaders, on the porch, discussing their performance, Max and Annie went inside and got the fire going. Then she reached for her bug-out bag.

“Going for the moisturizer and the sleep mask?” he asked. “Because I’m all for it, but they may shoot us.”

“Nope.” She pulled a big plastic bag of candy and marshmallows out of the backpack and offered it to him. “Sugar hit.”

“What about those MREs?”

“I’ll get up in the middle of the night to humor a bunch of preppers, even learn escape routes, but damn if my bug-out bag isn’t going to have sweets. And those MREs are nasty.” She took a skewer, stabbed a marshmallow with it, and started roasting the sweet treat over the fire.

He cupped her face. “You are nothing like I expected.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“I expected good. I got…fabulous.”

Annie glanced around in astonishment. “This is fabulous? I don’t know what kind of imbecile women you’ve been dating,” she said, throwing his words back at him, “but this is a crappy date, even by my standards. There will be six of us sleeping in this cabin, in bunk beds. Jacob snores like you wouldn’t believe. Not to mention the rotating guard duty and the defense drill that may include an attack of some sort.”

Max chuckled. “Bring it on.” As long as she was with him, he could take it.

“Let’s see if you’re in such great spirits in ten hours.”

Her smile was blinding. Even in the wee hours and in the middle of a surprise evac drill, she looked gorgeous. “You’re so damn beautiful.”

“I told you it’s a trap, remember?” she said jokingly. “You need to be careful.”

He tipped her face up with a finger under her chin. He had to tell her, or he was going to fucking explode. “I’m already extremely trapped. Happily trapped. I don’t want to go anywhere. And I don’t want you to go anywhere. I love you.”

She faltered. “You do?”

“Do you think I would have asked you to move in with me permanently if I didn’t love you? I’ve spent all my adult life chasing that adrenaline high. Now, for the first time, I don’t have to. I feel totally at peace with you.”

She lowered her gaze. “Max…”

“You don’t need to say anything back. I just want you to know. I couldn’t and wouldn’t hold it in anymore. I haven’t said those words to another woman, but then again, I haven’t been in a doomsday preppers’ evac drill before. I thought it was fitting to tell you now. I would have come clean before, but I was afraid you would run away.”

Her voice was barely there. “You’re not afraid now?”

“Well, the exits are barricaded, so I’m covering my bases.” He brushed her lips with his. “And even if you did run, I would chase you. I’m not letting you go. You’re it for me. The one. I’ll be here, waiting for you, when you realize it. I’m going nowhere.”

“Can I ask you something? But please don’t get mad.”

“You can ask anything you want, baby. I can’t promise I won’t get mad, but I promise to be reasonable.”

“Would you have fallen in love with me if I weren’t pregnant?” she said, her eyes never reaching his.

He stilled. “Of course. What? Are you saying I only love you because of the baby?”

“I’m scared it’s your sense of responsibility that keeps you here. I don’t want you to feel obligated to the baby. As much as I want you with me, I don’t want you staying out of obligation.”

“You want me with you?” It wasn’t a love declaration, but he’d take it.

“Did you hear the part about staying out of obligation?”

“Yes, I heard it, but I’m not big on moronities, so I’m going to let it slide. I love you because of you. The baby I love because you love her. I’m not with you out of obligation. I don’t do things because I feel obligated to do them; that’s not how I work. I do things because I want to.”

She didn’t seem totally convinced, but that was okay. He would tell her he loved her every day of her life until she believed him.

Chapter Nineteen

Max waited by the airline counter until Elle arrived riding on one of those electric carts airport people used to move around.

“Thank you, Damon,” she said to the driver after she jumped off it.

“Anytime, boss.”

Like always, Elle had a big smile on her face. “Hi, Max. Sorry I’m a bit late.” She had a radio transmitter in her hand. “We had a nightmarish boarding.”

“Passengers getting nervous?” After all, they were close to Christmas. Although he couldn’t see anyone giving Elle shit.

“Passengers were fine. Cargo issues. We had five hundred pounds of fresh fish, seven birds, and two cats to transport. And to top it all off, a funny captain making Sylvester and Tweety jokes.”

At that moment, someone called her from the radio. She answered something Max didn’t understand a word about.

“Sorry again,” Elle apologized, using her pass to open a door. “Let’s go get your dad.”

“You’re a big boss around here,” Max said, following her.

She snorted. “No, I’m not. I’m just a flight coordinator, but I’m always stuck with the difficult situations. Apparently I defuse tensions.”

“Tell that to Jack,” Max said, laughing. Elle always defused tensions, except when it came to Jack, James’s old friend. One look at her, and the guy got so tense they could crack nuts with his stare.

“That’s all his fault. I’ve done nothing but try to help him.”

“Sure. Help him hang himself.”

She turned to him, her lips quirking up in a mischievous smile, her dark hair flowing around her. Her big black eyes were hypnotic. She was a total knockout. No wonder men agreed to anything she said. Still, she couldn’t hold a candle to Annie. To Annie’s sweet smile and sparkling hazel eyes.

“Have you heard anything about him?” she asked offhandedly.

“No. You?” Jack had disappeared right after James’s wedding back in August.

“Nope, but I still send him e-mails here and there. I haven’t had any bounce back from the server, so as far as I can tell, that e-mail account is active.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. James said when Jack goes undercover, he cuts all ties. No contact whatsoever.”

She smirked. “Well, he’ll have a hell of a catch-up to do when he resurfaces.”

“What have you done?”

“Nothing. I have a bit of insomnia sometimes. And talking to him when he can’t talk back is much more satisfying, so I’ve been e-mailing him.”

Max shook his head, amused. “You’re nuts.”

“We need to keep him up to speed, right?” She got them through security with a simple “He’s with me, sweetie.” Then, to Max, “Your dad’s flight is about to land. Gate 38. By the way, where’s the rest of the Bowen clan?”