Free Special Agent Maximilian by Mimi Barbour Page A

double-time, enjoying Julian trotting by his side, trying to keep up and still perform his asinine wiggle, Nik had to ask.
    “Easy. If you’re dead, you don’t need stuff.”
    “You’re one crazy dude, you know that?” Not getting any answer, Nik turned to his escort. Shocked, he realized he’d been walking alone, talking to the air. Scanning the street, he saw a black SUV heading towards their corner and no sign of the pest.
Talk about a vanishing act!

Chapter 20
    Later in the day, still smarting from the uncomfortable time spent with the boss, Nik followed close behind Maya as she headed towards their area and her piled-high desk. “You’re lucky Bitters didn’t throw your sad ass in jail for taking a leave of absence without permission, Max. And I wouldn’t have blamed him. I know you fed him that bullshit about being kidnapped and escaping yesterday, but I don’t buy it. Seriously, where the hell have you been?”
    Maya watched Nik’s eyes narrow and those sexy lips of his tighten. When he clenched his mouth, the smile lines on each cheek deepened and one side dimpled. Mind you, on a face plastered over with scowls, one couldn’t mistake those grooves for anything but signs of anger.
    Good!
He’s mad.
The asshole had pulled his stunts too often for her not to want to get some payback.
    Just then, Henry Lassiter, Max’s favorite drinking buddy, grabbed Nik in a bear hug and gave his back a pounding. “Hey, Max, good to have you back. Gotta tell you, man, ever since you disappeared, Maya has been hitting the streets like a crazy person. She’s driven us a mad, working every angle, calling in favors, paying off snitches. And all for nothing. It was like you’d disappeared in a puff of smoke. We’d about given you up for dead.”
    “Hey, Lassiter, how’re you doing? Gotta admit, as ugly as you are, you’re still a sight for sore eyes.” Nik allowed the familiarity with discomfort and forbearance.
    “You too, man. Tonight at the place, the drinks are on me.”
    “You’re on. See you after nine.” Before Maya could drag fake-Max from his co-workers, they all stepped up to welcome him back. Damn fool was liked by most in the office… there was something about his expectations that others automatically fulfilled.
    She’d finally reached her breaking point. “Hey, big shot, maybe you’d like to try and get some work done? It’s why we’re here, why they pay us.” Maya’s biting tone didn’t surprise anyone. They were used to her caustic, dictatorial treatment of her partner. How many times had they seen her nose to the grindstone while Max threw wadded-up papers into a wastebasket, declaring it was his way of concentrating?
    Nik, however, wasn’t used to being talked to in this manner and his stiffening was seen only by the woman who watched for it.
Yess! Hope I’m getting to you, partner. Now, it’s my turn!
    Before Nik fashioned a comeback, Ron roared from the open door of his office. “Maya, Max, there’s trouble at the port, Napoleon Avenue Complex. Check the container terminal at the dock. They found a surprise in one of the containers.” Pointing at two others whose expressions were hopeful, he added. “Backup. Get moving.”
    Trailing Maya to where she’d parked their wheels, unlike his brother, Nik said nothing. Normally Max hated her driving. But she’d get pissy if he insisted on taking the wheel. As a hot-headed teen, he’d wrecked a car and put a buddy in the hospital, which had effectively killed the speed monkey that had ridden his back through those early years.
    Now, in her estimation, the jerk drove like a paranoid old lady. The reason he owned such a sweet ride, she’d surmised, was for acquiring chicks and creating envy. Whenever he’d be forced to punch it, he clearly suffered every minute his foot rode the pedal.
    “So, are you going to tell me where you’ve been?” Maya swung the wheel hard and headed for the busy street.
    “
So
—are you really going to