Page 7 of Sloth
He cleared his throat.
When both soldiers returned from the weapon’s cage, they strode over to Max’s desk.
“You coming out for a drink tonight?” Tom-Tom asked.
Daymo jerked his chin toward the front door. “We found a place about a half a click from here. Serves the best barbecue chicken and actual beer. None of this sissy shit they drink here.”
Max half-smiled. “You go. I want to stick around in case—”
“Yeah-yeah,” Tom-Tom said. “In case you’ve forgotten to dot the i or cross the t.”
Daymo glanced at the service picture on the wall. “You know he wouldn’t want you sitting here brooding over things.”
“That’s not what I’m doing,” Max snapped.
“Then why haven’t you called his parents back?”
The energy left Max’s body, and he slumped. “I’ll do it soon.”
“Whatevs, boss.” Tom-Tom fished out a business card from his wallet and dropped in on Max’s desk. “That’s where we’ll be if you change your mind.”
Ten minutes later, the temperature still hadn’t dropped, and Max was starting to regret his decision to stay, but he’d given his crew the night off. It didn’t mean he would have it. Security jobs came in at all sorts of times.
To prove his point, the shrill sound of his desk phone echoed in the empty room. He picked up the handset. “Johnson.”
“You’re needed.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Your pride always did make me want to puke.”
“What’s up, Parks? I mean, besides your puke.”
A low masculine chuckle. “How soon can you get over. We’ve had a break.”
Max checked his watch as if he had somewhere to be. “I could head over now.”
“Good. See you soon.”
Bounding out of his chair, he went to the locker room and found himself a fresh shirt to put on. He considered having a shower, but decided against it. Parker usually let him use their state-of-the-art gym, and with nothing left to do at the office, he needed to keep busy.
If he stopped, his demons would come out to play.
* * *
Five minutes later,Max found himself outside the private elevator door in the Lazarus House lobby across the road. With his position in the company, he had full security clearance to the multi-story building. After Sloan’s latest onslaught of pranks, he half expected his biometric scan to be denied.
When the elevator doors opened, the car was empty, and he breathed a sigh of relief. The scanner read his face and thumbprint to activate the artificial intelligent interface. She was a new security upgrade in the building since they’d discovered Wyatt’s ex-fiancée had worked for the enemy.
“Welcome back, Maxi-Pad,”came the feminine computerized voice over the intercom.“What level would you like to go?”
He closed his eyes, trying his patience. “Basement.”
“Stand clear. Doors closing.”
Bloody hell. Maxi-Pad? When was she going to let up? Probably never. The two of them used to spend hours planning pranks on anyone they’d perceived had done them wrong. From her brothers, to Gale, to the gamer who’d once decided to drop into their game after tracking them on a live stream only to one-shot them. Bad form. Point was, when Sloan set her mind to do something, she followed through. That’s why he was surprised with how she’d ended things between them.Not even a goodbye.
The elevator slowed, then stopped. As the doors opened, the voice came over the speaker again.“You have arrived at the basement level. Have a nice day, Maxi-Pad.”
