Page 19 of The Torturer's Target

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CHAPTER 8. THE HUNTED HUNTER

Max stood in front of the kitchen counter, slicing vegetables to add to the scrambled eggs he was preparing. Bread was toasting in the toaster, and coffee was brewing. It had been two weeks since the attack on his life, and the wounds had mostly healed; only an occasional throb or ache reminded him of his injuries.

He enjoyed cooking. It was more of a hobby than a passion, and he cooked most of his meals. Even his poor chef, Alan, had given up on trying to keep him out of the kitchen. Alan had made peace with the fact that his boss loved spending time experimenting with new recipes.

Zeus was lying on his back at Max's feet, trying to get a hold of the hem of Max's pajama pants and tug on them.

Max finished chopping up the vegetables and breaking the eggs into a bowl before seasoning them. He picked up the chopping board and the bowl and turned towards the stove, but Zeus had the hem of his pants in his mouth, and Max's movement caused the pants in Zeus’ mouth to rip off, nearly tripping him.

The dog winced, staring up at him.

“Zeus! I almost fell, buddy,” Max reprimanded, and Zeus spat out the piece of cloth then scurried out of the kitchen.

Max sighed, shaking his head. He made it to the stove, took out a pan, and poured some oil into it, then turned on the burner. He placed the oiled pan over the flames and poured the seasoned eggs into the pan.

Just then, his phone rang in the pocket of his apron, and he took out the vibrating device. He smiled.

“Good morning, Valerie.”

“Max! Oh, my goodness. I’ve missed you so much. How are you?” Valerie’s voice came in a rush, and he could imagine her beaming from the other end of the phone. Max pressed the phone against his ear with his shoulder and used his free hands to continue making breakfast.

He poured the veggies into the eggs. “I’m fine. How was your vacation with your husband? I’m sure it was fun, which is why you got so carried away and didn’t call me once in the past two weeks,” Max chided, and Valerie laughed.

“Come on now, it’s not like that. We got back two nights ago. Don’t worry, to make it up to you, I’ll text you all the fun pictures and memories from our trip to France.”

Max smiled as he scrambled the sizzling eggs. “I’d like that. So, how’s Jack doing?”

“Jack is fine, and the best husband in the whole world for taking me on that wonderful trip. And Hazel misses her uncle dearly too. Wait until you see the pictures we took of her at the Eiffel Tower. We’ll definitely be using them for her upcoming fourth birthday party.”

“I can’t believe my girl is almost four. I remember being in the hospital room when she was born and carrying her newly born tiny self in my arms. Now she’ll be four in a month? Makes me feel kinda old.” Max chuckled. He heard the toaster pop, and the browned bread shot out of the machine.

You are getting old, Max,” Valerie teased. “You’re not the only one who can have beautiful nieces. I want some too, along with a beautiful sister-in-law I can gossip with and love.”

Max turned down the heat and attended to the bread. Valerie often teased him about being “single and lonely,” as she liked to call it. He rolled his eyes even though was used to it by now.

“In due time, Val.”

“Oh, dear, I almost forgot about the attack! Please forgive this terrible sister of yours. How are you doing now? I hope you’re okay. Were you hurt?”

“I’m fine; don’t worry about it,” he said. Max had another attempt on his life five days earlier. It wasn’t the Torturer, but his mind strayed to the elusive beauty anyway. Not that he’d ever tell Valerie about her. “It was Walker.”

“How could he send people to attack you again? This isn’t the first attack this man has made on your life, brother. That bastard, old man. Our father is dead. Why does he keep transferring his hate for Daddy to you!? You weren’t the one who slept with his mistress, for Christ’s sake!”

Max chuckled. “Calm down, Val. All I need is one piece of evidence that points at him, and he’s done for.”

“At this point, I don’t even want the law to handle him. Can’t you send one of your lethal guards gunning for his ass? Send the hot-tempered one. What’s his name again… Oh yes, Bose. Send Bose to assassinate his old ass,” Valerie hissed angrily.

Max laughed at Valerie’s vehemence. “You know I don’t operate that way, sister.”

“You’re too righteous for your own good, brother. I say you kill the rat bastard. After everything we went through at the hands of Maxi, why should we take his bullshit? I don’t want to lose my only brother just because you’re being a goody-two-shoes.”

“I think something is going on with his company these days. They are being very secretive about it, but I feel—”

The cry of a child in the background interrupted their conversation.

“Ugh, I’ll have to call you back later, brother. Hazel is throwing a tantrum because she lost her teddy bear. We haven’t finished unpacking, so our things are all over the place.”

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