Roswell Fanatics

Title: Love of my life
Rating: ADULT
Category: AU M/L, M/M
Disclamer I do not own any of the characters of Roswell.
Summary: Max is devastated because of the death of his girlfriend, who died
in an assumed accident. He is recovering in his cabin, when he finds Liz,
who escaped from her violent father. A rich man who hates his daughter, but
he will do anything to get Liz back and destroy Max.



thank you laura for translating and kay b for betareading.

greetings

katyana


Part 1

Max woke up drenched in sweat like so often lately. It was dark and cold and
he knew he couldn't fall asleep again, thus he stood up to get a glass of
water. He could hear the sound of the wind outside and he guessed that a new
snowstorm would arrive soon. He didn't care. The cabin could be snowed up
and he wouldn't even notice. Involuntarily a picture came into his mind and
he struggled against the tears. He laid his hand on his nape and breathed
deeply.

"Just don't lose control." he mumbled to himself. A motto which had led him
through his life and had often saved him. "This smile will follow me my
whole life." he thought.

He glanced at the clock and noticed that it was already three in the
morning.

"Shit." Tia hadn't returned. Normally his Labrador retriever showed up
around midnight to get her meal and a few strokes. Not to mention the long
sleep by which she occupied more than half of his bed, but it didn't bother
Max. He couldn't sleep long anyway because of the nightmares. Tia and his
best friend Michael were the only ones who kept him going lately. He debated
if he should go looking for Tia, but decided that he would wait. Perhaps she
still chased some game and just had lost track of time.

He lit up the fireplace and watched the sparks finding their way, while
trying to distract himself from cloudy thoughts. Again he got lost in them.
The moment in which the bomb exploded and she died, still paralysed him. The
bomb, which was in all likelihood meant for him, had destroyed everything he
loved and in what he believed in: The ability to protect the woman of his
life. That day changed his life and made it difficult to take one breath
after the other and to step one foot in front of the other. He would have
liked it best if he lied next to her grave. Aside from the guilty feeling
that he had survived, he had to listen to all the letters of sympathy from
his relatives, his friends and colleagues. At last he quit his service,
because the case he worked on lost all its meaning and furthermore he lost
his nerves at the sight of a criminal. He felt the urge to strangle them.
Michael tried unsuccessfully to change his mind, to pull him out of his
depression, but Max was just looking for loneliness and he finally found the
mountain shelter of his grandma.

He thought about why he joined the police when he was barely twenty years
old. Supposedly, because of his distinctive sense of justice and because he
had spent his early life in the gutter. He had the wish to join the police
as early as when he was a little child and he followed his goal
persistently. Even Michael, a prominent attorney and a workaholic par
excellence, was simply stunned with his eagerness. This eagerness didn't
lessen when she appeared in his life, but it died as she had died. Her smile
was simply stunning and she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
He didn't know how he could live his life without her. A desperate wheeze
left his throat.
"God, it hurts so much."

Suddenly he heard a discomposed whimper and scratching at the door which
clearly came from Tia.



2 days earlier:

Mr. Parker and his daughter Liz checked in a luxury hotel in the nearby area
to spend their winter holidays there.

Nobody suspected what was hidden behind the façade of the Parker's. On the
outside Mr. Parker played the loving father, but in private he was the devil
incarnate. He beat his daughter regularly. Once in a while rumours came
about it, but in general only a few were interested in it. In the high
society everybody thought he was something better and so it was unlikely
that somebody would ever notice. Aside from that Mr. Parker had a great
influence because of his business transactions and his money and with it he
hushed every speculation. There was only a very slight chance to be
discovered, because he never hurt his daughter's face. In addition he
pressured his daughter and she didn't dare to ask for help. The only time
she tried had ended in a disaster. He had the power to use her like a
puppet, which he did every day. She wouldn't make this mistake a second
time.

She felt shattered. Hunger and tiredness was all she knew in more than a
day, not to mention the cold. She wasn't dressed for this trip, but she
hadn't thought about it on her unplanned escape. She asked herself silently
how long she was going to keep up. The darkness bothered her more and more
and she knew that she was lost.

"Please don't let it snow" she prayed. That was the last thing she needed.

What she needed most was to get as much distance as possible between herself
and the man who called himself her father. She didn't call him father
anymore, only in public when it was inevitable. For her he was just her
biological donor.

She asked herself again and again, why he hated her so much. It had to be
hate, what she saw in his eyes as soon as he looked at her. Otherwise he
just ignored her, which she appreciated more by now than the beatings. As a
little child she had tried to propitiate him with good marks, a nice
appearance and nice behaviour, but because she didn't know what the problem
was it didn't succeed. Crying didn't help, he didn't see it and eventually
she had no more tears to shed. She was alone and helpless. Her mother had
died a few years earlier and took the secret with her in the grave why the
atmosphere within the family was violent and terrible.

She turned around all the time to see if someone was following her. Perhaps
she had hurt him more seriously than she had thought and he was already
dead. But she didn't feel any sorrow at all because of all the physical and
mental terror she had to endure all these years.

Despite her tiredness she relived the last two days again.

After they had eaten their lunch Liz's father had said he wanted to rest in
his room and Liz had known what that meant. He would drink more than enough
alcohol and he would hit her at the wrong move or the wrong remark. In the
past she didn't dare to protest slightly but now she had enough. She didn't
even know where the courage came from.

This time he went overboard because Liz had talked briefly with the page. He
accused her of having a go at him, first verbally and then physically. Along
the way she had told him that he had enough money to buy himself a sandbag
to build up his dickey self-assurance instead of using his daughter. His
features had shown that he couldn't believe what he had heard.

A second later he was hitting her with his fist, of course leaving her face
untouched. He still had that much control left. She had slowly lost
consciousness due to the hits and she had had great difficulties trying to
block out the numbness, when her fingers had felt the object. Without
thinking she had taken the bottle and hit his head with it. Her father
collapsed silently.

She needed a few minutes to pull herself together before she stepped away
from the lifeless body and stood up. The pain was almost unbearable.
Suddenly she heard a moan. She desperately grabbed a winter jacket and
quickly left the hotel.

On one hand she was scared that she actually had killed him, because that
would mean she was responsible for the death of probably the most important
citizen of New York and she would get in conflict with the law. Nobody would
believe the torture she had to endure for years. After all she herself had
made excuses for her bruises.

If she hadn't killed him he would chase her and then he would kill her or
use her as his punching bag. She decided that she would like the first
possibility more.

"Shit." Stumbling she tried to keep her balance. Her legs got weaker and she
had difficulties standing and not fall to the ground. The heavy snowing
didn't help her at all. The only positive fact was that the snow covered her
tracks.

She wished she could just let herself drop to the ground, but she knew that
she would freeze to death. She had to keep moving. She didn't want to die
and she didn't want to give him the gratification that he had won. Never
again. "I want to have my life back and if I wish so, nobody can keep me
from it" she whispered.

She could hardly see, because of the snowfall and she granted herself a
little break because she felt so weak. She leant back against a tree. "Just
a few minutes" she thought.

The long walk, the cold, the hunger and the beats took their toll. She
slipped along the tree to the ground and didn't even notice it anymore,
which would surely mean death for her.

Liz felt like she was floating. She didn't care about the cold anymore.
Although she had rested some time now, she couldn't get up.

After a short time the snowfall stopped and she felt something pulling and

dragging on her clothes. She blinked and recognised a dog. He nudged her
that she would stand up, which she clearly wasn't able to.

"Please.let me sleep" she whispered. The dog nudged her again, but then he
gave up and chased away through the snow.



Max opened the door. Tia jumped up to him and tried to lick Max's face. Max
fended her off and laughed. "You want to apologise for your late arrival,

don't you?" The dog barked loudly. "Come in. It's getting cold." But Tia
didn't move past the doorframe, which meant that Max couldn't close the
door.

"Tia, it's late. I'm tired and it's freezing. Could we please close the
door?" Max looked at her provokingly. Her only answer was a whimper. He
sighed and bent down to grab her head and to look into her brown eyes.
"Okay. I'll go outside with you, but I swear if this isn't important you
will end up as a bedside carpet, understood?"

He walked inside and pulled warmer clothes on and followed his dog out in
the cold winter night.

TBC

thanks for your feedback.

greetings

katyana



Part 2

Several minutes later Max already wanted to whistle Tia back, because he saw that the weather would become really bad soon, when he almost lost sight of her. He ran after her and then he saw something or someone lying on the ground. He or she was slightly covered with snow and didn’t move. Finally he reached the person and he looked at the face. It was a woman and he shook her shoulder lightly. No reaction. He started looking for her pulse. Her wrists were cold and lifeless, he finally found the beat of the pulse and realised that it was weak, but it was there. He put his arms under her body and took her with him. “The faster she gets inside the better” he thought. Otherwise he couldn’t guarantee for her life.

It started to snow again and it was hard to walk through the deep snow with her weight. But he couldn’t rest, because of her life-threatening situation.

He saw through the trees the small glade of his cabin. Determined he fastened his steps and he pushed the door open with his shoulder. Inside the cabin he carried her to his bedroom and laid her down on his bed. Now he had to keep her warm.

He lit the fire again, because it was almost completely gone. He removed her clothes, which was easier said than done. She wasn’t the first woman he removed clothes off, but normally they helped. “This is serious”, he reminded himself.

The woman was still unconscious. When he took off her shirt he was shocked. The upper part of her body was full of effusions of blood and bruises. Some of them looked older, but others were fresh. He checked as good as he could if her ribs were fractured, which was luckily not the case. He felt an irresistible desire to spend five minutes with the man, who did that to her, in a room. He tried to calm himself down, because that wouldn’t happen now. He put her carefully in one of his pyjamas and tucked her in. She was still very cold and he decided to stay with her. He lied down beside her under the blanket. The scent of her hair awoke his protective instinct and he put his arms around her.

His job was his second nature, so he took in all the facts of the situation and of her appearance. She had beautiful brown hair, which reached her shoulders, her eyes, well…question mark, probably brown and she was petite. Simply stunning. “God, pull yourself together”, he thought, surprised with himself.

Her clothes looked expensive. But what was the reason someone went out very light clothed in a hard winter to take a walk? By all means not to regard the nature or to have an adventure. Unless she was weary of life. He frowned. He had almost forgotten her injuries, which had shocked him so much, not because of the sight, he had already seen worse as a child and as a cop of course as well. Nevertheless he didn’t understand if men let go of their anger by hitting women. Men mostly outplayed women physically.

“Who could it have been?” he asked himself quietly. The husband? She didn’t wear a ring, which did not prove the contrary. Her brother or her father? Possible. A pimp or a suitor? He shouldn’t forget these possibilities. It was possible. But when he looked at her face, he found it very unlikely that she was a prostitute. It wasn’t her age, which he guessed about twenty, it was her innocent and fresh appearance. Should it still be the case he had pity for her. Those women were fair game, even the police, some of his colleagues as well, saw them as such and took their freedom to act unworthy in his eyes. He amused himself rather with willing women. Before he met Tess anyway and before he got used to the thought of marrying her. He lifted his hand to her forehead to see if she already had a temperature, which wasn’t the case and her pulse was stronger by now. Gradually he felt his tiredness and the last thing he thought about before he fell asleep was Tess. He noticed later that he hadn’t thought about her anymore for the rest of the night.


A strong hit in his face woke him up. She lashed around and he had trouble trying to hold her still. The woman was glowing and fantasising. The fever had aroused.

She screamed “Don’t … don’t hurt me …. Dad … help ….please.”

“Shhhh. Calm down. I won’t hurt you. Everything’s okay. You’re safe here. Nobody will hurt you” he whispered calmly. Her desperate voice and the wide eyes shocked him deeply. Until she had calmed down he rocked her in his arms and crooned an old song. After that he stood up and prepared tepid water to cool her.

He pulled the pyjama off, which was soaked with sweat and dipped the towel in the water and rubbed it softly over her body. Starting at her forehead to her glowing cheeks and to her throat. It rubbed over her breast, hips and along her legs, but it didn’t wake her. If she hadn’t been so helpless Max would have surely enjoyed it, but that wasn’t the time. He repeated this procedure twice in the next half hour and then he noticed that her temperature had sunk. He put her in a new pyjama, tucked her in and lay down next to her again.



Liz blinked her eyes and opened them.

“Where am I?”

She lied obliviously on a bed and she wore a pyjama. It looked like it belonged to a man. She blushed and tried to distract herself by looking through the room. She was alone and she didn’t know how long she had been asleep.

Suddenly the door opened and she saw a man at the door, who took her breath away.

Liz didn’t believe her own eyes. Over there stood the best looking man she had ever seen in her life. He was tall, had brown hair, brown eyes and a muscular body.

It seemed like she had lost her voice and she had to clear her throat. Max saw that she was awake and stepped in with a smile on his face.

“Hi, how are you?”

“Oh, I feel better. Have you found me?” She asked.

Max almost didn’t hear her because he was lost in her eyes.

“Yeah, I did, that means my dog found you.”

In that moment Tia decided to appear and she shambled in. She jumped on the bed and made herself comfortable. Max protested, which Tia answered with a smacker. Liz giggled and Max was already addicted to that sound.

“It’s okay. She can stay here.” Liz said.

She looked at him and blushed again by the thought of the pyjama. Almost as he could read her mind he answered her unspoken question.

“I had to take off your clothes because they were soaked. Furthermore you had developed a temperature and nobody else was here, who could have helped you. Tia is female but I don’t think she could have handled that.” Max joked with a grin in her direction. He better didn’t tell her, how he got her temperature down. The blush would never leave her face again. “Cute” he thought. Liz was still blushing but she tried to put it aside as if it was not a problem for her.

“Thank you. I won’t be a burden to you. As soon as my clothes are dry I will go.”

Max looked at her curiously. Would she tell him from what or from whom she had escaped? At the same time he came to the conclusion that she was not a prostitute or else she wouldn’t be as embarrassed as she was at the thought of a man pulling her out off her clothes.

“You don’t have to hurry, besides you wouldn’t get far. We are totally snowed in, cut off from the rest of the world. Since yesterday morning, when I found you, it is snowing. If you get past a hundred yards away, I’m impressed.”

Liz groaned. “I don’t have the time to stay here. Is there no way to leave?”

Max shook his head, trying to show sympathy, which he didn’t feel. “I’m sorry, but as soon as you feel strong enough you can get up and see for yourself. I guess your stay will take a while. The winters here are hard. Two years ago I had been snowed in for three weeks.” He saw her pale at his word and asked himself, if it was because of the prospect to spend a long time with a complete stranger or if it was because of her fear. Well, he would try to reassure her.

“You don’t have to worry, I won’t do anything to you and we have enough food. It is enough for a whole year.”

Liz tried to repress the fear of her father attacking her. There would be a possibility some time. “No, I believe you. I won’t worry anymore, promise.”

He didn’t believe a word, but he let it go.

“I cooked some chicken soup. Do you want to eat? You should be starved by now.” He said.

“Oh” Liz answered. Max could see that she was glad. It seemed to him that nobody cared for her. He wanted to change that.

“So, you want some soup?” He asked again, when he didn’t get a reply.

“Yes, that’s very nice of you.”

“No problem. I had to cook something to not starve myself. Next time you can cook, if you want to!” He grinned and Liz laughed.

Max turned around and wanted to leave the room, when Liz asked: “What is your name by the way?”

Right, he had completely forgotten. His grandfather would have crossed him out of the family album for his manners, to which he didn’t feel like he belonged anyway. “What a shame” he thought ironically and turned to Liz again to answer her question.

“My name is Max, Max Evans. And you are?” He waited curiously for her answer. He observed her face closely and noticed every emotion.

“My name is Jessica Mitchell.”

TBC

thank you for all your feedback. i was very happy.

well, happy reading.

greetings

katyana


Part 3

He took it in with a small nod and told her to rest, he would bring her some soup. Then he left the room and closed the door behind him. He leant his forehead against the door frame and wondered why she had lied. Her name was Elisabeth Parker, she lived in New York. She was a liar, but a beautiful liar and he wondered automatically if this would get him in trouble.

After Max left the room, Liz exhaled. Since she had said this lie, she hadn’t been able to breathe anymore. She was almost sure that he knew that she had lied. “What a mess” she thought. “What the hell am I going to do?” She was scared of her father, of Max, she was simply scared of everyone and she hated this feeling deeply. She couldn’t and didn’t want to tell Max why she had run away, because she believed he would tell the police or her father. She had just met him and was naturally still suspicious. When he had stood in front of her, he had looked at her so strangely that she had shuddered and she wasn’t sure if she found it comfortable or not. She didn’t want this at all, it would only make her life more complicated and she had neither time nor the nerves for complications. What if he wasn’t any better than her father, a ruthless beater? At the moment she couldn’t say much about him, but maybe he could just hide it better under his charm. “I don’t want to believe or trust anybody anymore. I couldn’t bear to be disappointed again.”


At the same time in the kitchen:

Max was lost in his thoughts while he stirred up the soup. He thought about what he had found when he had emptied her pockets. His sense of order drove him to empty them before he put up her clothes so they could dry. When Liz’s I.D. fell out, he couldn’t resist his curiosity. He looked at it and found her data. There was no doubt anymore. She lied to him. Why? Probably to protect herself. But protect from whom? He had to try to find it out, but carefully. He would call her by her wrong name and would ask discreet questions. He would wait and see what would happen. Suddenly he heard a loud rumble and crack from the bedroom.


A few minutes earlier in the bedroom:

Tears came into her eyes when she thought about her dead mother, the only person who wanted to protect her and was killed. “Suicide, it is ridiculous”, she whispered.

She guessed, no she knew, that her father had his finger in the pie. It was not hard to understand why. She had wanted to leave him and he couldn’t accept that. How had he found out that she had planned on leaving him? Did Jim, a good friend of her mother who had known about her situation and who had wanted to help her, betrayed her? Why? She wondered about it for years and never got an answer. When her mother was found, Jim had disappeared. Sooner or later she would discover what exactly happened then. She had sworn it to her mother at her grave. She partly blamed herself for her death and her father knew that and used this knowledge against her.

For comfort she stroked Tia, who had been to lazy to follow Max. She always wanted a pet and had of course never got one. Pets were different than humans. They didn’t leave and disappoint you. They didn’t play with you.

She remembered her own lie and slipped embarrassed more in the cushions. What if he knew who she was?

“God, please don’t let him know. He mustn’t know the truth. Who knows if he is also against me?”

She stood up quickly, a little bit too quickly, which caused her circulation to break down. She bumped in the commode and overthrew the lamp. It fell and broke. Liz sat on the floor when the door opened and Max rushed in.

Liz cried and slipped as far as she could to the wall to protect herself from what was to come.

Max came to her. “Jessica, is everything okay?” He could clearly see her panic and so he took her in his arms.

“Please don’t hit me, please …. I didn’t mean to…”, she sniveled.

Shocked and silently cursing he pulled her away a little so he could see into her face. She avoided his eyes and looked down, expecting him to hit her. He raised her chin carefully and said to her calmly: “Jessica look at me.”

Her eyes were wide with fear, but she looked up at him. This view ripped into his heart and he swore that he would hold the man who was responsible for this to account, but this here was right now more important.

“Jessica”, he said again, “remember what I said to you earlier?”

She nodded.

“Nothing has changed. I won’t do anything to you, okay?”

“But I broke the lamp”, she stammered.

“Yes, the lamp was worth a lot and it will be a lot of effort to find this valuable antique again. It will take a few sleepless nights to get over it.” He looked amused at the ugly brown lamp and then back to Liz. She was pale and tears rolled down her cheeks. He knew in that moment, he had said something wrong.

“Hey, little one, it was a joke. The lamp is so ugly that I’m thankful that it is broken. I was just too lazy to get rid of it. As soon as the snow decreases, we can go to town and perhaps you could help me find a new one. I think this place is missing many bits and pieces you women love. Is that all right?”

With his words she relaxed clearly. He swept a strand of hair out off her face and wiped away her tears. He was relieved that she had stopped crying.

Embarrassed, both stood up and she quickly let go of him to avoid his closeness. A glance of her pyjama top and she blushed again. It had slipped up dangerously. Max followed her glance. He didn’t say anything, but he had to hold back his grin.

While he got her a bath robe so that she didn’t have to walk around in a pyjama, she pushed the top in its place again.

“It is a little big for you, but for the belated lunch, it will be enough. Your clothes should be dry soon.”

Big was an understatement, it was rather huge, but she didn’t say anything. She was thankful that he cared for her and it touched her heart, but at the same time it scared her.



Lunch was very silent in the beginning. Max studied her gestures and Liz looked around in the living room, still a little bit suspicious but her curiosity was growing. The atmosphere was homey, not like the cabin of her father. There were lots of hunting trophies. He was a passionate hunter.

The room was divided into an open kitchen and living room. In between stood a table, at which they both sat. The kitchen was in bright wood and seemed to be very clean. The living room consisted of a large couch, a wood table and two comfortable looking rockers. Everything seemed bright and friendly. On the opposite of the couch was a big open fireplace, in which a warm fire was blazing.

Max noticed how Liz relaxed more and more, which really pleased him. The more so it would be easier to question her, at least he hoped that.

Suddenly Liz got up and walked to the window. “You were right”, she exclaimed excitedly, “it really has snowed a lot!”

“Didn’t you believe me?”, Max responded amused.

“Yeah, I did, but I thought you had exaggerated. I’m not used to so much snow. It looks really nice.”

She looked cute, when she was happy about something, her eyes were glowing. Tess came back into Max’s mind and wondered if she had ever been so happy about something as simple as snow. The two women were as different as day and night, it was hard not to see it. But as always he easily repressed any thought of Tess.

“Jessica, you should eat more, or don’t you like my cooking?”

Liz laughed. “I ate more. Your cooking isn’t that bad.

“I take that as a compliment. Can you cook?”

“A little bit. I had cooking lessons, when I was in school.” Liz debated what she could tell him and what she couldn’t. She didn’t want to make him part of her problems. First of all she didn’t know how he would react and secondly she was starting to lie to him. He was different than the men she normally met. With most of them she had the feeling that they had never left puberty and never would. They didn’t think of anything other than sex. She wanted it sometime, but at the moment she had other things going through her head. Besides it should be something special, something she would never forget.

Max interrupted her thought. “Do you want to cook tomorrow?”

She looked at him unsure. “I don’t know. What would you like?”

“Well, nothing wild. How about a noodle soufflé?”

“I’ve never made one before.”

“That’s not a problem. We can try together.”

She nodded. “If it’s okay with you, I’ll wash up, because you already cooked…”

“No, you should rest until tomorrow. Your circulation is not strong enough for it. Sit down on one of the rockers and read. In the rack next to the couch, you will surely find something to read.”

She looked at him unbelievingly, as if she couldn’t believe that he meant what he said. Then she smiled and again a little more of her suspiciousness disappeared.

Max felt his body reacting to the view of her smiling. “It can’t be, I hardly know her”, he thought. He tried to think of something else and concluded that a cold shower would be good for him.

“You can leave the dishes for now, I will shower first and then I’ll take care of it. If something is wrong just knock.”

“Okay, thank you. Tia and I will get comfortable.”

He left quickly and she wondered about it. Aside from that his voice had sounded so raspy.



Max took clean clothes from his bedroom and was glad that he wasn’t close to her anymore. He didn’t know what he would have done.

“Damn. What’s going on? Tess is just dead for a few months and I can’t think of anything else than to get this girl in my bed.” At this moment he despised himself and out of anger he almost slammed the door of his cupboard, but he could just hold himself back.

In the shower he felt better and ready to face the situation again. “If I have to shower every time she smiles at me, I won’t have any skin left after a few weeks”, he whispered ironically.


Liz sat in the rocking chair when she started to shiver. She saw a pair of slippers at the door and she just wanted to take them, when Tia grabbed one. They started a tug of war, which Liz lost. “Tia, come here and give me the shoe!” she shouted, but that didn’t help her. Tia abscond, ran around the chairs and then in the direction of the bathroom to look for protection from his owner. Liz realised her intention not until she entered the bathroom. Max stood directly in front of her, more importantly he stood naked in front of her and the water pearled off his body.

If she hadn’t stopped she would have run right into his arms. She looked at him, at his muscular chest, at his hips and then her gaze rushed back to his face. She blushed and a prickle ran through her body, which wasn’t at all uncomfortable.

Max didn’t feel any different. He looked into her face, which switched between red and pink and he could feel how nervous she was. Even if you didn’t notice, he was just as nervous. He raised his hand, brushed a strand of her hair back and stroked her neck. He bent forward to kiss her, but expected her to stop him. She looked at him without coming out of her numbness. Max touched carefully her lips and a wave of desire came over him. But he had enough control to resist from getting lost in his arousal. But for how long?

Slowly Liz left her numbness and responded to his kiss. She entwined her arms around his neck and nestled to him. He moaned and opened his lips. He ran his tongue along her mouth and lost himself finally in her mouth.

Liz didn’t know what was happening. She felt hot and cold and enjoyed his intimate and unknown tenderness. Max opened her robe, while he parted from her mouth and placed kisses along her neck. His hands pushed under her pyjama top and caressed her back gently. Liz shivered and forgot everything else, like Max, who whispered her name, her real name.

“Elisabeth, you are beautiful.”

TBC

i am happy, here is part 4. i hope you still read here.

greetings and merry christmas

katyana



Part 4

Both realised in the same moment what Max had said. Liz pushed thereupon against Max’s chest and cried: “Since when do you know?”

“Elisabeth, calm down.” Cursing himself he held her ankles firmly, while she tried to step away from him. Because of her weakness of the escape and the beats of her father, she was not able to fight him longer and so she lifted her knee instinctively to ram it in his most sensible area. In the last minute Max foresaw her intention and drew aside. She only hit his thigh and the pain caused him to lessen his attention. She could free herself from him and took the chance to flee out of the bathroom through the living room to the front door, not thinking that the snow was so high and she wouldn’t get far away.

After a few seconds Max recovered and chased her stark naked. He was angry. Sure, he hadn’t told her that he knew her real identity, but he had his reasons. He didn’t understand why she had lied, he assured her a few times that he wouldn’t harm her. He wanted answers and now he would get them.

“That girl has nerves”, he groaned, when he saw how she fought against the waist-high snow. She had only walked two yards and couldn’t get further anymore.

She turned around and recognised Max, who stumped naked and with an angry face to her. It seemed like he didn’t noticed the coldness or it didn’t bother him. She started to panic and tried to go further, but she didn’t even have a chance.

Max had almost reached her and grabbed her arms. Liz resisted at first but he strengthened his grip and she cried out. Her upper arms were also littered with bruises of the beatings. Startled that he had hurt her, he let go of her abruptly.

“Let me go, please”, she begged him.

He looked at her unimpressed. “I give you a choice. Either you come back into the house on your own or I carry you in, which one do you want?”

She knew he was serious and nodded reluctantly. He went back in apparently without looking at her.

After she entered the cabin again, Max closed the door and turned to her. “Wait here.” It sounded definitive more like a command and Liz felt her anger rising.

To avoid freaking out she turned to the window and looked outside. She didn’t even notice that her pyjamas and her robe were soaked.

In the meantime Max got a new pullover and shorts for Liz, which were also too big for her, but at the moment he didn’t have more to offer her. He put some clothes on and got a towel so that she could dry herself. Once in a while he looked through the door to see if she was still there and didn’t do anything stupid.

When he re-entered, Liz stood still at the window and acted as if he weren’t there.

“Elisabeth, here is a towel for you and dry clothes.”

Although he was still angry, his voice sounded softer again. Nevertheless the full name reminded her of her father, he was the only one who called her Elisabeth. Everyone else called her Liz when they greeted her. She simply didn’t want to be reminded of him. A wave of sickness came over her and she sank against the window. Immediately Max was at her side and backed her up, but she resented him relentlessly. “It’s alright. Please say Liz, I like it more.”

Max was surprised by her stillness, he thought it was because of her temporary weakness and stepped back.

“Good that we sort out the name problem. Here dry yourself.”

Somehow she didn’t like his commanding tone and snapped at him. “Are you always so arrogant or only when your victims can’t escape you?”

Max looked at her a little bit annoyed. “I don’t know what problem we have with each other, but I only want to help you. It would be nice if we could start over. Despite that we could get to know each other.”

“What for?”, she countered.

“Liz, I had my tongue down your throat, I don’t think getting to know each other is so bad.”

Liz gave him a deadly look. Surely she hasn’t forgotten this incident, but she didn’t want him to get to her. It was dangerous, because she didn’t know if she could trust him in terms of her father.

She grabbed the towel and the dry clothes absent-mindedly. “I should go and change.”

Max nodded. “I’ll make us some hot chocolate or do you rather want to have a tea? I don’t have coffee.”

A cautious smile went upon her face. “A hot chocolate would be nice.” She turned around and went to the bathroom.

Max entered the kitchen and started to make the hot chocolate. He glanced out of the window and sighed. It would be more difficult than he had thought. When he looked at her he became sad. She suited him when she took resistance, her eyes sparkled and she seemed alive. When she laughed, not only her mouth laughed, but also her eyes and her whole body developed a vitality, which disappeared entirely when her panic and fear came through. He knew he had to be careful with her, but he grew impatient.

It became darker and darker outside and so he lit a few candles. He loved candles, which was not really proper for a man. With candles he could think better, he found the peace which he needed for his thinking. The hot chocolates were ready and he put them on the table next to the couch. He poked the fire and added a few logs. It was a comfortable warmth which would’ve made him a little bit sleepy if he wasn’t so worried and curious at the same time.

Liz was changing in the bathroom at the same time. She had to tell him eventually and she was scared of that. After she was finished she exited the bathroom. Max sat in one of the rockers and watched the flames. He seemed sad. She wondered for what reason. Funnily enough she didn’t even think that it could be because of her. Nobody had ever been really concerned for her, apart from her mother who had died a long time ago. Secretly she enjoyed the luxury of watching him. Although he seemed depressed, he was very handsome. She had never been scared of him, even though he had been really angry for some time.

He heard a noise and lifted his face, which instantly lit at the sight of her. His shorts emphasized her long and slim legs. He had to concentrate on something else to avoid reaching out to touch them. He didn’t want to scare her away again.

“Sit down. Here is your hot chocolate.”

Liz sat down. “You want to know what I was doing all alone out there, don’t you?”, she asked quietly.

“It would be nice if you could tell me. Perhaps you wouldn’t feel so alone anymore.”

She swallowed. “I was alone my whole life and I don’t want to be disappointed. But after you saved me, you deserve to have an explanation.”

“I didn’t help you because I wanted to deserve something, Liz. When I do something, I don’t always do it without ulterior motives, but in cases like this I don’t think of anything else. Life is too precious.”

They stayed silent for a few minutes. Obviously she thought about his words and was impressed. Was he really someone she could trust absolutely? Someone who wasn’t looking for his own advantage? It was hard to believe.

An uncomfortable tension had risen between them. Uncomfortable for Liz because she had to talk about the burden she carried with her for so long and for Max, because he knew it would be difficult for her. He wished he could make it easier for her, but he could only comfort her after she talked about what was troubling her. Everything he would do now could cause her to close up again and that wouldn’t help at all.

Liz had pulled her knees up and her arms were entwined around her legs, as if she would cling to them. Her eyes were focused on the fire place and she started to talk with an unemotional voice. Max held his breath.

“I probably killed someone three days ago.”

Max gasped. “Was he the one who battered you?”

“Yes.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “My father!”

Max swallowed. He couldn’t believe it. How could you do this to your daughter, your own flesh and blood? “For how long is he already doing this to you?”

Liz shivered. “I don’t know. I can’t remember when it started. I think it was always like that. When I was little he always looked at me as if he wanted to get rid of me. And then he got the great idea to beat me. I think I was eight.”

“What about your mother?”, Max asked carefully.

Liz shook her head and for second Max thought she would break down.

“She died six years ago, because of heart failure. She didn’t know anything about it, I didn’t tell her.” She stumbled. She didn’t want to tell him of her suspicion that her father had killed her mother. She didn’t want and couldn’t think about it. Max noticed that Liz hesitated and kept that in mind.

“Do you know why he hates you so much?”

Liz shook her head again. “No, I don’t know. I have asked my mother once, but she looked at me strangely and didn’t say anything. I always tried to please everybody, but it didn’t work. You know what he told me one day, when I came home with an A in Math? He told me to be on top is still too far beyond. I was ten years old at this time and I swore not to do any effort for him anymore.”

Max was shocked. Surely he had assumed that a man was the reason, her boyfriend or husband, but her own father? There had to be something in her past that was the reason for his behaviour.

“Does he drink?”

“You think that’s his reason to beat me?”

He nodded.

“No, of course he drinks often more than he can handle, because he is a really bad drinker, but he takes care of this kind of things when he is sober.”

Okay, that wasn’t the reason. Well, he would hardly get the answer as to why today, but as soon as they could leave the cabin and he would be back in New York, he would look into it. Perhaps he could find out something. But at the moment he wanted to ask her another question.

“Why do you think you killed him?”

“He beat me again and this time I took resistance. He almost beat me unconsciously, but I manage to hit him with a vase on the head and left as fast as I could. He was groaning when I left him.”

Max thought about it. It wasn’t very unlikely that he got a serious head injury, but he could also have only a laceration.

“Did you see a lot of blood?”

Liz tried to remember and shrugged. “A bit, but I didn’t pay attention in my panic. I only wanted to get away.”

“That’s understandable”, Max said. “Liz, I want to know why the hell you never told anybody? Your mother, other relatives or your friends?

Liz looked at him strangely. “You really don’t know my father, do you?”

“No, should I?”

“My father is a very rich man in New York with a lot of influence. Nobody would dare to go against him and especially not me.” Only the thought of what she had done to him made her shivering. “You probably don’t socialise in the same circles as my father. But who wants to be there voluntarily? I’ve seldom met such superficial people.”

Max looked at her amused. He liked her better like that. “You’re right. I have also a little bit of money but the higher crowd didn’t interest me, apart from a few expectations. I had enough going on and furthermore I constantly avoided those mothers who wanted to set me up with their daughters.” He still felt ill by the thought even if had turned his back on them really quickly. But what her father does, he wanted to stand up against him. He looked forward to meeting this man, to hit him badly and a lot more.

“Why didn’t you go to the police?”

Liz started to laugh sadly. “Max, my father controls every risk closely when it concerns his business or his private life. He doesn’t want to take any risks. As far as I know he has a few cops on his payroll who take care of every complication.

He had turned his head to the fire place before she had said that and now he spun around and looked at her. “How do you know that?”

“I eavesdropped and listened to his conversation with a cop over his business. A lot of names were mentioned, but I was still young at this time. Why do you want to know?”

Max didn’t answer directly. He had to take it in first. Other cops were rotten apples. He trusted the people on his station, but there were a few others in New York and he didn’t know everyone. But he would look into it and was looking forward to seeing what he would find.

He thought about keeping his job a secret, but he wanted to be honest. “I’m a cop. I mean, I was a cop.”

Liz swallowed and wondered if he worked for his father. Max noticed the expression on her face and guessed in which direction her thoughts were going.

“I’m on your side. I swear I have nothing to do with your father and I never had. As soon as we’re back in New York, I will help you to take care of your father. Don’t worry, he won’t ever hurt you anymore.”

Liz decided to trust him, but she couldn’t understand why Max wanted to bring himself in this situation. “You shouldn’t do that. He is no ordinary criminal.”

“Don’t worry. I have a few friends with influence like him. I can handle it.”

Liz was still doubtful, but she didn’t say anything. She was more or less relieved to finally have someone she could talk to about her problems. Max was angry on one hand that he couldn’t do anything for her at the moment and on the other, happy that she had told him.

Liz broke the silence and he could hear the relief in her voice. “I should go to bed now. Where can I sleep?”

“The bedroom is yours”, Max answered.

“Where are you going to sleep?”

“Here on the couch. Why? Do you want to invite me?”, he asked and smirked at her.

“Do you think of anything else?”, she asked indignantly while she went to the bedroom.

“Sometimes, but not often”, he admitted laughingly. “Good night!”

Liz had to laugh. It was nice to be with him, she could forget everything for a few minutes. When she lay in bed, she remembered that she had wanted to ask him, why he looked so sad sometimes. While still thinking about it, she fell asleep.


TBC

thank you for your fb. here is the next part.

greetings

kat


After Liz went to bed, Max sat still for a while by the fireplace to think over the conversation. He guessed that she had not told him everything, but he would find out the rest. He lay on the couch after he blew out the candles. He covered himself with a blanket and tried to fall asleep, which was a little bit difficult because of the very attractive women lying in the next room.

“A woman with a load of problems”, he said quietly to himself.

Tia slept next to the fireplace, snored quietly and she cheered from time to time as if she was following a dream and after a while Max fell asleep as well.


In the middle of the night Liz heard someone moaning. She went in the living room and saw Max covered in sweat lying on the couch and obviously having a nightmare. She tried to shake him awake.


“Max, honey, let’s go back to my house I forgot my bag!”

“Do you really need your bag? I’m off duty in two hours, we can get it then.”

Tess pouted and ensnared him. “Max, it won’t take long. In my bag are important papers which I need.”

Max looked at her doubtfully. She seemed different, as if she was …nervous.

Tess sat down on his lap, encircled her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear. “Max, I will make it up to you later, but I need to get those papers and then I will wait for you here, okay?”

Max couldn’t resist her. He laid his hands on her waist and kissed her passionately. He would rather strip her than drive her half through New York. But he couldn’t refuse this offer and pulled her down with a sigh.

“Let’s go”, he said quickly before he could change his mind again.

Even in his car he couldn’t lose the feeling that something was wrong. Tess looked often in the driving mirror as if she thought someone was following them.

“Tess, is everything okay? It seems as if you suffer from persecution mania.” Tess put it off and laughed, while her hand wandered on his thigh. She is trying to distract me and she succeeds, Max thought.

When he wanted to exit the car as they arrived at her house, Tess laid her hand on his arm.

“It will only take two minutes.” She gave him a kiss and got off the car, while Max stayed and waited. He hoped she wouldn’t take long, so he could change before his duty started.

After a few minutes he wanted to see, what was taking her so long. She was probably on the phone because one of her friends had a problem again. He shook his head.

He was halfway to her house when he heard an ear-shattering noise and a blast wave pushed him to the ground. Laying on the ground and only half conscious he cried her name: “Tess!”


He opened his eyes, which were misty-eyed, as if he didn’t know where he was and as if he was still in his dream. Bending above him was a dark-haired woman.

“Liz” was the first that came into his mind. Her face told him everything, he had had a nightmare.

“I’m sorry if I woke you up.” He sat up.

“Are you okay? Did you have a bad dream?”

“No, no, it’s okay. I have that once in a while. It’s nothing bad.” H tried to smile, which he failed at clearly.

Normally Liz would have pushed him to tell her why he had a nightmare and who this mysterious Tess was, but he had been considerate of her and she would do the same for him. If he wanted to talk about it, she would be there for him. She put her hand on his, in her eyes a very intimate gesture, which she hadn’t dared with anyone else, but since yesterday evening he had her trust.

Max stared at her. Her hair was a mess and her pyjama was shifted again. Perhaps she should only wear pyjamas, which shifted and she would make him go crazy. This thought ran through his head, while he lifted his hand and laid it behind her head to pull her to him. Liz didn’t resist physically, but she whispered: “Max, I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

“It isn’t, but I can’t resist.” Liz nodded, she felt the same. He lied back on the couch and pulled her with him. Her eyes didn’t leave his and their mouths met. His tongue played with hers and made her crazy. He unbuttoned with one hand her pyjama top, which wasn’t easy and caressed her breast. Her nipples hardened and she moaned. He enjoyed her passion.

Suddenly he had something wet in his face. Tia’s snout!

“Tia”, he screamed, while Liz jumped on her feet. She was uncomfortable because she lost control like that and made out with Max on the couch. But he had something that attracted her to him so much that she simply couldn’t withstand. She took a few steps back and buttoned her top again.

Max had stood up as well and wiped his face. He didn’t seem happy about this interruption and grumbled. Tia had gone to the door in the meantime because she really needed to go outside. He opened the door and she ran out. When he turned around again, he only saw Liz closing the bedroom door behind her.

“She avoids me. Great”, Max thought.


After this development none of them could sleep well. Liz dozed until morning and Max rumpled his blanket, annoyed. As soon as dawn was breaking he stood up. He felt battered. In the last month he had also slept less, but the dream last night and Liz did their part in his mood. He showered and shaved. He looked grimly in the mirror, which was still a bit steamy. “Great day”, he said to himself.

It angered him that he lost control with Liz so easily. With his other steady relationships he had always been emotionally safe. The only exception was Tess. Until now. He had loved her. Did he still love her? Did she deceive him? He couldn’t answer the first question with a yes or no. If he said no he would see himself as a superficial man. Was it possible to switch love on and off? Michael would love that thought and say yes. Max had never known love. His mother had died, when he had been a little boy and his father drank until he was unconscious, not very good displays of love from his parents. He only got to know his grandparents, who had refused him at first, as a grown up man. When he had his first sexual relationships he couldn’t call it love. If he thought about it, he had only wanted someone to care for him, someone he could love and trust and where he could let go. That was not possible with the most.

About the second question, which was by far more interesting, he wasn’t sure. After his dream he could remember a few contradictions and the more he thought about it, which he had done already for some time, he knew it wasn’t his imagination. When he would be back in New York, and he hoped it would thaw soon, he would have a lot to do. First he had to make sure Liz was safe, then he would talk to Michael about the circumstances and facts. Facts about Tess and about Liz. Both women had lied obviously and he would make it his job to find out why. It wouldn’t be easy. Tess was dead and he had to find out who had killed her. Liz lied for her protection. It would be difficult to question her, because she wouldn’t tell him anything easily. But he was known to be stubborn and he wouldn’t give up.

The most he looked forward to was the visit to her father. He felt a prickle in his fingers and enjoyed the idea of beating him. Would he still want to beat the defenceless afterwards? But he had to be careful with Liz’s father. To underestimate him would be very stupid and could end fatal.

He left the bathroom and prepared breakfast. He put a fry on the cooker and hit eggs in it. Even in his bad mood, he didn’t want to miss his eggs and bacon. While the eggs sizzled, the sun blinked through the window. Max liked the sudden warmth and opened the door. It was still cold outside, but if the temperature would climb over the freezing point soon, then they could leave the cabin in a few days and drive to New York.

Tia trotted outside and jumped fawning in the snow. For a moment Max looked at her and then he turned back into the kitchen to finish breakfast.

Liz exited the bedroom, came into the kitchen and observed Max. The sight of his muscled body caused an uprising in her body. He didn’t look very happy, but she didn’t think about it at the moment. Actually she wondered, what it would have been like if they had gone to bed last night. His fingers on her skin, his kisses on her body, it was an imagination, which made her blush.

But Max brought her back into reality with his sneering voice. “Was I good?” He had noticed that she was staring at him and her eyes mirrored what she had thought about.

Liz denied herself any comment and tried to change her deep red face into a normal colour.

Max didn’t want to tease her anymore and just told her that her clothes were dry and in the bathroom.

“Thanks!” Liz turned around and went into the bathroom. While she changed Max knocked on the door and told her that breakfast was ready.

During breakfast Liz thought about a reason why Max was so close-mouthed. A conversation was practically inexistent and Liz started to feel uncomfortable.

“Max, what is your problem?”

“Hm?” He didn’t even listen to her.

“What’s wrong? Did I do something?”

He just shook his head and Liz left it at that. The rest of the breakfast was in silence again. When he started to wash the dishes, she helped him. He tried to act as if he wouldn’t notice anything. Her closeness was driving him crazy and his current mood was getting worse.

Liz couldn’t bear his frown and his dark glance of his cold brown eyes. “If there is something, which caused your mood, why don’t you just tell me?”

But Max didn’t want to talk about. “There is nothing.”

A few minutes later she grabbed his arm and turned him towards her so she could look into his face. “Are you angry about last night or are you PMSing?”

Max looked at her confused. “What?”

“PMS, premenstrual syndrome. I heard that men suffer from it as well.” Liz grinned at him slightly annoyed and at the same time mischievously.

Max just had to laugh. After the mood loosened up, he was more open.

“Did you already look out of the window? It looks like we could go back to New York soon.”

Liz froze as soon as he said the name of this town. New York meant seeing her father again or looking for a new place to stay without any money and a job. Nobody would give her a job without a residence. But the more important problem was to escape her father. Perhaps he was already looking for her and maybe he would even find her here?

This realisation let her falter and she dropped the plate weakly.

Max hadn’t counted on this reaction after his words. “Liz, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” Worried, he laid his arm around her waist. His touched pulled her out of her daze and she looked at him.

“I’m worried. If the snow decreases my father will do everything in his power to make sure that I’m found. I won’t have a chance against him.” The expression on her face mirrored her hopeless situation.

“How will he find you here? All your traces are covered from the snow and if he should really think that you’re here you don’t have to panic. Your father might be powerful, but I doubt that he dares to pick an argument with me.”

“Why do you think he wouldn’t dare? You may have been a cop but, as I already said, he has good connections with the police apart from other powerful friends.”

Max smiled calmly. “I don’t have my job anymore, but I’m not really poor. I’m related to a certain man, which is sometimes really useful. He is not an unknown man, my old grouchy grandfather. He still takes care of his business despite his age. He is nearly 70 years old. My grandfather won’t be happy if someone picks an argument with me. You shouldn’t trifle with Thomas Carter.”

“You mean the Thomas Carter?” Liz looked at him dumbfounded. “The one with loads of money, who makes my father see red? A charming, attractive white haired man?”

“I wouldn’t say charming, but the last two are correct.”

“I didn’t even know that your grandfather had a grandson. But you seem to dislike him?”

“My grandfather and I have only known each other for three years. He had disowned his daughter, my mother, when she met my useless father and had still thought she could change him. And then she became pregnant.”

“Did your grandfather know that? Did he ever look for her?”

Max’s voice sounded sad. “He did know. That was the reason he disowned her. He had hoped that she would have an abortion. But she wouldn’t hear any of it and left. Shortly after my birth she died. My father ran off very quickly because he had a few not so legal things going on. A few years later my grandfather felt probably ruefully and tried to get the family together once again, or something…I don’t know, anyway he went looking for me. He said, he was sorry. But I can’t prove anything different and so I have to believe him. He wants to integrate me into the family, but I’m not interested in it. I think I get along without this family really well.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why? You didn’t do anything. Besides it was a long time ago, I can hardly remember.” This was definitely a lie, Liz recognised it in his eyes, but she didn’t know what to say. They were a pair. Both were unwanted and both suffered from it.

She had an idea to distract him and herself.

“Can you play chess?”

“Yeah, but not really well.”

“What do you think of a game? I saw a chessboard in the corner next to your couch!”

“Okay. You get the board and I’ll get a bottle of wine. You will drink wine as well, won’t you?”

“Sure. I’m looking forward to defeating you.”

“I don’t think so, it will be the other way around.” His eyes sparkled again happily as he walked to the pantry.

TBC

sorry for the long time and thank you for your fb.

here comes the next part.

greetings,

katyana


Liz and Max played chess all day. At first Max won a lot, because he had more practice than she had, but the luck turned soon. Liz was clever and learned fast. If a move was wrong in his opinion, he tried to get her out of her reserve with question so that she scrutinized his move. Slowly they became equal. While playing chess she forgot about her problems, she even forgot to prepare lunch until she heard Max’s stomach grumbling.

“I guess we have to stop before you fall off your chair because of hunger and weakness.” Liz stretched and stood up.

“Good idea. I will think of a new strategy to beat you.” Max had lost the last two games, but he was obviously a good loser.

She boxed him playfully in his ribs as he got up and stood in front of her. “From now on you will only lose. You taught me how to win against you!”

“Yeah? You believe that?” He fended her off, took her wrists and pulled her towards him. It was quiet except for the crackle of the candles and the fireplace. Was it right what he was doing? Why did he feel this magical attraction towards her?

Liz felt as if she was hovering. Every time she saw his eyes she felt safe. So safe that nothing and no one could hurt her. He would protect her. He still held her, bent over her and kissed her. Liz gave herself fully into his kiss; nothing else existed for her anymore.

Until the pane splintered. Max pulled her to the ground. Liz was shocked and her eyes widened. Tia jumped through the house, scared because of the bang and barked.

“Liz” Max whispered. “Are you hurt?” The uncertainty gnawed at him.

“No, I’m okay”, she croaked.

“Tia, hush!! You wait here, I’ll be back in a few. Don’t go near the window or the door and blow the candles out.”

She nodded, but he didn’t look at her anymore. He figured she’d do what he said. After all he had more experience with things like that. In the meantime he crept to the commode and took his gun out of a drawer. Liz felt sick thinking of him going out there, but the expression on his face was grimly and unapproachable. He wouldn’t listen to her for a second so she didn’t even try.

He had gone out ducked and he knew that he was an easy target, if the chaser was still between the trees and aimed at him, if he was even the target and not Liz. That thought made him angrier than he already had been and he tried to get faster to the point where he had seen something from the corner of his eyes. It wasn’t easy to get through the snow despite of the warmer weather and the rain that must’ve fallen. It seemed like the person who had wanted to kill them was already gone and he only found a few traces which came from a dogsled. After he was sure that no one was there anymore he went back to the house. It was dark; Liz had actually blown out all the candles.

He went over the threshold and shut the door. It was pitch dark. Suddenly he sensed a movement behind him and could turn around in time to fend off the hit. The baseball bat only hit his elbow. Nevertheless it did hurt a lot. His hand encircled the upper arms of his rival and forced him to the ground. The rival seemed soft, he seemed to have long hair and smelt somehow like a woman, as enjoyable as it was.

“Liz, it’s me! You can stop trying to kill me. I’m on your side!”

She stopped defending herself and let him take her in his arms. “Oh God, I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“It’s not bad, just a small bruise, it’ll go away. You couldn’t recognize me in the dark. It could’ve been someone else. I’ll survive.”

Of course the bruise hurt like hell and was not small, but he didn’t want her to feel guilty. It really could have been the assassin and hence he could understand her reaction.

They still laid on the ground in each other’s arms, but on the contrary to their earlier embrace which had ended in a kiss; this hug had nothing erotic or sensual. It was a relieved and demure embrace, because Max and Liz both knew that nothing happened to the other and talked quietly with each other. Normally he would have got up and packed his stuff in forced calmness, but now she was more important. He wanted to be sure that she calmed down, because it wouldn’t help him at all if she broke down.

They shouldn’t lose focus on the important things and if possible go back to New York immediately. Maybe they could get through the snow. It was still very high, which was clearly a disadvantage, but not as high as in the last days. It was possible that his small car, behind the house, wouldn’t be able to get through. Nevertheless, the snow was very soft because of the rain and the warmth. If it didn’t freeze they could be able to make it back to New York. They could at least try.

“How did you get the baseball bat?”

“I saw it in your cupboard. You shouldn’t walk around without anything to defend yourself in these situations.”

“You’re right. Can you shoot?”

“No, but my father…. I never learned it.”

“I will show you how as soon as we’re in N.Y.”

“Max, how do you think this will work? I don’t even know where to go, despite of my father who will find me everywhere I go and with no money, I won’t find an accommodation and no help!”

Max leaned on his healthy elbow and took his other hand to caress her cheek.

“Who said you have to find an accommodation or pay for it? I’ll give you your accommodation, my house is big enough and I have more money than I can spend alone. And before you start protesting, forget it. I won’t take any of it. You’re right, if you go off on your own, your father will find you. I won’t let him.”

“But you helped me more than I ever can repay you. You’ll put yourself in danger and I can never forgive myself if something happens to you.” The thought alone gave her the creeps.

He kissed her forehead, her nose and finally lightly her mouth. “Your father has to do more than to order someone to kill us. We will try to get to N.Y.! It’ll be difficult, but we have no choice. We’re not safe here anymore and I won’t risk anything.”

Liz nodded. “You’re right.”

Bit by bit Max began to feel cold on the floor, his arm hurt and he stood up.

“We should take warm clothes and much to eat with us. I will look for the snowshoes and take them with us. If we can’t get on, we have to go to the next town.” He hoped secretly that they would get that far.

“Stop. We won’t do anything before I take care of your arm.”

Max shrugged it off. “That’s nothing and we have no time for it.”

“I won’t move, before you allow me to take a look at your arm!” She stood provocatively in front of him and eyed him with a waiting and at the same time twinkling look.

“It seems as if you’re looking for a confrontation with me.” He stepped nearer and suddenly Liz didn’t feel as sure anymore.

At the moment he looked quite dangerously. His eyes sparkled, his hair was tousled and his expression still daring. No one that Liz wanted to provoke or challenge. But Liz didn’t let on anything.

“We have no time for your games. I want to bandage your arm and get out of here. We still have time for the rest later.”

“I’ll take your word, but I don’t like the word later. I can’t hear it anymore. If someone disturbs me next time, he should better be bargained for something.”

Liz had to laugh and turned around to get some bandages and salve.

TBC

sorry for late posting, but laura has a lot of terms the last time. now the next part is ready.

happy reading

greetings

katyana


p.s.: i search an english betareader for my other story: your eyes only... . precious has asking for in the fanfic discussion thread. i hope someone will help us!






While Liz got the first aid kit, Max went looking for the bullet in the wall.

“It has to be somewhere beside the painting”, he mumbled, checked the wall and finally found the hole. If they had still been standing there, one of them would be injured or dead or even both of them. He took a knife and peeled the bullet out of the wood panelling.

He examined the bullet and confirmed his assumption. It was a 9 bore shotgun. It was mostly used as a gun by assassins. Extremely low became his hope to find any information about the man or woman who shot at them. Liz returned with bandages and salves just as he slipped the bullet into his pocket.

“Come on. I won’t bite!” She smiled at him.

He lifted an eyebrow and looked at her sceptically. “You’re sure?”


“Since when are you afraid of me? That’s something new!”

“I just hate to be examined.”

“Someone told me about men being a snivelling mess. I guess that’s right!” She grinned at him and pulled her hair back.

Max growled something and his face darkened, thus Liz stopped teasing him. He sat down on a chair and laid his arm on the table. After spreading the salve, Liz started to bandage his arm expertly. She silently concentrated on her task.

Max observed her and regretted that he didn’t succeed in taking her to bed yet. He loved her face, her dark eyes and her petite figure. Did he just think that he loved her? The shot must have taken away every sense he may have had, even if it had not hit him.

“Okay, I’m finished. You’re as good as new.” Satisfied with herself, she looked at his arm.

Max also examined his arm, but on the contrary to her he looked at it sceptically, which wasn’t because of how she bandaged it, but because of another reason.

“Do you think it won’t hold?”

“No, but it won’t be easy to drive. Can you drive?”

She shook her head regretfully. “I wish I could but my biological donor didn’t allow me to learn it. What are we going to do?”

Another thing she should learn in New York, decided Max silently.

“It has to work. We pack everything and then we’ll go.”

Only twenty minutes later the two of them were ready and left the cabin. Tia was very excited and jumped through the snow. Max opened a shelter and revealed a jeep. It had winter tires and snow chains. Without them they didn’t even need to try to make their way thorough the snow. Max drove the jeep out of the shelter, while the snow grit under the tires. Liz just hoped that they would arrive in New York without any problems. She got into the car and Max whistled for Tia, who ran to the jeep immediately and took the backseat.

A few hours later both of them enjoyed a comfortable silence in the jeep. At the beginning they had a few difficulties to get through the snow, but they managed. They had left the mountains and drove now on a highway towards New York. There was not much traffic, but that was normal under those weather circumstances.

Liz dozed off once in a while, but she couldn’t fall asleep. The radio was playing, but Max hardly paid attention to any of it. His mind was occupied with possibilities of “freedom” for Liz. Freedom was the right term. Liz must’ve lived in hell. She had not had the chance to prepare herself for her life, her biological donor – it was the first time he called him that – forbid her anything that she could possible need later in her life.

She had no driving license; she was not allowed to go to university, which she had told him on the drive, friends were not appreciated and her permission to go out was also limited. Was that the reason why he was afraid? Was he scared that her biological donor held her practically captive at home? He would find the answers to all his questions, he just needed time.

And he would find answers for Liz. Maybe it would help her to restore her shattered self-assurance. Furthermore he would do all the things with her that she had not been able to do: Going to the cinema, learning to drive, study and the most importantly to live. This change probably wouldn’t be easy for her. He took a glance at her on the front passenger seat and noticed her staring at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“You look very serious almost angry. What are you thinking about?”

He didn’t want to tell what went through his mind. There would still be time later on to talk about her future. At the moment it was more important to talk about something else, namely why she escaped hastily.

“I know it’s not easy for you to talk about your father, but do you think it’s possible that he assigned a killer?”

Liz stared out of the window. She seemed to be a little bit pale and glanced over the landscape without really noticing what she saw.

With a slightly broken voice she spoke quietly to him. “I do not only think it’s possible but that it’s probably true. I don’t like it, but I can’t change it. It wouldn’t surprise me.” She turned away from the window and stared down at her hand, which she kneaded since he asked her that grave question.

“I’m sorry …. We don’t know if your father is responsible!”

“Who else would want to kill me?” Liz looked at him tensely and unsurely.

“Well, I’m not liked everywhere. That comes with the job. I stumbled on more toes than I can count. I did it intentionally, but it may be that a criminal has the desire to take me out with a purposeful bullet. It’s possible that your father has nothing to do with it!”

“But you don’t believe it?”

“You want my honest opinion?” He glanced shortly at her and Liz nodded.

“I don’t know.”

After his word it grew weirdly quiet in the car and both tried to find the reason, why someone would want to see the other dead.

They drove all day with only three short breaks to eat and to spread new salve on his arm. Finally they saw the lights of New York in front of them. It was a breathtaking sight. But that was not the only reason why Liz shuddered, but rather the knowledge to be near her biological donor again. Max sensed her fear and laid his hand on hers, while he concentrated on driving.

After a while he turned the car in the driveway of an impressive house. No, it was no house, but rather a huge villa. It seemed timeless and very neat, as well as the garden. Liz exited the car and gasped. She had lived with her father in a villa as well, but it hadn’t been so beautiful.

Max observed her and obviously enjoyed it. At a closer look Max didn’t just seem like the casual guy, but a serious man, who was formed by life.

“Come on inside. I will introduce Simon to you. You can turn to him with every problem you have.”

“Who’s that?” Liz asked, while she walked up the stairs to the front door.

“My butler and in a way he’s also a good friend.”

Max didn’t have a key because one of the servants was always present, therefore he had to ring the bell and almost instantly the door was opened by man who was the complete opposite of Max with his light blond hair. He was thin, almost a little bit too thin but he had a friendly charisma. He instantly lightened up by the sight of his boss.

“Mr Evans. It’s good to see you again!” He stepped aside to let them in.

“You look happy to see me. That’s Liz Parker. She will be my guest.” He paused and eyed Simon sceptically. “You look like there’s a problem.”

“Well… how do I explain….I’m very glad you’re here so you can finally save me. Mr. Guerin is here and he threatened to kill me if I don’t tell him where you are. He’s waiting in the library.”



TBC

thank you for your fb. here comes the next part!!!

greetings

katyana



Part 7

Before Max had a chance to answer, Michael shouted from the stairs.

“Next time you disappear completely it would be nice to leave me a message.”

“It’s also nice to see you again, Michael”, Max replied while turning his
gaze to Michael. He didn’t miss the admiring and appraising expression on
Michael’s face when he looked at Liz. A wave of jealously went through him,
he which tried to repress immediately. Without letting on anything he turned
to Liz. “Why don’t you go upstairs and let Simon show you your room? Take a
bath or relax a bit. We’ll talk later, okay?”

Liz was glad that she could disappear from Michael’s sight. He had glared at
her and had eyed her up. Maybe it was normal for an attorney, but she felt
naked under his gaze. She didn’t look at him noticeably because she didn’t
want to attract attention. Nevertheless she couldn’t help but notice that he
was tall with light brown hair and very handsome.

She didn’t have to wonder why Max was friends with him, after all they stood
on the same side, at least in public, but could she really trust Michael
Guerin?

When Simon mentioned his name it did have a familiar ring, but she couldn’t
remember all of the associates and “friends” of her father. When she saw him
in the dim light of the corridor, it hit her.

Who was he? Friend or enemy? Should she try to disappear through some
backdoor before he could tell her father where she was? While she was lost
in her confusing thoughts, she followed Simon. They reached the room and
even this large and lovely room couldn’t calm her down.

“If you want, I can prepare a bath for you?” Simon looked at her
expectantly.

“No, thanks. I’d rather take a nap.”

Simon nodded and left the room. Liz laid down on the bed and despite her
inner turmoil she fell asleep shortly after.

While Max didn’t know anything about her thoughts, he entered the library
with Michael. Both sat down in arm chairs across from each other in silence.

“Michael…” Max started, but Michael cut in. “Max…!”

Both looked at each other and laughed. After the first freeing fit of
laughter Michael piped up. “Man, I was worried about you. No one knew where
you were or no one told me. Even Simon, whom I’ve threatened a lot, kept his
mouth shut.”

“I have trustworthy staff. You saw its advantages.”

“I even went to your old grandfather, but he was closed off like an oyster.
Even my job didn’t impress him much, but I didn’t expect it.”

“I find him likable for a second” Max stated dryly.

“Where were you, Max?”

“It wasn’t very hard to find me, if you knew where to look. I was in the old
cabin of my grandmother and I committed everyone to absolute silence!”

“I even thought you had killed yourself, but because there was no body I
took my time searching for you. You missed a lot since your disappearance!”

“Tell me everything. Do you have the laboratory findings of the explosion of
Tess’ house? What explosive had it been?”

“That’s the point. It’s no murder officially. It’s supposed to be a
defective gas pipe and the house exploded because of a spark. The security
of evidence said the cause was probably a cigarette. There was not enough
left of Tess to fill a matchbox. I’m sorry.”

“We both know it was no defective gas pipe, right? By the way Tess didn’t
smoke, at least not during the time I dated her. There is something wrong.”

“I’m on your side, but the problem is that the head office told us not to
investigate any further. For our own best interest.”

“And that’s what you’re going to do?”

“Do I look like that?” He smirked at Max.

“When I think about it… you never do what you’re supposed to do. I always
wonder why you wanted to become an attorney.”

“I would wonder myself, but when I threw a coin 15 years ago whether to
become a criminal or an attorney, I chose number and I became something
decent. Furthermore I like to pick a quarrel with the district attorney, but
I need proof and that can take a while.”

“I want to know who’s responsible no matter what it takes. Is there anything
left of Tess?”

“You sound extremely cool. I thought you were so attached to her. Anyway,
there wasn’t enough for an autopsy why?”

Max shook his head sadly, stood up and went to the bar to get a sherry for
him. He got a glass for Michael as well and sat down again. “I’m not sure,
but I think the body is not Tess!”

Michael almost choked on the sherry. “What? Why do you think that?”

“There are a few odds and ends, for example why it was so important for her
to go home and why didn’t she want me coming in with her and when I think
about it… she had a few secret conversations. She acted as if she was on the
phone with a friend and I believed her then why shouldn’t I? Now, I’m not so
sure anymore.”

A pregnant silence followed until Michael broke it with a question. “Did the
girl bring you back to life or what? Isn’t that the daughter of Jeffrey
Parker? A nice company, you have!”

Again Max thought Michael took a too interested glance at Liz.

“Yes, she is the daughter of Parker, and Michael, if you still want to be
able to use your teeth in the next years, you should stop these thoughts,
which I’m sure you had and you should have reserved for Maria. Okay?”

Surprised Michael regarded his long time friend.

“You don’t want to tell me that you’re going to chase after her?” Michael
still looked at Max surprised and wondering.

“No!” Max announced stinted and stared at Michael. Michael realised that Max
wouldn’t reveal anything about his feelings and gave up his interrogation in
this aspect.

“But what does her father say about her staying here? I don’t know him very
well, but he always seemed so grim and doesn’t let his intimidated daughter
out of his sight.”

Ignoring his question Max bent over and looked at Michael interested. “What
do you know about him and his deceased wife? What about his business? Does
he have skeletons in the closet?”

Michael leant back in his arm chair, eyeing his sherry seriously. He slowly
circled the glass and the sherry swashed in constant weaves to the sides,
while Max waited patiently.

“I don’t know much about him, but his reputation is really bad. There are
rumors that he hits and suppresses his daughter for a long time already.
She is of age that’s why I always ask myself why she doesn’t live on her
own. On social occasions she always seemed like she was scared of something
or someone, even if she tried to hide it. It is no wonder with all these
fools of that society, who have nothing better to do than gossip. I don’t
know if it’s true.” He shrugged.

“It’s true, at least I think it is”, Max declared with a hard twinkle in his
eyes. “I found her in the forest, half frozen to death and beaten black and
blue. After her unwilling depiction that was the work of her father and she
is definitely scared of him. I think he even assigned a killer onto her.”

“I don’t know. I do think he is an unscrupulous business man and a beater
and he deserves prison alone for that, but a father who tries to kill his
own daughter?” Doubtingly he shook his head.

“Well, I’m not sure, but when we were at the cabin, someone shot at us,
and…”

“What?” Michael jumped discomposedly. “Someone shot at you? Did you catch
him?”

“No, I couldn’t get fast enough through the snow, but I assume it was a
pro.” The disappointment that the attacker got away was clearly recognizable
in his face.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” Michael glanced worriedly at Max.

“No, luckily I saw a twinkle from the corner of my eye and pulled us down.

Michael’s gaze focused on the bandage, which he hadn’t noticed before and a
lust to kill mirrored in eyes, which Max certainly didn’t miss.”

“Don’t worry that’s Liz’s work. I went outside to catch the guy and when I
came back she thought I was him. She took a baseball bat and creamed me.
Luckily I reacted so quickly or I wouldn’t be sitting here with you.”

“She seems to have a good knock and a lot of courage. She could’ve tried to
escape!” His deep voice was mixed with admiration for Liz. Max only nodded.

“I will send a few of my people there, if you tell me where the cabin is!”

“Of course, but I think there is nothing for you to find, but you can try.
Maybe it wasn’t him, but someone I put in prison ages ago. Who knows?” Max
got lost in his thought for a moment. “What about Parker’s business?”

“He is involved in many things, for example diamond industry, oil industry,
the list goes on and on. Until now no one could prove any illegal business
dealings, but I’m not sure from which sides he is protected, but it will be
my pleasure to check it. If I think about it, there was an investigation
after the death of his wife, but it was so short that it’s not even worth
the name investigation. I think the doctor who filled out the death
certificate was not even present. That was a few years before my time, but I
will look for the file because these rumors don’t really help us.”

“Great, I will visit a few of my old informants and try to find out anything
about Tess. Maybe I’ll discover something. Can you do me a favour?”

“Another?” Michael grinned. “Give him an inch and he will take an ell.”

Max’s laugh resounded from the library. “You’re right, I owe you big, but
could you ask Maria to keep Liz company when I’m out tonight. I don’t want
her to feel lonely.”

Michael’s amusement turned instantly into annoyance and he rolled his eyes.
“That could be a problem! She’s not talking to me!”

Curiously Max glanced at Michael and his voice sounded amused. “What did you
do this time?”

“It was nothing. I just don’t want to end up like you.”

“Tell me…” Max requested and tried hard to hold back his laughter, when he
looked into Michael’s desperate face. “What’s that supposed to mean? Maria
wouldn’t have thrown you away for nothing. She does have a reason, doesn’t
she?”

“That’s easy. You are a fool if you believe in love. Even a friendship is
hard to keep. We only are able to keep it up because we have so many
similarities and have the same background, but when I imagine myself to be
as lovesick as you… No, thanks, I’m not interested in that.”

Max rolled his eyes. He knew Michael’s attitude towards his last
relationship. Aside from him not liking Tess, even if he thought she was
pretty, he saw her as a little mite, good for nothing, who just wanted to
have Max because of his money. That was the case with most of the women, but
most of them weren’t as selfish as Tess.

Impatiently Michael slid on his chair. “When I came home last week, she had
prepared dinner and there were roses and candle light, oh and by the way
after dessert she asked me to marry her.”

“And you rejected her?” Max laughed.

“That’s not funny, Max!” Michael growled.

“Yes, it is. Maria loves you, you idiot. How often do I need to tell you?
And she is perfect for you. She stands up to you once in a while, or do you
want a spoiled silly girl from the upper-class, who gives you a few children
and butters you up? You wouldn’t like it and you know it. She would bore you
and not after a few years, but… I guess …. 48 hours?”

His friend glanced disgustedly at him. “You’re a great friend and so
considerate of my feelings.” Michael taunted. “What do you mean would stand
up to me once in a while? She stands up to me all the time. She always tells
me her opinion even if I don’t want to hear it. I don’t even manage to
ignore it. Maria is not really known for her ability to be easily ignored.
But that’s not why she refuses any kind of contact.”

Inquiring and still amused Max regarded him.

“Well, I turned her down and naturally she was disappointed, but she
accepted it without saying much. When I think about it, it was really
strange. The next evening there was a party and a few women came on to
me….!”

“And you were so stupid to let them and Maria watched, right?”

Crestfallen Michael nodded, but before they could continue their
conversation, there was a knock on the door and Simon entered with a worried
expression on his face. He seemed to be in a hurry.

“Sir…”

“What’s wrong, Simon?”

“Sir…” he repeated helplessly, “ I wanted to bring Mrs. Parker something to
eat, but even after repeated knocking, she didn’t open the door. I’m
worried!”


TBC

hey,

i thank you for your fb again. i really appreciate that. here comes the next part.

greetings

katyana


Part 8

At the same time:

She didn’t sleep for long. Not even twenty minutes according to the alarm clock on the night table. She didn’t even know why she awoke suddenly and she needed a moment to remember where she was. She was in New York in Max’s house and with him was Michael Guerin, the prosecutor. This realization drove away every bit of tiredness. She was scared, although she didn’t even know if he was in any contact with her father right now. Maybe she should leave? What if Max didn’t tell her the truth? No, she could trust him. He had told her more than once and he had definitely not been waiting in his lonely cabin in case that Elizabeth Parker would drop in and tell him all about her problems, only to turn immediately to her father.

She swayed her legs over the edge of the bed and debated what to do next. She decided to roam through the house and go looking for the kitchen because she started to hear her stomach growling. But first she needed to find the bathroom. She had already tried two doors and after she opened the third one, she found herself in Max’s bedroom. Curiously she walked in. It passed her mind just quickly that she was invading his privacy. After all he knew everything about her and she hardly anything about him. If she thought about it … she knew nothing about him. She noticed the manly scent in the room, obviously Max’s aftershave. She liked the scent, because it reminded her of safety and familiarity, something she had not known before.

She paused in front of his bed, however the bed wasn’t what had caught her eye but rather the picture on the commode. She swallowed. “That can’t be! Oh my God!” She picked it up and studied it. On the picture was a blond pretty woman, who was smiling back at the camera. She felt like throwing up and slid down on the ground, still holding the picture in her hand.

“The lover of my father and the man I entrusted my life to. The irony!”, she thought as the tears damped her view. She wasn’t aware of time and how long she spent sitting devastated on her knees. When she looked up again, her face was drowned in tears, which she wiped them off hastily. The only thought in her head was running away and she carried it out immediately.


Max rose from the arm chair and walked towards his butler. “Did you just knock or did you go inside?”

His butler looked at him without showing any guilty feelings. “After she didn’t answer, I went into the room. I know I should have come to you first, but…”

Max put him off. “She wasn’t there, right?” It was more a realization than a question. Max had already run past him before Simon could nod. Michael followed him just as fast, after all he didn’t want to miss anything.

After entering her room he glanced around quickly and walked over to the bed. He touched the sheets.

“She can’t be gone very long. The sheets are still warm.”

Michael stood expectantly in the doorframe. “What are you going to do now?”

“I'll go looking for her!”

“Wait, I’ll come with you.”

Both of them ran down the stairs, passed the puzzled house keeper and jumped in Michael’s yellow Ferrari.

But they weren’t even out of the driveway, when Max saw Liz trying to run faster. However it was without any success. The Ferrari stopped beside her and Max got off. He ran to her, grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him to look at her. On the outside Max seemed to be calm and only his eyes indicated what he felt on the inside. They looked dark and ominous.

Michael’s car window buzzed down and he glanced carefully at Max. “If I’ll find out anything useful, I’ll call you tonight. Maria will get in touch with you. I don’t think you will need me here.” Michael smiled. “Lady, I don’t know why you ran, but I hope you have a good explanation. My friend doesn’t look like he likes to chase you.”

Max nodded curtly without looking at him. Michael started the motor and sped away.

Without reacting to her antipathy, he pulled her back towards the house. He didn’t say anything and Liz kept silent as well because of her anger. He had used her trust. If she had said anything right now, she would have exploded.

Just before they reached the door, another car stopped in front of the house. This time it was the limousine of his grandfather and Max didn’t show any joyous signs of seeing him, on the contrary to Liz it seemed as if his facial expressions turned even darker.

He jerked the door open and called for Simon. “Go with him and we will talk about it later, after I got rid of my grandfather. And Liz, if you decide to disappear again, then do it right. I won’t come after you again.” He said with a soft voice and an emotionless face, which only made it more ominously for her.

Simon appeared and she went with him. Did she have a choice? Would he actually let her go just like that? In the background she could still hear Max greeting his grandfather with a cold voice, but then the voices became lower as Simon accompanied her upstairs.


Max guided his grandfather in his study without saying much. He was in a really bad mood and he didn’t understand why Liz wanted to leave and that was all what was in his mind at the moment.

Without losing time with any pleasantries he cut the greeting short. “What is the reason you honor me with your presence? I doubt it is to see if your grandson is well, right?”

The eyes of his grandfather sparkled in amusement and he couldn’t hide his smirk. “You really haven’t changed a bit. I thought the death of your little girlfriend would smoothen your attitude towards me.”

“If that’s all that worried you, you can bid farewell again, I’m busy. There is no way I'll change my attitude in any way. Why should I be angry about something in the past?”

“Because it still sounds like you are. I can understand that I don’t get your affection for the past regarding your mother and you, but I thought you would understand if I explained it to you!”

Arrogance gave Max's voice a hard sound: “Sorry, dear grandfather, but your explanations haven’t satisfied me at all. I know that nobody is perfect, but would you like it to be resented? How would you like it if you had a major problem and you are just rejected? That was like a kick in the stomach for my mother. Unfortunately we can’t ask her anymore. What a shame! If that’s all, please excuse me. I think you can find the way out on your own.” Max started to go, when his grandfather lifted his hand averting.

By now he didn’t seem as young anymore like before, but he looked more his age. Max certainly hadn’t missed it, but he couldn’t bring himself to forgive him. He was not really angry, but he had no understanding for a bad behavior like that.

“I thought I could ask you for your advice.”

“The great Thomas Carter asks me for advice, I didn’t think I would see that in my life.” Max was impatient. He moved agitatedly, which was noticed by his grandfather as well.

“You really seem to have no time. Maybe I come back another time!”

“No, now you got my interest. As you can see I took the bait. What’s wrong?”

“We have a problem. It’s about the last diamond delivery.”

“Thomas, I don’t have the time. Get to the point. Tell me the problem and we’ll see what we can do!”

Thomas Carter hated it when Max called him by his forename. This time he kept any comment to himself. “They are gone. Diamonds worth $850 million dollars have just disappeared.”

“I can’t imagine that this amount of diamonds can just disappear. Where did they come from? Who took over the delivery and when did you last talk with the contact man?”

“The delivery came from South Africa this time, Capetown. They were supposed to be shipped here. Everything went normal. The diamonds were with Jackson on the ship and I talked to him a day before the arrival. But when they landed, no one could tell me where he and the diamonds have disappeared to. I started investigating two weeks ago, but I had no success and I thought that you should know about it. It is your business as well.”

Max nodded abstractedly. It was not the first time diamonds were mentioned today. Was there any connection?

“Has it happened before?”

His grandfather cleared his throat. “Yes, after the murder of your little girlfriend. It was only a small amount of $500,000, nothing that deserved a lot of stir. But at this time it had already disappeared after the digging in the mine and I couldn’t find any clues as well.”

Groaning Max slid his hand through his hair. It was infuriating. Nothing worked and everything seemed to boil down to Tess’s death.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” His eyebrows tightened indignantly and he glared at his grandfather.

“You were occupied with Tess and her death, I didn’t want to disturb you. Besides I have my own contact men. However their information didn’t help me at all. But that’s not all.” Thomas Carter sighed and adjusted himself on the arm chair. It was not enjoyable to tell his grandson about it, but they would get through it. They were a unit, maybe not in private but at least in business.

“What else do you have to tell me? Is there any way this day can get any worse? I’ll get a heart attack before I turn 30 and that’s soon. Maybe I should sit down. This is taking longer than I thought.”

Thomas Carter only nodded.

By now Max took everything with a grim sense of humor. “There must be something worse than losing $850 million dollars just like that right? Peanuts”, he thought cynically.

“Someone tried to take over Diamonds Ind.! Until now we have the majority of the stocks but just barely. The board of management was manipulated and only because someone had enough courage, he told me about the takeover bid in time. I just could purchase a few of the block of stocks to keep us afloat. However I fear that he will try it again. The board members haven’t come out with the truth and who is behind everything yet!”

Max sat as stiff as board in his arm chair. Diamonds Ind. had been his second passion beside his job. The little bit extra time he had had, he had used for the business. He knew all employers and members by name and family status. He relinquished most of the management to his grandfather, but he was keen on the diamonds. They were pure and clear and twinkled in their own light. Already after reading the first treatise, he was captivated by them. While others fell bored asleep, he had still argued with the managers about cheaper digging techniques, new areas, different purity degrees, etc.

He was not worried about losing his fortune but of the destruction of the lifework of several generations. He had secured himself financially and he was sure his grandfather was as well, being as smart as he was.

“But as I know you, you have already a suspicion, right?”

“That’s right.” In this moment Thomas Carter looked again more like the raptor he was. “I can’t prove anything, but I think it is Jeffrey Parker. He used a sham company, but if it is really him I can’t confirm for sure.”

Max raised his head abruptly after hearing that name. Somehow everything was related to this name and if he didn’t like him before, he certainly didn’t like him now. Hostile takeovers were never good, neither for the business nor for the employers.

“Why do you think it was Parker?” Disgustedly he screwed up his mouth.

The last time I met him, you know we’re not friends, he made a strange comment. He said I should enjoy the stones as long as I have them. Of course I laughed and I felt invulnerable because our business is big. To be honest I had hoped that you would take a bigger part in the business after your return. I'm not getting any younger.” With the eyes of a raptor he glanced at Max, who sat thoughtfully in the arm chair. After a few seconds he looked up.

“I don’t want to discuss my future in the business with you right now. Particularly because I doubt that you will withdraw and enjoy your retirement. Like I know you, you will always sit on my neck and I have no patience and no humor for that. We will both clear things up and you will take care of the business and I take care of Parker. I have a personal matter with him anyway!”

“This personal matter doesn’t involve his daughter Liz, by any chance, the one who came in with you earlier?” Mr. Carter pretended to pick lint from his elegant trousers. Max already knew all of his games.

“It is amazing to see you transforming every time. First you play the part of the caring grandfather, who is worried, then you are the smart business man and now the raptor, who gulps down his victims. And yes, it is about Liz Parker. Any other questions?”

Mr. Carter knew that he played with his grandson’s patience and he noticed that he didn’t have any left. That was a bad sign, because Max always seemed unalterable and invulnerable.

“You should keep your hands off of her. It’s dangerous to get involved with her.”

“With her or with her father?”

“Rather with her father, I’d say. She seems to be shy and introverted.” He paused and looked at Max’s face worriedly. “If you’re not well, I can take care of the business fiasco.”

“No, that’s my problem now. I will summon a meeting tomorrow and tonight I will approach my contacts. I have a lot to make up for.”

“Call me, if you need me.”

“Sure. If I get to know anything interesting, I contact you.”

Thomas Carter walked to the door and opened it. “It’s nice that you’re back.” Then he closed it behind him and Max was alone again.

He was lost in his thoughts and tried to process all the new information. The day was almost over and there was still a lot to do, more than he was able to. But first he needed to take care of Liz. He had been rude towards her, but it had been appropriate. He still believed that she hadn’t told him the whole truth and he would confront her. It was important to know everything before he would talk to her father. He didn’t want to face any surprises. Nevertheless he didn’t look forward to this conversation. She was probably pissed off. With a sigh he stood up and left the study in the direction of Liz’s room.


TBC