mobster mash

Athena gave Max the address Leonard had texted her; it wasn’t anywhere close by which meant they’d be arriving around midnight. They had to drive nearly two hours across the city to reach it, and Athena barely said two words the entire time. She occasionally took the memory card out of her pocket and looked at it for a while, then put it away. This tiny thing might get them killed.

“We’re almost there,” Max said, glancing over at her. Athena stuffed the memory card back in her pocket and turned to him.

“Max, I’ve been thinking. You don’t need to go inside with me.”

“What?” he frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re not technically involved. I mean, yeah you were there when her guy called me, but you’re not on the Red Queen’s radar. But you will be if you come with me. You could drop me off down the block and I can go in alone. You can just go home, and then if Leonard doesn’t come through, you won’t—“

“Athena,” he interrupted. “Do you really think that after all this I’m going to just abandon you to face this alone? I promised to help you get your dad back.”

“And you have,” Athena insisted. “We’re here. If I’m getting him back at all, it’ll be tonight. And I never could’ve gotten here without your help. But this is racing down the Red Queen. She might kill us the second we walk in the door.”

“Yeah, which is why I’m not letting you go in there alone.” Max glanced up at the building they’d pulled up in front of.

“This looks like another hotel,” he remarked. “But it’s not open yet. That section over there is still under construction. So where did Leonard say we were supposed to have the meet up?”

“Room 112,” Athena said quickly. “He said the elevator would work, I think the part under construction is supposed to be a spa or something.”

Max gave her a doubtful look, then abruptly plucked her phone from her hand.

“Hey!” she yelped. Max checked the text from Leonard, seeing that they were actually supposed to meet in room number 617.

“Athena,” he said, exasperated. “What exactly was the plan when you needed to go up five more levels?”

“I was going to wait till you were out of the elevator and hit the close door button,” she said, snatching her phone back. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Max. I pulled you into this, and besides it’s literally my job to help people. Not get them injured.”

“Well, it’s my job to keep you safe.”

“Who decided that was your job?” she frowned.

“I did. Now come on, let’s go get your dad back. Together.”

“Okay, okay. Clearly you’re committed to running headlong into danger, so let’s go.”

Athena was shaking so hard her teeth were about to start chattering as they went inside. The lobby was empty and mostly dark, which was creepy and didn’t help her nerves. They located the elevators and rode up to the seventh floor. The thick carpet muffled their footsteps as they walked down the hallway looking for room 617, so the hotel was eerily silent.

When they reached the room, Athena took a breath and knocked. The door swung open and four guns were suddenly leveled at Athena’s face. She flinched back slightly, and Max caught her shoulders.

“Doesn’t that seem excessive?” he asked.

“Can’t be too careful. Let them in.”

Athena and Max reluctantly moved into the plush suite when the gunmen moved to the side. The Red Queen herself was seated on a couch beside the window, sipping a glass of wine. Stefania Conti was middle aged but still looked glamorous in her red pantsuit and heels. Her dark hair had a streak of gray that looked oddly stylish with the bun it was pulled into. She set down her wine and appraised Max and Athena like they were bugs scuttling across the carpet.

“So, you have the memory card?” she asked.

“We do if you have my father,” Athena replied. Stefania smirked.

“Negotiating, are we? Cute.”

“I just want him back,” Athena said. “And I want him back alive and in one piece, in case you were going to play any semantics games.”

“You either have a lot of nerve or else you’re supremely stupid.”

Athena’s heart was pounding so hard it might crack a rib but she held her ground. The Red Queen probably sustained herself on fear. The silence stretched out long enough that the air started to feel thick. Finally Stefania gestured lazily to one of her guard dogs.

“Page someone to get the good doctor and bring him here.”

She leveled her gaze back on Athena and drummed her red nails on the arm of the couch. She nodded toward Max.

“You brought a henchman of your own?” she asked.

“He’s just a friend who came with me,” Athena said quickly.

“Do you know what’s on the memory card?” Stefania asked.

“No,” Athena lied. “Your man didn’t tell us anything, and we came straight here once we found it.”

“How did you find it, pray tell?”

“I was going through a list of patients we’ve had recently, tracking them down to see if I could find out who may havethe card. And we overheard someone say they heard a man bragging about having stolen something from the Red Queen. So we tracked him down and it turned out he really had the card.”

“And he just gave it to you when you asked nicely, is that it?”

“It took some persuading,” Athena said. Stefania smirked again as she took another sip of wine.

“Very convenient that you happened to hear about this thief totally by chance,” she said. The door opened again and a man shoved Michael roughly into the room.

“Dad,” Athena gasped. Then she realized the man who’d brought him in was Leonard. She really hoped he had his plan in place to get them out of here. Michael looked tired and had a bruise on his face, but he seemed mostly okay. Athena tried to run to him but one of the henchmen swung his gun on her again. Max pulled back, keeping a hand on her arm.

“Not so fast,” Stefania said. “I want the memory card first. Then you get your dad.”

Athena reluctantly pulled the card from her pocket and held it up. Stefania sat up with a gleam in her eye before she remembered herself and slid back into her mask of haughty indifference.

“Hand it over along with the name of whoever it was in my employ who told you about it, and I’ll let you all go.”

“No one told us about it,” Athena said, forcing herself not to glance at Leonard.

“I don’t believe you.”

All the armed people in the room prepared to point their guns at them again.

“I don’t know his name,” Athena said quickly. “Honestly. He called me, and told me to look for Fletcher. He never told me his name. I mean, that would be pretty stupid.”

“Yes, I suppose it would.” Stefania took a sip of wine and nodded. Leonard released Michael and he almost fell forward. Athena hurried to embrace him, leading him back over to Max. Leonard acted like he was reaching to take the memory card, but instead grabbed Athena’s arm and yanked her roughly forward.

“Hey,” Max snapped, taking a threatening step toward him. The guy put the barrel of his gun to Athena’s temple and he froze, though he was glaring daggers.

“She brought you the card,” Michael said angrily. “She didn’t have anything to do with this until you dragged her into it. Let her go.”

“You’re in no position to be making demands, Doctor. We don’t need you now that we have the card.”

“Elbow me, then pretend to fight me for the gun, and fall,” Leonard muttered quietly in Athena’s ear. Praying he had a good plan, she rammed her elbow into his gut, then spun around and tried to scrabble for the gun. Someone else lunged at her from the side and she did actually fall, smacking her head on the coffee table and wincing. Everything went a bit fuzzy for a few moments, but it was really loud. She felt someone pulling her and it took her a minute to realize that Max had dragged her and Michael into the giant bathroom. Athena pushed herself up, feeling a little woozy. She was huddled in the corner with Max and her father and there was a lot of commotion outside the door.

She felt a little less out of it when Leonard came into the bathroom, looking a little ruffled.

“You’re all free to go,” he said. “Like I said, I had a plan.”

“A plan,” Michael snorted. “Your plan concussed my daughter.”

“Better a concussion than a bullet,” Leonard muttered, though he flinched back a bit when Max glared at him. Michael handed the memory card over to Leonard, then he and Max helped Athena into her feet. The hotel room was a grim scene; there were quite a few bodies. Athena tripped and almsot stepped on a dead guy’s face.

“So who started shooting up all the Queen’s men?” Max muttered.

“Mt. Stratford had me arrange a deal with some, shall we say, specialized law enforcement. They were standing by; a few were plants among her guards

“So, police who are on his payroll,” Max replied.

“Call them what you like, they’re the reason you’re alive.”

“Where’s the Red Queen?” Michael asked. “I don’t see her here.”

“She got away, but she’ll be dealt with. I suggest you three go home while we clean this up.”

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Max muttered. Athena’s queasiness eased a little by the time they got down to the lobby.

“Are you both okay?” she asked. “You didn’t get shot, did you?”

“We’re fine, honey,” Michael assured her. He looked like hell but had an arm around her shoulders, throwing wary glances at Max. He looked even warier when they reached the car.

“You drove my daughter here in that?” he asked, and Max looked like he wanted to disappear.

“Daddy,” Athena scolded. “Don’t be mean to Max.”

“Um. Let me get the door for you,” Max said, flustered under Michael’s scrutiny. “It’s nice to see you again, Dr. Winters. Sir.”

Athena nudged her father slightly and gave him a warning look as she got into the car. She spent the drive home trying not to fall asleep, and when they got back to the apartment she ordered her father to go straight to bed and get some rest.

“You look like you haven’t slept in days,” she said. She gave him a stern look when he seemed about to protest. She had a feeling he’d be trying to eavesdrop on her and Max though.

“Should I go?” Max asked nervously.

“That’s up to you,” Athena said. “I know I’ve put you through a lot. If you wanted to leave I wouldn’t blame you. But I want to say thank you again, Max. I don’t think I could’ve done this without you. And…I’d like you to stay with me. Tonight, and maybe for longer?”

“You do?”

Athena smiled slightly, leaning up to kiss him. “To be honest, I think I might be sort of falling in love with you,” she admitted, blushing. Max just stood there with a dazed look on his face.

“You don’t have to say anything right now,” she said. “It’s been…a crazy day. Crazy week really. Um. I’m going to change and take something for my head. You can crash on the couch if you want, it’s late.”

She turned and scurried into the bathroom, hoping she hadn’t finally scared him off.