Fallen Down Under (Down Under #2) (10 page)

Jess

We arrive back at Melissa's shortly after six and I'm still beaming from the perfect day that I've had with Max. I've seen the softer side to him previously but today was like nothing that I'd ever experienced before. He so tentative and caring and nothing was ever too much for him.

"Oh and the love birds finally return. Did you have fun?" Melissa chimes to life as soon as we walk through the door.

"It was perfect." A massive grin spreads across my face as Max gives my hand a little squeeze.

"Well it's alright for some I suppose. I've been bored shitless."

"Really? I somehow find that hard to believe, you've always got something stuffed up your sleeve." I wonder if Heath has been hanging around while the coast has been clear. Just as I'm about to plonk my arse on the barstool my phone chimes to life in my bag. As soon as I see the caller I.D panic begins to swirl within my chest. I answer it instantly and hold my hand up to Liss and Max to quieten down a minute.

"Hi Tim. How are you?" I try to listen to his panic stricken voice on the other end of the line but he's taking way to fast and I can't understand him. "Okay, calm down. Start right from the beginning and slowly so that I can try to understand you."

"Where to start Jess, where to fucking start. Everything's gone tits up. I wanted to call you sooner really I did but what with Mal's ill health, I didn't want to cause any more drama but enough is enough. I can’t take it anymore."

"What's happened? What do you mean everything's gone tits up?"

"Stanton's. Something has happened to one of the backup files for one of the major clients. I haven't got a fucking clue how it fix it. The phones are ringing off the hook as all the designs are lost too. Someone from that business is threatening to go to the press for breach of data protection."

"How?" I am hearing everything that he’s saying but none of it is making any sense whatsoever.

"Someone somewhere has removed the file and it has all of their sensitive information on it. I don't know how but it's managed to get back to some of them and now the shit has well and hit the fan. Oh Jess we’re screwed. What the fuck am I supposed to do?"

"Fuck. Right let me see what I can try and find out and I'll come back to you ASAP okay?"

"Thanks. I'm so sorry to drop this on you."

"Don't worry about it; I'll speak to you soon. Try not to panic, we’ll sort it if we can." I say to him when all I am doing is panicking on the inside. Why can nothing ever go right, just once? Shit, shit, shit. How the hell has this happened? Mal's going to hit the roof. He can't find out the extent of this otherwise he'll definitely end up back in hospital.

"Jess what's going on? You've gone white." I look at Melissa but I can't seem to get the words out. Instead I just stand in front of Liss and Max waiting for a resolution to pop out thin air, but I know that I’ll be waiting for a bloody long time if without anyone’s help.

"Jess, what did he say?"

"It's... It's Stanton's. They're in deep shit."

I relay the information Tim has passed onto me to Max and wish I hadn't. He looks furious, deadly even. Melissa looks like she understands but I actually don't think she does to be honest. "What am I going to do?"

"Mal mustn't find out. From any of us, am I clear?" Both me and Melissa nod in sync to Max's demand. "You won't be doing anything,
we
- me and you together will sort this okay? Don't get yourself worked up over it. There's not much we can do right one anyway, not until we have more information on it."

"Are you kidding me? I need to go back and sort this mess that they've suddenly found themselves in. How on earth have they managed to lose this super sensitive file?” "Trust me Jess, that's the first thing that I'll be finding out. Believe me."

"Maybe it could have been hacked?" Melissa chimes in and she actually has a valid point. Max is soon quick to shoot it down though.

"It's a possibility, but a very slim one. Me and Mal have been using the same security for years and it's the most secure that there is."

I really don't like the sound of this one bit. We bloody leave the office for a few weeks and all hell breaks loose. I try to call Amelia to see what has been happening since I have been gone but it just goes to voicemail. Why is no one answering them when I bloody need them to the most.

"Hey Tim, it's Jess." I say as he answers on the first ring.

"That was quick, can it be fixed? Please god tell me it can be fixed."

"I really wish I could Tim. I've got Max in on it from this end. I need you to think back and tell me everyone who has access to the main drives. I'm going to need dates and times so we can see if there has been any dodgy activity on any of the accounts."

"Sure. I should be able to get that for you. What else do you need me to do?"

"Book me a flight out back to Heathrow tomorrow. I don't care what time, we just need to get this mess sorted ASAP."

"Okay, will do. I'll email you the flight confirmations as soon as I have them."

"Brilliant. One last thing before I go, could you get Amelia to call me. All I keep getting is voicemail and I need to speak to her urgently."

"That might be a bit tricky seeing as though she has been off sick since Mal flew out." Honestly could this mess get any worse?

"Okay well if you speak to her before I do, get her to call me please. Okay, thanks. Bye Tim.”

I put the phone down to be greeted with two sets of eyes burning holes into me. "What?" I say suddenly conscious I have something unsightly on my face.

"You are not going back home Jess. This isn't your mess to fix."

"Of course it is. I work there and I have built most of these clients up on my own Max. I'm leaving tomorrow and that's final."

"Over my fucking dead body. If I have to keep you here I will do. You've got work to do here."

"Excuse me?" I can't believe he has just thrown that line on me. "Yes I may work here for
now
Max but Stanton's is my career and where my priorities lie. I will not sit back and watch all of Mal's hard work crumble and collapse around him. I thought you would have felt the same."

"Okay guys, maybe we should calm down a little. All of this shouting isn't going to solve the situation is it?" As much as I hate to admit it, Melissa has a point. I stare at Max head on adamant in my plans. "I will leave tomorrow and I don't want to hear another word about it."

Max

I stand and watch the lights flicker before me. I love it when the house is all lit up ready for Christmas. I hear his voice first and instantly feel bile begin to rise in my throat. What is
he
doing here? He shouldn't be here anymore, not after what
he
did. My first thought goes straight to Melissa. Shit I hope she's not here. Please let her be anywhere but here. That's when my blood suddenly runs colds and turns to ice. Jess' laugh sounds out in the distance. Please no, not Jess. Don't let him near my Jess. I try to run towards the sound of her voice but my legs won't move fast enough. With each step that I take her voice seems to get farther and farther away.

"Jess, Jess where are you?" I cry out, desperate for her to reply. She doesn't answer me. Why isn't she answering me? All I can hear is her laugh but she doesn't say anything. I round the hallway and stop in the living room and that's when I see him. He stands, just like he used to, still wearing the same battered tartan shirt and smelling of sweat and alcohol.

"Jess." I call out again but she doesn't turn. Instead all I see is him as he turns slowly to face me.

"So good to see you again Max. My, my how you have grown." His greasy hair is combed back and his grin causes chills of dread to shiver down my spine. This can’t be happening. How the hell has he got here?

"What are you doing here? You know you shouldn't have come back, not after last time." Anger fills up inside me and the memories suddenly resurface from the very last time that I saw him. I swear if he touches a single hair on her head I'll make sure I do what I should have fucking done years ago without a moments fucking hesitation. This time he won’t walk away without paying for his actions.

"That's no way to greet your old man now is it son?"

"I'm not your son. Don’t you ever call me your son you murdering bastard." His right arm swiftly curves around Jess' neck and I hear a click. A whimper escapes her lips as she suddenly realises what's about to happen, my eyes zoning in on the gun that's been placed at her temple.

"You're just like her you know. Right down to your fucking arrogance and stubbornness. Only she knew when to fucking keep quiet." He looks at Jess and reaches out to touch her hair. "She's a bit too pretty for you isn't she Max? It's a shame it's all going to go to waste." I hear another click and scream out as the gunshot sounds around the room, penetrating my mind to remind me what happens when I become weak.

"Nooooooo.... Jess!" I try to scream but the words freeze on my lips.

My eyes shoot open and all I can see is darkness around me. I'm covered in sweat and the sheets cling to my cold damp body. I try to regulate my breathing but all I can see in my mind is Jess on the floor in a heap while the life is drained completely from her body. "
It's just a dream, just a fucked up fucking dream."
I repeat over and over but it felt so real and everything thing was laid out just like last time, only now he had Jess as his victim. Leaning out to grab my phone I see that it's just gone 3am. I don't think twice about the time, I just need to hear her voice and to make sure that she's okay. The call goes straight to voicemail.
What are you doing Max? She'll be asleep.
Knowing full well that sleep is not going to happen I lower my feet to the floor and try to compose myself.

"I can get there for ten. Yeah that's fine, I'll see you then." I still can't shift the image of Jess lying before me out of my mind. I need to get these nightmares under control. I've been for a surf and ran a couple of miles on the treadmill and nothing is easing up the fear that is niggling away at me. The fear of losing another person that I care about at the hands of that evil bastard. I have no idea why he is suddenly penetrating my dreams after all this time but I don't fucking like it. I try Jess again, the sudden need to speak to her driving me insane. It still goes to fucking voicemail so I call Melissa instead.

"Hey Max. What's up?"

"I'm trying to get hold of Jess but it keeps going to voicemail. Is she around?"

"Erm..." She says after a pause.

"Where is she Liss?" I demand, trying to hold back from lashing out at her from my frustration.

"She's on her way back home. She told you yesterday."

"What the fuck? I told her that she wasn't to leave until we had this shit under wraps. Fuck, when did she leave? What the fuck were you thinking letting her go?"

"I've no idea. I woke up to her note this morning. She said she'll call when she lands. What's up your arse anyway? I can’t keep her here against her will Max."

"If she calls you when she lands make sure you tell her to call me, you understand?"

"I don't know what's happened but learn to fucking talk to me properly Max."

"Hey Liss, I'm sorry. Do me a favour hey? Stay safe."

"Umm. Okay. You're weirding me out but can do." I slam the phone down in frustration. Why the fuck can't people just listen to me? Life would be so much fucking easier all around for everyone involved.

Jess

I still can't get hold of Amelia. I don't know what she's playing at but I'll make bloody sure I do when I land. She told me she could handle the workload but as soon as I leave she's off sick. What's that about? I knew she’d been having problems but still. I'll hold my hands up and apologise for being a bitch if she's genuinely ill but to me something sounds off and I'll make it my mission to find out what if I have to once I have dealt with this other drama. I can't believe Tim has been left to deal with most of this on his own either. I dread to think how far this could have gone if he hadn't have called. The aim of the game is to have this little situation resolved before Mal finds out or worse, before his pride and joy falls down the shitter.

This flight is going to be the longest one of my life. In the mad rush I didn't think about what I would need, so as soon as Tim called and told me that there was a flight due to leave in a few hours I didn't hesitate and left for the airport. I did remember to leave a note for Liss but I know Max is going to hit the roof. I guess I'll just have to deal with that crazy whirlwind when the time comes. All that I can do now is dig out my headphones and watch whatever they decide to show throughout the journey.

Max

"Mr wild. Please come this way." I look up to the tall leggy blonde before me. In the past she would have been right up my street but not anymore. Sure she's pretty but she seems to lack the kind of class that surrounds Jess. She's completely ruined me for anyone else. I walk into the office and feel the same apprehension that I felt the last time, but now things are getting completely out of hand.

"Max." Don nods at me as I take a seat on the sofa before him. "Glad to have you back. Will you be staying this time?" My head falls into my hands as I realise how out of control my life has become in the past few weeks. I never asked for any of this shit.

"I need help Don. It fucking kills me to admit it but I do. I can't go on like this anymore. Whatever it is you need to do, just do it. I need to be fixed."

Unfolding his legs, he leans forward to examine me closely. A look of uncertainty mixed with disbelief, I'm not too sure passes over his face and then it's gone just as fast as it came. "Are you ready to tell me what's eating at you?"

"The nightmares have retuned. I can't sleep with the intensity of them. It's getting to a point where it's affecting my day to day life."

"What kind of nightmares? Are we taking flashbacks?"

"Flashbacks would be more liveable. It's like I'm reliving all the bad moments again and again only know it's mixed you with the present." Fucking hell. What good is this doing me? Sat here pouring my heart and soul out to look like a fucking pussy once again.

"You said last time that this started again after you travelled back to England? Do you think something there could have been a trigger for you?"

"No. Maybe, oh I don't know. Living in England was always my safe place Don. You know this already."

I watch him as he riffles through my file, looking for something, but what I'm not so sure. "Ah yes' here it is. How is Melissa these days?"

"She's fine. Why?"

"Do the nightmares have a pattern? After specific events or when you spend time with a specific person?"

"How the hell am I supposed to remember that? All I know is that they're getting more and more frequent with each day that passes. Now it's getting to the fucking point where
he's
penetrating my dreams, threatening to take away my only true piece of happiness."

"Is that what you're worried about Max? This one piece happiness, did she come into your life before these feeling started to return?"

"Does it matter?" My heads fucked. I don't really see how Jess being in my life could make such an impact. "Can you fix me or what?"

"I can give you something to help you sleep but these issues that you're facing Max, I can't help you unless you are prepared to face them head on." For Jess, I'll do whatever it fucking takes to keep her safe from my past and also that vile bastard who ruined it all for us.

"You can count on it Don. I'll be out of town for a few weeks but I'll schedule another meeting once I'm back."

I leave Don's office not sure I have resolved anything. Maybe once I get some of these pills in me and have a decent night’s sleep I'll feel better.

"Max, hey. I didn't think you'd be back after your dramatic exit last time." Sasha smiles at me as I walk past reception.

"Hey yeah. I guess that wasn't my best move hey?"

"You didn't call. I've missed you Max, it's been too long." Her eyes light up expectantly waiting for my response.

Now really isn't the time to be getting into this. Jess has gone back home against my wishes, Mal's business is on the line and I need to get to the bottom of my issues. I know I'm a heartless bastard, that's old news but I need to do this. I don’t have the time nor the patience to be stood here right now.

"Sash listen. I've got some major shit taking off right now, hence why I'm here and I can't stop and chat. I'll catch up with you next time I'm here but I wouldn't read anything into it if I were you. I'm not into all that casual shit anymore." Her jaw opens in shock but nothing comes out and I take that as my cue to leave.

"Max where are you?" Liss' tone sounds panicked on the other end of the line. "I've been trying to call you for the past hour."

"Have you heard from Jess? Is she okay?"

"Max, she's still in the air. Mal's been calling here asking for her and I've had to tell him she's headed home because of a family issue so we need to get our stories straight so he doesn’t start jumping to conclusions."

"Okay, shoot. What did you tell him? I'm on my way to his now so be as quick as you can."

"Well, when we went to Mal's party last week her mum called and she was pretty shitty to her in a way no mother should speak to their child. She was pretty upset but she tried to hide it. Don't ever tell her I told you this okay? I told Mal that she needed to rush back to her mum but didn't say why and now I worried I've done the wrong thing Max."

"Don't worry about it. Just so I'm clear. Jess' mum called on Friday and she was upset and she's had to rush back for some reason?" Shit what issues has she been having with her mum. I had no idea and she didn’t even tell me.

"You got it. But Max, promise me you won't tell her I told you that? I don’t think she’d be too happy with everyone knowing."

"I promise. Remember if you hear from her, call me ASAP. I'll come to yours once I've been to Mal's."

I click the call off and put my foot down and take off to Mal's. I need to find a way to go after Jess without raising any suspicions.

As I pull up outside the house I have to go over again in my head what I'm going to say. I hope Daisy's not around; I never could get away with lying to her.

As I walk through to the living room, Mal's positioned in his favourite chair looking better than ever watching the television.

"Max my boy. It's good to see you. I guess you've heard about Jess then?"

"Yeah. Liss said she had to leave last night without a moment’s notice."

"I hope everything's okay. Jess and her mum have never really seen eye to eye from what I can remember but it must be bad if she's rushed off. Anyway while your here I may as well run it past you too."

Settling down on the sofa I look at him to continue, unsure of where this is leading. "Go on..."

"I've been doing a lot of thinking while I've been sat here this past week. What with my ill health it's highly unlikely that I'll be able to fly for a while and I was hoping to talk to Jess about Stanton's."

"What about it?" There is no way he could know about the security breach, no fucking way.

"I always planned to hand the business over to her when I fully retired but now my time has been pushed forward. What do you think of me making her a permanent CEO for Stanton's? She'd have to work here for 6 months of the year and then 6 months in the U.K."

"I think she'd bloody love it. She loves Stanton's, you know that."

"Yeah I do. It would have been nice to propose it to her face to face though." Mal is an absolute fucking genius and he doesn't even know it.

"You still can. Why don't you ask her when she comes back? I was thinking while she's over there I could join her and check in on Stanton's. Everything's good with the development on this side. Thanks to Jess we're way ahead of schedule."

"You know Max that sounds like a great idea. I'd appreciate you checking in and make sure you keep an on that special girl of mine." I smile knowingly at Mal. It seems he’s always had a bit of a soft spot for Jess. Shit who doesn’t?

"You betcha."

"It's good to see you happy son. It's about bloody time too if you ask me." The pride on his face makes me feel like a little boy again always receiving his praise no matter what I did..

"Thanks Mal. She's something else entirely." I laugh.

"Max dear, would you like something to eat?" Daisy asks as she pops her head around the door, her smile visible ear to ear.

"I'm good but thanks anyway. I best get going if I want to catch a flight out today. Is there anything specific that you want me to keep an eye on while I'm there?"

"Just make sure the guys are working as well as they normally do and that all the accounts are up to date."

"Sure thing boss." I nod as I get up to leave. “I’ll call you when I’m there.”

The first thing I do as soon as I leave the house is call the airport to see what available flights they have available. I must have done something fucking right as they have a seat available for first thing tomorrow morning. It's not soon enough but shit, it will do.

"Liss, you here?" I shout out to the silent house before me. "Hello." I shout again.

Still I get no answer. It's not like Liss to go out and leave her door unlocked. Maybe she's in the shower or some shit, so I'll sit here and wait until she shows up.

After about ten minutes or so I hear Liss' high pitched laughter coming from the hallway. I go to shout her again to let her know that I'm here when she comes barrelling into the kitchen in nothing but a towel with fucking Heath hot on her heels. Their faces drop as soon as they see me sitting here.

"Fuck, fuck fuck." Melissa hisses. "Max what are you doing here? Do you not know how to call or maybe knock before you come in?" She snarls. Now there’s a guilty fucking conscience if ever I saw one.

"What the fucks this?" I ask signalling the two of them in nothing but towels. I eye Heath instantly. "You wanna tell me what's going on here mate?"

"We went for a surf earlier and we've just got back. Thought I'd get changed you know?" The casual tone in his voice has me riled up in no time.

"You expect me to believe that bullshit? Do you think I haven't noticed how you two have been acting around each other lately? Fucking hell Heath, I thought the two of you would finally grow some balls and admit what’s been going on. I guess not hey?"

"You're not angry?" Melissa asks as she looks at me in disbelief.

"Nah, I'm not angry. I'm pissed you didn't tell me but I get it. Fuck her around Heath and then you'll see angry." I warn. Anyone dating my sister is going to piss me off, but if it's someone I know and trust I can't really interfere. She's an adult and I guess she has to learn from her own mistakes. But if he so much as hurts a hair on her head, mate or not, I'll fucking kill him.

"Um, well this is all starting to feel a little awkward so I'm gonna go and stick some clothes on. I'll be back in five. Oh and Max..."

"Yeah?" I ask as she turns to face me.

"I love you."

"Quit with the soppy shit, I've got plans to make and I need both of you on this okay?"