The Hollywood Mission (8 page)

He entered the coordinates into the Matter Transporter.

‘Give me back the …' but it was too late. With a small
ffffttt
and a flash of green light he was gone.

‘I'd better get ready for dinner.' Linden left the room quietly, leaving Max standing in a pool of guilt that was deep enough to dive into. She tried to step out of it by telling herself it was wrong of Toby to steal the Matter Transporter and it was against the rules for him to be involved in a mission.

It didn't help.

What she said was true. She did want Toby out of her life. So why, after she got what she wanted, did she feel so terrible?

She'd done it. Max Remy had captured one of the most fiendish villains the world had ever known. On the surface he was all charm but inside was the heart of a pure criminal. She'd scoured the world to find him, and now his unlawful days were over.

‘So, Baron Von Jenkins, what do you have to say for yourself?'

The Baron adjusted his monocle and straightened his gold-embroidered waistcoat as the wind outside his ancient castle headquarters blew softly against them.

‘That I'm innocent and have been set up.'

Max laughed as she snapped a pair of handcuffs around Von Jenkins's wrists. ‘Set up? Come on, now. You're one of the most evilly cunning people in the world, how would you let yourself be set up?'

‘You laugh now, Ms Remy, but even the most clever of us sometimes find we haven't been clever enough.'

This was unlike Von Jenkins. Max felt herself starting to believe him and was furious that he would try to fool her. It had taken her a long time to track down his hideout and she wasn't about to let him get away now.

‘I've had enough talk.' She placed a chain
around his ankles and waited for the Invisible Jet to arrive that would transport them both to Spyforce HQ. ‘I suggest instead of talking you enjoy your last moments of freedom, because when we're done with you, you'll be going to prison for a very long time.

‘Wait!'

Max turned to see agent Linden Franklin climbing the rocky cliff behind her.

‘We were wrong. The Baron was set up. He's really a good guy.'

Max baulked. Could this be true? Could the Baron really be innocent? She stared at his cool stance as a sinister smile rose up his face. Had she really let herself be duped? Was she

The plane jolted in the air. Max grabbed the armrest so tightly she expected there'd be finger indentations if she ever decided to let go. Her father reached over, slowly prised her fingers away, and held her hand.

‘Look out there.' He nodded at the window next to Max. ‘It's beautiful, isn't it?'

Outside were snow-covered mountains
jumbled together like giant tenpins in some freakishly big bowling alley. The sun sluiced over the landscape in a blinding glow as the plane dipped its wings and began a wide sweeping arc towards the runway.

‘This part might be a bit bumpy but the guy at the front's been flying these planes longer than you've been alive.'

Max's dad had the kind of voice that made you feel calm. That people paid attention to. At the studio, his directions were always given in a relaxed, gentle way and everyone listened and did what he said.

Max smiled and looked at Linden who was staring out his window and chatting with Mee Lin. She thought back to the night before. She felt bad about what had happened with Toby, and even though Linden hadn't said anything, she could tell he thought she'd overdone it.

After a few more bumpy turns and silent mini freak-outs from Max, the plane touched down. They stepped onto the tarmac and the cold wind hit their faces as if they'd been slapped with frozen towels. Max pulled her jacket around her as they made their way to a swish car.

‘How many of these cars does your dad have?'
Linden asked as they stepped into a warm interior the size of a small lounge room.

‘Not sure,' Max answered, happy that Linden was still talking to her.

The car made its way up a snaking mountain path, past snow-filled trees and frozen waterfalls. A white blanket of powdered snow covered everything and when they reached their hotel, there were cosy fireplaces, thick fluffy rugs and as many hot chocolates as they could drink. Their rooms were the size of a small street and when Max pulled aside her curtain, the shiny white slope of one of the tenpins swooped in front of her like her own private ski run.

‘Mee Lin has something for you both,' Max's dad announced. Mee Lin handed two sets of snow clothes to Linden and Max.

‘I hope you like them.'

Linden held out aqua blue pants with a white stripe on the side and a straight cut jacket with a waving white stripe across his chest. Subtle, stylish and very wearable.

‘Excellent. Thanks, Mee Lin.'

Max's, on the other hand, was a giant pink snow suit with cream swirls.

‘I know how much you liked the dress, so I thought I'd buy you this,' Mee Lin said happily, as
if she'd handed Max the keys to a secret underground chocolate supply.

‘Thanks. It's really … unique,' Max barely managed.

‘You two get settled in and we'll meet you in the foyer in ten minutes for a ski.'

Max stared at the suit, then noticed Linden slowly creeping towards the door.

‘Go on,' Max dared him.

‘What?' he asked innocently.

‘Say something about the suit.'

‘Sorry?' Linden was running low on ‘innocent looking'.

‘The suit? What do you think?'

He pulled the collar of his jumper away from his neck. ‘Is it warm in here or …'

‘Linden.'

He couldn't ignore the warning oozing out of that one word. Linden had no choice. He couldn't lie, she'd pick that straightaway and he couldn't tell her the truth, because even if he'd been dropped on his head at birth, he'd never be that stupid. He decided. There was nothing more to do … other than beg.

‘Please don't make me say anything. There are too many things I've planned to do when I'm older.'

Max sighed and sank onto her bed. ‘At least I won't run into anyone I know here.' Then she needed to ask something else. ‘Linden, do you think I was wrong to ask Toby to leave?'

Linden stopped. ‘I think you said what you needed to say.'

Max gave him a half smile. It was true, but she still didn't feel any better.

But then something happened that made her guilt disappear completely. There was a green flash of light and a familiar quiet
ffftttt
sound.

‘Did your dad pick the swankiest hotel or what?' Toby stood before them in a blue snow jacket and matching pants.

Max was furious. Not only because his suit looked better than hers, but she now realised Toby had never had any intention of staying away.

‘I went home to say hello to Aunt Mable. This Matter Transporter is great. You can travel the world and still pop home for lunch.'

‘Don't get too used to it.' Max was annoyed that she'd wasted good quality guilt on him and strode into the bathroom.

‘This is better than I expected.' Toby surveyed the room, opening fridges and wardrobes, and checking out the TV guide.

Max came out dressed in her snowsuit. ‘One word,' she warned. ‘Not one word.'

The boys were quiet. Even Toby knew not to comment. ‘I think I might try all the restaurants to see which one has the best hot chocolates.' He pulled his beanie down low and quickly made his exit.

Max hadn't been skiing for a while but despite being the clumsiest person alive, she was actually quite good. Her fury at Toby melted away as she and her dad raced down slopes of fresh powdered snow. Mee Lin had been skiing since she was a kid and Linden, who had never been on a snowboard in his life, made it look as if he'd been born standing on one.

At the top of the mountain, Max and her dad decided to try different runs. ‘Meet you at the bottom,' her dad cried before skiing away.

‘Okay.' Max turned and, making her way through a crowd of skiers, slammed into the padded bulk of a man.

‘Sorry,' she apologised before realising it was Raychik. ‘Oh, hi.'

He coughed and grumbled something about needing to be here before he disappeared into a swarm of beginner skiers as they wobbled and fell and got tangled in their stocks.

‘What's he doing here?' Max queried out loud.

She shook off the weird vibe the unexpected meeting had given her and made her way to the top of the ski run. She started thinking about Toby and how it must have been hard to have both parents live away from him, when her thoughts were cut short by what happened next.

A skier shot out from the bushes in front of her, only narrowly avoiding clipping her skis. ‘Hey,' she yelled, but the skier didn't stop or signal and instead swooped across the snow and aimed directly at her. Max tried to ski faster but soon the skier was beside her and shot Max a malicious grin before ramming into her. She regained her balance but not her direction and careened straight into the forest.

Max manoeuvred her skis around mounds of rocks and smaller trees, each one a potential silent killer. She could see another run beyond the trees and knew she only had to go a little further to reach it, but her skis landed badly on a jagged outcrop and flung Max into the air, causing her to come crashing down with a dull, painful thud.

The next thing she remembered was someone leaning over her, asking if she was okay. She opened her eyes and let out a brief gasp. It was Raychik.

‘I saw someone skiing recklessly just after we bumped into each other,' he wheezed and coughed. ‘There are always cowboys on the mountain showing off.'

Max tried to work out where she was.

‘I used to be a ski patroller when I was younger,' Raychik explained as he checked her over. ‘You'll be a bit sore tomorrow but nothing's broken.'

Max was groggy and her eyes felt weighed down by steel. The next time she opened them, she was in the medical centre with her dad standing over her.

‘Max? Can you hear me?'

After she was given the all clear by the medical staff and way too much fuss by her dad and Mee Lin, Max was taken to the hotel and cushioned up in front of the fire.

‘Lucky Raychik was there when he was.' Her father smiled at her in relief. ‘He's right. There are always fools on the mountain trying to prove they're invincible.' He kissed her forehead and left her with Linden while he went to get them something to eat.

‘So what's your next trick? Diving from a plane with no parachute?' Linden tried to cheer her up.

Max looked around, making sure the other
guests couldn't hear. ‘The skier who ran into me did it deliberately.'

‘Maybe they didn't like your suit,' he joked, but Max's steely gaze let Linden know she was serious.

‘You really think they wanted to kill you?'

‘No. They could have done that easily. I think they wanted to scare me.'

Linden lowered his voice. ‘Who do you think it could be?'

‘I don't know, but I don't think it was an accident that Raychik was so handy.'

‘Do you think it's about the Spyforce mission?'

‘Not sure, but that skier was upset about something.' Max trembled as she thought about how close she'd come to being really hurt, and knew that next time she might not get off so lightly.

When Max woke up the first thing she saw was her father's wide-brimmed smile.

‘Hello. You've been missed.'

It took her a moment to remember where she was. And to remember the fall. She went to move but flinched with pain.

Her dad's smile dropped and he quickly put down the papers he was working on. ‘The doctor said you might be a bit sore, but that shouldn't last too long.'

The fire had died down yet still threw out a strong orange glow.

‘You scared me today. Promise me there'll be no more accidents.'

‘Okay,' Max agreed and remembered the mission Steinberger had given them. She needed to gather information about how the film industry worked, so she asked her dad about who held the power, who made the decisions and who had direct contact in creating the finished product. Her dad explained that it was different for each film, but mostly the producers, editors and directors had the biggest control.

Max ran through the information in her head. Since the director of her father's movie was her dad, she knew the bad guy wasn't him. She'd find
out about the producer when she got back to Hollywood, and after meeting the editor, Raychik, she planned to keep a close eye on him.

‘I never knew you were so interested in the film business.'

Max looked up and saw her dad smiling. She felt another twinge of guilt. She'd never been very interested in what her dad did and now she was only asking because of Spyforce. ‘Do you like what you do?'

Her dad got this wistful look in his eyes. ‘It's like breathing, Max. I couldn't imagine what I'd do if someone told me I couldn't make films any more. It was a big decision when I first thought about moving to America. I knew it'd be great for my career, but I also knew it would put a lot of pressure on your mum and me.'

So their divorce wasn't all her mum's fault, Max thought.

Her dad sighed. ‘Remember you and your mum and I used to go skiing all the time when you were younger? You were only three when you had your first skiing lesson and the moment you got on that snow, you were a natural. There was a coach there who wanted to sign you up for the Olympic ski team there and then.'

Apart from never having been called a natural at anything before, Max smiled as her head filled with memories of snow fights, hot chocolates and falling asleep in front of fires as her mum and dad laughed and talked into the night. She wanted to ask what went wrong when her dad spoke up and answered her secret thoughts.

‘Your mum and I began to want different things,' he said sadly. ‘I still think she's one of the nicest people I've met, but when you stop bringing out the best in each other, you're not being fair to any one by staying together.' Max's dad looked at her intently. ‘Even though we don't live together any more, you and I will always be the same. You know that, don't you, Max?'

Max felt as if her body was covered in bubbling waves. It was true. Being with her dad again, it felt like nothing had changed between them, but Max wanted to tell him that she still missed him saying goodnight before she fell asleep. Waking up each morning knowing he wasn't in the house was something she'd never gotten used to.

‘How's your Mum? Is she okay?'

‘She's okay,' Max began. ‘She's getting married.'

‘She told me,' her dad said carefully. ‘Is he a good guy? Because you and I have to make sure he is good enough for her.'

Max wished her mother could hear what her dad was saying and how important it was to him that Aidan was okay.

‘He's alright,' she lied.

‘Good.'

They sat in silence for a few minutes before her dad said, ‘Time for bed. After the day you've had, you're going to need all the rest you can get.'

He gently picked her up from the lounge to carry her to bed, and even though with all her bruises it should have hurt, she snuggled into his neck and didn't feel a thing.