Loving Maya

Another Crime And Tooth Fairies

Mason's POV

"Why the hell are you calling at this ungodly hour?" I croak into the speaker. "Wait, why are you calling at this hour?"

Max doesn't even wake up early for school.

"I've got news. Is Maya around?"

"She's in her room, all the way upstairs. Why do you..." I sigh, the tiredness weighing down on my eyes.

"Oh, yeah, of course..." He mutters.

"You have news?" I try to sit up on the bed.

"It's about The Man."

All the remnants of sleep from my eyes disappear. I straighten up as my hand searches for the switch of the bedside lamp.

"What?" The room becomes illuminated.

"He and Ace had a visitor. No one knows what happened but Ace stabbed her. She's in critical condition."

"What?" My eyes widen and my chest constricts.

Why the hell did he want Maya to hear to this.

"I'm not sure about the full story but apparently she made a mistake that exposed The Man for everything he's been doing while behind bars."

She?

"I don't understand."

"Neither do I. It's crazy that Ace would do something like that, I mean, The Man is very careful. This just took any chance he had of parole and tossed it out the window."

I mean, The Man can still get out of this one safe. Ace takes the fall, he's left with the other charges which he might be able to avoid.

"Anywho," Max continues, "I think you'll be the least of his worries from now on."

"Good." I sigh and lean my head against the wall, sighing.

"He'll be going on trial soon and probably for a while so we can stop worrying."

So this is why he wanted Maya to hear this.

"Yeah." I nod. "All this chaos is good for us. I just feel sorry for whoever the girl is. Do you think it's someone we know?"

"I don't know. It can't be someone we've worked with for a while though; Ace wouldn't do that to them."

"Please," I scowl, "he's got loose screws."

"Well, I don't think we should worry too much about it. Whoever it is, she chose to work with The Man knowing the dangers."

Maybe she didn't. Maybe she was lured, threatened. Maybe her parents had a huge debt they couldn't repay.

"Anyway, I gotta go back to bed."

"Yeah, thanks for letting me know about this."

***

I've wanted to tell Maya and my mother what Max told me the whole day. Angie and Ollie have been with us the entire time so I couldn't. I know that Ollie is very well aware of my past and our connection to The Man but it's still not something I want to deliberately expose him to.

Angie? She's a child. She might not understand but she won't miss the tension and fear. It's the holidays, I want to protect that toothless smile on her face.

My mother went to a meeting and I'm waiting in the garage for Ollie. I've managed to put the news of the trial at the back of my mind.

"Mason." The soft voice calling my name cases me to turn around.