Special Agent Maximilian Read Online Free Page A

attentions they seemed to crave. Not a problem whatsoever, as long as it got them what they wanted: a good time and a man to rule their world.
    Not so for Maya. Never!
    During the years they’d lived with him, Sam had accepted a gig in New Orleans with his band at Preservation Hall, and had brought the family to a small, quaint house he owned near the Mississippi. They’d had a wonderful year before leaving to go back to Los Angelas.
    Throughout those months, her love for the city had solidified. They’d spent every hour he’d had free touring the places where he’d hung out as a boy, touristy spots like Bourbon Street and the famous French Quarter. They’d even fished on the bayou and taken multiple riverboat cruises. On those wonderful days, he’d cemented her love for the local food and music. Sneaking her into the Hall to hear him play his jazz had delighted her, and it had cultivated an undying love for those incredible sounds.
    One day in particular haunted her often. He’d taken her on yet another riverboat cruise and they’d sat outside in the shaded deck area talking as usual.
    “Don’t be so hard on your sisters. They can’t help being the people they are. No one taught them any different.”
    “Like you’re teaching me?” Maya had reached for his hand and after he’d gently wrapped his long artist’s fingers around her smaller ones, she’d hung on.
    “You could say that. But, sugar-baby, you’re a sponge. I never knew anyone who wanted so bad to learn everything she could.”
    “Because I’m not like them, I don’t get how they think. All they care about is boyfriends, clothes, and hairdos. What does that matter? What about the poor and homeless? What about the crime rate and the lack of federal help here in New Orleans? What about—”
    “Maya, not everyone arrives in this crazy ol’ world with a civil conscience. Most don’t. Maybe they’ll learn to care as they grow older. But you’re one of those rare people who were born giving a damn. You never want to lose that, sweetheart. It’s what makes you stand out from the sleepers, makes you special. You know what I mean?”
    “Like the way you feel when you’re playing your music?”
    “That’s right. I’m one with God when my clarinet is singing sweetly and I’m entertaining the folks. No better feeling in the world than doing what you were meant to do.”
    “Sam, what do you think I was meant to do?”
    “Shoot, child. From the way you’re always trying to look after your family, I’d say you need to be in law enforcement.”
    Maya had giggled while he’d roared. The private joke was shared between them and had given her one of her favorite memories of their times together. They’d laughed because lately her sisters had started using the phrase, “What are you, a cop?” so often that even her mother had spit it at her. All she’d done was question them about their antics and habit of disappearing without notice.
    Visiting the past, Maya was so deep in her thoughts that she wasn’t aware of the approaching officers until one spoke.
    “Ma’am, is this sleeping beauty here the perp?”
    Coming back to the present with a start, Maya nodded at the two uniforms who were standing in front of the table where old Hank, groggy and garbling, was beginning to regain consciousness. “That’s right! And don’t hurry processing him. The asshole needs to hang with us for as long as possible, give his poor mistreated family a chance to bolt.”
    Not quite understanding, but unwilling to argue with authority, the younger of the two cops took his time handcuffing the criminal, letting him fall as often as he wanted on the way to the police vehicle. Meanwhile, his partner sat comfortably with Maya, ordered a cup of coffee and wrote out the particulars for the arrest.
    “Lots of tourists today, Maya. Looks like we’ll be in for a busy season.”
    “Bill, as long as they come to see the sights, I’m fine with it. The lawbreakers