"My sister got herself into trouble, and I thought you could help with it," Maxwell said simply.
Don was not known for long talks anyway.
"What kind of trouble?"
"Got held up for possession on her way out of the country. Sis was damn sure she did not have it, but then the agency said differently. She was caught with the white stuff, man. About 100grams"
Don whistled.
"Yeah, I know, man. It's tough shit."
Don fluffed her short, spiky hair. "Who are you calling a man? This right here is a lady, remember?"
Maxwell sucked his teeth "right."
"How come I never heard of you having a sister, Max? Have you been holding out on me? Also, you still haven't told me what you think I could do; do I need to remind you that I don't work at the agency?"
"She is my sister. Half, but well, there you have it." Maxwell leaned forward "She was saying the truth. She is not so good at lying. That stuff was planted, and if care is not taken, she really would serve a term. She has the family name, and I am not about to see that tarnished because of her stupidity. The question now is, What did she do for someone to do that, and what could be done to rectify the situation?"
Don narrowed her eyes "Are you in your oh-so-subtle way accusing me, Max? You know I don't do well with accusations."
Oh yes, Maxwell knew that. He could still remember vividly just how well Don doesn't do well with accusations or being challenged. After leaving home, she was literally seen off at the door with a message of "don't come back '' by Fiona. Setting off with the little he had that he thought would have lasted him for a while, he had been mugged in his first week and beaten up too. Pride had stopped him from going back home when, almost three weeks later, he was more like a bum moving from place to place, picking up whatever casual job he could since nobody wanted to give a young guy with no recommendation a regular job.
He had met Don in one of the shelters, where you pay a dollar per night. He met him when the latter was showing a guy twice his size how well he didn't take to accusations. He had bashed the guy's face in. Literally.
Their paths had crossed from time to time, and Don decided that he was worth having around. He taught him a lot about survival skills on the street. It took him about enough time to let people know that Max was under his protection without really bringing him into his "group.". The first well-paying job Max had been able to have was obtained as a result of a "favour" that the owner owed Don. In a way, Don, with all his faults and irredeemable ways, had been more of a family to Maxwell than any other person had been in a long time.
Except for his father, of course. And that was one of the reasons that made Maxwell certain that Don had something to do with what happened to his sister, or that he would at least have information about who did it. If it was a work of the street, Don would know, one way or another.
Still, he knew that he had to tread carefully.
Don might have changed his gender and gotten older, but her temper could still be as mean as anything.
Maxwell smiled as he leaned back against his chair. "Accuse you? Of course not. I wouldn't do that. I just thought well, you know. You might have an idea."
Don's expression changed again, and she grinned. "You always were a cunning one, Maxie. Got a picture of this sister of yours?"
Maxwell mentally patted himself for his quick thinking, as he had taken a full picture of Susan before leaving. The silly girl had been bothered by the fact that she was not looking her best.
"Here," he handed his phone over to Don, who stared at the image for about two seconds before giving his phone back to him.
"Yeah, you are right. Your sister truly pissed someone off, and this was just part of the collateral damages. Got any other thing you want to ask me?" Don asked as she looked at the gadget-like watch on her wrist.
************
The midnight-eyed stranger was currently ribbed by a woman whom most wouldn't have imagined her true identity.
"I tend to think that your urgent business was not so urgent after all, Max." Donald cum Serena, Alias Don spoke as she leaned back against her chair. She looked relaxed in her seat-even slouchy, in fact. Yes, she was about as relaxed as a cheetah would be. Right before he pounced on a prey. She had angled her chair in a way that had her eyes on both the entrance and most of the bar.
"You think wrong, Don. It is about as urgent as urgent could be," Maxwell said as he looked at the shrewd-looking woman in front of him. He still hadn't gotten over the huge transformation the man he had once known had gone through.
He still had no idea why, and Don had never been one to explain himself, or should he say herself, to anyone. It must have been for the illusion. Yes, Maxwell believed it would be hard for anyone to look at the sweet-faced woman in front of him and believed that she was the leader of a syndicate. No stranger could have an idea of what the woman was capable of.
"Are you going to tell me why you got me down here, or do you want to keep staring at my tits? Or better still, you might want to go back to your lady, to whom you had your tongue down her throat," she said with a drawl.
"What? I am not staring at... never mind, and she is not my lady," Maxwell said in annoyance.
"Oh, so she is what then? Your passing flame?" She raised her hand before Max could talk. "I don't care. For the record, I don't care about you staring at my tits either. They cost a lot of money, so they might as well be useful."
Maxwell leaned forward on the table. "Their usefulness is wasted on me. They would work better on someone who had no idea what you were before."
Don gave him a masculine, thin smile "I see you still have your smart mouth on you. Glad to see that living the CEO life had not changed that'' her smile hardened. "Start talking."