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Max downed half of his whiskey as the clock outside the bar struck 10pm. It was his first night back from rehab and he was trying to remember what he did before he became a coke addict. His throat burned as the warm whiskey slid down, and he grimaced at the taste. Blame the coke, he told himself.
“Alright sweetheart, just a vodka and coke.” A man’s voice carried across the pub. Max looked up and he could have sworn his blood froze in his veins. It couldn’t be, could it?
Dave Monk was supposed to be serving for possession with intent to supply, it couldn’t be early release. Right?
Max told himself it couldn’t be Monk, but when Dave looked his way and grinned, he knew it was 100% him. If his heart was already in his stomach, it was 6 feet under when dave began to walk over to him.
“Max Cooper, the man himself.” Dave patted Max’s back. “When were you released?”
“About two months ago” Max lied smoothly. Not smooth enough
“Can’t have, they said I wouldn’t have been able to be released earlier so you can’t have been. You’ve got more previous anyway!”
“What can I say,” Max raised his glass, “I charmed the prison officers. Think they all wanted to get in my sheets. Should’ve tried it Dave”
“You’re lying to me” Dave grunted, “You’re absolutely lying, mate. Those officers were stone. What wing were you even in?”
“J Wing” Max said, knowing Dave had been at the complete other end of the prison to that win
“J Wing doesn’t take drug dealers, Sands told me that. Look, that doesn’t matter now. I’ve got some more things that need transporting, if you know what I mean. Jobs yours if you want it?”
“Let me ask you this, Dave. Have you ver tried coke?” Max paused and Dave shook his head; Max carried on. “I very quickly got addicted to coke when they released me, spent a month in rehab as I knew it would kill me if I didn’t stop. I’m done with coke; taking and dealing.”
Max stood up, offering his empty glass to the barmaid, “Thanks darling. And thank you Dave, for the offer. But no thank you”
Max left, what he didn’t notice was so did Dave. Max may not have noticed but Sam, sat in the back corner, did notice. Knowing how this could end, she left Abigail and her drink behind.
Max had gotten about 4 streets away before Dave grabbed his jacket from behind, throwing him to the ground
“You’re a lying piece of shit, Cooper. You weren’t locked at all were you?!”
Max scrambled to his feet, facing Dave with his hands fisted by his side
“What did you just call me?”
“You set me up, didn’t you?” Dave’s voice was dangerously low, as he stepped closer to Max.
“Why would I?”
“Why wouldn’t you? It makes complete sense. Your false record nobody knows about, your lack of sentence. The cops always being there when shit was going down. You were the mole, not Harris or Pete.”
Dave pushed Max hard, and Max grabbed him, pulling him to the floor with him. Monk landed on top of Max and began throwing punches, over and over. Max tried to push back and eventually pushed him over, throwing a solid right hook to the other man’s nose. Monk hit back by pushing his car keys into Max’s rib cage.
Before Max could even register his own pain; Sam, Callum and Sally were pulling him away from Monk, both being cuffed
“Max Carter, Dave Monk, you’re both under arrest for drunk and disorderly and affray. You do not have to say anything that may harm your defence, anything you do say may be given in evidence” Callum recited as he clasped cuffs around Max’s now pale wrists. To Max, it was all a daze. All he could think about were his ribs which felt as if they were on fire.
As they pulled Dave Monk up, he spat at Max’s feet, “Your name wasn’t even Cooper? And the cops turned up again? It was you, you bastard”
“Sally,” Sam said, “add assault on an officer to Mr Monk’s offences”
Dave spluttered as Sally and Callum dragged him away, “He was a fucking cop the whole time. Oh my fuck”
“Max Carter, you’re de-arrested for your actions. I’m happy to call that self defence after following you both since the pub”
“You called them two?” Max winced as he spoke
“Yes. Yes. I did. I couldn’t stand back and let him assault you, that would be a violation of my job. Now, enough of that, let’s get you to A&E”
“They’re broken, I know. Broke my ribs when I was 20. I know what I’m doing. Just let me do my statement and you can take me home if you insist”
Sam watched him a moment, frowning, then spoke
“Alright, fine. But you’re going to A&E if it gets a whole lot worse. Understood?”
“Yes Ma’am” Max tried to smile, and Sam laughed.
“DS Carter.” Jack greeted Max as he left the interview room with Callum
“Sir” Max greeted, nodding
“Have you had your eye and nose checked over?”
“I insisted on doing my statement first, Sir.”
“Well then come on. Let’s go get you cleaned up” The Superintendent gently put a hand on Max’s shoulder, leading him down the corridor.
In Jack’s office, Max was leaning on the desk whilst his superior dabbed at his black eye and bruised nose. Most of the blood was removed with a bit of prying, and a few grimaces from Max.
“How long have you been clean?” Jack calmly asked as he stuck steri strips on Max’s bleeding skin by his rib cage. “Sam told me”
“4 weeks. My leave was to go to rehab.” Max stated, knowing he couldn’t lie his way out
“And you’re clean, now?” Jack asked, still avoiding eye contact
“Yes. Sir”
“You need any support, let me know, won’t you?” Jack asked. “Yes you’re one of my officers but you’re also young enough to be my son, Max. Your wellbeing is of importance to me.”
“Sir?”
“I’ve failed my own son, to an extent. We might be on good terms now, but I still messed up. If I can at least look after my officers, then that may ease a little of my conscience.”
“Thank you, sir” Max said, quieter
“Call me Jack, Max. We’re not on shift, no need for formalities”
Max looked down at his bloody fists as Jack carefully disposed of the waste in a separate bin bag
“I think this is the nicest a parental sort of figure has ever been to me”
“I’d take that as a compliment but that seems very insulting to you that cleaning you up like this is one of the nicest things anyone’s ever done for you” Jack returned with antiseptic wipes, wiping the backs of Max’s hands.
“Yeah, my parents weren’t the greatest to be honest. Never had anything close to parental love”
“Well, you do now son.” Jack frowned, as he let go of Max’s hands. “I’ll take on the role of a parent if my officers need someone. You all deserve parents who care. Plus, it’s only fair that I look after you with the fact that even Ben sees Mickey as my son”
“You’ve known Mickey about a decade though”
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is you both need a dad. And I’ve no reason to not be that” Jack collapsed into his chair
“I don’t think Mickey and Terry are gonna be happy to see me tomorrow”
“Well, firstly, I assume this is because they knew about the coke and weren’t happy. Secondly, you’ve got broken ribs. Who said you’re returning to work?”
“Desk duty?”
Jack sighed, “You’re a menace DS Carter”
“All in a days work, Jack” Max saluted
“Right you can be on desk duty tomorrow. But watch yourself.”
“I will, 100%”
“Do you want me-“
“No. Leave them. I can handle them. If they think i’m trying to get you on side, it’ll be worse”
“If you say so.” Jack nodded. “Need a lift home?”
“I think Sam’s taking me” Max shrugged
“It’s alright, I already told her I’d take you home. Thought it was only fair she got back to Abi.”
“Well, I suppose I’d best take you up on that offer” Max carefully lifted himself to a standing position, and moved towards the door. Jack stood up from his chair, shaking his head and wondering when cops became so immune to their own safety
“If you’re still in this much pain tomorrow, stay home” Jack ordered, as Max headed through his front door
“Painkillers will be fine. But I’ll definitely take that into consideration. Thank you Jack”
“Of course. Goodnight, Max. See you later”
“See you later, goodnight Jack” Max waved slightly, as Jack went back to his car.
What an eventful return home.