The Hollywood Mission by Deborah Abela

stressed.’ Max was so used to disagreeing with everything Toby said, she contradicted him automatically. He was right, though. Her dad did look stressed, only she wasn’t going to admit it to Toby.
    Max stayed out of her father’s way all day but when it came to going home, he hardly even noticed she was there.
    â€˜Mmmm? Oh, Max. You and your friends go home with the driver. Mee Lin’s away for a few daysfilming in San Francisco, but there’s plenty to eat in the fridge. I’ll be home late.’ Then he added, ‘I’m going to be busy over the next few days so I won’t be able to spend much time with you.’
    Toby looked at Linden, who shrugged. This wasn’t the Max’s dad they knew.
    He turned away and started talking to a member of the crew. Max’s shoulders slumped as she walked to the exit of the studio. She could hear voices behind her becoming heated and turned to see her dad arguing and throwing his hands around.
    Linden, Toby and Max walked through the studio grounds to the car in silence. Linden knew Max was sad and wanted to cheer her up. ‘He’s had a rough day.’
    â€˜Or maybe he’s sick of me already?’
    Linden frowned. ‘How could anyone get sick of you?’
    â€˜Well, first of all …’ Toby began, until Linden elbowed him in the ribs.
    â€˜Maybe he wishes he’d never had me.’
    â€˜Max, he’d never wish that.’ Linden leant into her gloomy face and shone her one of his best smiles. ‘When you meet great people, you never regret it.’
    Max smiled back. ‘One of your mum’s sayings?’
    â€˜Yep. I’ve been saving that one for a special occasion,’ he replied proudly.
    Toby frowned. He wasn’t sure who was acting stranger, Max’s dad or these two.
    â€˜And Mee Lin never mentioned anything about going away.’
    â€˜Maybe it came up unexpectedly,’ Linden suggested.
    â€˜Or maybe she’s over me, too?’
    At her dad’s home, all three collapsed on the lounge in exhaustion.
    Until there was a knock at the front door.
    Max sat up, jumpy from the day she’d had at the studio and her attack in the snow. She looked through the curtains and shuddered when she saw a man in a uniform carrying two parcels. The last time she’d received a parcel it almost led to the destruction of spy agencies across the world. 5
    â€˜What if it’s the man who tried to kill me on the slopes,’ she whispered.
    â€˜A killer who knocks?’ Linden questioned.
    â€˜Killers can have manners too, you know,’ Toby reminded him sarcastically.
    Max ignored them and grabbed one of her ski stocks that had been left in the hall.
    â€˜You don’t think there’s a possibility it could be someone else?’ Linden asked.
    â€˜Who else could it be?’
    As Linden thought of the many other people it could be there was another knock.
    â€˜Coming,’ Max ushered Toby and Linden to the other side of the door.
    She again looked through the curtain and saw something that made her heart go cold. The guy’s delivery uniform was too small for him and beneath it Max could see a different layer of clothing. The real delivery guy was probably lying in the garden somewhere while this phoney had taken his suit, put it on over his clothes and was here to kill her.
    Max clenched her teeth and flung open the door. Before the guy could say anything, she hit him with her stock. He fell to the ground with a pained groan and a thud like a sack of potatoes.
    â€˜Max?’ Linden and Toby leapt out from behind the door to see the crumpled figure of the guy beside two parcels.
    â€˜What did you do that for?’ Toby asked, worried Max’s skiing accident had dented her brain.
    â€˜He’s not a real delivery person,’ she said withmore than a hint of victory in her voice. ‘These aren’t his real clothes.’
    â€˜I’ve heard