Don't Fall in Love in Witness Protection

Chapter 3: Caught

C H A P T E R ( 3 )

Charlotte waited until Eli was safely out of the car and they had driven off before she turned to Max incredulously.

'What the hell was that Max?'

Max glanced over at her with a twinkle in his eye, 'What was what? I already told you, Eli and I just had to drop something off to a friend. It was unfortunate we were banned from the Mall last week.' He turned the car off to the right, down a winding road into dense forest. 'Honestly Char, nothing dodgy is going on and we're both so grateful for your help.'

'Nothing dodgy?' Charlotte demanded with her eyebrows raised. 'Are you serious? We picked up Eli from this run down abandoned shed-thing and you wanted me to drop some mysterious package into a tall Asian man – who was super creepy by the way!' She frowned at him, 'It felt dodgy to me.'

Max laughed easily, 'You watch too many crime shows.'

Charlotte relaxed into her seat feeling confused, his laughter and manner was making her feel a little stupid. Would Max really ask her to do something illegal and dangerous only after meeting her? 

'This is probably the only place worth looking at in this old town,' Max smiled at her as they pulled onto a run down dirt road. Charlotte peered out the front window as Max maneuvered through the unsteady road pulling into a large car park with only a few scattered cars around the place.

'Where are we?'

'It's called Winchester Heights,' Max explained as he climbed out of the car motioning for Charlotte to follow. 'It's the only attraction we have here, but it sure is special. And when I say attraction, it's not exactly a tourist destination. It's more of a local hang out.'

Charlotte followed Max across the car park to a small white brick path that opened into quite the view. She couldn't help the gasp that escaped her mouth as she took in the sight before her.

'Oh my God... Max,' she breathed out.

Max smirked at her, 'I always impress the ladies with this one.'

'You mean all the out of town ladies you bring here?' Charlotte rolled her eyes at him. 'Seriously though, wow.'

They were standing at a look out ledge over a massive clearing in the middle of the dense forest.  Beneath them was a beautiful green hedge maze, like something out of a movie. The walls were tall, impeccably trimmed with a huge stone sign at the front in calligraphy reading 'Barrington Maze: Enter'. The intricate design of the maze stunned Charlotte, even standing right above the maze she couldn't spot an easy route through. To their left was a large grassy area with picnic tables and barbecues overlooking the maze. And just in front of that was the most beautiful lake Charlotte had ever seen. It had water so pristine and blue it made her blink and look twice. The outskirts had gorgeous white sand where beach loungers were set up all around the perimeter. It was a little slice of paradise in the middle of a huge forest and small town.

'Impressed?'

Charlotte shook her head in disbelief, 'This is insane! Who would have thought Winchester had this kind of place huddled away?'

'This town is full of surprises,' Max smiled at her and Charlotte looked over catching his eye and blushing, much to her embarrassment. She shuffled a little to the side away from him and heard his low chuckle. 'The maze was a gift from one of the older families of the town, like most of the park is. It's crazy because no matter how much we come here and do that bloody maze, it always gets you.' Max laughed, 'I still can't do it confidently. For fun we like to get drunk at night and have races through it.'