get a single value from a table usgin the query() method inside a model

get a single value from a table usgin the query() method inside a model

all,
I have a very complex setup on my tables and achieving this via any of the
find() methods is not an option for me, since I would need to fix
relationships between my tables and I don't have the time right now, so
I'm looking for a simple fix here.
All I want to achieve is run a query like this:
SELECT MAX( id ) as max FROM MyTable WHERE another_field_id =
$another_field_id
Then, I need to assign that single id to a variable for later use.
The way I have it now it returns something like [], I'm aware I may be
able to do some PHP on this result set to get the single value I need, but
I was hoping there was already a way to do this on CakePHP.
Can anyone please share your CakePHP expertise with this frustrated newbie?
Thanks