Page 36 of Max's Mission

“That works. Thanks, Annabeth. Give the girls kisses for me?” Her voice grew thick. She missed her babies so much.

“I will. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Max chimed in his own farewell, then Annabeth hung up.

Margot set the phone down and pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes with a groan. “I just want to go home.”

Max’s hand landed on her back, rubbing small circles. “I know. So do I. And we’ll get there. At least you’re not stuck here alone.”

She turned her head to give him a soft smile. “No. I’m glad you forced your way onto this trip. For many reasons.” Memories of their kiss Friday evening assailed her. She felt her cheeks flush, but didn’t look away. They hadn’t talked about it, but there’d been a shift in the way they interacted. Touches lingered a little longer and seemed to come more freely; undercurrents of need passed when they looked at each other. It was subtle, but it was there.

His eyes heated, but the rest of his expression stayed neutral.

“So, did you photograph the whole book?” She gestured to the journal.

“I did. I’ve been looking at the entries too.”

“Oh?”

“It’s definitely a betting book.” He opened it and explained what he saw.

“How do you know this?” She frowned, settling an uneasy look on him. “You don’t gamble, too, do you?”

“No. But I spent enough time around guys in the military who did to know the lingo.”

“Can you tell what they were betting on?”

“It looks like horses.”

“Horses? When you guys mentioned gambling, I envisioned casinos and blackjack tables. Not horse races.”

Max lifted a shoulder. “He could have been playing cards too. But this looks like race betting to me.”

She blew out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair. “So, what do we do now? We need to check out that other safe deposit box, don’t we?”

“Yeah. I’m hoping Tad authorized you to get into the box and didn’t just list you or the twins as beneficiaries. If the latter is the case, we’ll have to wait for the DNA results to come back and for the M.E. to issue a death certificate. Or see if Gallagher can get a warrant to get into it.”

“Can we ask to be there when he opens it?”

“We can, but that doesn’t mean he’ll let us. But for now, we’re going to put all this away, except for a couple pieces of your jewelry and the items Tad added, then we’ll go see if we can get into the box.” He reached for the drugstore sack and took out the box of Ziploc bags.

“Which of these do you want?” She gestured to the array of jewelry on the table.

Max stood, tearing open the cardboard box. Leaning forward, he perused the pieces. “That one, that one, and that one.” He pointed to the emerald necklace, the diamond pendant, and a sapphire and diamond ring.

Margot picked them up and deposited them into the baggie he held open.

“Here.” He handed her another bag, then picked up the keychain and put it inside. “We’re taking this stuff with us. Someone let Tad into your box. I don’t want that same someone removing what was added.” He opened another bag and slid the journal inside.

Her eyes rounded. “Do you really think they would? Why? I mean, what would they gain?”

“I don’t know. But we’re not taking any chances.”

She liked his logic. This could be the key to solving Tad’s death. So, without a second thought, she stuffed the three bags into her purse, then helped Max put the remaining items back into the box.

“I’ll go get the manager.” Max took a step back from the table. “Can you put the gloves and bags in your purse?”

---