Page 61 of Max's Mission

Dead silence came over the line. Then, “Shit. Did he show up?”

“No. A U.S. Marshal did. Tad’s in WitSec. It’s complicated, but the gist of it is there’s a psychotic and greedy bank robber looking for him, who will stop at nothing to get his money. There are two marshals heading down there to keep an eye on the twins. Another is escorting Margot and me home this afternoon.”

“Well, crap. All right. I’ll call the others, and we’ll batten down security around here. Do you have flight details? One of us can come get you.”

“Not yet, but I’ll make sure to get it. Marchand—the marshal we met with—sent me dossiers on the two marshals coming to you.” He clicked into his text messages.

Margot frowned, wondering when that happened. Must have been on the elevator ride up. As the anger had faded to numbness, she’d tuned most everything out.

“I’ll try to get you an image of the guy we’re looking for too. You could put Asher on that. I’m not sure how forthcoming this marshal will be with information. The guy’s name is Fred Berry. He partnered with a man named Devin Owens. The latter is a bookie in the Dallas area who mostly ran bets on horse racing. Not sure how he knows Berry, but they robbed a Chase bank in Shreveport, Louisiana.”

Dean yawned again. “Okay. I’ll call him.”

“Are the girls doing all right?” Margot asked. They’d seemed fine when she spoke to Annabeth yesterday, but now she was doubly worried about being away from them.

“They’re fine. Keeping us hopping. Emily decided she wanted to surf yesterday. She saw my board and demanded to try it. So, I took her out, and we rode some small waves in on our bellies. She loved it. I even got Lily to try it.”

Margot’s eyebrows shot up. Her youngest twin was not adventurous at all. She much preferred watching to doing. “Really? Did she like it?”

“She did. I was surprised too.”

“We’ll have to have Edie set them up with some bodyboards. They’re getting to be pretty good swimmers, so I think they’ll do all right with that.” Max glanced at her.

Of all the things she thought her daughters would do at such a young age, surfing and bodyboarding weren’t even on her radar. But then, neither was living in Costa Rica.

Dean chuckled. “They’ll be pros in no time. All right. I’m going to hang up now and call the others. Let me know your itinerary and if anything changes.”

“Will do.” Max’s thumb hovered over the icon to end the call. “Talk to you soon. Thanks, Dean.”

“Yep.”

After they hung up, Max dropped the phone on the bed and turned to face her. “Well, at least everyone will be vigilant now. I’ll feel better once we’re down there, though.”

So would she. It had already bothered her being so far away from the kids. But now that she knew there was danger? She wanted to march straight to the nearest airport and fly a plane back to Costa Rica herself.

Her face crumpled. A soft sob escaped, and she covered her mouth, wavering on her feet. She so very much wanted to hug her babies.

Max’s arms went around her, and she leaned into his warmth, grateful he was there to hold her together.

“Hey. None of that. They’ll be fine. And look at it this way. Having the marshals there will give Emily someone new to terrorize.”

Unbidden, a chuckle escaped. Sniffing, she eased back and wiped at her face. “We can break out the foam swords you bought and tell her they want to be her new sparring partners.” She chuckled again, getting a hold of the fear that had momentarily overwhelmed her. The marshals would never know what hit them.

Max grinned. “That’s a good plan. I think Marshal Marchand should be first. It can be comeuppance for keeping you in the dark.”

Her brows knit together. “I agree.” That angered her almost as much as Tad’s deception.

Tipping her chin up, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips, further banishing the fear.

“Come on.” Stepping back, he held out a hand. “Let’s get packed up. I want to get downstairs and get our flight details from Marchand. See if I can change our seats.” His nose wrinkled, making Margot chuckle again.

“You really don’t like flying coach.”

A roguish smile crossed his face. “Nope.”

Twenty-Six

The soft thud of the car door shutting broke the nighttime stillness as Margot got out of Ford’s car in Dean and Annabeth’s driveway. Behind her, Marshal Marchand’s headlights shut off as he cut the engine to his rental car. The man hadn’t been happy when she and Max decided to ride with Ford and not with him. But she was with Max on this. The marshals could stay in the background. She trusted Ford and the others much more than any federal agents. They would never keep anything important from her. She also knew they’d lay down their lives to protect her children.

---