Page 77 of Max's Mission

The skeletal remains she’d found on Conroy’s farm entered her mind. She bit the inside of her cheek, holding back the questions. Marchand needed to be here for that.

Thirty-Three

Max barely waited for the car to come to a halt before he was out and charging up the walkway to his front door. He knew Tad wouldn’t do anything to hurt Margot or the girls, but the thought of her facing her ex without him there to lean on—it bugged the crap out of him.

The quick staccato of the others’ footsteps echoed behind him as he opened the door. His gaze traveled through the living room to the backyard. He could see Emily on the diving board. Audra stood to the side, her arms crossed, one eye on the pool and the other on the house.

“Margot?” His voice echoed through the cavernous room.

“Kitchen,” came her reply.

He veered left, weaving around the furniture. Crossing the threshold, he stopped, his gaze going to the blond-haired man standing in front of the window.

Emily and Lily’s eyes stared back at him from the man’s face.

Max clenched his teeth. And his fists.

“Easy.” Sam’s hand landed on his shoulder.

He shrugged it off and crossed to Margot’s side. Lifting a hand, he skimmed his knuckles over her face. “You all right?”

She nodded. Taking his hand, she laced their fingers together, then nodded at the man. “Max, this is Tad. Tad, Max. And that’s Sam, Dean, and you know Marchand.” She gestured around the half circle the men had formed, introducing them all.

Tad gave them all a tight smile. “Hello.”

Marchand propped his hands on his hips. “Do I even want to know how you evaded the safeguards we had in place, or how you managed to get on an international flight without a problem?”

Tad wrinkled his nose. “Probably not. But it was for good reason. I think Fred’s here.”

The marshal’s gaze sharpened.

Max’s hand tightened around Margot’s.

“What makes you say that?” Marchand asked.

“After that friend of theirs”—he nodded at the men and Margot—“came to talk to me, I called around to some… contacts. The consensus was that Fred had a line on how to get his money. Not a line on themoney, but how to get it.” He lifted a shoulder and glanced out the window. “There’s only one thing that would get me to give up where I hid it.”

Marchand gave a short huff through his nose. “I’m not even going to touch on you breaking WitSec protocol right now.” He waved a hand. “Why did he wait so long? We know he knows who you really are. Owens knew, so it stands to reason Berry does too. Why would he wait all this time to come after your ex-wife and your kids?”

“Because Owens didn’t tell him about them until recently. That’s why Berry killed him. To keep him from going to the cops and stopping him.” Tad ran a hand through his hair. “Devin was a bastard, but he wasn’t evil. He drew the line at hurting people’s families. He called me. Devin did. After Fred ‘coaxed’”—he air-quoted—“the information out of him. And no, I don’t know how he got my new number. Probably one of the people I’d kept incontact with. Anyway, after his call, I skipped out on the federal agents I was working with, packed up a bunch of my stuff, and hopped on a bus to Idaho. There, I bought a car.”

Marchand held up a hand. “Where did you get the money to buy a car? I know what your finances look like. You don’t have that much. Now or then.”

Tad’s gaze darted to Margot. Suddenly, Max knew what he’d done with some of the money he’d gotten from stealing her jewelry and coins.

“I had some savings you didn’t know about,” Tad said.

“Why did we find so much of your stuff in the car?” Margot asked.

“Because I took a lot with me. I wasn’t certain I was going back to my new life. Turns out, I was right about that. Someone in Devin’s organization turned on him and told Fred that Devin contacted me. We ran when he showed up at the apartment Devin and I rented in Boise.”

He glanced at Marchand. “And before you ask, I didn’t intend to leave my car and belongings behind the way I did. We spent a couple days driving through Montana and into North Dakota, but Fred’s like a damn bloodhound. He tracked us down when we were in the Badlands. I’d let Devin drive that day, so he had the key when we got separated. When I couldn’t find him again after several hours, I started looking for help. I ended up coming across an older couple who were driving through the park. I fed them some story about getting lost and asked for a ride to town. They were happy to oblige. From there, I caught another bus and went back to my WitSec house and pretended like nothing happened. I’ve kept a low profile since, hoping he wouldn’t find me.” His jaw worked. “Instead, he found my family.”

“Did you try to contact Owens again?” Marchand asked.

“Yes. Eventually, his number stopped working. That’s when I knew Fred had gotten to him.”

“You should have come to me with this.” Marchand pointed at his own chest. “We could have tracked Berry down. Stopped him from coming after you or your family.”

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