Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
M ax’s eyebrows slammed down. He could feel his neck and face turning red as fury swelled. In contrast, all the blood drained from Margot’s face, leaving her white as a sheet. Her nails dug into his bicep as she clutched his arm.
A moment later, she let go of him and stumbled to a chair, sitting down. Max moved behind her, laying his hands on her shoulders, not only to offer her comfort but to keep them occupied so he didn’t do something dumb, like deck a federal agent.
He pierced Marchand with a fierce glare. “Why are we just now learning this? The FBI has had Tad’s car for weeks. If Margot and the kids were in danger, why hasn’t someone contacted her? We’d have been more vigilant and might have seen someone lurking.” And he sure as hell never would have left the country to help Sam. Nor would he have left the twins behind on this trip. They’d have brought them along—with backup.
“We didn’t have any evidence Berry was still in Costa Rica. Or that he’d ever been. He could have paid someone to mail that postcard.”
Max hummed. “Didn’t have any evi—” he stopped himself, pressing his lips together. Pulling in a breath through his nose, he tamped down the urge to throttle Marchand. He wouldn’t get the answers to all his questions if the man was unconscious. “Where’s Tad now?”
“Blissfully unaware of any of this.”
In one smooth movement, Margot was out of her chair and only steps away from Marchand. “Why? If you knew he was alive, why did I go to Minot to identify his things? If you wanted to keep me out of this, why involve me in that?”
“That ball was in motion before I could say anything. Then, I didn’t want to tip our hand, so I stayed out of it and let you come.” He glanced away briefly. “I also wanted to see what information you could add.”
Her brows dipped so low they nearly touched. Max saw her muscles tense and knew she was about to do what he’d been trying not to.
In two quick strides, he was around the chair and had her wrapped in his arms. “Easy, babe.”
She pushed against his arms, but he held on tight. “Are you serious right now? This jackass put Emily and Lily in danger. Why aren’t you helping me beat his face in?”
Max eyed the marshal over her shoulder, letting the man see the fury he kept banked. “Trust me, I want to. But we need him and the answers he has locked in his brain.”
Marchand’s spine stiffened. He met Margot’s gaze. “For what it’s worth, it wasn’t personal, and if I’d believed you or your daughters were in any real danger, I would have made you aware.”
Was he for real?
Max rolled his eyes and debated letting Margot go. The guy just didn’t get it.
“I’m upset about that, yes,” Margot said. “But right now, I want to break your nose because you used me! And you let me believe someone I once loved was dead! Someone who, despite his faults, still means something to me.”
Her voice reached a pitch that carried through the lobby. Several people stopped and turned to look at them.
Marchand glanced around, a tight, polite smile on his face. He nodded to a couple of people.
“I know you want to know where he is,” he said, turning back to them. “But I can’t tell you that.” He kept his voice low. “Not until we have Berry in custody.”
Max ground his molars together. He wanted to press the man for more on Tad’s whereabouts, but the set to his face told him it would be as pointless as a worn pencil. “If he’s not the body the fisherman found, who is it?”
“We think it’s Owens.”
“You think?” Max’s eyebrows went skyward. “Have you asked Tad? What does he say?”
Dye sent a derisive look at the marshal, surprising Max. Apparently, something didn’t sit right with the agent.
“They haven’t,” Dye said.
Marchand cast an annoyed glance at his counterpart. “As I said, we want Dr. Gaultier to stay unaware of things for now, so no. We haven’t asked him about who could be the man pulled from the lake.”
“Of all the—” Margot started, but Marchand waved a hand.
“I’m not getting into that with you. Nor am I willing to clue your ex-husband in on what’s happening at the moment. We need him to stay where he is. He’s our only witness to any of this, and we need him alive. As I said, we think the deceased is Owens. The current working theory is that Berry got greedy. Perhaps Owens wouldn’t let him go after Tad’s family. With Owens out of the way, he’s free to get the cash however he sees fit.”
“He’d really kill a woman and two young children for what, fifty grand? A hundred grand, if they split it fifty-fifty?” They’d found two hundred thousand dollars in the duffel bag at the farmhouse.
“Actually,” Dye said, “it’s probably a lot more than that. We were at the Conroy’s property until all hours of the morning. My team found a literal barrel full of cash in the barn. It was over a million dollars. The day they robbed the bank, they’d just gotten a truck. Payday was the next day for one of the area’s major employers.”
Max tipped his head back and ran a hand over his face. This was turning into an insane mess. “How is Conroy connected? He hasn’t been dead since the robbery, right?”
“No.” Dye shook his head. “We’re still not sure about that.”
“I ran the name against Berry and Owens’s known associates,” Marchand added. “No one with that name is connected to either of them. That we know of.” He turned to Margot. “Dr. Gaultier, are you sure you don’t know the Conroys? Or that your ex-husband doesn’t?”
“I have no idea who they are. As for whether Tad knows them, you’ll have to ask him.”
Something flashed in Marchand’s gaze. Annoyance, perhaps. And a bit of anger at her flippant attitude.
Max bit back a mirthless grin. Good. The marshal deserved everything Margot dished out for keeping them in the dark like this.
“What are you doing about Margot and the girls’ safety?” Max pinned the man with a hard stare. He wanted to make sure there was a backup layer in place. He had full confidence in his friends, but this was Emily and Lily’s safety they were talking about. As far as he was concerned, there could never be enough eyes watching out for them.
“Two of my colleagues are boarding a plane to Costa Rica as we speak. They’ll become Emily and Lily’s shadows. I will escort you and Dr. Gaultier home. We’ve already cleared it with the Costa Rican authorities.”
Crossing his arms, Max continued to give Marchand a hard look. Part of him wanted to tell the man to shove it where the sun didn’t shine. But for Margot and the girls’ safety, they all needed to cooperate. That didn’t mean he’d let the marshal run roughshod over him, though. “Fine. But you and your colleagues will play a backseat to myself and our friends. No offense, but I don’t know you. However, I do know my friends and what they’re capable of. There’s no one I trust more than them to keep Margot and the girls safe.” He cast a quick look at Margot, hoping she didn’t think he was speaking out of turn. The protection was for her, not him. But she didn’t look upset. Not at him, anyway.
Still, he decided to ask her. “Is that all right with you, Margot?”
“Yes.” She looked at Marchand. “You and the other marshals can watch from outside. My girls and I will stick close to Max and our friends.”
The marshal’s lips flattened, and the hard glare he aimed at Max said he wasn’t pleased. “We’ll discuss it when we get there.”
Max bit back a snort. No, they wouldn’t.
He let his arms fall back to his sides. “Do you have any other bombshells to drop, or can we go call our friends to fill them in?”
Marchand’s face relaxed. “I’m all done. Except to say I’ve booked the three of us on a flight out of Dallas this afternoon. Once you call your friends, pack up and meet me back down here. We need to get on the road.”
With a nod, Max motioned for Margot to stand. “Text me the info on your colleagues. I’ll forward it to my friends, so they know who to look for. Dye has my number.”
He held out a hand to Margot. “Shall we?”
Blue eyes flinty, she aimed an icy glare at the marshal. “Yes. Get me out of here before I poke his eyes out.”
Without another word—mostly because he wanted to do the same thing and was holding on to his temper by a thread—he ushered her away.