Chapter 25
Twenty-Five
A numbness had settled over Margot’s mind on the ride up from the lobby, replacing the anger.
She sank onto the bed in Max’s room and stared at the wall. It was like she was above everything, watching the drama unfold around her; not really part of it.
But she knew she was. This really was her life.
Tad was alive.
A killer wanted to change that.
He might want to kill her and her daughters too.
Max’s face filled her field of vision, and his warm hands covered her icy ones.
“Hey. Are you all right?”
She sucked in a sharp breath through her nose. Glancing away, she blinked several times, ridding herself of the sudden moisture that gathered in her eyes. Was she?
“I don’t know,” she finally whispered.
The bed dipped as Max sat beside her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. “I’m sorry, Margot.”
The simple, heartfelt kindness in his voice was enough to make the tears return to her eyes.
That was enough to make her angry again, but for a different reason. She’d cried all she wanted to over Tad. And she was done letting him have a say in her life.
Swiping at her face, she shrugged out of Max’s hold and stood. “Call Dean. Make sure my babies are safe.”
He stared up at her for a long moment, his blue eyes studying hers, concern shining from their depths. She willed him to drop it. She wasn’t in the mood to talk about her feelings.
Thankfully, he seemed to sense that, because a moment later, he stood and nodded. Taking his phone from his pocket, he dialed Dean’s number, putting the call on speaker.
The line rang several times, echoing through the hotel room. Margot thought it would roll to voicemail, but a sleepy-sounding Dean finally answered.
“’Lo?” His gravely voice told her he’d been asleep.
“Hey. So, there have been some developments,” Max began.
Dean’s yawn ended on a disbelieving huff. “More than what you and Asher told us about last night?”
“Yeah. Tad’s alive.”
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.”