Page 46 of Max's Mission

He hoped.

Eighteen

Feeling decidedly zombie-like, Margot stumbled into their hotel room several hours later. They’d opted for one with two queens this time. It was playing with fire, but the specter of why they were here and what they were doing loomed over them and helped keep her in her own bed. That and the fact they’d yet to talk about that kiss.

Spying the perfectly made-up bed, she made a beeline for it, flopping onto her belly.

“Ugh. My brain is fried.”

Once they left Ranchero Bank, Dye drove them to Westwood, where they spoke to the bank staff—none of whom copped to giving Tad access to her deposit box—and cleaned out what was left of her jewelry. She removed the coins, too, not trusting the staff.

From there, they visited Karl, the jeweler, again. He identified three more pieces that had stones replaced.

Anger burned in her belly at the thought. Even though she’d never wanted the items from her parents, it didn’t mean she wasn’t upset that Tad had stolen from her.

The bed dipped as Max sat down. His hand landed on her back and rubbed slow circles on her spine.

“You know what we need to do now, right?”

She turned her head to look at him. “What?”

“Call Asher.”

Sighing, she rolled and sat up. “Let’s get it over with. I want to open a new deposit box before you make me ride all the way over to Cass County.”

Surprise flashed in his silvery blue eyes. “How did?—?”

Margot rolled her eyes, a smile quirking one side of her mouth. “I know how you guys operate. You’ll feed Asher all this information, and while he does a records search and maps the location, we’ll drive over. By the time we get there, he’ll have an entire history on the property, down to what color wallpaper was in the kitchen in 1952.”

Max laughed. “Maybe not quite that detailed.”

She waved a hand. “Close enough.”

Still chuckling, he took out his phone and called Asher on FaceTime.

“Hey, guys. How’s Texas?” Asher’s smiling face appeared.

“Warmer than North Dakota,” Margot said.

“And fruitful,” Max said.

“Oh?” Asher arched an eyebrow. “Do tell.”

Max chuckled. “We found the spare to that safe deposit box key I told you about. It was inside Margot’s safe deposit box.”

“What? Did you figure out what bank?”

“Yes. He left the key chain on it with the bank’s logo. And we got into the deposit box. It contained a map with a property circled.”

“Okay, hang on. Let me find some paper.” Asher rose from his seat on the couch.

“I dropped a pin on it. Do you want me to just text it to you?”

“Sure.” Dropping down to the plush gray cushions, Asher ran a hand through his hair. “Did you find anything else?”

“He replaced a bunch of the stones in Margot’s jewelry with fakes, took two coins, and left behind a betting ledger. I think it’s for horse racing.”

“Damn. Do you have the journal?”

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