Page 7 of The Me I Left Behind (Tuckaway Bay #4)

Four

“I can be there in two hours.”

Maggie pushed back her hair and sat again, hunched over Max’s desk. Carol had just left, taking Maggie’s car to drop the littles off at school. “Julia, I didn’t call so you would come. I just want your advice. What can I look for to get something on Max?”

“Look. I’m almost dressed. And believe me, you’re going to need my advice. Hold on.”

Maggie heard shuffling and low talk in the background. It sounded like she was saying goodbye to Sam. Had she made a mistake pulling Julia into this, when she’d sent her a copy of the video Max texted earlier?

“Seriously, Julia. It’s okay. I can handle it. Don’t come. Stay with Sam.”

Julia gave a mocking laugh. “Mags, it’s not okay. You’ve committed a crime, and Max has it all on video.”

“Crime? It’s my own damn house!”

“True, but Max’s office was locked, and you entered without his permission.”

“I need permission to go into a room in my own house?”

Julia sighed. “Maggie, listen to me. You used force to get past the locks. It’s illegal. It’s breaking and entering.”

“It’s my own fucking house! Dammit!”

She pushed up and away from the desk, standing and whirling around, trying to find that damn elusive camera. Out of sheer frustration, she raked her arm over the desk and papers flew. Then twisting back, she set the phone aside and started pulling books off the shelf behind her.

“Maggie. Maggie! Listen to me.” Julia shouted into the phone.

Maggie knotted up her fist and shoved it into the air, rotating from one corner of the room to another. “Max Oliver! If you are listening to me right now, I hate your fucking guts more than you even know.”

“Maggie!”

She grabbed up the phone. “What!”

“Take a breath. I can’t help you if you are upset like this. Now, find a place to sit for a minute, maybe away from the office, and let’s talk this out while I drive.”

“Carol will be back soon.” Suddenly, she was exhausted. Leaning her backside against the desk, she glared at the shelf of books she’d just emptied. Almost. “Wait. Hold on a minute.”

“What are you doing?”

She set the phone down again and moved closer to the shelf. Wires were sticking out of the back of a book she hadn’t knocked over. She reached for it and realized it was tethered to some sort of an electrical box in the wall. She flipped the thing over in her hands.

“It’s not a goddamn book,” she murmured.

“What?” Julia questioned.

Maggie ran her hand over the spine. There.

A small circle indentation. Black. Just like the book cover.

The camera lens. Fucking bastard. She looked into it, peered into it with one eye, picturing in her head what Max was looking at, then drew back and stuck out her tongue.

Ripping the cords from the book, she turned back to the phone and Julia.

“I found the other stupid camera,” she shouted, then switched to speaker phone. “And I’m about to destroy it like I did the other one.”

“How?”

“Crowbar.”

“Shit, Maggie.”

“Is that illegal too?”

“Probably.”

She didn’t care. The crowbar stood by the door, and she made quick work of obliterating the book thing with three solid jabs of the heavy tool. She snatched up the phone again. “Well, that’s done.”

“Great. Now listen to me.”

Maggie sat again. “Fine. I’m listening. But Carol should be back any minute, so say what you need to say now if it’s not something she should hear.”

Julia exhaled from the other end. “Alright. Look. I’m going to tell you something you might not have considered.”

“Besides the breaking and entering part?”

“Yes.”

“What is it, Julia?”

“Max has video. You showed me that earlier. That means he has recorded it all, from the time you broke through the door until you pulled that fake book camera from the shelf. He has everything. Even you talking to me.”

“I don’t really care. So?”

“So, he can use it against you anytime he wants.”

“Like?”

“Like in a divorce or custody case.”

She still wasn’t totally getting it. “Well, I suppose he could, but I haven’t really done anything here but break in.”

“You showed rage. You broke his cameras, yelled at him and said you hated him, rifled through his desk. Carol came in and you talked with her. He could nail you for making her an accomplice. He has all that, Mags. And he can twist it—or a talented lawyer can twist it—any number of ways.”

“But that’s why I need to find something on him—something dark and dirty—that I can hold over his head.” There has to be something .

“Seriously, Mags. Max having another family in Australia is not enough? Go with that. It’s your best bet.”

“I feel like there is more, Julia. Like I need more. He keeps this office locked up for a reason. I want to know what it is. He used to go bat-shit crazy if I stepped inside while he was working and didn’t lock the door.”

Julia huffed. “Shit, Mags. He probably just goes in there and watches porn and jacks off.”

“Illegal porn? What if he…?”

“Don’t go there. Not yet. To be honest, I’m worried about something a little more immediate.”

“Such as?”

“Him going to the police with the video.”

“Like right now?”

“Yes.”

Maggie shrugged and leaned back in Max’s chair. “How? He’s in the air, more than likely, so he can’t access it until he gets on the ground.”

“You think?”

“Pretty sure.”

“Wi-Fi is available on most flights now, right?”

Dammit. She is right. “But phones still have to be in airplane mode, don’t they?” She hadn’t flown in so long she wasn’t exactly certain.

“Does he have a laptop? Tablet?”

“Of course. Both.”

“Well…?”

Maggie’s chest tightened. “Shit.”

Julia said nothing for a minute, which allowed Maggie to gather her thoughts. “But what if he didn’t come home? What if he said, fuck it and deal with it from there? It is a long trip.”

“It is. And you are right. We really don’t know how Max is going to react. Do we?”

“No,” Maggie said. “I have no clue. My first instinct was that he’d catch the first flight out because of what I did. Hell, maybe I even did it to provoke him, knowing he’d come home, and I’d have to confront him. But now? I’m not sure.”

“Maggie, listen to me. Wherever Max is, he has the video. He can download it, and he can send it to the authorities here, telling them he is away on business and that there is an intruder in his house.”

Why hadn’t she thought of that? She’d been too hell-bent on trying to get one over on Max that she hadn’t considered all the consequences. “Shit. What do I do now?”

“Don’t let anyone in the house—I’m talking about law enforcement—unless they have a search warrant.”

“And if they do?”

Julia exhaled again. “Stall them as long as possible. Tell them it’s your house, your husband is away on business, the kids are at school, and you are there alone, and that no one has tried to break in.”

“Maybe I should tell them Max is crazy as a fruit fly, and he makes shit up all the time? That it was me in the house all along?”

“No.” Julia paused for a moment. “Less is more, Mags. The less you say, the better. And you don’t want to accuse Max of anything. Even crazy. It sounds suspicious and could open a Pandora’s Box full of more trouble for you.”

“Alright. Got it.”

“Let’s just hope it won’t go there.”

Maggie wished that would be the case, but she was worried. “Should I clean up the office? Just in case they have a warrant and want to look?”

“Maybe. If they see a mess, and the broken door, they will question.”

“What if I tell them that one of the kids locked themselves inside and I had to unhinge the door to get to them?”

“That might work. Except for the footage.”

“Right. And if it doesn’t?”

“Then say nothing. If they take you in, I’ll be there in less than two hours as your attorney. Say nothing. Give them nothing, Maggie. Understand?”

“Yes. The kids?”

“I’ll make sure they are okay.”

“Fine. Right.”

The front doorbell rang just then, startling Maggie. “Shit.”

“What was that?” Julia asked.

“Doorbell.” Fuck, fuck, fuck….

“Hold on, I’m pulling over.”

Maggie waited.

“I’m back,” Julia said. “Mags, listen to me. Look out the window. What do you see? Patrol car?”

Maggie rushed to the office window and pulled back the heavy draperies a little. A sliver of fear inched up her spine, circled around to her chest, and landed in her throat. Suddenly, she was cold. Very cold.

“Shit, yes, Julia. It’s the cops. There’s a car sitting out front on the street.”

“Can you see anyone?”

“No. I can’t see the porch from here.”

“Alright. Listen to me. Keep this phone on. I’ll stay quiet. Put it in your pocket or something. Go answer the door.”

“I can’t do this.”

“Maggie, you can.”

“I’ll try.”

“You will be fine.”

The walk from the office to the front of the house took longer than any other time she’d ever walked it before. The bell sounded again, and she jumped. She took a breath and tugged open the heavy oak door.

Two officers stood on the porch looking back at her, their expressions blank.

“Officers? May I help you?”

“Are you Mrs. Oliver? Maggie Oliver?”

She nodded. “Yes, that’s me.”

“Carol Oliver’s mother?”

Shit. What now? What has Carol done now? “Yes? Is everything okay?” Her hands started shaking.

One officer stepped closer. “Mrs. Oliver, your daughter was involved in a traffic accident a few minutes ago over on Winstead. We were in the area and assisted with the accident. If you would like to grab your personal things, a purse or such, and come with us, we can take you to the hospital.”

Maggie clutched the phone still in her hand. “Hospital?”

Shit, my legs are going to give out.

“Ma’am.” An officer grabbed her elbow. “Are you okay?”

“I… I don’t know. Let me get my purse and keys.” She turned into the house, then back again. The littles! “Was she alone?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Maggie blew out a breath. “Okay.” Jason and Chloe are at school. They are fine. But Carol? Oh. My. God.

She gathered her things from an entry table, then closed the door behind her. “Is she hurt badly?”

“We have very little information. We know they took her to the E.R. The hospital is not far.”