Page 9 of The Me I Left Behind (Tuckaway Bay #4)

Five

When they arrived back at the house, Maggie pulled out deli meat, cheese and more, laying everything out on the kitchen island.

They made sandwiches, opened a bag of chips, drank diet soda, and made small talk.

After a few minutes, and eating only half a sandwich, Carol announced she was going to bed.

“You look exhausted, sweetheart.” Maggie cupped her daughter’s face in her hand.

“I’ll go up with you.” She wanted to tuck her into bed and hold her close for a while, waiting for her to go to sleep.

She used to do that when Carol was younger and not feeling well.

That crazy mama bear instinct had kicked in wildly that afternoon.

She lingered for several minutes after Carol pulled the covers up to her neck, curled slightly onto her side, and gave a contented sigh.

Maggie fiddled with a lock of hair flung across her forehead.

Then, with a soft kiss on Carol’s cheek, and a sigh of her own, she stood and headed back downstairs.

Julia looked up from her sandwich as she entered the kitchen. “Asleep?”

“Yes. Didn’t take long.”

“She needs it.”

Maggie slid into the chair next to Julia. “I’m not sure of my next move, here.”

Placing what was left of her sandwich on the plate, Julia faced her. “Of course you aren’t. This is not an everyday situation. We need to consider all the angles before making any kind of move.”

“I don’t know how much time we have. You know. If he comes back. I hate to ask you, Julia… You’ve bailed me out of so much, and here I am again. But will you help me? Can we make a plan? I promise I won’t keep doing this.”

Julia studied her, then reached across the island for her hand. “Maggie, we’re friends. More than that, sisters, even. Of course, I will help you. That’s why I’m here. Right?”

“But this is all rather fucked up and—”

“Shut up.” Julia placed a couple of fingers on her lips. “Just stop. We are going to figure this out.”

Maggie met her stare and felt the sting of tears in her eyes. She and Julia had had their share of differences over the years. But she was still there for her. “Thank you,” she murmured.

Julia smiled.

Then, standing, she lifted her plate and napkin from the island and headed for the sink. “We need to listen to that message Max left on your phone earlier. That may give us some direction. You haven’t listened yet, have you?” She began putting away the cold items into the refrigerator.

“No. The phone’s in my purse. I left it in the entry.”

“Go grab it and we’ll listen in here, just in case Max has more devices in his office.”

“Goddamn I hope not.” Maggie rolled her eyes and headed to the entry.

“We’ll find out soon enough,” Julia whispered.

After a minute, Maggie joined her again at the island and took out her phone. With a few taps and a couple of swipes, she logged into her voicemail.

“Put it on speaker, Mags.”

“Oh, right.” She did and laid the phone on the countertop.

Max: Maggie! Goddamn it! What kind of fucking stunt are you trying to pull? Get the hell out of my office before I call the cops. Several seconds passed, then his voice lowered. Be careful, darling. There are eyes everywhere.

The message ended.

Maggie stared at the phone.

Julia stayed silent, too.

“He’s coming home.”

“You think?”

“Pretty sure. He avoided saying anything specific on purpose, to keep me off guard. That’s his M.O.”

Julia nodded. “Could be.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s a little after noon. When do you think the earliest is he can get back?”

“No earlier than nine tonight, or shortly after.”

“Then let’s make that plan now. When do we pick up Jason and Chloe?”

She glanced at the kitchen clock. “Chloe gets out at two-forty-five, Jason at three. I usually make one trip. By the time I get Chloe, Jason is waiting at the pickup place.”

“All right. That gives us a bit of time in the office. We need to look for more camera devices, but I’m betting there are none. Let me go in and give a quick scan—I took a seminar once on surveillance and equipment, so if there is anything, perhaps I can spot it.”

“Okay.”

They moved away from the island, then a thought struck Maggie. She halted and grasped Julia’s arm. Eyes everywhere . “Do you think….? What he said about eyes…?”

Julia apparently caught her drift and started glancing about the room. “It’s possible.”

Damn him! A pang of anxiety, or something, jabbed into her gut. To think that he’d been watching her, them, all the time for perhaps, forever, was sickening. She clutched her stomach, hunching over a little. “I think I need to vomit.”

Julia steadied her, bending closer, whispering in her ear. “If he has cameras all over the house, then he knows everything, anyway. Let’s just do what we need to do then get the fuck out of here.”

Maggie raised her head. “Leave?”

Julia led her to a chair in the great room and crouched in front of her. Still whispering, she said, “You cannot not stay here tonight.”

“Oh. Yeah. But I need to talk to him.”

Julia shook her head and whispered. “No. That’s not a good idea right now.”

“But—”

“Listen to me. I’ll get a hotel room, a suite. We’ll tell the kids it’s my treat since I’m in town. Carol should be fine if she gets some good rest this afternoon. Maybe we can find a hotel with an indoor pool so the kids can swim. That might be fun.”

“They would love it,” Maggie said softly. “But I can’t put anything on my credit card. Max will see.”

Julia smiled. “Already thought of that. That’s why I said it’s my treat. We’ll put it all on mine.”

“Oh Julia, no.”

“Not arguing with you, Maggie. This is what we are doing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“I’ll pay you back. Somehow.”

“Not necessary.”

Maggie felt like letting her tears fall. She held them back earlier, but now… Once again, Julia was bailing her out of trouble. “Thank you.”

With a sigh, Julia leaned forward and embraced her. Then a couple of seconds later, she stood and said louder, “I’m glad you’re feeling better now, Mags. Just sit for a minute and I’ll be right back.”

She did that for Max’s benefit, if he was listening, she guessed. Julia headed down the hall toward Max’s office and returned a minute later with paper and a pen. She scribbled a note to her.

Write notes. No text. Phone bugged?

Maggie shrugged and wrote. O.K.

Julia took back the pen. Office. Then Carol, get littles, and disappear.

Maggie nodded again, fully understanding what she meant. They’d clear the office, get the kids, and then get the fuck out of Dodge.

“Okay, so let’s make quick work of this.

” Julia scanned the room. “At first glance, I don’t see any devices, but you never know.

” She headed to the window wall and took down a picture, ran her hand over the back of it, then replaced it.

Rounding the room, she examined every piece of art on the wall. “Pretty sure the room is clear.”

“So, it’s okay to talk?”

“Yes.”

“Great. Where do we start?”

“We could tackle this back wall of bookshelves, to see if he has any hidey-holes for stashing shit.”

“Wow. This is sort of spy like.” Maggie grinned.

Julia laughed. “You’re getting a goddamned kick out of this, aren’t you?”

“Most fun I’ve had in a while.” But she knew this would not be fun. Dealing with Max and the aftermath was never fun. “I have to confess, that when I was crowbarring those devices and unhinging the door, I felt a strange feeling of satisfaction.”

“I can certainly understand why, Mags.”

“If I found something on him, something to hold over his head, I’d feel even more giddy.”

Nudging her, Julia said, “Stop it. I can see hunger in your eyes. Don’t linger over that thought right now, just concentrate on the tasks. Let’s see what we can find.” Julia pulled down three books. “I promise, we will find something. Anything unusual shout out or put aside.”

“I can do that.”

Maggie laid her hand on the shiny desk surface. “Maybe I should finish the desk.”

Julia turned back. “Didn’t you go through everything in there?”

“No.” Maggie stepped closer. “I emptied a few drawers, that’s it. One drawer was full of old planners, another with files of receipts. For taxes, I guess.”

“Receipts?”

Maggie nodded. “Yes.”

Snapping her fingers, Julia said, “Let’s look at those first. Planners next. Two places where people’s business happens and often gets recorded.”

Maggie wondered if they had time to do that. “What if we put stuff in boxes and take with us to the hotel? That way we are not wasting time. I have some plastic totes in the garage.”

She noted the half-worry expression on Julia’s face. “I don’t know if we should remove….”

“Geez, Julia. We’re already up to our necks in it.”

Nodding, Julia agreed. “True.” She paused, peering into Maggie’s eyes. “Alright, dammit.”

“Good. Because we don’t have time to really examine what’s here, and I really want to nail him with something.”

Smiling, Julia gave her a nudge. “I know. Let’s clear the desk of any papers, binders, and the like, and then we can search the nooks and crannies.”

They quickly tackled the desk, and the papers Maggie had scattered to the floor earlier that day, putting anything that looked even semi-important into the totes.

While Maggie put the desk back together and arranged things on the top like Max had them—pen holder, a family picture taken years ago when Chloe was a baby, stack trays, a yellow legal pad, stapler and more—Julia removed items from the shelves behind Max’s desk, examined them, and put them back.

Maggie joined her, putting books in place.

After several minutes, they stepped back, looking around the space.

“Looks clean enough,” Julia said. “Let’s load these totes into the back of my SUV.”

“Okay.” Maggie nodded. “Back in up to the garage. I’ll open the door.” She knew Max’s Escalade was there, but there should be plenty of room to move around it, with her car gone.

“Good plan. I’ll do that.”

“I’ll start moving the totes to the garage.”