Page 10 of Her Righteous Protector

Ezio picked up Max’s gear as they headed to the truck that would take them to the side of the airport for commercial take-offs.

“I do, Commander.”

“So this thing with Kostya, just how much of it will stand up when the brass and men in suits start picking it apart?” Simon asked.

“It’s as good as gold.”

There was a long pause. “In other words, Kane has done his magic, and maybe Gideon was involved,” Simon sighed. “But cut to the chase for me, Max. How goddamned vital was it that Lieutenant Barona flew his happy ass along with your team on this mission?”

“After hearing everything the lieutenant had to say, I determined his presence is critical.”

“Okay then. Send in your report, you have my full backing.”

Max got onto the truck with the rest of his men and then took his seat next to Kane. “You can send the report off to Commander Clark and Captain Hale,” he told Kane.

He watched as his second in command pulled up a file on his tablet and pressed a button.

“Done,” he smiled at Max. “Now do you want to know what I found out about the reading of the will?”

“Now’s as good a time as any.”

“Does the name Meghan Lancaster or Meggie Lancaster mean anything to you? She used to live in Tennessee.”

Max’s eyes widened. The only friend he’d held onto from his foster care days had been James Rockfield. He’d attended Jimmy’s wedding five years ago in Tennessee. It had been a week-long affair, because Jimmy’s bride-to-be had wanted all the trimmings. Rehearsal dinners, combined bachelor and bachelorette parties, combined baby shower, the works. The way Loretta put it, she and Jimmy’s friends and families lived far and wide, and this would probably be the only time they’d ever be in one place at one time again, so she was making the most of it.

Max had been one of Jimmy’s groomsmen, and Meggie Lancaster had been one of Loretta’s bridesmaids. There’d been an air of vulnerability about her that had brought out Max’s protective instincts the first moment he saw her. It hadn’t been necessary for Jimmy to tell him that Meggie had been hurt by her newly ex-husband; it showed. Nevertheless, Meggie had come onto Max all the same, and by the second night of her not-so-subtle hints, Max had given in. Even now, five years later, he smiled thinking about that woman. She’d told him that he had helped her to heal, but he’d never understood why she’d then gone on to ghost him for the next year, until he’d finally given up. Now, to hear that she’d died felt like a gut punch.

“Max? Max? Are you all right?”

Max looked up at Kane. “No. No, I’m not. I remember Meggie, I just can’t believe she’s dead.”

Kane’s eyes glittered with compassion as he waited.

Max knew his friend had more to say, but it was taking a few moments for him to wrap his head around the fact that the lovely woman he had made love to in Tennessee was no longer alive.

“You ready for the rest?” Kane asked.

Max nodded.

“Her divorce was finalized three weeks after the wedding. Three weeks after that, she moved to Chicago where she took out a restraining order on her ex and changed back to her maiden name.”

Max hadn’t realized that her divorce hadn’t been finalized, but he’d had a damn good idea about the abuse she’d been put through, so in his mind, she was definitely a free woman when they’d been together five years ago.

“Anything else?” Max asked.

Kane nodded and put his hand on Max’s shoulder, and squeezed. “Yeah, there is. Seven months after she moved to Chicago she had a son with the father’s name left blank on the birth certificate.”

Chills raced down Max’s spine. His eyes widened as he looked at Kane. “He can’t be mine, Kane. Not only did we use protection, but the woman I knew is not someone who would’ve kept my son a secret from me. She just wouldn’t have.”

Would she have?

Kane gave a swift nod. “Okay, we’ll go with that. Then what do you think is going on?”

“That bastard she’d been married to, he was sick. The abuse ran deep. It’s possible that he impregnated her and that’s why there’s no father listed.”

Kane nodded again. “And the reason you’re in her will?”

“You mean to tell me you haven’t hacked into this guy’s server yet and found it?”