Page 20 of Maximus

“I only have a minute,” I told Tex.

“We have a problem.”

Of course we do.

“What kind of problem?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the door Eva and the boys had disappeared behind.

“The kind that goes boom.”

“Come again?”

“My team got to Eva’s place. Shit, they didn’t even have to do a sweep—they smelled the gas as soon as they entered. The place was rigged. If she’d gone in…”

Tex didn’t need to finish his explanation, I knew what would’ve happened if Eva had gone into her house and tripped the detonator.

“Where’s Chris Peters?”

“In the air, on a flight to Florida.”

“Shit. What’s your take on this? Two people hired to take her out, or did Peters contract out the work?”

“My gut says two. But I cannot find a second hit.”

Instinct was screaming at me to snatch the trio and head to Maryland immediately. But I knew Eva would fight me, and now that the boys were present, it would be even more difficult to talk to her.

“Your gut’s never wrong so we’ll assume there’s more than one person in play. I was going to take Eva and the kids to another museum but now I don’t want them out in the open.”

“You need to check her car.”

“I’ve been watching her for five days. Last night, I spent the night in front of her house. No one’s been near her car.”

“Right, in the last five days. That doesn’t mean jack shit. I’ve been tracking this for over a month.”

“A month?” I grunted. “Why the hell—”

“You don’t think I would’ve sent a team down earlier if I could’ve connected the dots? I had disjointed chatter. A hit was put out to bid on a woman in Florida. Nothing else. So I waited, then more details came to light. Jacksonville area. Then finally a woman with two kids. Things were becoming clearer. I called you in as soon as the woman in question was said to be a pilot. I’m going back now to see if I missed a second request.”

“Where the fuck do you find this shit?” I huffed.

“You don’t wanna know.”

“What, do you sit around scouring the dark web all night?”

“Something like that. Just check her damn car.”

Christ, he did. Tex spent his time looking for people he could save.

“Tex—”

“Don’t try to psychoanalyze me, Max. You of all people understand the type of men and women who lurk in the shadows. They prey on the weak. Hunt and terrorize. I may not be active duty anymore, but I’m still a SEAL.”

“Damn right you are,” I agreed. “Listen, Eva’s coming back to the table with the boys. I’ve gotta go. I’ll check her car and call you back.”

“Copy that.”

Liam approached with a smile, Elijah with a blank stare, and Eva with a slight upturn of her puffy, pink lips—wait, where the hell did that come from? Puffy pink lips? Why in the actual fuck was I paying attention to her mouth?

“Hey,” she greeted. “You ready to go?”