Free Endangered: A Delecoeur Mystery #1 by Jenna Harte Page B

throat.
She pulled the club back over her head and charged towards Chas.
    “Oh, God Chas, no!” Julia cried as she
dove in front of Max.
    Madeleine heard a loud bang and then
felt the club hit the top Chas’ head with a whack. He dropped to the ground.
Running on adrenaline, Madeleine dropped the club and grabbed the gun that had
fallen from his hand. She held it over Chas, but he remained motionless.
    “Max?” Madeleine cried and moved towards
him.
    He was on his knees cradling Julia in
his lap.
    “I’ll call the police and ambulance,”
Madeleine said relieved that Max wasn’t hit. After her call she went back to
them.
    “How is she?”
    Max’s eyes told her it didn’t look good,
but he said, “It will take more than a gunshot to rid the planet of Julia
Devlin.”
    “Damn right,” Julia said on a winded
whisper. She lifted her hand to Max’s cheek. “Consider this my second selfless
act.”
    “You’ve got it.” He smiled, but
Madeleine could see the worry in his eyes.
    Julia then looked to Madeleine. “I’m glad
you aren’t dead. Heartbreak doesn’t look good on Max.”
    Madeleine dropped next to Julia. “Thank
you. Thank you for saving him.”
    Julia nodded, but was too weak to
respond further.
    “Hold on, Julia,” Max said. “Just hold
on.”

Chapter Ten
     
    M adeleine found
Max sitting in the chaise lounge on the balcony of their Napa Valley Villa
overlooking the vineyards. He wasted no time in whisking her away to the
vineyard once Chas was arrested and Julia’s condition stabilized. They visited
her before they left and while she looked tired, she seemed to be returning to
normal. She’d already made a dinner date with her doctor for when she got out
of the hospital.
    During the flight to Napa, Max received
a call that Gavin Shaffer had been located and arrested as well. Once he
learned that Chas had been arrested, he confessed to his part in the plot in
order to secure a lesser sentence. All that was left to learn were DNA results
about Chas' paternity.
    “You’re up early,” she said.
    “Did I wake you?” He moved so she could
sit with him.
    “Your absence in bed woke me.” She sat
between his legs and leaned against him. “Are you thinking about the DNA test?”
    He nodded.
    Madeleine understood how conflicted he
was. She wished there was some way to ease his discomfort over the situation.
    “I hope you don’t mind, I asked the lab
to call me as soon as they had the results,” he said.
    “No, I don’t mind. I’m anxious to know
myself.”
    He looked down at her. “It won’t change
anything between us.”
    It was a statement, but Madeleine saw in
his eyes that he was worried. “Max, nothing will change what's between us. If
Chas is your son, I know you'll want to get to know him even if it's through prison
bars. And even if he isn’t your son, because he’s Julia’s son, you'll likely
want to help him.”
    “The truth is I don’t want to help him
or know him. But I know I should if he is my son.”
    And that was the conflict. In trying to
kill Madeleine, Chas had made an enemy of Max who was usually forgiving. But
the malice by which Chas had operated and carried out his plan, made it
impossible for Max to forget. He would have lost everything if Chas had
succeeded in killing Madeleine.
    Madeleine took his hand in hers.
“Whatever the results, we’ll deal with it. No one would judge you for not
accepting him as your son under these circumstances.”
    “It goes against what I believe I should
do.”
    “I know.” She lifted his hand to her
lips and kissed his knuckles. “Let's just wait for the call.”
    They sat watching the sun slowly creep
over the vine-covered hills. As it settled into the sky, it spread its warmth
over the balcony and onto Max and Madeleine. Madeleine felt him take deep
breath, as if he were breathing in the warmth and light. She turned to look up
at him and saw contentment.
     “Shall I order some breakfast from the
Inn?” she