Monroe, Marla - The Edge of Night [The Protectors 3](Siren Publishing Classic) (33 page)

Amanda breathed a sigh of relief when they finally pulled out onto the highway. They were finally on their way to the lawyer’s office. Soon they would mail the letter with the disc, and everything would be set in motion. Once she had told her story to the lawyer and gotten the paperwork she needed drawn up, all that would be left was to confront Guy. She could do that. Then what? Then she began the rest of her life—without Morgan.

It hurt to even think about it. How would it feel once it was reality? Amanda leaned against Morgan’s back, holding on tightly. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything. She prayed that the wind would dry her tears before they stopped.

* * * *

Morgan pulled up in front of the law offices of Smith, Lark, and Buchannan and parked the bike next to Jethro and Justin’s truck. All three of them gathered at the front of the Dodge Ram to go over what they were doing. Morgan felt like a total and utter ass. He’d hurt the very woman he was supposed to be protecting. What in the hell was wrong with him?

“We’ll watch the door to the office to make sure no one suspicious goes in while you’re in there,” Jethro said.

“I figure this will take about an hour,” Morgan told them.

“We’re cool with that,” Justin told him.

He nodded and turned to Amanda. She hadn’t said a word all the way there, three solid hours of silence. She’d held on for dear life, as if he’d push her off the back or something. He disgusted himself.

“Are you ready?” he asked, holding out his hand.

Morgan half expected her to ignore it, but she took it and let him lead her up the steps into the office building. Once inside, he looked over the directory until he found which floor their law offices took up and punched the elevator button.

“You good with this?” he asked her.

“I’m fine.” She sounded much calmer than he felt.

“Just tell him the truth, and I’ll fill in the rest.”

“Okay.” She gave him a small smile.

He smiled back, and a little piece of his heart settled back in his chest.

The elevator doors opened, and a dozen people pushed their way off. Morgan held the door for Amanda and then shielded her from everyone who piled in around them. He made sure she had plenty of room, much to the rest of the passengers’ annoyance.

The floors passed by, with some people getting off and more getting on, till they arrived at the twelfth floor. Morgan ushered her off with a hand to her back just above the curve of her ass. He couldn’t help but notice how nice that ass was, too. They walked down a long hall, to the end, where the door was labeled with the names of the partners to the law firm. They were there to see Martin Buchannan.

Morgan opened the door for her and waited until she had walked inside before closing it behind him. He walked up to the receptionist and informed her they had an eleven thirty appointment with Mr. Buchannan.

“Mr. Buchannan will be with you in just a few minutes. If you’ll both have a seat, I’ll call you when he’s available.” The fiftyish-looking secretary smiled and disappeared behind a door. She was gone only a minute before she took her seat and began working on the computer.

Several minutes had passed when her phone buzzed and she picked it up. She set it back down and stood up.

“If you’ll follow me, Mr. Buchannan will see you now.”

Morgan held out his hand for Amanda, and they followed the woman through a set of double doors, down a hall, and to a large wooden door at the end of the hall. She knocked once, then pushed the door open for them to enter. Morgan kept a hand at Amanda’s back until they were standing in front of the man himself.

He stood up and reached across the desk to shake their hands. “Good to meet you. I was intrigued by the e-mail I received from Dodge. I haven’t heard from him in several years. How is he doing now that he’s home?” Martin asked.

“Doing pretty good.” Morgan wasn’t going to go into Dodge’s injury with him. He didn’t know the guy from squat.

“So, have a seat and tell me from the beginning what is going on.”

Amanda took a deep breath and recounted her history with Guy from the beginning all the way to then. Then Morgan took over and went over everything he knew and that Dodge had found out about the man.

“Okay, what exactly do you want from me?”

Morgan looked at Amanda, and she nodded.

“We want to retain you as her lawyer and leave a copy of the disc with you so that if anything happens to her or the baby, it will be delivered to as many different media outlets as you want to fool with.” Morgan let that sink in, then continued.

“And, we want you to draw up whatever legal paperwork is needed for Guy to sign all his rights to the baby over to Amanda so he can’t try and take her child from her later.”

Morgan hoped that Dodge was right about this guy being good with child welfare cases. They needed the best they could get. He ground his teeth. Amanda needed the best she could get. He had to quit thinking of them as a couple. They weren’t.

“Are you going to be able to take care of your child without his support?” Martin asked.

“Yes. I can take care of him. I’m a hard worker. I’ll take care of my baby.” She looked as if she were about to panic.

“She’s living rent-free in my house for as long as she wants to. I’m not going to be there, so there won’t be any question of propriety. She has a means of transportation, and she has her own savings to help her get going. The rest is being provided until she is on her feet.” Morgan wasn’t about to let this man scare Amanda into thinking she wasn’t good for the baby. She was the baby’s mother, for crying out loud.

“That sounds good. I’ll take your case. I’ll lock up your disc with the instructions in our business vault. I’ll make sure it’s listed in my files in case anything happens to me. It will take me a couple of days to draw up the paperwork you want in order to retain complete rights to your child. Why don’t we meet again, say next Tuesday? That will give me three workdays to get the papers ready. To make it legally binding, though, you’re going to need to get him to sign the papers in front of a notary.”

“Where do we find one of those in a public place that will be safe for Amanda to be with Guy?” Morgan asked.

“Banks all have them. If you make an appointment ahead of time, I’m sure they will accommodate you. Also, my secretary is a notary if you want to do it here,” Martin offered.

“Thanks, but I don’t want him to know who we are using if it’s at all possible. I don’t trust him,” Morgan said. “I think the bank is our best bet for the situation.”

“I understand. Choose one that will offer you a private room to handle the business. As long as the notary is there, he won’t be able to say or do anything that will get spread around. Make sure he knows the details about the paper he is signing before he gets there so he won’t be surprised,” Martin told them.

“Okay, so as long as he signs the paper with a notary present, it is legal and binding?” Morgan wanted to be sure.

“Yes. It doesn’t mean that someday down the road he won’t try and have it overturned, but it would be very hard to do, if it is even possible. Unless Amanda is living in filth and her child is in a dangerous situation, I can’t see any judge overturning it.”

“I’ll never give him the opportunity. I’ll make sure my child has everything he needs and is always loved,” Amanda said fervently.

“That sounds like everything. If you’ll give me the disc, I’ll put it away.”

Morgan pulled out the envelope with the disc and the instructions in it and handed it over to Martin. He escorted them out to the receptionist’s desk, and they shook hands again. Morgan paid the bill and shushed Amanda when she would have said something.

As soon as they were outside the building, she started fussing at him. “I can pay my own way. I don’t want you paying for everything. While we’re here, I want to get my money out of the bank.”

“I figured you would want to do that,” Morgan said. “I think you need to choose a bank that has a branch where you will be living and set up the account here so it will be listed as your main bank, though.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Let’s mail the disc, then go to the bank. We can use the same bank for the notary. It will be a good time to find out how to arrange the meeting.” Amanda seemed to be calming down again.

Morgan nodded, and they joined the twins outside on the steps to the building. Neither of them had seen anything suspicious. Justin and Jethro climbed up into their truck while Morgan and Amanda got back onto the bike. They headed for the nearest post office. Amanda had the disc sent special delivery, where Guy would have to sign for it. The return address was a post-office box there that she rented for six months.

Morgan felt like they’d covered all the bases, but still felt uneasy about something. He just couldn’t put his finger on it.

“I vote for lunch next. Then we can do the banking last and head home.” Morgan bit his tongue. He hadn’t meant to say “home.”

“Great, I’m starved,” Justin said.

“You’re always starved,” Jethro fussed.

Amanda rolled her eyes and climbed on back of the motorcycle with Morgan. He liked it when she acted so relaxed around them all. He especially liked it when she was relaxed around him.

They grabbed burgers and fries, then located the main branch of a national chain of banks that had a branch where she would be living. She withdrew all her money from her bank with a bank draft and transferred it to the new bank. She ordered new checks and a check card, then kept out several hundred dollars. He wanted to tell her she didn’t need to delve into her savings yet, but knew it would only end up in a royal fight.

“Okay, ready to head back to Cold Creek?” he asked.

“More than ready. Dallas traffic is making me a nervous wreck.”

He signaled the twins they were heading out and pulled out into traffic, noticing she held tighter to him once he did. He took a perverse pleasure in riding a little fast just to keep her arms planted firmly around his middle. He didn’t want the ride to end, but soon, they’d been on the road for nearly three hours, and Cold Creek was fast approaching.

“You doing okay back there, baby?” he called back.

“Yeah, how much longer?”

“Another fifteen or twenty minutes,” he answered.

“How long before you think you’ll hear from Guy?” she asked.

“Probably day after tomorrow. Maybe even two days after. It will depend on if he tries to investigate first or call first.” Morgan slowed the bike and signaled the turn off the interstate into Cold Creek.

They pulled into the drive of his house, and he cut the motor. Tyler was immediately outside helping Amanda off the bike. Dodge stood at the back door waiting on them to come in. The twins climbed down from the truck and stretched.

“I could use a cold one. What about you, Justin?” Jethro said.

“Sounds like a plan,” the other man agreed.

“So how did it all go?” Dodge asked as everyone piled into the house.

“Just like you said it would,” Morgan said. “Buchannan is going to take the case and is fixing up the paperwork on Guy’s rights now. Said to come back Tuesday to pick them up.”

They reviewed what all they’d accomplished and their plans to use the bank as a place for Guy to meet them and sign over his rights. Morgan prayed it all went smoothly and the other man wouldn’t balk at signing the paperwork. They were all walking a very thin line using blackmail to control him.

“Morgan?” Amanda asked, standing a little away from the group consuming the beer and chips Dodge had put out.

“Yeah, baby?”