The Sixth Man (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell 5)

“I’ll make the reservations and e-mail you the details. We’ll pick you up at the airport in Portland.”

“Mr. King?”

“Just make it Sean.”

“Sean, um, should I be scared?”

Sean looked over at Michelle before answering. “We’ll stick to you like glue.”

“I guess that means yes.”

“It’s never a bad thing to be scared, Megan.”

“I’ll see you in Portland,” she said in a shaky voice.

Sean clicked off and filled Michelle in on his conversation with the young lawyer.

Michelle nodded. “So she had two conversations with the guy and Roy never came up. Obviously Bergin was playing this really close to the vest. Maybe he realized there was some danger involved here and wanted to keep Riley out of it.”

“That actually sounds like Ted. Chivalrous to the last.”

Michelle said, “So what do you think about Riley?”

“I think it’ll be a miracle if she’s actually on the plane.”

“If she weren’t scared that would be telling, too. In a bad way.”

“I know. I’m sure she’s smart and a good lawyer, or else Ted wouldn’t have brought her on. But this is a hell of a situation to throw a baby attorney into.”

“Well, we just need any info she has and what she can tell us about Bergin’s discussions about the case. I don’t think anyone really expects her to step into the man’s shoes and try this sucker.”

“Problem is, if another counsel comes in we’ll find ourselves off the case.”

“Not if we work hard now and make ourselves invaluable to said counsel.” Michelle’s expression changed. “Who was paying Bergin’s bill? If Edgar Roy can’t even talk, someone else had to hire Bergin.”

“That’s a good question. It should be in the files.”

“Did Roy have money?”

“Well, he had the farm and he had a government job.”

“But probably not rolling in cash.”

“Probably not.”

They walked back toward the inn.

The breeze off the water was chilly, and Michelle dug her hands into her jacket. “So until we leave to get Megan in Portland, what’s on the agenda?”

“How about a ride over to Gray’s Lodge?”

“To Bergin’s room? You know Agent Murdock will have that locked down tight.”

“But we might run into our friend Eric Dobkin of the Maine State Police.”

“You really think he’ll be our inside guy on this?”

“Never hurts to ask. And if I’m reading Murdock right, he’s probably pissed off the entire Maine constabulary by now.”