Page 2 of Her Righteous Protector

“I was hoping you’d want to take a ride with me, Mikey,” Max smiled.

“But don’t forget to give him his mail,” Lester reminded his son.

“Oh yeah.” He started to get up from the table.

“Not yet,” Lester smiled. “Finish your dinner first.”

Mikey set his plate back down and started to shovel food into his mouth at a rapid pace, anxious to get Max his mail and then go for a ride. Again, Max was overwhelmed at the man’s joy with his world.

Soon the food was all put away.

“Are you sure you don’t want any to take home?” Lester asked for the third time.

“You know how it goes,” Max said. “I never know when I’ll have to leave. I don’t want leftovers that will just go to waste.”

Lester nodded.

Max turned around when Mikey slapped a pile of mail onto the table, as usual, it was a mound of junk mail. But there was one unique difference—a Federal Express envelope on the top of the pile.

“What’s this?”

“I found it on your porch,” Mikey explained. “It’s mail, isn’t it?”

“Yep,” Max agreed. He turned it over and saw that it was from a law firm in Chicago. When he opened it up he found just one piece of paper inside. It was a letter.

Hmmm.

He sat down at the table to read it.

Mr. Hogan,

I wish to apologize for the tardiness of this letter, but it took some time to locate you. I will be brief. You have been named as a beneficiary in the last will and testament of Meghan Todd. It is of utmost urgency that you respond and attend a reading in person. Please contact me personally at your earliest convenience.

Respectfully Yours,

Elias Peterson

Attorney At Law

Max pulled his phone out of the pocket of his cargo pants and called the attorney’s office. It was no surprise that it went to voicemail, so he left a message. What did surprise and frustrate him was that there wasn’t a mobile number or an e-mail address.

“What was that all about?” Lester asked.

Max scratched his chin. “Beats me. Supposedly I was left something in this woman’s will, but I’ve never heard of her.”

Lester gave him a hard look. “That is strange. Are you sure about that?”

“Absolutely.”

“Can we ride in your car now?” Mikey interrupted.

Max turned to the man and grinned. “Let’s get going before it gets dark.” He shoved the letter and all the mail into the FedEx envelope and scooped it up to take it with him to the car. Then he remembered his present for Mikey.

He stood up and pulled the Hot Wheels car out of his pocket. “I bought this for you.” He handed the yellow Corvette to the man and watched his eyes go wide.

“It’s awesome. I don’t have a yellow one. I’ve got to put it on my shelf.” He ran to his bedroom.

Lester glanced down at the floor, then back up at Max. “Max, you really didn’t need to buy so much food.”