Sean rubbed his face with both hands. He didn’t want to turn Madison away, but he couldn’t be involved with this bullshit.
He said, “Put together everything you know about Carson’s travel plans, his businesses—legitimate and illegitmate. We’ll need a recent photo, passport numbers, phone numbers, credit cards, bank accounts. I’ll make you a list. We’ll get on a conference call with JT tonight and he’ll put together a team to find Carson and Jesse.”
“So you will do it.” She sighed in relief. “Thank you, Sean.”
“No, I’m not touching this.” Of course she didn’t understand; Madison McAllister always got her way. But there was no way he could go to Mexico now. “I’m getting married next month, I don’t have time. But I’ll help you with the details. JT and Kane are far more capable of handling something like this anyway. Kane has rescued hundreds of Americans, those who were in danger and those who just didn’t want to come home and face the music. And I’m only helping because there’s an innocent child at risk. I couldn’t care less what happens to your husband, Madison. He made his own bed. That he dragged his kid into the mess makes him ten times worse.”
“He couldn’t have known that something might happen—he wouldn’t do that to Jesse.”
Sean shook his head. “Get your head out of the sand, Madison.”
“I need you on this. Only you care enough.”
“Maddie, I’m sorry, but believe me when I tell you that my brother is just as good as me. Better, in situations like this.”
She opened her purse and took out her phone. She stared at the screen, then walked over to Sean and showed him a photo. “This is Jesse.”
Sean stared at the image. The boy was older than Sean had thought he’d be. Older … and he knew. As soon as he looked into Jesse’s deep-blue eyes, he knew.
He couldn’t speak. His hand began to shake. Jesse had dark-blond hair, darker than his mother. He had his mother’s smile.
But he had Sean’s eyes. The same color, the same shape. And if that didn’t convince him that Jesse was in fact his son, the dimples did. Madison’s smile, but Sean’s dimples, one side deeper than the other.
He didn’t need to ask her if Jesse was his son; he could see it in the boy’s face. That’s why she’d come to Sean.
He could hardly speak. Waves of anger and sorrow and a cold disbelief washed over him. “How dare you.” His voice was barely a whisper. “How dare you keep this from me.” He’d scream if he didn’t control his growing rage.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“A choice? He’s mine.”
“He’s my son.”
He stared at her, took a step forward. She stepped backward.
“You—you didn’t give me a chance,” he said. “Do you think so little of me that you thought I would have walked away from my responsibility? From my own child?” Now he was shouting. He had to get these emotions under control. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t do anything except feel a deep loss.
You have a son who doesn’t know who you are.
“I wasn’t going to be a responsibility. We were young, we were stupid, I didn’t even know I was pregnant until the night you told me you were going to MIT. Do you actually think we could have been parents together?”
“Yes!”
“What, you would have married me?”
“I wasn’t impoverished, Madison. I’ve done well.”
“We didn’t love each other.”
“So you lied to me?”
“You didn’t love me. I knew it that night when you told me you were leaving.”
“I never lied to you. I cared about you, and I would have done everything for you and our baby. Dammit, Madison! You should have told me! I should have been a part of Jesse’s life from the beginning!”
“And you would have what? Dropped out of college? Worked where? Done what? Resented me and Jesse because we forced you into marriage?”
“You have no idea what would have happened then because you didn’t give me a chance.” His voice cracked. He swallowed; his mouth was dry as sand.
“Because you are known for making smart decisions. Like embarrassing the university and the FBI when you hacked into their database.”
“I had a right to know. He’s my kid. My son. And you had no right to keep him from me. No right!” He was repeating himself but he didn’t care.
“I had every right. It was my choice to have him, I didn’t ask you for anything. No money, no child support—”
“That has nothing to do with it! I would have supported him. You know that!”
“I didn’t need you.”
Sean felt like his heart had been turned inside out. He wanted to slap her. He’d never wanted to hit a woman so badly as right now. He backed away, overcome by the intensity of his emotions.
“That came out wrong,” she said.
He didn’t respond. He couldn’t even look at her.