“No, Madison, nothing like that! Jeez, girl, your imagination is out of control. This is just business.”
“This is not just business! Carson, tell me, or I swear, I’ll send an army after you.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle. Just a little money problem. I’m fixing it, and then we’ll be on the next flight home. But you have got to call off the dogs. Right now. You’ll freak out people we don’t want to freak out. You’re lucky I found out about it before my employer did.”
“I cannot believe this, Carson.” Madison was going to hyperventilate. She could feel it building and tried to force herself to calm down. Panicking was not going to get her son back. “You have my son in the middle of something this dangerous?”
“It’s not dangerous! Just someone else’s mistake I need to fix. Trust me, Madison. I love you, I love Jesse. This is just a small glitch and I’m the only one who can fix it. Nothing is going to happen to him, but you’re panicking, and that’s not good for any of us.”
“You should have told me from the beginning. You should never have brought Jesse down there.”
“I’m taking a risk calling you now. If everything goes right, I’ll be done here by Thursday, Friday at the latest.”
“Where are you?”
“Honey, I’d tell you, but right now you’re not thinking straight, and the last thing I need is you showing up here. Or sending a damn PI after me. Call him off. I mean it. I love you, Maddie.”
He hung up. He hung up on her!
She was torn. Carson was obviously in the middle of something potentially dangerous, which put Jesse in danger. But she’d just spoken to both of them, and they sounded fine. They were alive, they were healthy, Jesse didn’t sound like anything was wrong. She wanted Sean to bring her son back … but she didn’t want to get her husband hurt.
“How could you do this to me?” she screamed in the silence of her hotel room.
She had to trust Carson. They had celebrated their tenth anniversary in April. She loved him. Her father respected him. He’d provided for her, took another man’s son as his own, helped her build her own business—antiques, something she loved and was good at. She had a life and Carson and Jesse were a part of that life. They were her life.
Coming to Sean Rogan was a mistake. Carson was right, she’d panicked. Why had she even come here? What had she hoped to gain?
Because you hadn’t spoken to your husband and son in three days and Carson lied to you.
Damn damn damn!
Why hadn’t she called her father?
She knew why. Her father would know then that Carson was moonlighting. He would know they had financial problems that Carson had taken a second job to remedy. And Carson wouldn’t forgive her. He may never forgive her for talking to Sean. Why had she called Sean? She could have found someone else …
Punishment. You were mad at Carson for scaring you, for taking Jesse when you really didn’t want him to go … and then lying to you. So you went to the one person you should never have seen again.
“It’s okay,” she told herself, as if speaking out loud would make it true. “Jesse is my son, I would do anything to protect my son.”
Carson and Jesse were safe. For now. She had to call off Sean. To keep them safe.
She grabbed her purse and cell phone and ran out of the hotel.
*
Jesse brought his dad the water bottle. He’d already drunk half of another on the way back from the kitchen. “Here,” he said. “Where’s Mom?”
“The phone cut out—cell reception is terrible here.”
“She sounded really worried. I thought you said she was fine with us staying longer.”
His dad drank some water. “I thought she was, but she worries, you know that.”
Jesse shrugged and sat down on the couch. His mom was moody all the time lately. His dad said it was girl hormones, but Jesse thought it was something else. She’d seemed sad when he left last week. “I should call her back—or maybe we can just go home? Do we have to stay until Friday?”
“This is important, Jess. You’re right—I should have left you at home, but I thought this would be good for us to have some guy time. You have straight A’s, it’s not like you’re going to miss anything if you miss school for a week. And I talked to Dom, they have season tickets to the football team here. They’re playing tonight.”
“Really?” Jesse loved soccer. He’d been playing since he was six. But he’d never been to a professional game.
“I may be able to wrap up everything by Wednesday. We’ll leave as soon as I’m done.”
“Sure. Whatever.”
“You’re having fun, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. Just bored. I wish we didn’t have to leave Acapulco.”
“I can’t let you just go out and explore—it’s pretty safe here, but you know how Mexico can be. We need to be smart.”
“I know.” Jesse finished his water bottle. “Can I go swimming?”