Paradise.
Finally, she knew she was tired enough to sleep. She climbed out of the pool, went back inside, set the alarm, and took a quick shower to rinse off the chlorine. When she stepped out, her phone was ringing.
Sean.
He was Skyping her, so she accepted the call and smiled when his handsome face came on screen.
“Hello, princess. Did you just get home?”
“About ten. But I couldn’t sleep, so I went swimming.”
“I wish I were there,” he said wistfully.
“Me, too.”
Sean’s face froze.
“Are you there?” she asked.
“Yes, the connection is poor. Sorry.” Suddenly the screen went black. He said, “I cut off video—we’re camping out tonight in the middle of nowhere.”
“Is everything okay?”
“About as we expected. You sound tired.”
“It’s been a long couple of days.”
“Do you have any leads?”
“You know how these people operate. You’d be proud of Zach—he’s really learned how to weed through the information and pull out nuggets.”
“The apprentice becomes the master.”
She laughed. God, it felt good to laugh. “He did so well, Noah thinks he can get a warrant for the property management company. It might not yield anything, but if we can get a complete list of their clients and properties, we might be able to find the women and babies.”
“If you need any help—if Zach needs help—you know I’ll be there.”
“Dean Hooper from Sacramento is helping. Noah didn’t say it explicitly, but I think Hooper is coming to San Antonio.”
“He’s brilliant. And I don’t say that lightly.”
“Hooper suggested to Noah that he bring you in, so I think Noah would be receptive to your help—but you need to find that little boy first.”
“Yeah…” His voice trailed off, and Lucy thought she’d lost him.
“Sean?”
“Here. We know where he is, but it’s complicated.”
“You sound frustrated.”
“I am. It’s complicated,” he repeated.
“Talk to me.”
“I want to—I just…” again, he didn’t say anything.
“I understand, Sean.”
“We’re close. But Spade took his son into a dangerous situation. Spade is working for a drug cartel. Madison said he’s an accountant, and that’s true, but he’s also a lawyer. I don’t know how deep his involvement goes, and if it’ll even be possible to extract him. I just want the kid.”
“He took his son into that situation?”
“The kid could be leverage they’re using on Spade.”
“You don’t sound like you believe that.”
“I don’t. I don’t know what to think right now, but the information we’ve put together tells me that Spade is a willing and proactive partner in whatever is going on.” He paused so long that Lucy thought they’d been disconnected.
“Lucy?”
“Right here. I thought I lost you.”
“I love you, and I wish I could be there right now to talk to you. I have a lot to explain…”
“I’m listening.”
“I—not on the phone.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll be fine. There’s just a lot going on and I wish I were there so we could talk about it.”
“I’m always here for you.” She paused. “Sean—that’s not true. There have been times when I have been so preoccupied with my problems and my job that I forget that you have work that is just as difficult and troublesome. You have always been here for me—and I love you for it. You know that you can talk to me about anything.”
“I know I can, Luce—I love you so much. I—I gotta go. We’re getting up early, and I need to set up a security trace program on Jesse’s game system.”
“You’re the best, right?”
“Right. Love you.” He hung up before Lucy could say another word.
She closed her laptop and turned off the light, but it was a long time before she fell to sleep.
Something was going on with Sean, and she wished she were there to help him.
*
Sean resisted the urge to hit something—anything. He needed to tell Lucy about Jesse … but how could he do it over the phone? How could he just tell her, Hey, Lucy, I have a kid.
She needed to know, and he regretted not telling her before he left San Antonio. Why hadn’t he? What was he so scared of? That she wouldn’t understand? Of course she’d understand! Lucy was the most supportive person he knew. She would always be there for him, just like she said.
But … he hated that he couldn’t talk about this with her now, about how twisted his gut was knowing that his own son didn’t know about him.
Call her back.
No way in hell could he tell her now. He needed to be able to touch her, hold her, talk about it without poor connections. He needed to see her face, answer her questions, show her how much he loved her.
And in the back of his mind he feared that maybe Lucy wouldn’t understand. That she wouldn’t forgive him. That she wouldn’t tell him what she really felt.