“You and Jesse can stay at my house as long as necessary,” Sean said. “My security is the best home security system that I could build and install.”
She clearly didn’t like that answer, but she nodded. “I have a new number Sean gave me while you have my phone,” she told John, then wrote it down for him. “Please let me know as soon as you know anything.”
“Of course. We all want the same thing.”
Madison shook her head and left the conference room.
John looked at Sean. In a low voice he said, “What the hell was that?”
“She thinks I’m the problem.”
“You’re a pain in the ass, but you’re hardly the problem. Do you really think there’s a threat against Jesse or his mother?”
“Yes. I don’t know who or why, but I’m going to find out. Both Kane and Jack are in town helping me.”
“Where’s Jesse now?”
“At the house with Lucy and our friend Nate Dunning, who’s also an agent. Kane and Jack are running surveillance on the guy we believed ordered the hit on Domingo.”
“I don’t want to know—I’m still furious with you about that.”
“I didn’t kill the guy. He was going to talk to Kane but got whacked before he could say much of anything. We have other leads, and we’re going to pursue them.”
“You know, Sean, you need to watch your own ass. You’ve pissed off just as many people as Carson Spade.”
“Do not compare me to that prick.”
“Just saying—your motives were a whole lot purer, but that doesn’t mean that you’re not near the top of the cartel’s Most Wanted list.”
* * *
“Where are we going?” Madison asked Sean.
“We need to talk. And I’m hungry. So we’re going to lunch.”
“I don’t want to.”
“I don’t give a damn, Madison. I need to talk to you without anyone else around. We need to work out what we’re going to do about custody with Jesse, and we’re going to do it in public so neither of us lose our temper.”
He pulled into the parking lot of a chain restaurant and got out of the car. He walked around and opened her door. Not because he was being a gentleman, but because he was surveying the parking lot and making sure that no one had followed them or was giving them undue attention. They were clear.
It was busy—the Sunday brunch crowd. But within ten minutes, they were seated in a booth with a bit of privacy. It felt like ten hours because Madison refused to talk to him.
They ordered and when the waitress left, Sean broke the silence.
“I know this has all been difficult for you,” he said, trying to remember all the things Lucy had told him about what Madison might be feeling.
“You have no idea, Sean,” she said quietly.
The waitress returned with a glass of white wine for Madison and Sean’s soda. He would have much preferred a beer, but he was carrying a concealed gun and while he didn’t think there was a threat against Madison, he could be wrong. He needed to be on full alert.
“I have tried to forgive you for lying to me. About Jesse. About what you knew about Carson’s activities—I know you told the marshals that you didn’t know exactly what his business was, but you’re not stupid, Madison. You never were. If you didn’t know, you suspected and turned a blind eye. I know you lied to me about Carson’s trip to Mexico last year—you covered for him. And you probably covered for a lot of the bullshit that he did. That was then.
“Jesse is my son. I will be part of his life. I would prefer to be in his life with your blessing. I love him, Madison. I can and will protect him every minute he’s here with me. Please, let’s work out an arrangement that’s good for both of us.”
“You want my son.”
“I don’t want to take him away from you.”
“Yes, you do. You think that you’re a better parent than me. You have no idea what being a parent really means, yet you have the audacity to look down on me for choices that I made for my family!”
Sean was so glad they were in public because he wanted to throttle Madison.
“You took my choice away from me.”
“It was my choice to have Jesse. He’s my son.”
“I don’t believe this. I would have been there for him, and for you. You didn’t even give me the option! You stole it from me.” They were going around and around on the same argument.
“Do we really have to argue about this?”
“Every time you bring up this conversation to lambast me for being a failure and I bring up the fact that you lied to me and denied me the right to be a father, you tell me you don’t want to argue. Until yesterday when you threatened to take Jesse away from me forever, I thought we had an understanding. I was willing to play by your rules, Madison. I was willing to visit Jesse in Sacramento, and I was ecstatic that you let him come here for six weeks. Six weeks where I could finally get to know my son. And I knew it wouldn’t last, that I would have to bring him back, and I was okay with that because I figured I could fly out for a long weekend every month and visit. That we could talk on the phone or Skype or email. Whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. And then you threaten to take all of it away from me. Every minute, every contact. For no reason.”
“You accused Carson of trying to hurt Jesse. Carson loves Jesse. Carson raised Jesse.”
“Because you didn’t give me the chance.”
“Really. You were eighteen when Jesse was born and going to college three thousand miles away. You would have given up college—you would have given up everything—to be a father?”
“Yes.”
“I doubt it.”
“We’ll never know, will we?”
“We keep having this conversation,” Madison said.
The waitress came with their food, but neither of them took a bite.
“We keep having it because we can’t come to an agreement that you’ll keep.”
“Don’t put this on me.”
“I was fine with the last agreement. I was thrilled that you let me into Jesse’s life.”
“That was my choice. And I can choose to exclude you.”
“Is that what you really want? Is that what you really think is best for Jesse?”
She didn’t say anything. She bit her lip, then spoke so quietly that Sean almost missed it. “No.”
“Then let’s work on this together.”
She nodded, and Sean breathed easier. He would have been willing to fight hard for Jesse, and Madison would not like how he played hardball. He suspected there were more secrets that Carson kept from the FBI, secrets that Madison was privy to. She was putting her own freedom and security at risk for that bastard, but Sean wouldn’t tell her that unless he had to. If he could get her to concede on just a few points, he would rest easily until Carson buried himself.
And Sean expected that to happen sooner rather than later.
* * *
Nate and Jesse were playing video games and Lucy was cleaning up in the kitchen when Sean and Madison walked in. Bandit, who’d been down the hall in the game room, bounded into the kitchen before the garage door even shut. How the dog always seemed to know when Sean came home marveled Lucy.
“Hey, buddy,” Sean said and scratched Bandit.
“You’d think you were gone for a week,” Lucy said.
“It was a week in dog years,” Sean countered. He walked over and kissed her. “Everything good?”
“No problems. Nate and Jesse are playing that football game with the annoying voices.”
Sean laughed. “You know, the back end of that game is really amazing.”
“I don’t need to know.”
She could tell by Sean’s mood that everything had gone well with Madison. Lucy asked, “Madison, can I get you anything?”
“No, I’m fine, thank you.”
Madison still seemed out of sorts. Sean winked at Lucy. Yes, he was in a good mood, which meant that he was able to convince Madison to uph
old her original visitation agreement. Which was good—as long as Madison didn’t change her mind again.
The one thing Lucy was concerned about was Madison’s habit of being persuaded by those around her. Right now, she seemed to be agreeable to this arrangement; what happened when she returned to Sacramento and started listening to Carson? What would happen when she visited her father, who wanted to deny Sean all visitation with his son? Would Madison change her mind yet again? What did she really think or really want?
Lucy wondered if Madison even knew.
“I’m going to talk to Jesse for a minute, excuse me,” Madison said and walked down the hall.
“It went okay?” Lucy asked when she was out of earshot.
“I got her to agree to let Jesse come for six weeks every summer and the week after Christmas. And I can visit him in Sacramento at least once a month with forty-eight hours’ notice. It’s what she’d agreed to before all this happened, but she did agree to put it in writing, and we’ll make it official with attorneys and the court. I’m not going to go through this bullshit of her changing her mind on a whim.”
“Good.” Though Lucy would believe it when Madison signed.
“The only thing that’s not settled is whether Jesse’s going back with her tomorrow. I don’t want her here another two weeks … but I offered.”
Lucy didn’t want Madison living here for two weeks either, but she understood. “We’ll make it work.”
“She doesn’t want to stay. She’s uncomfortable here, and I don’t blame her. Kane and Jack gave her the cold shoulder yesterday. And while you have been more than gracious, I think she’s intimidated by you.”
Lucy laughed. “Intimidated? Hardly.”
“I’m serious. I just hope she gets her life together sooner rather than later. And all this may be a moot point if I’m right about Carson.” He glanced down the hall to make sure no one else could hear him, then said quietly, “There is no way Carson would be allowed back into WITSEC. If Madison and Jesse are under a direct threat, they can go, but if they are in danger, that means Carson lied and his agreement is null and void. Madison didn’t know that until today.”
“Who’s processing the phones?”
“My guess? Yancey. He’s the best tech the FBI has locally. Other than me, of course. Yancey’s annoying, but he’s competent.”
“Competent? High praise coming from you.”
“He won’t fuck it up, that’s the most important thing. If I went through her phone, she would never trust the information I found, but an impartial third party? She won’t have a choice.”
* * *
Madison said hello to Jesse but didn’t want to disturb his game. Nate Dunning, though she’d met him earlier, made her nervous. Like she knew he hated her though he was polite and showed little expression.
Maybe she was exaggerating. Maybe not. She was in Sean’s house and Nate was Sean’s friend and everyone knew exactly what had happened between her and Sean nearly fourteen years ago that resulted in her pregnancy and subsequent lie to Sean.
For so long, she’d convinced herself she hadn’t lied. Not telling Sean that she was pregnant wasn’t exactly a lie. He’d called it a lie of omission, and perhaps it was, but she’d really believed it was the best at the time.
At least, she’d convinced herself—let her father convince her—that it was the right thing to do.
Now? She didn’t know anything anymore.
She went back to her bedroom and called Carson. “Hello.”
“It’s so good to hear your voice. I was worried that the meeting was taking so long. Are you at the airport?”
“Marshal Jimenez needs until tomorrow afternoon to process the phones.”
“What? Does that matter? Aren’t you coming home tonight? I miss you.”
“I promised him I would stay in San Antonio until he knows for certain whether Jesse’s phone was compromised.”
“You’re still at Rogan’s, aren’t you?”
“It’s safer this way. Until we know the truth.”
“I told you, it’s not Jesse, it’s Sean! He’s the one who put Jesse in danger.”
“We don’t know that.” Madison rubbed her temples. “Jimenez said that even if there was a threat, that you wouldn’t be allowed back into witness protection.”
“He’s wrong.”
“I don’t think he is. He explained it all very clearly. You told me that we could go back if anything became too dangerous.”
“I’ll fix it.”
“You can’t, Carson! Some things you can’t fix. I’m scared.”
“Madison, I will do everything in my power to protect you. Don’t be scared, sweetheart. Haven’t I always looked out for you?”
“There are some things, Carson. If Sean ever finds out everything…”
“He won’t. Don’t even say it in his house! He could have every room bugged.”
“That’s absurd.” But was it? “I’ll call you tomorrow when I hear back from Marshal Jimenez.”
“This whole thing is ridiculous, you know that. Sean is making you jump through hoops, and Jesse is our son. When you come home, that’s it. No more bouncing back and forth. Sean has no rights.”
“He does.”
“He doesn’t!”
“It’s not fair to keep him from Jesse.”
“You’re listening to him again. He’s twisted your emotions in a knot. He’s a bad influence, and you know it.”
“Maybe—”
“Certainly he is. After this fiasco we can easily get a restraining order against him.”
“Carson. Stop. I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“It’s a great idea.”
“If we push him too hard, he’ll push back harder. If he digs around too deep … you lied to protect me. I love you for it. If Sean finds out about my antiques business—”
“He won’t.”
“But if he does, he’ll be able to prove you knew about it, and then your probation will be revoked and you’ll go to jail. I can’t bear to think of that.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“No. But if I keep playing hardball with him over Jesse, he will find something. He is tenacious, Carson. He’s not going to let it go. Jesse has bonded with him. If I tell my son he can never see his father again, he’ll never forgive me.”
“I am Jesse’s father, Maddie. Me. Sean has twisted up that boy something awful.”
“Be that as it may, I don’t know what else to do.”
Madison hated conflict, and her life had been one conflict after another once Carson’s illegal activities had been exposed.
She needed it to stop.
“We’ll figure it out. Together. When you’re home. I love you, Maddie.”
“I love you, too.”
Madison hung up, confused and sad. She really didn’t know what the right decision was. It seemed only fair to include Sean in Jesse’s life—she couldn’t un-ring that bell—but at the same time, that decision could negatively impact her relationship with Carson. That wasn’t fair, either.
She wished everything had been different. What would have happened if she’d told Sean that she was pregnant? Would he have really stayed? Would she have gone with him to MIT? What kind of life would that have been for Jesse, with her cut off from her father’s money? How would they have lived? Sure, Sean made a good living for himself now, but back then when he was barely eighteen? She had no doubt her father would have held firm to his promise to revoke her trust fund. When he found out Sean was Jesse’s father, he’d been livid. And Madison agreed not to tell anyone.
But look at her life now. What a mess!
She left the guest room and glanced again at Jesse and Nate before walking down the hall. She didn’t know what to do with herself, but figured she could find a book to read. She saw Sean in his office at his computer.
He was on the phone and quickly wrapped up the conversation. It was clear he was talking to his brother Kane.
> “Can I get you something?”
“I was going to sit in the sunroom and read, if that’s okay.”
“Sure. And if you want to go swimming, feel free.”
“I didn’t pack for swimming. I really plan on going home tomorrow, Sean.”
“I know. Let’s just wait to hear back from Jimenez, okay?”
She nodded and was about to leave when she saw a familiar face on Sean’s desk. She walked over and picked up a printout of a photo. She bit her lip. Something was not adding up.
“What is it?” Sean asked. He sounded all business.
“I should be asking you the same thing. Who are these people?”
Sean pointed to one of the men. “That’s the private investigator who hired the goons to follow me and Jesse, and run Lucy off the road—with Jesse in the car.”
“That can’t be.”
“You know him?”
“Nooo…”
“Madison, what aren’t you telling me?”
“I know one of these men.”
“Who?”
She pointed. “Jeremy Robertson.”
“How do you know him?”
This could not be happening.
“He and Carson went to college together. He was in our wedding. This has to be a coincidence.”
Sean didn’t say anything, but he was angry. She could feel the rage pouring off him. “I need to make a call.”
“Sean—please—”
“Madison, I promised that I would protect you and Jesse. I will. Let me do my job.”
* * *
FBI Assistant Director Rick Stockton immediately called Dean Hooper when he got off the phone with Sean. “Sean unknowingly found the missing link.”
“Why am I not surprised? He doesn’t listen.”
“This time, he did—he didn’t find it because he was investigating Spade.”
Dean snorted.
“Kane has been tailing the private investigator who hired the driver who followed Sean and Jesse on Wednesday, and who we now believe ordered the hit on the same driver on Friday as well as the hit-and-run that Lucy was involved with. Kane sent photos to Sean to run through facial recognition, nothing popped that was of interest, but Madison Spade identified one of the men. Jeremy Robertson. I saw his name somewhere in Spade’s paperwork, but I don’t remember where.”
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