Winning Moves (Stepping Up 3)

* * *

AN HOUR AFTER Jason’s last text, Kat snuggled into the oversized blue chair in her parents’ living room, with her mother resting on the matching couch, and flipped on the ten o’clock news.

“I wish they’d call,” her mother murmured, clearly not watching the television. She leaned up on her elbow. “What if it’s not retirement jitters? What if Hank is having a full-fledged midlife crisis and we’re not as happy as I thought we were?”

“Stop doing this to yourself, Mom. I read you Jason’s text. If there was something to worry about, he would have told me.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“What if Hank hadn’t told Jason everything yet? And my God, what did he tell him?”

“Mom,” Kat said softly, understanding how she must feel. How Kat herself would feel if this were Jason acting strangely. “Jason is with him. Dad knows he will tell me what is going on. If he didn’t want you to know do you think he would have been that quick to invite Jason to join him?”

“…Jason Alright from Stepping Up…”

Kat’s attention whipped to the television and her mother sat up and increased the volume.

“…was involved in a disturbance at the Blue Moon Casino…”

Kat and her mother were both standing now, both dialing their phones, trying to reach Jason and Hank.

“…a section of the casino was shut down but has now reopened. No more details are available.”

“No answer,” Kat said.

Sheila shook her head. “Let’s get over there. I’ll call the hotel while you drive.”

“And the police station,” Kat said grimly. “And let’s hope they aren’t there.”

10

JASON AND HER father weren’t answering their phones, but they weren’t in jail, per her mother’s call to the police station. That was the one good thing Kat had to cling to as she and her mother rushed to the front desk of the Blue Moon Casino.

“I need to locate Jason Alright,” Kat said to the tall, thin twenty-something male attendant behind the counter.

“Jason Alright?” the man asked, looking down on her from beneath his dark rimmed glasses.

Her brows dipped. “I know you know who I’m talking about.”

“No, ma’am,” he said primly. “I’m afraid I do not.”

“Listen up,” her mother said, letting the tough E.R. nurse who took charge in the center of disaster shine through for the first time tonight. “You can’t tell me you don’t know the judge from Stepping Up when he was the center of attention right here in this hotel only a short while ago. Jason is her husband. Find him, find someone who knows how to find him or just plain go get him yourself.”

The man stared at her for several terse seconds and then eyed Kat, inspecting her T-shirt and messy hair with a bit of disdain. Thank goodness her leggings were hidden below the counter. His lips tightened. “I’ll return momentarily.” He turned away and left them to wait.

Kat glanced around the crowded lobby, and it was clear that her mother’s loudly spoken words had garnered unwanted attention as pointing and whispering had begun. Kat cringed as numerous cell phone pictures were taken. She was officially outed as Jason’s wife, and she wasn’t even his wife anymore. Nevertheless, they had a history, and the connection between them was bound to come out. She’d simply hoped to get a little farther into the show than the first week of rehearsals.

“Mom,” Kat said. “Jason and I—”

“Love each other,” she finished. “So don’t let him go. This time is it, Kat. I feel it in my gut. He’s going all the way or he’s going away and it has to be that way. You both have to get on with life, one way or the other.”

Kat sucked in a breath at the blunt reality etched so precisely into those words. Deep down Kat knew that if Jason exited her life again, he was gone for good, but hearing it from her mother was a blow. Her stomach knotted because history said he would leave again, and while part of her said this time together was something, they needed to be able to move on. Another part of her though could still feel his touch and smell him on her skin, could still hear his deep voice, see his smile, and that part of her hoped for a future with Jason.

“Ms. Moore?”

Kat turned to find a big burly giant who wore one of those concrete expressions that screamed “security” even more so than his black jacket and the ear piece.

“Yes?” her mother asked the man.

Kat raised her hand. “And yes. Same name.”

“Your party is waiting for you, and I’d send you without an escort but it appears you’ve drawn a bit of attention.” A camera flashed and he glanced at a group of three women, studying them. “We don’t need any more excitement here tonight.”

“I guess I shouldn’t have told the world we were here to see Jason,” her mother admitted with a sigh. “I forget he’s a big star now.”