Secret Indiscretions (Carson Cove Scandals 2)

“Are you going to tell me what is going on or keep me in the dark?” My mother walked into the living room while I was getting dressed

“What do you mean?” I looked at her.

“I saw the note—it sounded very ominous. Now you’re going to meet with an attorney?” She tilted her head to the side. “Is there a problem?”

“I don’t know yet,” I sighed. “Jackson is suing for custody of Charley, and I’m trying to do what you told me to do—I’m trying to protect my daughter.”

“I’ll die before I let him take her from us.” My mother folded her arms across her chest.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I feel the same way.”

“What’s the plan?” She tapped her foot impatiently. “I know you packed some bags and put them in Charley’s closet—I can be out of this apartment in ten minutes if it means we get to keep her away from that asshole.”

“Let me talk to the lawyer, and then we’ll figure things out.” I reached down and slid on my jeans.

“Figure out what, Mommy?” Charley walked into the room with a smile on her face.

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“Nothing for you to worry about, sweetheart.” I walked over and picked her up. “Mommy has to go out for a little bit. I don’t know when I’ll be back…”

“Your new job, right?” Her eyes lit up.

“That’s right, darling,” I lied through my teeth. “I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.” She smiled as I sat her down on the floor after a quick hug. “Does Taylor work at the office with you?”

“Taylor?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, from school. She was nice!” She nodded quickly. “I like her!”

“No, she doesn’t work with me.” I shook my head back and forth. “Maybe you’ll get to see her soon though—I’ll see if she wants to come over sometime.”

“Yay!” Charley grinned. “I’m going to see Taylor!”

I should have introduced them a long time ago…

Addison Regan, the attorney that Jon hired, asked me to meet her at a lawyer’s office downtown. It apparently belonged to a colleague she used to work with when her practice was in Carson Cove. The building was pretty big and one that I passed on the way to school every day, but I never paid much attention to it. My Hyundai was definitely the oldest car in the parking lot, but that wasn’t that unusual—it seemed to be that way everywhere in Carson Cove except for my apartment building. I walked inside and was led to a conference room. A few minutes later, a long-legged woman with auburn colored hair started walking my way. She looked strong, confident, and had pure class dripping from the air around her as she walked into the room and extended her hand.

“You must be Melanie.” She smiled. “I’m Addison Regan.”

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Regan.” I stood and shook her hand.

“Please.” She waved off my formalities. “Call me Addison. If you’re a friend of Jon’s, you’re a friend of mine.”

We sat down at the table, and I was impressed to see how much work she had already done on my case. There were profiles for all the members of Jackson’s family, his mother’s attorney, and she had already figured out that Jackson’s mother was the one running the show. Unfortunately, none of that really helped my case. I told her about the video, and she said that was a problem. I mentioned the pills that Jackson was taking—she didn’t have access to his medical records but said we would need some sort of proof if we were going to accuse him of abusing something prescribed by a doctor. We didn’t have evidence to the contrary, nor could we confirm whether or not they actually were.

“What’s the worst-case scenario here?” I shuffled through the paperwork.

“Honestly?” she sighed. “In a normal case, they would have to release their evidence during the discovery process, and I could review it. Since this is an emergency hearing, we won’t get to see the video until it’s presented in the courtroom—if it’s as bad as you say, the judge could order an immediate custody transfer pending trial.”

“That’s definitely a worst-case scenario.” I looked down at the table.

“We have nothing to prove that Jackson is actually dangerous—it’s just your word against his. Jon could testify, but I’m not sure that would look good either—based on what he told me, Jackson wasn’t the one who actually stabbed him, and he did force his way into their room…” Addison picked up the paperwork that laid out Jackson’s perfect record—legally, at least.

“If Jackson’s friend does what he said, and the video doesn’t have audio, it’s going to look really bad.” I shook my head back and forth. “I’m an idiot—he lured me into a trap.”

“Well, I’m not going to give up.” She put the paper down. “I’ll keep digging.”