Secret Indiscretions (Carson Cove Scandals 2)

Melanie: You’re going to drop the custody lawsuit?

Jackson: Maybe. Come to the Carson City Inn. Room 22. Come alone. No cell phone, no purse, nothing. We can discuss custody like two reasonable adults.

Melanie: I’m not coming anywhere near you.

Jackson: You’ve got one hour to change your mind. It’s the last chance you’ll have before you lose your daughter…

I was at peace with my decision when I put down my cell phone. Jackson was a monster. He might not have been the one that swung the knife that stabbed Jon, but he was there—he could have stopped it if he wanted—he could have called for help instead of dumping him in a stairwell. I didn’t even want to think about what could have happened if the maid hadn’t found Jon there. Jon was lucky to be alive.

Who knows what Jackson would do to me if I showed up at his hotel room…?

The clock felt like a razor blade pendulum—every second that ticked by tore at my soul. Our plan was so flimsy, and absolute perfection was required if we were going to pull it off successfully. My mother was disabled, and she wasn’t that fast. If someone tried to stop her, she would never make it out of the courthouse with Charley. The entire ordeal was going to be devastating for my little girl. Going to see Jackson was a terrible idea—it was dangerous—he was dangerous—but deep down, I was still a mother, and I had a duty to protect my daughter. Hopefully the plan I was starting to devise in my head would work.

“Hey, can you make sure Jon stays in bed? I have an errand that I need to run.” I walked into the bathroom where the nurse was busy organizing Jon’s medication so that he wouldn’t miss a dose.

“Of course.” She looked at me and nodded. “How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

“I’m not sure. I need to meet with someone…” I let my words trail off.

This may be my last shot to keep Jackson away from my daughter.

I called my mother on the way to the Carson City Inn. I didn’t tell her exactly what I was doing—I mainly just needed to hear her voice. She was the calm that always kept me balanced when the world felt like it was falling apart around me. Most girls that got pregnant when they were teenagers and abandoned by the father of their child would have probably been scared to tell their parents but I wasn’t. I had a different kind of relationship with my mother, and I knew she would help me without judging the mistakes that led me to that point. That’s exactly what she did. She never once suggested getting rid of the baby—she talked about how we would raise my child together and came up with a plan for me to still go to college once the baby was born.

She was there when I picked out the name—Charlie if it was a boy because that was my grandfather’s name, and we had just recently lost him—or Charlotte if it was a girl, as an alternative way of honoring his memory. My mother was the one that said we could name her Charley after the sonogram confirmed I was going to have a daughter—and I cried when I realized it was perfect.

I swore the day you were born that I would protect you to my dying breath—that’s exactly what I must do.

The Carson City Inn wasn’t a dump, but it was a discount hotel. It was on the edge of town, close to where my apartment was—on the road in and out of Carson Cove that most of the locals would never take. I had no idea why Jackson had chosen it after staying in the Pembroke Hotel, which was the most luxurious one in town. I parked where the occupant—or occupants of room 22 couldn’t see me. I left my cell phone and purse in the car, but I didn’t walk straight to Jackson’s room—I walked to the car that had been tailing me since I left Alcott Manor and waved to the driver. He stared at me for a moment and then hit the button to roll the window down.

“I wasn’t trying to hide.” The driver was a man about Jon’s age, with dark brown hair and short stubble on his face—he was also built like a tank.

“I know. You work for Craven Security, right?” I tilted my head to the side.

“No.” He shook his head. “I am Craven Security. My name is Leo.”

“Good.” I nodded. “I need your help.”

Jackson thinks he has me where he wants me, but I’m done playing by the rules—especially his rules.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jon

A few hours later

I woke up feeling groggy. I hated taking pills—especially pills that knocked me out. I looked around the room for my phone, but it was on the table out of reach. That was Melanie’s doing. She didn’t want me to do anything work related when I needed to rest. I wondered if she had left once, I went to sleep. I couldn’t blame her if she did. She had to appear in City Court the next morning for the custody hearing, and it didn’t seem like we had much of a fighting chance. I did everything I could to fix the problem, but I was too late and was lucky that I woke up in a hospital bed—I was lucky that I woke up at all. Even if I had been successful and got Jackson to leave Carson Cove, the lawsuit was already filed.

“Hello? Is someone there?” A noise startled me, and I tried to sit up.

“It’s just me, Mr. Alcott.” The nurse that was supposed to be looking after me stepped into the doorway.

“Oh…” I nodded. “Did Melanie leave?”

“She said she had to meet with someone.” She shrugged. “It’s time for you to take you to take your next dose of medicine—I’ll fix you something to eat.”

“Thanks…” I sighed.

Who did Melanie need to meet with? She already sat down with Addison—she should be back in the city by now.