I looked out the window, but it was impossible to give him privacy while sitting in the back of a car. Even hearing only one side of the conversation, it was evident right away that something was wrong.
“Hello?”
Quiet.
He let go of my hand and adjusted to hold the cell in his newly free one. “Where are the girls?”
Uh-oh.More quiet.
“Have they ever met the family before?”
I could hear a woman speaking, but it wasn’t clear enough to make out what she was saying. Though Jagger closing his eyes hinted that the news was getting worse.
“I could be there in…” He lifted his wrist to check the time on his watch. “Probably will take me at least four hours.”
Silence again.
Jagger eventually nodded. “All right, if you’re sure the family is safe and the girls won’t be up all night crying. Because if that’s the case, I’d rather come tonight, even if it’s midnight when I arrive.”
He listened before nodding more. “That would be great. If you could do that now, I’d appreciate it. If they’re comfortable where they are, I’ll come first thing in the morning.”
Another pause, then, “Thank you. I’ll wait to hear back.”
Jagger swiped to end the call and blew out a ragged breath.
“That didn’t sound good,” I said.
He shook his head. “It’s not. My sister went in on a fifty-one-fifty hold. It’s a seventy-two-hour involuntary psychiatric hospitalization that gives the doctors time to evaluate someone and decide if they’re a danger to themselves or others.” Jagger leaned forward and spoke to his driver. “Sam, can you please pull over for a few minutes? We might be heading to the airport, which is in the opposite direction. I’ll let you know momentarily.”
“Of course, sir.”
The driver pulled the car from the flow of traffic and slowed at the curb in front of a Trader Joe’s. “I can’t park here, but we’ll keep it running and move if anyone gives us a hard time.”
Jagger leaned back into the seat. “I’m sorry. They took Amelia and Olivia to a foster family. I’ve worked with this case worker before, and she’s been pretty straight withme. She thinks it’s better for me to pick the girls up in the morning, if they aren’t stressing where they are since I wouldn’t get there until the middle of the night. She said the family has a little girl the same age as Amelia and kids generally love it there, but she’s going to call the parents now, see how my nieces are doing, and send me a text.”
Without thinking, I reached over and took Jagger’s hand again, lacing my fingers with his. He stared down but made no attempt to pull away.
“How often does this happen?” I asked softly.
He shook his head. “Too damn often. I tried to get custody of the girls a few years back when things got bad, but the judge refused. When he gave his decision, he warned my sister that she was one more appearance away from him siding with me. That’s when Catherine up and moved back to Ohio. I think her piece-of-shit lawyer told her it would make it more difficult for me to get her in front of the same judge if she left the state.”
Jagger’s phone buzzed. He lifted it, scanned a text, and then let out a breath. “Olivia is sleeping already, and Amelia is painting with the daughter. The social worker wants me to leave them until morning since they’ve already had enough disruption for the day.”
I nodded. “It’s probably best they get a good night’s sleep.”
Jagger leaned forward and spoke to Sam. “You can continue to the restaurant now.”
“You got it, boss.”
Jagger swiped his phone again. “I just need to make arrangements for the morning.”
“We don’t have to go to dinner. You need your rest too, and it sounds like you’re going to have an early start tomorrow.”
He looked at me. “What I need is to take you out to dinner, then pin you to my bed and bury myself inside of you so the world stops spinning.”
That simple sentence told meso muchabout what made Jagger the man he was today, with his need for control and lack of long-term relationships. But it wasn’t the time to psychoanalyze him, so I smiled. “Okay. I like your plan better.”
I wanted to do whatever I could to help Jagger get through this difficult time. Being the CEO of a major company had to be stressful enough, but to have the DOJ filing an antitrust suit against Apex, and now to be responsible for two young girls seemed like enough to break a person.
