Chapter 63
Chapter Sixty-Three
Foster
Callie tells the group she’s tired and that we’re going to head up to the condo. They all believe it, but I hate that my bullshit is keeping her from having a good time with our friends.
As soon as we’re behind closed doors, she turns to me. “Okay, let’s call Jagger.”
I can see fatigue weighing on her as she sits on the couch and stretches out her legs.
Taking a seat beside her, I bring her legs over my lap again and massage her feet. “Go figure, right? Things were going way too well.”
I concentrate on her feet, but she pokes me in the stomach with one when I don’t look at her.
“Things are still great. You’re innocent, and sure at first people will… well, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s just call Jagger and figure out a plan.”
I sigh, meeting her gaze. “We leave in the morning for the Seattle game.”
I don’t want to tell Callie that maybe she should stay home. I left a lot of shit in Seattle. I thought it was all cleared up, but now I’m walking into a shitstorm and bringing her along with me.
“Call him.” She pokes me with her foot again.
I pull my phone out and dial Jagger, putting him on speaker.
“Hey, sorry to ruin your night. I figured you were celebrating. You’ve been on fire on the mound lately. Keep it up and those endorsements will come. Well, depending how this all shakes out. How likely is it that your name will come up in this investigation?”
“Since I paid my dad’s debt, and we share the same last name, I’m guessing pretty likely. Do you think he keeps records like that?”
Jagger blows out a breath.
Callie slides in next to me, resting her head on my shoulder. I wrap my arm around her and pull her as close as I can get her.
“It depends how big of an operation he’s running, but since they nabbed him, and it is somewhat news, I’d say your name is somewhere. They’re certainly going to be able to track it when they dig into his banking records.”
I groan, and Callie takes the phone from me. “Hey, Jagger, this is Callie.”
“Callie, can’t wait to meet you.”
“Do you think he should just go public and make a statement?”
Jagger chuckles but sobers quickly. “Sorry, it’s just… of course you’d think that.”
“People are going to talk.”
“Foster hasn’t even been named yet. I don’t think we bring shit up that they haven’t figured out.
If and when the cops want to talk to him, it may not leak to the public.
They might interview him, be satisfied with what he says, and move on, no one the wiser.
This could die down in a couple days. Or they might arrest him, and the case could get thrown out of court.
Let’s not be rash. Let’s wait and see what happens over the next few days. ”
Callie and I look at each other, weighing what Jagger said in our minds. Eventually we nod in agreement.
“Okay, Jagger. Sounds like a plan.” I kiss Callie on the temple.
“So, you’re in Seattle this weekend. I’ll be there too. We’re gonna put on our happy faces and pretend like nothing is out of sorts. If it comes out, we’ll address it at that time. Just keep your head down.”
“Okay. I will.”
“There’s one more thing…” I can hear the hesitation in Jagger’s voice, something I don’t hear often.
There’s a long pause as Callie looks at me quizzically.
“I’m hiring security.” Jagger’s statement lands like a bomb.
My chest tightens, and my hand flexes on Callie’s shoulder.
“What? Why?” Callie straightens a bit. As best she can with her belly.
“Foster?” he says.
“She knows everything,” I tell him.
“This bookie has people. People who are looking for who ratted him out. I don’t think you’re in danger or anything like that, but I don’t want them bothering you guys. I know you’re an ‘in the stands behind home plate’ girl, Callie, but this weekend, you’ll be in a suite.”
“But—”
I squeeze her shoulder and nod. I’d feel more at peace with her in a suite rather than out in public.
“Fine.” She sounds like a sullen child, and my lips quirk up.
“We’ll talk more this weekend. Since it’s, like, a couples thing, I’ll bring Quinn,” Jagger says.
“Good, I have a question for her.” Callie glances at the romance books in the corner on the table, one of which has Quinn’s name on it.
“I always love it when my clients want to talk to my romance author wife,” Jagger says dryly. “Sit tight, and if anything happens, I’ll be in contact. Otherwise, see you tomorrow night. Security will be waiting for you at the hotel.”
We say goodbye, and Callie tosses my phone on the other couch cushion, moving to straddle me. As I always do, I place my hands on her stomach. My number one priority is to keep them safe, and I can’t help but think Seattle is the worst place for them.
“Do you think I can convince you to stay home?”
She shakes her head. “The whole reason we picked Seattle as the away series I tagged along for was because I knew it would be hard for you to be there. I want to be with you to remind you that it’s us now, not just you.”
She kisses me, but when she goes to pull away, I weave my hand through the hair at the back of her head, keeping her there.
I knew she’d still want to go, and Leighton is going for Hayes. Who knows when Callie will be able to travel again once the baby comes?
So I’ll try to push aside my concern and lose myself in her, hoping like hell when we wake up, I’m not headline news.