Page 100 of Takedown

“And I won’t get you any ice cream, Ethan.” She sticks her tongue out at him as we leave his office, but Ethan follows us to the elevator and hugs me before I get on. Elizabeth wraps her arm around mine again. Neither one of us say a word all the way down or while we cross the lobby and get inside the waiting Maybach.

Mel sends a text to let me know that she just got home and will be working remote for the rest of the day. I text back and slide my phone in my pocket. Elizabeth talks for the next ten minutes straight without taking a breath. She tells me about her and Ethan’s childhood, but I notice she never mentions our father.

“It’s okay. You can talk about him,” I tell her. She nods but stays quiet. I breathe a sigh of relief at the sign saying that the airport is only two miles away. I miss Mel, and I feel guilty for keeping my whereabouts from her, but she wouldn’t have wanted me to come. There’s a part of me that believes she wanted me to do something, otherwise she never would have told us this story. And my Mel has had enough bad things happen to her.

My flight is scheduled to leave on time, and that will get me home in enough time to get a good workout in. So, technically I didn’t lie to my wife. But instead of exiting the highway, we drive past the exit. I look at Elizabeth, but she’s looking straight ahead. She’s suddenly much too quiet, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“Elizabeth.” She pretends to be engrossed in whatever she’s looking at, but I say her name again.

“Hm?” she asks. She opens her eyes wide, faking a look of innocence.

“Why did your driver pass my exit?” She licks her lips and reaches out to grab my hands.

“Hear me out,” she says, and I groan. “We have a house in Sands Point. It’s right on the coast and a beautiful property. It’s technically yours too since it’s a Bradford property.” When I start to protest, she puts both hands up. “We don’t have to talk about that now. You’re here. It’s a Friday, and I want you to spend the weekend. Please, Adam.”

“Elizabeth,” I sigh. I put my head back on the headrest and close my eyes. “We’ll be here in two weeks for the shower or whatever the hell it is.”

“Yeah, but there will be a bunch of people. I’m hosting it with Tara’s sister, so I won’t get much time with you.” She squeezes my hand, and when I look at her, her eyes fill with tears again. I let out a string of curse words in my head. I can’t take a crying woman. “Please. You have to do it. I’m your big sister.”

I close my eyes and search for patience. I should have gone with my instincts and taken a taxi. “I can’t be away from my wife for an entire weekend. It’s been hell being this far away from her today.”

“I figured you’d say that. I can have her on the next flight to New York. I have a car on standby waiting to take her to the airport. She can be here in a few hours, and we can spend the weekend together. Please, Adam.” She squeezes my hand again, and I cave.

“You’re going to get me in so much trouble. She doesn’t know I’m here.”

“You want me to call her for you?” I smile, but I shake my head no.

“Let me call her.” I pull out my phone, press her name, and put the phone to my ear.

“Hey, stud,” she says. “Miss you. Can’t wait until you get home. Your mom sent me recipes for all your favorite meals. I’m going to surprise you tonight.”

“About that,” I begin. She goes quiet, and I can imagine her brows furrowing while she waits for me to say more. “I’m in New York.”

When she doesn’t speak right away, I pull the phone from my ear to make sure the call hasn’t dropped. “Adam.” Her voice comes out like a resigned statement. “I thought you were going to let Ethan handle it.”

“I like it better when you call me stud. And I did let him handle it. I only watched.”

“Uh-huh. So, you didn’t hit him?”

“Elizabeth is with me.” I think I do a pretty good job of changing the subject. “She was supposed to take me to the airport, but she wants me to stay for the weekend.”

“Oh, okay.” I can hear the disappointment in her voice. “I’ll miss you, but it would be good for you to spend some time with your brother and sister.”

“Not without you, love. Elizabeth is going to send a car to take you to the airport. If you don’t want to come, I’m on the next flight home.”

“I can think of worse ways to spend a weekend. Now I understand why Elizabeth texted asking me for a list of your favorite foods.”

“Thanks, Mel. Pack me a bag too. Don’t forget my sneakers and workout clothes. I’m going to hand the phone to Elizabeth now. I love you.” I have no shame when I blow her a loud kiss through the phone before I hand it to my sister.

49

Three long hours later the door to Elizabeth’s spacious Manhattan apartment finally opens. Our plans to go to Sands Point imploded. It started with Mel sending a message to the group text confirming the driver had picked her up, and she was on her way to the airport.

The instant Elizabeth noticed it was a group text, she started cursing. When Ethan called her phone not two minutes later, she ignored it, but when he kept calling, she answered, and they had another fight over me.

“Will you come back to Manhattan?” He sounds irritated by his sister. Elizabeth has put him on speakerphone by this point. “If he’s going to spend the weekend, then he should be with all of us. You can’t steal him away and go to Sands Point.”

“Well, it was my idea, Ethan. You didn’t ask him to stay.” She rolls her eyes to the ceiling and sticks her tongue out at the phone while making a face. That got a loud laugh out of me, which only prompted her to do it again.

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