“Are you sure you don’t want to take a drive up there today?”
She said, “If you haven’t noticed, we’re out at a park and supposed to be admiring the different kites.”
“I’ve been looking. Dragons, Boxes. Fish. Hell, if I’m right, that one over there is a monkey. But if you want to be with your parents, that’s where you should be.” He knew she was torn and only needed a little push.
“The bus has already left and there isn’t another until tomorrow. I wouldn’t make it back in time for work on Monday if I go. Getting fired won’t be helping them.” She sighed. “Sometimes it sucks doing what is right instead of what you want to do.”
Don’t I know it.“What if we drove?”
“We?”
“I’ve got nothing planned for the weekend.”
“And you want to drive six hours to Alexandria Bay? Why?”
“So you can visit your parents,” Charles said.
“That’s not very exciting for you. My mother has dementia. She might not even know you’re there. Or worst, she might not like you.”
“I don’t know. I can be pretty charming when I try.” Charles gave her a dashing smile. Then he got serious. “And this isn’t about whether she likes me or not. It’s so you can see her.”
“I still have no idea what’s in it for you.”
He gave her a playful wink. “If it’s still warm tomorrow, maybe you can show me that swimming hole you like to skinny dip in.”
She blushed and said, “I am so going to regret telling you that.”
Charles tapped her on the tip of her nose. “Most definitely. Now what do you say? Pack up and head to Alexandria Bay?”
“I need to stop at the apartment first and make sure the cat has plenty of food and water. The owners would flip out if anything happened to her while they were gone.”
“Not your cat?”
“Not my place. I’m house-sitting and the house comes with a cat. Three more weeks and they’ll be back.”
“Then let’s get going.” The sandwiches were gone so packing up was easy—trash and a blanket. He couldn’t stop thinking about her current living arrangement. Three weeks wasn’t a long time. And finding someplace else in New York took time. What will happen then? He wasn’t sure she’d still have a job at that point. Once he had everything he needed, Charles was going to the Feds. He couldn’t let how this would affect Rosslyn get in his way. Not at this point. Not at all.
It was probably easier thought than done. He was going with her to see her family, and she hadn’t even invited him. Hell, he invited himself. Charles was losing his focus. Yet he wasn’t backing out. Alexandria Bay was a part of her, a place that helped mold her into who she was. Charles really wanted to see her in her own environment. Maybe that would break whatever spell she had on him. Or finish me off.
Guess it didn’t matter because after one quick stop, they were on their way.
As Rosslyn was upstairs checking on the cat, Charles figured he’d touch base with Gareth one more time. “Anything new on Maxwell?”
“Not sure. Hell Charles, I’m not sure what to make of this.”
He wasn’t used to hearing Gareth puzzled. Usually his cocky self was bragging about how easy everything was. “Maybe I can help.”
Gareth laughed. “You stick to what you do, let me handle this.”
“Then at least let me know what has the great Gareth stumped, so I can enjoy your struggles.”
“You know you can be an ass sometimes, right?” Gareth growled.
Charles laughed. “It’s the small things in life that we enjoy the most. Now, are you going to tell me or not?”
“Someone was doing some digging into our family.”
That caught Charles’s full attention. “All of us? One of us?”