A Game of COURAGE

by Lena Hart

  Mason ignored him and continued to stare down at Slater Reyes’ grinning face staring back at him. “Are you sure he’s here to see me?”

  “Yup. And he insisted I tell you that he just wants to talk.”

  “Yeah?” Mason didn’t bother to keep the edge from his tone. “Send him in.”

  “All right.” Doug shifted from one foot to the other. “My phone?”

  Mason blew out an exasperated breath and handed Doug back his phone. A few moments later, the tall, dark-haired baseball player strolled into the office and shut the door behind him. Mason stood in front of his desk, assessing the man. He was better looking in person, and the thought chafed at him.

  Was that what Jules had thought when she considered sleeping with him?

  Mason clenched and unclenched his hands into fists to ease the tension in them.

  “What the hell do you want?”

  Slater arched a dark brow. “So we’re not going to bother to be civil?”

  “I don’t see the need to waste the energy.”

  Slater sighed. “Look, I’m sorry for showing up like this. But I’ve seen what the media has been saying about me and your wife, and none of it is true.”

  “I didn’t need you to tell me that,” Mason snapped. “My wife already told me everything.”

  I just chose not to believe her.

  Now the progress they had made these past few weeks was starting to come undone.

  “You have three minutes to tell me why the hell you’re here.”

  Slater appeared uncertain of his next words.

  Mason’s frown deepened. “You have one minute.”

  “I just wanted to clear the record between me and your wife. And I thought I should do it in person.”

  Mason studied him closely. “Why? If nothing happened, why was it so important for you to come here?”

  “Because your wife seems like a great woman,” Slater said evenly. “I would hate for rumors and media bullshit involving me to break up a loving marriage.”

  “Then next time, stay the hell away from her.”

  They glared at each for a while before Slater shook his head.

  “I can see why Jules is so unhappy,” he said, his tone laced with disgust. “You’re a fucking—”

  Mason’s small thread of self-control broke. He rushed Slater and grabbed him by the collar then slammed him against the wall. Slater tried to push him away, but fury only strengthened Mason’s hold, and he got in the other man’s face.

  “Don’t you ever mention my wife’s name again. You don’t know shit about me, her, or our marriage.”

  “I know that she loves you,” Slater croaked, still trying to shove him off. “And that she’s miserable.”

  Mason’s resentment for Slater continued to climb. “Who the fuck told you that?”

  “She did.”

  Mason froze, and Slater pushed out of his grasp one final time. Mason let him go as the words began to sink in.

  “She said she was miserable?” Just saying the words out loud twisted his chest.

  Slater hesitated and ran his fingers through his hair. “Not in those words exactly, but her sentiment was easy to pick up.”

  So, in just one night, this stranger was able to pick up on his wife’s unhappiness. Yet, it had taken her filing for divorce from him to realize just how bad it had gotten between them. She had opened up to this man, this stranger she had considered sleeping with, and had talked to him in a way they now couldn’t.

  That thought did nothing to lighten his bitter jealousy.

  Slater must have seen something on his face, because he threw his hands up.

  “Look, I didn’t plan on approaching her that night. But she looked lonely as hell sitting at that table by herself. Before I knew it, I found myself introducing myself, and we just started talking.”

  “About what?”

  “You.”

  Mason jerked back in surprise. “She talked about me to you?”

  “Yeah. We talked about you and your kids. And I enjoyed talking to her, too. I could tell by the way she spoke about you all that she loved her family. But when I asked why you weren’t with her, she got this really sad look in her eyes, and I changed the subject.”

  Mason rubbed the back of his neck, only now realizing how dismissive he had been toward his wife’s feelings, and how much he had underestimated her commitment to him. Only a woman in love would put up with the shit that she did and still find space in her heart to include him.

  “I didn’t want to start trouble for you two,” Slater added. “Actually, I came here to connect with someone else entirely, and your wife gave me some pretty sage advice.”

  Slater regarded him closely, as if contemplating his next words—and whether he should say them at all.

  “What did she say?” Mason asked.

  “She told me that I needed to go see the person I was here to connect with, because not everyone’s fortunate enough to get a second chance. And she’s right, of course. But I’ve also learned that being strong enough to let go is much like a second chance too.”

  With those last words, Slater inclined his head and left his office.

  It was late in the afternoon when Jules finally made it home. With her schedule finally cleared, her main goal was to head home and relax before she had to pick up Madison. She was a few minutes from her house when her cell phone rang.

  She looked down the screen and recognized the number of her daughter’s private school.

  “May I speak to Mrs. Courage?”

  “Speaking,” Jules said as she found a spot on the side of the road to pull over.

  “Mrs. Courage, this is Mrs. Wagner, the assistant principal at Saint Francis Academy. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but today was the start of the summer prep program for your daughter Madison, and we wanted to confirm that she would be joining us this summer?”

  Jules frowned. “Yes, of course. My nanny dropped her off this morning.”

  “Oh.” There was a brief pause before Mrs. Wagner continued. “There must have been some confusion, then, because we have her marked down as a no-show.”

  “Should I be concerned?”

  There was another brief pause before the woman spoke again. “I’ll double-check with the teacher your daughter was assigned to. In the meantime, could you confirm with your nanny that Madison was indeed brought in today?”

  “Yes, of course.” Jules immediately hung up and called Carrie’s cell phone. Thankfully, she picked up on the second ring. “Carrie, is Madison with you?”

  “No, I dropped her off at Saint Francis this morning.”

  The hairs on Jules’ arms began to rise. “Are you sure? Because I just got a call from them, and they said Madison didn’t show up today.”

  “What? That’s impossible. I dropped her off in the front of the building. There were teachers ushering the kids inside, and I saw her walk into the building with one.”

  “You didn’t take her inside yourself?”

  Carrie hesitated. “Um, no. Since there was a lot of staff around, I thought it was okay to just drop her off.”

  Jules tried to hold on to her patience. Carrie wasn’t a mother, but she wouldn’t have guessed their nanny of three years would disregard that simple step.

  But if Carrie didn’t have Madison and the school couldn’t find her, then where the hell was she?

  “I’m headed to the school now.”

  Jules ended the call and drove faster than she could ever remember driving. She rushed into the large building and went straight to the front office, her pulse racing.

  “Please tell me you found my daughter?”

  The short woman behind the desk was startled to her feet. “Mrs. Courage?”

  Jules nodded, the lump forming in her throat, making it hard for her to speak.

  A pained look flashed across the woman’s face. “Let me get the principal.”

  14

  Mason reached for his ringing cell phone and imm
ediately answered Jules’ call. After the silent treatment she had been giving him, he was surprised by the call—and a bit apprehensive.

  Something must be wrong.

  “Jules?”

  “Mason! They lost her!”

  Mason frowned, not certain he had heard correct. She was crying and shouting and completely hysterical. The hairs on the back of his neck stirred.

  “Jules, calm down. Tell me what happened.”

  She sucked in a shuddering breath, but panic was still strong in her voice. “Madison. She’s not at the academy. Carrie dropped her off this morning, but now she’s nowhere in the school!”

  A horrifying chill washed over him and his heart sank to the bottom of his stomach. For a split second, Mason was paralyzed and didn’t know what to think or do. He couldn’t even stomach the idea that his daughter could actually be missing.

  “Where are you now?”

  Jules gave him the address of the school, and Mason made it there within minutes. He rushed into the school and was instantly stopped by a stocky man in a tight polo shirt, a whistle hanging around his wide neck.

  “Excuse me, sir. The school’s currently under lockdown. You’re going to have to wait until we get the all clear.”

  Mason held on to his rising panic. Lockdown? This was serious. He needed to get inside.

  “I’m here to find my daughter. Madison Courage. My wife’s inside. Now get out of my way.”

  The man sized him up, his bushy brows drawing together as he moved to the side. “The main office is down the hall.”

  Mason ran down the long hall, his footsteps snapping against the dark linoleum floors. He reached the front office only to find a small group huddled just outside the door. His first instinct was to identify the person in charge and put the fear of God in them. But there was already enough pandemonium. He knew his temper would only add to the chaos.

  He remembered Dr. Kahn’s words about stopping to think before he reacted and Mason did that. He scanned the crowd for his wife and found her at the center of the small cluster, crying uncontrollably. Carrie was also there, speaking to another woman, her face flushed with signs of distress.

  Mason immediately started toward his wife. When Jules caught sight of him, she broke from the group and rushed toward him. She threw her arms around him and he held her close, her body trembling violently against his.

  “Mason, they still can’t—”

  She was crying too hard to continue, and he had to rein in his own climbing emotions. His wife was already a wreck and he needed to keep his cool if they were going to find their daughter.

  “It’s going to be okay, Jules,” he said close to her ear. “We’ll find her.”

  She nodded stiffly and began to gather her composure.

  “Mr. Courage?”

  Mason looked up to find a grim-faced woman approaching them. “Yes, I’m Madison’s father.”

  “I’m Mrs. Wagner, the assistant principal here. As I was telling your wife, we’ve checked the cameras, and no student has been seen leaving the school. If your daughter was here this morning, then we believe she’s still here.”

  Mason frowned. “What do you mean if she was here? My wife said she was dropped off this morning. Check your cameras and see what time she walked in here.”

  Mrs. Wagner nodded, though her austere expression gave him little assurance that she would.

  “We’re doing everything we can to find your daughter, but it’s the first day of our summer prep program. Things get a little crazy on the first day, which is why we have helpers at the front to help usher the students inside and to their classrooms.”

  Mason bit back his rising frustration and fear. Basically, what the assistant principal was telling him was that they hadn’t seen Madison walk in here and had no way to confirm that she had. Except for Carrie’s word.

  He turned to their nanny. “Walk us through everything that happened this morning when you pulled up here.”

  She did, her voice strained, but her retelling was detailed. “I waited in the car until she joined the other preschoolers in the drop-off area,” Carrie added. She pointed to a quiet blonde a few feet away. “I remember she was following you and your group inside.”

  The young woman’s eyes widened in alarm before she darted her attention from him to Mrs. Wagner.

  “I brought all the children to the cafeteria and sat them with their age group so their teachers could come get them,” the young blonde said. “I didn’t have an attendance list or anything so I can’t say for certain who was in my group.”

  “How can you not know?” Jules snapped, advancing toward the anxious woman. “You work here, don’t you? It’s your job to keep an eye on our children.”

  Mason took her hand again and pulled Jules back to his side. It was all he could do to calm her, since fear and anger threatened to take a hold of him too.

  “We’re wasting time pointing fingers,” he said to Mrs. Wagner. “What are you doing right now to find her?”

  “We’ve gone into each of the preschool and kindergarten classrooms and are cross referencing each student on the list to make sure we didn’t overlook something.”

  “Where are these classrooms?” Mason asked. “I want to check inside them myself.”

  “Mr. Courage, please—”

  “Mrs. Wagner, this is not up for debate.” Mason applauded himself for managing to keep his voice even. “I can go through each and every classroom, shouting for my daughter, but I would rather avoid distressing the other children.”

  “I understand. But right now, we have two of our office secretaries searching through each class carefully. We believe your daughter may have just ended up in the wrong class.”

  Mason blew out a frustrated breath. “Look, lady. I’m not asking. Now you either take us to those classrooms or I’ll start tearing this school apart.”

  Mrs. Wagner’s lips flatten into a thin line. So much for keeping his cool. After a brief pause, the assistant principal nodded and escorted him and Jules into the first classroom. Mrs. Wagner whispered something to the teacher and then turned to address the students. Mason turned to the little faces that stared back up at him.

  “Hello, class. I just wanted to take a moment to introduce you to a local superstar. How many of you watch hockey?”

  The principal spoke for about a minute as Mason surveyed the class. They all wore uniforms and it made it that more difficult to separate them into individuals. He continued to scan the sea of small faces, hoping to catch a glimpse of pale brown cherubic cheeks and a wide smile that resembled his wife’s.

  Mason could sense Jules’ tension as she stood by his side, clutching his arm, and hoping to find the same round face in the crowd. One of the office secretaries ran down the attendance list, but it yielded nothing.

  They moved on to the next class, passing a display of awards and trophies. If only the school placed as much value in their daughter’s whereabouts, they wouldn’t be in this mess.

  Same goes for you.

  Mason didn’t know where the thought had come from, but the truth in those words weren’t lost on him. This was his baby girl’s first day of school and he was ashamed to admit this was the first time he had set foot in the school. While he’d been chasing after his own trophy, he’d relied on Jules to take care of everything concerning their children’s education. He vowed after today, he wouldn’t allow that to happen again.

  When nothing resulted from the other class, they moved on to the next—the class that their daughter was supposed to be in.

  “You’re not the teacher I met with last quarter,” Jules said to the plump woman with the bright orange hair.

  “Ms. Munro is new here,” Mrs. Wagner said. “The teacher you met with is on medical leave.”

  “And no one bothered to tell me this?” Jules turned back to the teacher. “My daughter’s on your roster, right?”

  “Yes,” Ms. Munro said, clearly anxious from all the attention. “But I assumed s
he was just absent today.”

  “Well, she wasn’t,” Jules snapped.

  Mason squeezed her hand reassuringly then said to the assistant principal, “Let’s move on to the next class.”

  She ushered them to another class and still no sign of Madison. Terror like Mason had never felt before began to take root in him. What was he to do if his four-year-old daughter ended up missing? The possibility of that began to open a chasm in his chest.

  When they walked into the fourth classroom, Mason’s knees nearly buckled when he heard an excited shriek from the crowd of kids on the floor.

  “Daddy!”

  Madison jumped up from where she sat on the mat and ran to them. Mason scooped her up in his arms and held her close. Her tiny arms wrapped around him, and he couldn’t control his trembling.

  Jules tried to contain her tears, but she was crying too hard to stop. She pulled Madison into her arms and held her tight.

  “Mommy, you’re squeezing me!”

  “I’m sorry, baby.”

  “Mommy…” Madison drew back, her face scrunched into a deep frown. “Stop crying.”

  Jules murmured something incoherent. Madison took her little hand and wiped it down Jules’ damp cheek. It didn’t help any.

  Madison looked over at him, her bottom lip quivering. “Daddy, make Mommy stop crying.”

  Mason cupped his daughter’s cheek. “Mommy’s just happy to see you, sweetie. We both are.” Mason turned to the assistant principal and teacher, who still appeared baffled by the entire situation. “Why wasn’t my daughter on your list?”

  The slender man’s eyes widened as if he were puzzled by the question. “She is on my list. I received all the late registered students, many of whom were added to my roster today.”

  Mason glared at the man and the assistant principal. “What are you talking about? My wife registered our daughter months ago. Madison should have already been on your list.”

  “Madison?” The teacher looked from him to his daughter and back to him. “She said her name was Queenie.” He looked down at the clipboard in his hands. “Queenie Coach.”

  Mason snapped his head around toward Madison, who was now kissing Jules’ cheek and patting her hair in comfort. If the lingering panic and fear hadn’t still been rooted in him, Mason could have probably found the humor in the situation.