Page 110 of Getting Lucky

Jack was stunned, both because River had been so quick to accept the request, and because Lee had expressed concern for him for the first time.

“Have you beendrinking?” Georgie asked, then threw a panicked look toward her sister. “Why don’t you go sit down with Addy and we’ll talk later, okay?”

As much as Jack wanted to talk to Maisie, he needed to deal with this situation first. He hurried over and grabbed Lee’s right arm, nearly keeling over from the alcohol stench, and tried to steer him toward a high top table in the back of the room.

A server walked by, and Jack snagged her as she passed. “Chelsea, bring us a cup of coffee as soon as you can get to it.” He shot a glance at the wobbling Lee. “Actually, make it a carafe.”

Chelsea took one look at Lee, then rushed out of the room.

“Oh, my God,” Addy said, taking Lee’s arm on the other side. “Are youdrunk? I’ve never seen you like this.”

“You’re just the person I need to talk to,” Lee said, craning his neck to face her and nearly falling from the abrupt motion. “Georgie too, but she’s busy.”

“Now isn’t a good time,” Jack said, tightening his grip. “Let’s wait until later.”

“But you said I needed to be the one to tell them,” Lee said, slurring his words. “The FBI agent thought so too.”

Addy gasped. “Lee, are you introuble?”

“He’s going to be in trouble if he ruins Georgie and River’s party,” Maisie said, sweeping in. She gently pushed Addy out of the way and took Lee’s arm in a tight grip. “I’m having a severe case of déjà vu. Jack, what do you say we take your brother outside to get some fresh air before he wrecks another pair of innocent shoes?”

His heart rate had picked up, and even though his focus should have been on Lee and the unfolding chaos, he couldn’t help but be excited that Maisie had come over to help.

“Addy,” Maisie said, “can you get your brother a cup of black coffee?”

“Already on it,” Jack said.

Maisie gave him a dark grin, then turned to Adalia. “Jack and I have Lee covered. You make sure your dad and Vic-tor-ia don’t ruin the party over this.” When Adalia hesitated, Maisie said, “We know what’s going on. He’s okay. Trust us?”

“Okay,” Adalia said reluctantly.

The fear in her eyes ripped a hole in Jack’s heart. He wanted to reassure her, but he couldn’t. The situationwasas bad as she was imagining. For now, the less he said, the better.

Jack and Maisie escorted Lee out the back door and into the alley.

“It stinks out here,” Lee said, his nose wrinkling.

“Yeah,” Maisie said. “Kind of like you. I take it from the fact you’re wearing the clothes you had on last night that you haven’t had a shower today?”

“No time,” he mumbled, then pulled away from them, pacing in anxious circles near the dumpster.

“You’re going to fall, Lee,” Jack said. “Why don’t you sit down for a minute or just lean up against the wall?”

Lee shook his head. “No. I have to talk to Georgie and Addy. I have to warn them about the FBI.”

“You talked to the FBI?” Maisie asked, her eyes wide.

“I called them.” Lee held up his hand, using his thumb and index finger to mimic a phone. “They were super eager to talk to me. Flew right down even.”

Jack’s stomach dropped. “Oh shit.”

This must be really bad.

“I made a deal,” Lee said with a laugh. “If you’d told me yesterday whether I’d be making a deal with the FBI to turn on my father, I would have called you a lying asshole.”

“You actually did call me an asshole,” Jack said dryly.

Lee stopped and gave him a blank look. “Oh, yeah. Huh.”

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