Page 30 of Smuggler's Cove
“True, but at least we had one on the weekends.” Madison sniffed, but she was not going to cry. No. She had to save her strength for the days, weeks, and months ahead.
Lincoln opened the leather-bound directory and flipped to the Room Service page. “Now that you emptied your stomach of that street dog, how is your appetite?”
“How did you know I ate a hot dog?” Madison furrowed her brow.
“Evidence: trash can. Your breath.” Lincoln elbowed her.
“Maybe soup and a club sandwich.”
“You bet. Who is paying for this?” He was half joking.
“I guess Mom.” She shrugged. She pulled the portfolio from her brother’s grip. “I wonder how their burgers are.” Madison’s appetite rebounded. “I think this calls for extra crispy fries.”
“Talk about a one-eighty!” Lincoln gasped.
“What can I say? I am hungry now that my stomach is empty. But just to be on the safe side, I will order a ginger ale.”
She placed their order and flopped on the bed. She steeled herself as she clicked the TV remote. “Fasten your seat belt.”
The announcer came on:
“We have breaking news. Two of Wall Street’s most influential financiers were arrested today and charged with fraud. Jackson Taylor and Raymond Gershon, of Taylor-Gershon, have been charged with twelve felony counts, including wire fraud, money laundering, securities fraud, and false filings with the SEC. Both men are being held without bail. More on this story after these messages.”
Lincoln and Madison watched their handcuffed father as he was escorted into the criminal court, his Gianni Versace suit jacket pulled over his head, hiding his face. Gershon was similarly attired.
“This is surreal,” Lincoln commented. “But this is probably the most I’ve seen of him lately,” he said, and snickered.
Madison threw a pillow at him and laughed. “This is what it must be like in theTwilight Zone.”
“You know something, Maddie? We werelivingin theTwilight Zone. Now, we have been thrust into reality.”
“Quite a trajectory, I’d say.” Madison got up and pulled Mr. Jinx from her bag. Lincoln grinned.
“Interesting.”
“What?” Madison sat down on the bed.
“Stuff that is important to us. Of all the things you could have taken from the house, you picked Mr. Jinx.”
She pulled out the collage and unrolled it. “And this. My first piece of art.” She climbed back onto the bed. “What did you grab?”
Lincoln handed her a small box. Inside was a golf tee.
“What’s this?”
“A golf tee. Surely, you have seen them before,” he joked.
“No. Never. Duh. But why this one in particular?”
“It is the one I used when I finally broke one hundred. I always carried it for good luck.”
“Obviously, you were not carrying it today.”
“But I am now.”
Their conversation got interrupted by a knock on the door. A muffled voice called, “Room service.”
Lincoln checked through the pinhole. He opened the door and let the waiter roll the cart into the room. As he was setting up the table, the news returned with “more on the story.”
