The Mechanic.

Chapter 24

Jon walked into his room and sat in the bed with his back against the headboard and his legs stretched out in front of him. He covered his eyes with his forehead and tried to banish the anger and frustration that he felt. He didn't like this. Didn't like it one bit. The situation had been bearable when she was just insinuating that he was a gold digger. But her insulting his mother was a huge deal and he didn't know how much he could take without blowing up on her.

His phone started to vibrate from the bedside table. He answered when he saw that it was Emma. "Hey," he greeted quietly.

"Hey baby," she responded. "I just put Josh to bed."

"That's good. He doesn't usually sleep so early."

"Yeah, he fell asleep in the car," she said on a yawn. "I just wanted to apologize again."

"Come on," he replied. "You don't have to apologize so much. You did nothing wrong."

"I know. How's your mom feeling about the whole thing though?"

"I don't actually know. She didn't say anything to me and I didn't want to bring it up." He rubbed his eyes. Since they had left, his mother had been uncharacteristically quiet. Only speaking when spoken to. That was weird for his mother but he hadn't wanted to open the conversation because he just wanted to forget that it had even happened.

"Ugh. I hate this. You don't sound so great as well," she commented.

"Me? Don't worry. I'm alright. I'll get over it, okay?" he assured. "Get some sleep."

"I will. You should too," she said. Jon didn't like the way she sounded in the slightest. She sounded tired and sad and that made him uneasy. Normally, he would make a joke to make it slightly better, but for the life of him, he couldn't think of something funny to say. "How about I take you and Josh out to dinner tomorrow night?"

"Uh oh. Can't do that. Jeremy and Millie are coming for a sleepover tomorrow," she said.

"Oh? So it's just going to be you and three kids?" he asked.

"Well, yeah."

"Want me to come over and help?"

She chuckled. "Jon. You know that I would never say no to your company."

"Alright. So it's a date," he said with a chuckle.

"Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, love."

She responded and they hung up.

****

Liza searched the hallway to make sure that her husband was nowhere in sight before she hurried into the bathroom and locked the door. She held up her phone and dialed the strange number that she hadn't thought she would be needing anymore.

"Well well well," the man's deep voice mocked. "Look who needs my help again."

The smugness in his voice grated on her nerves and she wished she didn't have to make this call.

"Hello, Manuel," she said coldly.

"Why so cold. Betty?" he drawled.

"My name is Liza or Mrs. Lewis. Not Betty," she said through clenched teeth.

"Maybe to your rich husband or the other naïve people in your other life, Betty."

She frowned and imagined all the wonderful ways in which she could send him to his creator. "Manuel. I have a job for you."