The boy squinted between his mother and the smiling nurse.

“You don’t want that, do you?” Sherry asked.

The boy shook his head. “No, Mom.”

Sherry smiled and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

Huh. Madison hadn’t seen that coming.

“Mom?”

“Yeah, baby?”

The boy pulled her closer and pointed in Madison’s direction. “Who’s that woman?”

Sherry whispered something into his ear that made him nod.

Madison looked at her watch. It was almost nine. She should have been on her way to the club already to meet the guys, not standing around like a fool and letting a little boy call her “that woman.” If they didn’t speed things up, she wouldn’t arrive at the club before the guys were already sauced.

“Will you be fine here for a while?” Sherry asked her son. “I’ll drive back home to get us some clothes for the night.”

The kid seemed exhausted from the entire ruckus and just nodded.

Sherry had turned away when the boy said, “Can I have my Spiderman pajamas?”

“We’ll see.”

“The main entrance is closed for visitors,” the nurse said. “I’ll tell the guys on security to expect you.”

“Thank you,” Sherry said. “That’s very kind of you. I’ll hurry up.”

The nurse sent her a friendly smile and took a blood pressure cuff from a shelf to wrap it around the boy’s arm.

“I’ll be right back.” Sherry caressed her son’s sweaty bangs and straightened toward Madison. “Okay, let’s talk outside.”

Sherry had barely closed the door when she whirled around, coming face to face with Ms. Fielding. “What happens to Jake if I don’t agree to help you?”

With one hand casually placed in her pants pocket, Ms. Fielding leaned against the wall. Then, as if to display how relaxed she was, she folded one foot over the other. “Why not ask me what happens if you agree? Money wouldn’t be an issue for you anymore and the boy would be taken care of.”

She couldn’t imagine such a scenario if she tried. And the fact that Ms. Fielding hadn’t answered her question made her hackles rise.

“As you already know, I don’t have much money, Ms. Fielding. But I’m an upright and honest person. It’ll take a while, but I’ll pay you back.”

Ms. Fielding pushed away from the wall and stepped up to her. Close—much too close for Sherry’s liking—she paused and studied Sherry with an expressionless face. Abruptly, she looked away.

Goose bumps ran down her spine, the same way it had earlier with Andy. Had that really been just a few hours ago?