Conviction of the Heart (7 page)

“You said you were finished, Maddie. I support your decision. We might as well make it a package,” Suzanne advised. “Let the sheriff serve him with everything, divorce and all.”

Indecision flitted across Maddie’s face, and Suzanne suggested she wash up and take a few minutes to pull herself together. When she returned, she appeared more composed, and even managed a faint smile.

“Maddie, we ought to take pictures. If you haven’t already.”

“Pictures?” Distress sucked blood from her face. “What for?”

“For court. We might not have a hearing for ten days. By then, you won’t look like this anymore.” Suzanne reached for her Blackberry. “May I?”

Stiff with shame, Madeleine Morgan pulled up her sleeves and let Suzanne photograph her from several angles. Suzanne finished as quickly as she could, feeling guilt at causing her client embarrassment. “I’ll get these printed. Are you okay?”

Maddie nodded, not meeting her eyes.

“Let's go,” Suzanne said, feeling like she was leading the first assault at Normandy.

The wait for the
ex-parte
order seemed endless. Suzanne wasn't worried about getting the order—Maddie's face alone showed the damage had been done. The hard part would be having the sheriff serve Mr. Civic-Minded Morgan and force him out of his house until a full hearing could take place sometime in the following ten days.

The courthouse hall echoed with the sound of voices and footsteps, the coming and going of court personnel carrying files and running errands. Examining the papers one more time, Suzanne didn’t notice the man who stopped in front of them until he spoke.

“Maddie? Is everything all right?”

Suzanne glanced up at the gray-suited man, then at Maddie, who was frozen in her seat.

“Can I help you?” Suzanne asked, annoyed by his casual stare at Maddie’s bruised face, even more dramatic under the unforgiving fluorescent lights.

He turned to study Suzanne a moment, then dismissed her without a word. “Maddie, tell those kids I love them,” he said. “I'll be over to see them this weekend. I'll see all of you then.”

As he walked away, Maddie's hand found Suzanne's and squeezed so tightly Suzanne gasped. “W—We should g—go,” Maddie said through chattering teeth. She stood up and Suzanne pulled her back down.

“You need to stay here. You
need
this order. Don't let him scare you.” She watched the guy vanish into the crowded hallway. “Who is that?”

“One of the guys who does Greg’s dirty work. He'll call Greg.”

Suzanne forced her voice to be light, to downplay the blow this dealt to their case. How powerful was Morgan really? Could he manage a phone call to the judge before they could even see him? Would it matter? “Greg would have found out within a couple of hours anyway.” She patted Maddie’s hand and pried it gently off hers. Danger brewed on the horizon like a summer thunderstorm. “You’ll be okay, Maddie. I promise.”

Judge Franken's secretary came out. “The judge will see you now.”

Five minutes earlier
, Suzanne thought.
Three, maybe. And Maddie's secret would have been safe for a little while longer. Long enough to get her out of the courthouse and into a safe place. Damn it.

Maddie told Judge Franken her story and, as expected, the judge signed a restraining order removing Gregory Morgan from the house, giving Maddie temporary custody of the children. Due to the broken arm, Greg was only allowed supervised visitation. Maddie was granted temporary support of fifteen hundred dollars per month.

Suzanne took a copy of the order from the judge's chambers, along with the divorce complaint, already filed, and walked it to the sheriff's office for service of process. Under these circumstances, they agreed to put it in their day’s workload, but there was no guarantee they’d have them served by the end of the day.

“Not good enough,” Suzanne snapped.

The deputy behind the counter eyed her with patronizing ennui. “That’s the best you’ll get, ma’am. We don’t have guaranteed service for anyone here, I don’t care who they are.”

“Particularly not when a city councilman’s involved, I expect.”

Indignation made her voice louder than she’d intended, or else everyone simply stopped talking at the same moment. The words echoed for several seconds before the usual hubbub of the sheriff’s office resumed.

“You want to speak to the supervisor, lady, I’ll call her.”

“Never mind!”

Suzanne snatched the papers from his hand and marched out, Maddie on her heels. Granted, the order was only a piece of paper. It wouldn’t deflect a fist—or a bullet. But it was what they had. Furious that the deputy couldn’t see the inherent menace in the situation, she scoured her mind for other options.

One came to mind. Nick Sansone wanted to play white knight, didn’t he? So he could do his part in the rescue of Maddie Morgan.

She pulled Maddie into a nearby coffee shop and sat her at a table. Tapping her cell phone’s screen, she found the number for the detective division. As she dialed, her foot tapped, fueled by nervous energy. She found herself observing the crowd and waiting for trouble to surface. The officer who answered put her straight through.

“Lieutenant Sansone.”

His voice sent ripples through her. She forced herself to focus on her mission. “Nick, it’s Suzanne Taylor. I’ve got a small problem you might be able to help me with.”

He listened while she explained and arranged to meet her in half an hour outside the doctor’s office without further question. Maddie protested, arguing that she could take a cab, but Suzanne wouldn’t allow it.

“We’re in for the whole pound, Maddie. As long as we’ve got a city officer willing to go with us, you should take the chance.”

Maddie left her doctor's office with an envelope of documentation, including more pictures, a prescription for pain and a warning that if her face wasn’t better in twenty-four hours that she should go to the hospital for X-rays.

As promised, Nick was waiting for them outside the doctor’s office. He greeted Maddie with a warm smile and gentle handshake. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Morgan, we’ll make sure you’re safe, all right?”

He helped her into Suzanne’s car, then took the envelope containing the legal papers from Suzanne, giving them a quick glance, since he’d need to explain the import of the paperwork to Greg Morgan. He nodded his approval. “What next? You’re the boss.”

“Why don’t you follow me over there, and you can serve him then? She’ll need some things for herself and the kids.”

“Fine. Let’s go.”

Liking the fact he hadn’t questioned her expertise, but had just done what she asked, she slipped into the driver’s seat of her car, then watched him get into his own, a smile pressing through to surface on her lips.

“He seems really nice,” Maddie said.

“He might be.” Suzanne grinned and headed for Interstate 376.

****

When they arrived a short time later at the expensive Shadyside Morgan home, they found the door standing open. Nothing was amiss in the beautifully-landscaped front yard and no one came out at the sound of their car doors closing.

Nick’s eyes took on a troubled look. “You two stay here,” he ordered. He tucked the envelope under his arm before he removed his pistol from its holster. He disappeared inside the large brick house.

“Oh, my God,” Maddie gasped. “What’s he going to do?”

Suzanne shushed her, pulling her behind the parked car, now a barrier between them and the house. “If someone’s broken in, they might still be inside,” she whispered. “Nick will find them. Don’t worry.”

Expecting to hear shots any moment, Suzanne was relieved when Nick poked his head out the door and beckoned them to come in. “Don’t touch anything,” he warned as they came to the front step.

“Don’t—what happened?” Suzanne asked. Then she saw.

The house looked as if a poltergeist had been through every drawer, every closet. Maddie's clothes were scattered around the living room, slashed to pieces. Furniture was overturned. Some of the children's toys were burned in the middle of their bedroom floor.

But that wasn’t the worst of it. Scrawled across the front of the kitchen refrigerator, in what looked like blood, were the words, “You're dead, bitch.”

Maddie had managed well until then. Her knees seemed to fold up, and she fell in the middle of the floor and cried as if her heart was broken.

Suzanne took some pictures while Nick called for back-up. Whatever he said to the dispatcher must have shaken up someone, because officers were on scene in fifteen minutes. Suzanne had never seen such a fast response. Granted, her clients in this neighborhood usually got good service, unlike some other sections of the city. But this was phenomenal.

Officers were photographing the scene when Greg Morgan came strolling through the still-open door, dressed in a Versace suit and tie. “What's this all about?” he asked, wide-eyed. “Honey, are you all right?”

Suzanne stepped in front of Maddie, but the woman moved like she’d been hit with a jolt of electricity, fleeing to the bathroom. The click of a lock sounded in the stunned silence that followed.

Morgan eyed Suzanne. “Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my house?”

Suzanne opened her mouth to speak, but Nick’s voice from the hallway commanded everyone’s attention. “Are you Gregory Morgan?” he asked, coming into the living room, badge in hand.

The councilman’s eyes narrowed. “Are you blind, man? You work for me!”

Before Nick could respond, Suzanne’s sheer dislike for the man shoved words out of her mouth. She wanted to shock and hurt him, even if she couldn’t punch his face into pulp the way he’d done Maddie’s.”I'm Suzanne Taylor. I represent your wife in the divorce action she filed this morning.”

Morgan's jaw twitched slightly, but that was the only indication he understood. He surveyed the destruction with solemnity. “I can’t believe Maddie would go to this length,” he said. “Unbelievable.”

“Maddie?” Suzanne asked, after a silent moment of astonishment at the man’s gall.

“She isn't always stable, you know. She's been on psychotropic medication. Sometimes she doesn't know what she's doing.” He looked at the officers and smiled. “I love the woman but you have no idea what a handful she can be.”

Suzanne saw the officers' expressions start to change, no doubt wondering if they were backing the wrong horse. Morgan went on, “If it wasn't Maddie, then I hope you find whoever did this. Is anything missing?” He walked to the entertainment center, checking the components.

One of the officers shot an irritated look at Nick. “Mr. Morgan, where have you been the last several hours?”

Morgan spun around, outrage flushing his face red. “Me? You think I'd destroy my own home?” He puffed like a barnyard cock, ready to fight. “I've been in a meeting with my managers all day. You can call my office if you don't believe me.”

The officer noted his answer and closed up his notebook.

Morgan walked to the kitchen door and gasped. “Good God. She's more disturbed than I thought,” he said.

Nick had apparently heard enough, because he walked across the room to hand Greg Morgan the envelope with the papers. “In this package is a complaint for divorce and also a protection from abuse order, signed by the judge this morning—”

“What a crock,” Morgan muttered, tossing the papers on a nearby desk without looking at them.

“Sir, this means you are restrained from further abusing and threatening your wife. You are required by order of court to leave this residence, pending a hearing next week.”

“The woman is mentally ill. Don’t you understand that?” Morgan protested to the police officers, who now wouldn't meet his eyes. Pleased her work had rattled him, Suzanne couldn't stop a cocky smile, and Morgan caught it.

“I'm going to sue you for libel, lady. You'll never practice law again,” he said. As he spoke, she saw the eyes Maddie had described from the prior evening. She imagined her hair beginning to smoke. The outrage kicked her chutzpah into high gear.

“Bring it on, pal,” she said. “I’m ready for you.”

The officers took Morgan to the bedroom, supervising as he packed a small bag of clothes and personal items. Nick gave Suzanne an odd look she wasn’t quite sure how to interpret. Despite what she knew about Greg Morgan, at that moment, she wasn’t afraid. To the contrary, her adrenaline was pumping and she was ready for a fight. Hyper aware of Maddie cringing behind the bathroom door, and the seething negative energy that was Gregory Morgan, her gaze returned to the crimson scrawl on the refrigerator.

How dare he? He wasn’t divine. He had no right to control his woman’s life, to terrorize and threaten her. Whatever he had coming, he deserved. She hoped she’d be the one to give it to him.

Morgan came out of the bedroom with a bulging gym bag. Two officers followed him, one warning if he returned to the house, he would be arrested. At the lieutenant’s pointed nod, he added that the police would keep watch on the house to make sure he didn't come back. Before he stepped out of his home, Morgan turned to Suzanne, once again the glad-handing politician with a jolly smile. “Tell her I love her, will you?” he said. “Take her to the doctor. She doesn't take good care of herself. Once she's back on her medicine, she'll beg me to come home.”

Suzanne stared at him. Morgan’s smile widened, and he walked out with the officers, cracking jokes.

After the door closed behind Morgan and the officers, her knees trembled, and she leaned on a nearby chair for support. She hadn't realized how much effort went into withstanding Mr. Morgan's charismatic personality.

“Suzanne?” Nick was at her side before she noticed he’d moved, a hand on her elbow, steadying her. “It’s all right,” he said.

His recognition of her moment of weakness straightened her spine. “I’m fine. I’m not a victim here. She is. How could Maddie survive sixteen years with that monster?”

“I don’t even begin to understand. But you’ve helped her take the first steps toward freedom.”

“We both have,” Suzanne said, reluctantly acknowledging it had been a joint effort. “Thank you for sending her to me. It was the right thing to do.”