Mad Love: Madison (20 page)

He gave Madison an apologetic look as he walked
up to her.

“Where have you been?” she asked, as he gave her
a quick hug.

“Hiding in the woods.”

“What happened?” she asked, reaching up to wipe
away a smudge of dirt from one of his cheekbones.

He jerked his thumb toward the door. “What’s with
the crime scene tape outside?”

“There was an accident,” Madison said. “I’ll tell
you about it later. Why were you hiding in the woods?”

“I went to the Berkshire to look around the spot
where they found Quincy’s body.”

“Don’t say that too loud. I don’t think Detective
Kim would like that very much. He told me you were supposed to restrict your
investigation to the outside of the hotel.”

“Well, it’s all right because I never made it
inside.”

Madison looked down at his clothes, which were
stained with some kind of black grime.

“What happened to your clothes?” Sarah stood on
her tiptoes and stared at his neck. “Are you bleeding?”

He pressed a hand to the back of his head.
“Probably. I took a pretty big hit.”

Madison turned him around to inspect his wound. “What
happened?”

“Someone tried to run me over,” he said ushering
them into the elevator.

Madison paled. “What?”

“I got out of my car and was walking towards the sanitarium
when that blue car that’s been following you came barreling through the gate
straight at me. I had just enough time to jump into the old fountain in front
of the sanitarium, practically knocking myself unconscious when I did. Then
that…” He snapped his mouth together, as he struggled to describe what he
wanted to say without cursing. “Moron took a shot at me. Missed me by a mile
but he didn’t seem to have any trouble emptying his gun into my car. Shot my
front tires out. I managed to get a couple of shots off before he drove away.”

“You wouldn’t have happened to hit his rear
window and his tail light, would you?” Madison asked.

He looked at her in surprise. “How did you know
that?”

“He drove by here earlier. Why didn’t you answer
your phone when I called you?”

They stepped out of the elevator and walked down
the short hallway towards the apartment.

Ethan pressed his hand to the small of her back
as they walked. “I’m sorry, baby, my phone fell out of my pocket and is
somewhere at the bottom of the fountain. It took me an hour just to walk to the
main road, then another couple of hours just to get someone to stop.”

“Were you able to see the driver’s face when he
tried to run you over?” Madison asked.

“I was trying not to drown at the time.”

“We need to find Detective Kim and tell him what
happened.”

“I called the police when I got picked up,” Ethan
said. “They’re probably out there now. I thought I was going to freeze.” His
mouth fell open when he looked inside their apartment. “What the hell happened
here?”

“We’ve had a busy afternoon too.” She turned to
one of the uniformed officers standing by the door. “We’re not staying here
tonight. Can we get some of our things?”

Ethan’s hand gently touched her elbow. “What
happened?”

“Someone ran Paul Harris down outside.”

“Dead?”

She nodded.

He ran a hand through his dark thick hair,
pushing it back away from his face. “Well then, we need to sit down and figure
out what’s going on and soon, because our primary suspect is dead and we’re
running out of time.”

~F
IVE
~

W
EDNESDAY
, D
ECEMBER
27
^TH
  

2:39
A.M.

Madison
rolled over onto her side and faced her sister who was sound asleep. Watching
the clock had become too depressing. No matter how hard she tried, sleep
wouldn’t come.

Last night had been a nightmare. Between Paul’s
murder, the bad weather, and the mess at her apartment, all she wanted to do
was to crawl into bed.

Ethan had other ideas. As soon as they arrived at
his apartment, she had spent the next few hours going over every boyfriend,
serious or otherwise, she had dated. Paying particular attention to the ones
she dated after she met Quincy, before moving on to all the co-workers she had
ever worked with, attorneys she had gone up against and then lastly, difficult
clients she had dealt with since passing the bar six years ago.

It was only after her voice grew raw from talking
that they decided to call it a night and begin again in the morning. This time,
they would focus on anyone that had shown any personal interest in her through
the years.

Mentally drained, she had dragged herself into
Ethan’s bedroom and slipped into bed next to Sarah and Rory where she stared at
the ceiling for most of the night.

Probably just as well
, she thought. What
little sleep she had gotten hours ago had been filled with disturbing images
and scenes featuring Quincy. One in particular kept coming to mind as she laid
there.

Quincy and she were in court, sitting next to one
another. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “That’s her,” but when she turned
to look, she was back in the mall. Not the brightly lit crowded mall full of
Christmas shoppers and joyful Christmas music, but a dark, empty place, full of
shadows and foreboding. She woke up with a start and this time stayed awake,
trying to make sense of the dream.

Rory suddenly lifted his head. He stared at the
door for a few seconds, his ears up. After a moment, he settled back down and
closed his eyes.

Unnerved, Madison swung her legs over the side of
the bed and walked to the door. A soft glow suddenly appeared under the
doorway. She grabbed her blue silk robe and quietly padded out of the room.

Her breath caught in her throat. Ethan stood in
front of the living room window, his back to her, dressed only in a pair of
striped pajama bottoms, hanging low on his hips. A dark angry bruise on his
shoulder marred an otherwise beautiful strong back.

“Can’t sleep?”

He looked over his shoulder and smiled softly.
“Too restless. How about you?”

“Same.”

He turned off the lamp next to the fireplace and
motioned for her to come closer. He pushed the curtains open a few inches
before taking her shoulders and bringing her to stand in front of him. “Look.”

Madison glanced outside. “At what? I don’t see
anything but snow.”

He leaned closer and pointed to the glass door of
the all night laundromat across the street. “Wait for it.”

She took a breath as his hands slipped from her
shoulders and wrapped themselves around her waist. She leaned back against his
chest.

She turned her head slightly, her gaze falling to
his mouth, which was now inches from hers. “What am I looking for?” she asked
softly.

He didn’t look down. Keeping his eyes on the
window, he said, “You’ll know it when you see it. Can you take tomorrow off?”

“I have a hearing in the morning, but I’m free
for the afternoon. What are we going to do?”

He finally looked down at her. She felt his
breath catch in his throat as his hands tightened on her waist.

“What are we going to do tomorrow?” she asked
again.

“We? Nothing. You are going to go visit family or
something.” He reluctantly tore his gaze away from her and back to the window.
“Cancel all your appointments. Take a vacation. Call in sick. Whatever you have
to do, do it. Give me some time to figure out what’s going on.”

She rested her hands on top of his. “Ethan, you
can’t protect me if we’re separated. Besides, you need me in order to figure
out who from my past is doing this to me.”

He grimaced. “Unfortunately, I’m starting to
wonder if you just picked up a stalker. I would rather it be someone from your
past. Someone we can trace. If it’s just some loner psychopath that’s become
fixated on you we might have to wait until he makes a move to figure out who he
is.” He shifted his weight as he hugged her tighter. “We don’t have much time,
Madison. For all we know, this guy may have changed his time schedule. We may
not have until New Years to catch him and I can’t investigate with you trailing
behind me.”

“Trailing behind?” she asked in mock outrage.
“What makes you think I won’t be out in front of you?”

The corners of his lips quirked up. “Perhaps I
should go on vacation and let you do the investigation.”

“I’d rather work as a team.”

He drew his attention back down to her. “So would
I, but I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

“If you won’t protect me, then who will?” she
asked turning her head in order to look up at him.

His gaze fell to her lips as his hands tightened
around her. Her eyes fluttered closed the moment his lips touched hers. She
wasn’t sure how long they stood there pressed together. She just knew that when
she finally tore her mouth from his, her heart was pounding against her ribcage
and she felt lightheaded.

He brought his hands to her head, gently
threading his fingers through her hair as he trailed kisses down the side of
her neck.

She reached around to grab the back of his head
and pull his mouth back towards her when she felt him stiffen.

He pointed back to the window again. “There,
look,” he said breathlessly.

Lost in a haze, she looked at him in confusion
for a moment. Memory came back, shocking her into awareness.

She looked out to see a man in a leather coat
standing in the laundromat staring out the glass door. He pushed open the door
and stepped outside, but instead of moving on, he leaned back against the door
and stared up at Ethan’s apartment building.

She tilted her head to the side hoping to get a
glimpse of his face, but since the light was behind him and he was wearing a
hoodie underneath his leather coat, which covered his head, she couldn’t get a
clear picture of what he looked like.

“Do you know him?” Ethan asked.

“I can’t see his face but the coat seems familiar.
I think I saw Jamie wear something similar the other day.”

“Who’s Jamie?”

“Jamie Murphy. He’s just one of the bar flies
that hang around the pub where Sarah works.”

“What’s one of your sister’s bar flies doing out in
front of my building this time of night?”

“I don’t know. He was the one who found Rory
tonight.”

“That’s nice of him. And just where did he find
the dog? In your apartment?”

“He said behind the burger joint down the street.
It could be true. Rory smelled like he had been rolling around in the garbage. That’s
why Sarah gave him a bath before turning in tonight.”

“What does Sarah think about Jamie?”

“I don’t know. Every time I mention him she
changes the subject.”

“She’s being evasive.”

“I didn’t say that.” She pulled out of his
embrace and away from the window. “I don’t know why Jamie would go after Quincy
or me. Last night was the first real conversation I’ve ever had with the man. I
can’t even say that’s him out there. Lot’s of men have leather jackets like
that.” She walked to the fireplace. “But, if it is a loner psychopath that’s
after me, Jamie definitely has the loner part down.” She wrapped her arms
around herself. “Can we turn on the fireplace? I’m cold.”

“Sure,” he said dropping the curtain. He turned
around and flipped a switch on the wall.

The fireplace blazed to life.

Ethan turned away from the window to watch her. “Why
don’t you go to bed? Get some sleep.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Maybe take a short walk.”

She swung her head towards him. “No.”

“I just want to talk to whoever it is standing
out there. See if he’s the one we’re looking for. Figure out who’s watching my
apartment building and why.”

She pushed back her hair as tears sprung to her
eyes. “Ethan, please, he’s already tried to kill you once tonight. I’m scared.
I don’t want you to get hurt.”

He covered the distance between them in two
strides and took her in his arms. “Listen,” he said taking her face into his
hands. His thumbs brushed away her tears. “It’s my job to figure out who’s doing
this to you. The answer may be just outside. Trust me, Madison, I can take care
of myself. I’ll be okay.”

She turned away from him, trying to think of
another way to keep him inside and safe with her. He wasn’t worried about his
life but she was pretty sure he was concerned about hers. “What if Quincy’s
killer is working with someone? Hmm? That guy out there isn’t exactly hiding
himself. What if he’s just a distraction? Someone who’s just there to draw you
away from us? If you go out there, you’re basically leaving me and Sarah alone.”
She turned back around and took his hands. “Please don’t leave me tonight.”