Mad Love: Madison (24 page)

“So, Todd Abbott wrote a true crime book about
the murder of your client’s wife and that’s how you met him?”

She nodded. “Laura was married to Jeremy Ladd, a
childhood friend of mine. I had lost touch with him while in college but he
called me for help soon after his wife was found murdered.”

“What really happened to her?”

“We don’t know. All we know is that someone
killed her at that party a few years ago. The cops ended up charging Jeremy for
the murder.”

“Why? What did they have on him?”

“Nothing other than Laura was having an affair
and he was her husband. Case closed as far as the police were concerned.”

Ethan came around the desk and walked to the
dining room table. He looked uncomfortable for a moment as he stood on the other
side of the table. “What was your relationship with Todd?”

“He was a pest.”

He tilted his head as he looked at her. “That was
it?”

“That was it. He wanted to be more but I wasn’t
interested in him in the slightest. He was too cold. Too slick. Too weird. Too
angry.”

He placed his hands on the back of one of the
dining room chairs and raised his eyebrows. “So, what happened on New Year’s
Eve between your client and his wife?”

“Jeremy and Laura went to a party at one of the
big fancy hotels here in town that night. There was a lot of drinking, and at
one point, Laura disappeared for an hour. When she came back, she was sporting
a huge black eye and crying. Naturally, her husband demanded to know what had
happened but she wouldn’t tell him. The whole night was like that with Laura
crying and Jeremy angrily demanding to know who hit her. It wasn’t until just
before midnight that Laura finally told him. She confessed in front of a dozen
witnesses that she had been having an affair, and that her boyfriend wasn’t too
happy when she told him that she wasn’t about to leave her husband for him.
Jeremy was naturally angry, hurt, and devastated. He left the hotel about ten ‘til
midnight and Laura left about twenty-five minutes after that carrying a bottle
of champagne. Hotel staff found her body in an alley behind the hotel a few
hours later.”

“How did she die?”

“Someone had stabbed her more than fifty times. I
suggest you read the court transcript from the trial before you read the book.
Todd added his own little flair to the story. According to the book, Jeremy
knocked Laura out in the middle of the dance floor that night after she told
him about the affair. According to the witnesses that were there, that didn’t
happen. The book also said that Jeremy threatened to kill Laura, only that
didn’t happen either. Todd even claimed to have met the lover who insisted on
remaining confidential out of fear as to what Jeremy might do to him. He was a
good writer. I can give him that. By the time I finished reading the book, I
started questioning whether my client was guilty. He did a spectacular hatchet
job on him. I barely recognized Jeremy.”

“I see,” he said leaning his forearms on the back
of the chair. “So, Todd got angry when Laura rejected him, killed her, and then
tried to pin the blame on Jeremy.”

“I don’t think he killed her.” At his surprised
look, she added, “I still think that when he wrote the book he genuinely
believed that Jeremy murdered her.”

“Why did you think Todd was innocent? He seems
like the most likely suspect after Jeremy.”

“True, but, by the time the trial rolled around, Todd
had become convinced Jeremy wasn’t guilty and had become obsessed with finding
the real killer. If he murdered Laura, why would he do that? He even led me to
a witness who saw Laura being murdered. But, of course, that’s when Todd changed
his tune.”

His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Well, when we all sat down to interview her and
she started to describe the killer, he stood up and called her a liar and tried
to end the interview.”

“I’m surprised he was even at the interview.”

She held up a hand. “It wasn’t my idea, but she
wanted her fifteen minutes of fame and thought Todd could give that to her. She
insisted he be there. I think he also offered her some money in their emails
back and forth with one another, but I’m not positive about that.”

“What did she say to make him turn on her?”

“It all started when she began to describe the
killer. I think Todd recognized whoever it was that she was describing. He was
sitting right next to me when she started talking about the murder and I could
practically feel him stiffen up. It got so bad I had Quincy throw him out.
After that meeting, Todd did his best to convince us she was unreliable, a
flake, a liar, and that Jeremy was guilty.”

He straightened back up. “So, you think he was protecting
someone. How did your witness describe the killer?”

She glanced up as she tried to remember what the
woman had said. “I think she said that he was young and tall… he had blond hair
and a goatee.” She closed her eyes trying to picture the woman sitting in front
of her. “She also said that the killer had thick glasses and was wearing dark
jeans and a black jacket over a white shirt.” She opened her eyes. “Jeremy, on
the other hand, is practically bald, overweight and shorter than I am.” She
shook her head. “She would have been a great witness.”

“She didn’t testify?”

“Couldn’t. She died of a drug overdose the next
morning.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Accidental?”

“That’s what the police report said, but I think Todd
tipped off the real murderer. Quincy thought so too. In fact, Quincy thought Todd
was planning to blackmail the killer. I wouldn’t have put it past him.”

“That must have killed you to lose your witness.
How did you discover that Todd was Laura’s boyfriend?”

“Well, after our meeting with the witness, I
started to get suspicious of Todd, so I had Quincy do a little checking on him.
He discovered that most of what Todd told us about himself was a complete lie.
Once he started looking, it didn’t take him long to discover that Todd was at
the hotel that New Year’s Eve. He even found a witness who could testify that
he saw Todd and Laura together earlier in the evening arguing in the hallway.
As soon as I heard that, I knew Todd had to have been Laura’s lover.”

“So, what did you do?”

“I put him on the stand and asked him about his
relationship with the victim.” She shook her head. “He tried to lie, but when
he realized he had been found out, he admitted to the affair. You should have
seen him. He wasn’t even embarrassed to have been caught in a lie. He actually
seemed amused. It was like I was dealing with a little kid. There was
absolutely no remorse for all the lies he told.” She shook her head. “Drove me
crazy but it didn’t really matter. The jury found Jeremy not guilty and that’s
what was important. To be honest, I was just happy it was all over.”

“I’m guessing it wasn’t though.”

“No, it was not. Todd wouldn’t leave me alone
after the trial. He kept threatening to write a new book all about me. I told
him in the politest way possible to buzz off, but unfortunately, he didn’t get
the hint. He became obsessed with me. Started taking pictures of me wherever I
went. For the book, he said, but I figured he had a shrine somewhere dedicated
to me. He just kept getting creepier and creepier. I finally had to take out a
restraining order against him. Not that it did much good. About an hour after
he was served, he confronted me outside my apartment. He was so angry. He
grabbed my arm and tried to drag me towards his car, but I got away from him
and ran into my apartment. He was right behind me. I didn’t even have time to
shut the door. He threw me up against the wall.” She touched her neck, “He
wrapped his fingers around my neck. I thought he was going to kill me.”

She watched as Ethan’s hands tightened on the
back of the chair until his knuckles turned white.

“Luckily, Sarah and Quincy saved me. Sarah was here
on vacation and Quincy had stopped by my apartment to talk to me, funnily
enough, about Todd. They were in the kitchen when Todd attacked me.” She lifted
a hand to her face. “Quincy pulled Todd off of me and slammed him against the
wall, but Todd came right back at him.” She smiled. “Todd should have stayed on
the floor. Quincy made mincemeat of him. He finally put Todd in a chokehold. I
thought it was over at that point. We all did.” She pushed her hair back with a
sigh. “But it wasn’t. Todd had been playing possum. As soon as Quincy walked
away to call the police, Todd popped up and went after me again. That’s when
Sarah picked up a poker from the fireplace. She hit him in the face and then
hit him again and broke his leg.”

“Your sister’s pretty tough,” he said in an
admiring tone.

“She’s a fighter. She was no match for him
though. He reached up and yanked the poker out of her hand. He was just about
to hit her with it when Quincy returned and beat the hell out of him again. He
even broke his fingers. They had to carry Todd out on a stretcher.”

“What did the courts do to him?”

“He got about a year in the county jail. He hung
himself two months later.” She held out her hands, palms up. “He couldn’t take
being locked up.”

Ethan looked down at the table thoughtfully. “Sarah
broke his leg and hit him in the face with a poker. A couple of years later, someone
breaks her leg in three places and cuts up her face. Quincy beats the hell out
of Todd; chokes him out even, and then is later tortured and asphyxiated. Quite
a coincidence.”

Madison nodded. “All this time I thought Sarah was
just mugged by some random stranger. Guess when Todd attacked us.”

“July?”

“Good guess. Todd tried to kill us on July
second. Sarah was attacked two years later on July twenty-third. Not exactly
the same date, but it’s pretty close. I guess Alex or whoever he is couldn’t
get to her on the second.”

“That’s interesting. Our guy is clearly enamored
with dates. Why wouldn’t he attack her on the second? Why did he wait?”

“I have no idea.”

“Well, at least we know Yvette’s involved and that’s
why she wants to hurt you and Quincy. Now, we just need to find this Alex. What
can you tell me about Gina?”

“Quincy called her, Shadow.”

“Why?”

“She wore a lot of black and followed Todd around.
Hardly ever spoke to anyone and when she did, it was very soft and barely
audible.”

“What did she do for Todd?”

“Just took notes and I assume typed them up for
him. Strange girl. She loved Todd. When I walked in to the funeral parlor, Gina
was draped over his casket crying her eyes out.”

“What’s Gina’s last name?”

“Gallagher. Gina Gallagher.”

“If I don’t get anything out of Yvette tonight, I’ll
try to locate Gina next. Hopefully, she’s still in the area. You might as well
call Detective Kim and let him know what’s going on.” He pulled his phone out
of his pocket as it softly beeped. “Casey’s parking his car. He’ll be here in a
few seconds.”

She touched his arm. “Ethan, what are you
planning to do tonight?”

He smiled down at her. “Are you sure you want to
know, Counselor?”

She groaned.

“Don’t worry, you won’t have to defend me
tomorrow morning.”

“Promise?”

He leaned down and kissed her lightly. “I
promise. Don’t stay up. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night.”

~F
OUR
~

T
HURSDAY
, D
ECEMBER
28
^TH

3:22
A.M.

Madison
blindly reached out and felt for the alarm clock. She groaned as the buzzing
continued despite her best effort in hitting the snooze button.

Finally, the buzzing stopped and was replaced by
the sound of two masculine voices. Her eyes flew open and she sat up in Ethan’s
bed and looked around, momentarily confused as to where she was and why she was
still dressed.

She swung her gaze to the bedroom door, immediately
relaxing when she recognized Ethan’s voice. She looked at the clock on the
nightstand as she pushed her hair back away from her face. She didn’t even remember
falling asleep.

The night had gone by so slowly. Casey had tried
his best to find ways to entertain her, and while he was pleasant company,
Ethan was whom she wanted to be with. The idea that this whole thing could be
connected to Todd Abbott had thrown her for a loop, and she needed more than
anything to feel Ethan’s strong calming presence near her. The logical side of
her knew he was exactly where he needed to be. The emotional side, however,
desperately wanted him beside her. She needed him to hold her and tell her that
he would keep her safe, now more than ever.

Throughout this whole ordeal, she had felt that
everything would turn out okay and that while this was all nerve wracking and confusing,
it wasn’t something insurmountable. She had been convinced that once they knew
what was going on and why, everything would return to normal.