Mad Love: Madison (30 page)

Roger gave her a sheepish look. “Two hundred.”

“Where can I find him?”

“His father owns a body shop down the street.
Just make a right. Can’t miss it. If I were you, I’d leave now. He was just
closing up for the day.”

Madison bit her lip. “Will he be in tomorrow?”

“I don’t think so. He said something about going
out to the lake this weekend.”

Making a snap decision, Madison texted Ethan, letting
him know where she was going and why before picking up her coat and following
the kindly old man out the door, thanking him profusely for his help.

A worried frown appeared on his face as they
entered the elevator. “Are you sure you don’t want to take your young man with
you?”

“I would like to, but I can’t let this
opportunity pass.”

Roger’s frown deepened. “I’d go with you but I’ve
got to get back to Ivy. She gets scared at night now.”

Madison gently touched his sleeve. “Don’t worry,
I’ll be fine.”

He didn’t seem convinced as he looked at her.
“Don’t go inside the body shop. I don’t think Zach would do anything, but he’s
not the nicest of guys.”

They stepped into the lobby with Roger looking
even more worried than when they had entered the elevator.

“Oh, and Miss, stay away from the train station
after dark. This place used to be safe, but in the last ten years or so, things
have really started to fall apart. There’s been some trouble in this
neighborhood lately.”

She looked at him curiously, as he stood in front
of the elevators clearly torn as to whether to go with her or go to his wife.
“What happened?”

“A couple of young ladies were attacked back
there a few days ago. One died. The other’s alive but not doing so good. They
haven’t caught the guy yet.” He shook his head sadly, as they walked toward the
front doors. “Downtown used to be beautiful this time of year with the
Christmas lights and the shoppers, but everyone’s moved away. It’s like a ghost
town now.” He stopped and glanced out the window. “It’s getting dark out there.
If Winters doesn’t help you, just come right back. He could have been lying to
me and I don’t want you to get caught outside around here after dark.”

“I won’t and thank you so much, Roger, for your
help,” Madison said feeling a little nervous as she pushed open the door and
stepped out onto the sidewalk.

She glanced at the sun hovering just over the
trees in the distance and quickened her steps towards the Winters’ Body Shop
sign at the end of the street. When she was within a few feet, her gaze
travelled past the sign to the empty parking lot next to the building where she
noticed two police cars sitting, each facing the opposite direction from one
another. Feeling a little better about her decision, she approached the door.

She was just about to pull the handle when a large
man in his late twenties with bright red hair, three days’ worth of stubble on
his cheeks, and wearing overalls, appeared through the window.

He flipped the open sign to closed before
stepping out, and slamming the door shut behind him.

Madison backed up a step as he turned around and
inserted a key into the lock.

“Are you Zach Winters?” Madison asked.

The man looked over his shoulder with a scowl.
“Are you that lawyer Roger was telling me about?”

“Yes, he said you had a picture for me.”

Winters turned around and gave Madison a long
leering look. His thin cruel mouth twisted into a half smile. “Maybe. Depends.”

Madison felt a surge of annoyance course through
her. “On what?”

He leaned back against the door and crossed his
arms. “On how much it’s worth to you.”

Madison had to tip her head back to look up into
the man’s face. “Roger said you wanted two hundred.”

“Old Roger made a mistake.”

“So, how much do you want?”

He brought his hand up to his mouth as though he
was giving it serious thought. “Seven hundred.”

Madison’s eyebrows rose up to her hairline. “For
a picture? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

He shrugged casually. “Alex owes me money.”

Madison crossed her arms. “For what?”

“I took care of him when he got released from the
funny farm.”

“He was institutionalized? Where?”

“How should I know?” he asked with a sneer. “He
just showed up on my doorstep out of the blue saying he was out.”

“When was this?”

Zach looked heavenward. “I don’t know. March, April,
May, June. Who knows? All I remember was that it was warm outside, so being the
good friend that I am, I opened my door to him. I let him sleep on my couch. I
even gave him a couple of dollars to get a hot meal. Then one day, I woke up
and find he’d ripped me off. Stole five hundred dollars from me. Not to mention
my ID. I guess I got off lucky, though.”

“What do you mean by that?”

He licked his lips as a distasteful look crossed
his face. “Usually when Alex steals someone’s ID, he kills them. Becomes them.”
His voice softened suddenly as he said, “I got off lucky. Why don’t you just go
home and leave me alone?”

Madison glanced back toward the police cars,
making sure they were still there before asking, “How does he become them?”
When he didn’t answer, she reached into her purse and pulled out a couple of
twenties.

Zach’s eyes zeroed in on the bills in her hand. “Makes
himself look as much like the guy he just killed and then he moves across
country so he doesn’t have to worry about their family and friends noticing
there’s been a switch. He’s real smart. Studies the person. Then when he has
their mannerisms down, he kills them,” he said slicing his finger across his
throat. “He can be anyone.” He snorted. “He can’t be me though.”

“And why’s that?”

“I don’t think he wants to deal with my creditors
or my parole officer.” He laughed. “I guess I’m just a lucky guy.”

“I guess so.”

He scowled suddenly as he plucked the twenties
out of her hand and stuck them in his pocket. “That’s right. See, he stole from
me and I think I deserve to be made whole. That’s what you lawyers call it,
don’t you, made whole? That’s what I had to do the last time I was in court.”

“Ah, and you expect me to be the one to reimburse
you?”

“Yeah, why not? You’re the one who wants the
picture.” He pursed his lips together as his eyes settled on the diamond
pendant around her neck. “But now that I think about it, seven hundred doesn’t
really cover all my pain and suffering. Price has changed. I want a thousand.”
He licked his lips. “You look like you can afford it.”

Madison shook her head. In any other circumstance,
she would have walked away, but her life depended on finding out as much
information as she could about Alex Sampson. “I don’t have a thousand on me. I can
manage two hundred right now.”

He leered down at her chest. “I might be willing
to accept another form of payment.”

She felt a shudder go through her body. “Not
happening. Take the two hundred or forget it.”

He shrugged one shoulder. “I’ll forget it then.”

“He’s going to kill me—”

“So what? Do you know what he’d do to me if I
helped you?”

“I thought he was your friend—”

“Alex doesn’t have any friends, only victims.
Todd was my friend. He was a good friend too. I know who you are,” he said
bending from the waist and snarling into her face. “I know you’re the one who
got Todd arrested.”

“Because he tried to kill me.”

“I don’t care. If you want that picture, I expect
to be compensated for it.”

Madison stood there, her annoyance quickly
turning to anger. She slipped her watch off her wrist. Her necklace came off
next. “These are worth far more than a thousand dollars.”

He held the jewelry in his grimy hand as a slow
smile playing around his lips. “It’s a start. Come back Monday with some more.”

“I don’t have until Monday.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” he said as he stuffed the
jewelry into his pocket.

“Okay,” Madison said in annoyance, “I’m going to
tell you what’s going to happen here. If you don’t give me what I just paid for,
I’m going to start screaming bloody murder.” She jerked her thumb towards the
parking lot where the two police cars sat. “Those nice officers over there are
going to hear me and come running and the first thing I’m going to say is that
you stole my jewelry. Now I’m pretty sure you are well acquainted with our
judicial system, so you know what’s going to come next.”

He gave her a smug look. “You can’t prove it’s
yours. It’s my girlfriend’s birthday next week and I’ve been saving up to by
her some real nice jewelry.”

“My name is engraved on the back of the watch.”
She smiled prettily. “It was a graduation present.”

His gaze shifted from Madison to the police car
and back again as he considered her threat.

“Never mind,” Madison said as she started to
raise her hand and signal the police.

“Fine,” he hissed as he turned and unlocked the door,
“but I want that two hundred too.”

“Where are you going?”

He sighed heavily. “The picture’s still on the
memory card stuck in the camera, and the camera is in my desk drawer.”

Madison planted her feet. “I’m not going in there
with you.”

“I didn’t invite you, lady. Wait here.”

She held out her hand. “Give me back my jewelry.
You can get it back when I see the picture, and if you are lying to me…”

“You’ll what?” he asked with a sneer as he
stepped through the threshold.

“The jewelry, Winters,” Madison said, “now
please.”

He took the jewelry out of his pocket and slapped
it into her hand, causing her to wince before turning around and slamming the
door in her face.

Slipping the jewelry into her coat pocket, she
leaned back against the wall and anxiously waited as the minutes passed by, one
after another.

When the streetlights started to come on as the
sun dipped below the horizon, she turned around and banged her fist on the
door.

She pulled her fist back from the door when she
heard a voice call out in irritation, “Hold your horses.” Blowing out a
disgusted breath, she turned her attention back to the police cars just as both
disappeared down the street.

“That’s just great,” she muttered to herself. Realizing
that if Zach knew that the police weren’t within yelling distance anymore, he
might balk at giving her the picture, she reluctantly walked inside the body
shop.

“Winters, if I don’t see a picture in five
minutes I’m leaving and you can kiss your money goodbye.”

She stood on her tiptoes to look through the
grimy window, which led to a small office behind the counter. Winters sat
behind the desk, his back turned away from the window.

“Winters!”

There was no response.

She walked behind the counter and pushed open the
office door. “I don’t have all day.”

Still, Winters didn’t move.

Madison felt a chill run down her back. She eased
the rest of the way into the office looking around her as she did until she was
beside the desk.

Winters was staring at the back wall. His face
covered in blood.

She pressed her hand to her mouth.

“Madison.”

It was a soft whisper, barely audible, but it
caused her to spin around, her heart hammering painfully in her chest.

“
Madison
.” The voice was a bit louder,
more singsong like this time, but with a decidedly mechanical sound, as though
he was speaking through some sort of device.

Panic began to set in as she spun around,
searching for a weapon. Spotting a bloody wrench on the floor, she picked it up
as she reached into her pocket for her cell phone.

“
Oh, Madison, where are you
?”

She started to dial 911 when something crashed
through the office window causing her to drop the phone. She gripped the wrench
with both hands and backed up against a filing cabinet.

“You better get out, Madison.”

Her throat tightened as a white haze began to
fill the interior of the body shop.

“You’re going to burn, Madison.”

 Just then, the fire alarm went off.

Spotting a door off to the side of the room,
Madison yanked it open and stepped into a small bathroom, making sure to lock
it behind her.

She fell against the sink with a terrified
scream, when a fist struck the door, shaking it in the process.

“Please open the door, Madison,” the voice begged
as the doorknob rattled. “I’m scared of the fire. I promise I won’t hurt
you…too badly.”

Forcing her fear to the back of her mind, she turned
her attention to the small window above the toilet. Kicking the lid down with
her foot, she stood on top of the toilet and tried to unlock the rusted window.