Mad Love: Madison (39 page)

“I don’t know,” she said calling her sister’s
phone. She swore when it went to Sarah’s voice mail. “I’ve got to go,” she said
striding from the ballroom, with Becca, Derek and Keith at her heels.

Keith grabbed her arm when they reached the
hallway and turned her around. “I’ll drive you.”

Becca looked at him as if he was crazy. “How much
have you had to drink tonight?”

“I’m fine,” he snapped.

“Sarah’s been calling all night,” Derek said with
a small worried shake of his head. “Why would she suddenly text you?”

“I don’t know,” Madison said trying to jerk her
arm from Keith’s grasp.

Keith tightened his fingers. “You’re not going
anywhere.”

“Let go of me, Keith.”

“It’s a trap,” Keith said. “Don’t you see that?”

“My sister’s hurt.”

“Fine,” he said through gritted teeth. “If you’re
dumb enough to go chasing after her, then I will drive you.”

She wrenched her arm free from his. “You’re in no
condition to drive me anywhere, and frankly, I don’t want you anywhere near me
right now.”

Keith jerked her back. “Don’t be stupid. I’m the
only one who can protect you.”

She turned to face him. Lowering her voice, she
said, “If you don’t take your hands off me, I’m going to scream bloody murder.
What do you think that will do to your career?”

Keith’s mouth tightened as he dropped his hand. “Your
funeral, babe.” He lifted up his hands as he walked away. “I tried to save you,
but if you want to die, just go ahead.”

“What if Keith’s right?” Becca asked. “What if
this is a trap?”

“I have to go to my sister.”

Derek scratched his head in confusion. “But I
thought Ethan was the killer. Why are we all freaking out?”

“Ethan told me that it wasn’t over. For all I know,
he was working with someone.” Madison wrapped her hands around her bare arms.
“I forgot to grab my coat.” She glanced at Derek. “Could you grab it for me?”

“Yeah, no problem,” he said jogging toward the
coat check area.

“I don’t like this,” Becca said.

“Neither do I, but what do you suggest I do?”

“Call the police. Have them do a welfare check on
her.”

Madison pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don’t
know what’s wrong with me. I just haven’t been thinking clearly since I got out
of the hospital. I blame lack of sleep and the concussion,” she said looking up
the number for the Winchester Police Department. At Becca’s shocked expression,
she added, “I was at a train yard. There was this guy…Never mind, I’ll tell you
about it later.” Finding the number, Madison quickly placed the call, only
hanging up when she was assured they would check on Sarah. She then tried Sarah’s
cell phone again. “Sarah’s still not answering.” She glanced back down the
hall. “Where is Derek?”

“He’ll be here soon. Where is Sarah right now?”

“At our grandfather’s.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“No, the police are on their way.” She smiled
with relief as Derek jogged toward her holding her coat. “Thank you,” she said
taking it out of his hands.

“Call me when you get there so I know you’re okay,”
Becca said as Madison stepped onto the elevator.

“I will.”

Becca held out her hand stopping the door from
closing. “Madison, be careful. If anything looks suspicious call the police.”

She nodded as she pressed the button for the
lobby.

As soon as the doors opened, she raced to her
car. It was just starting to snow when she pulled out of the parking lot. By
the time she turned on the dark, lonely road leading to her grandfather’s place
fifty minutes later, snow and ice had blanketed the ground making driving slow
and treacherous.

She gripped the steering wheel tight as the car
slid to the side when she turned down the driveway. Inching her way forward,
she looked at the house, ablaze with lights, praying her sister was okay.

10:00
P.M.

Madison
ran up the steps, trying not to slip on the ice that had formed on the wood and
entered her key into the lock.

She glanced down at the wristlet as her cell
phone rang. Entering the foyer, she hurriedly answered the phone.

“Sarah, I just walked in the door.”

“It’s me, Madison.”

Madison’s breath caught in her throat at the
sound of Ethan’s voice. She swallowed hard. “I’m honored that I’m your one
phone call, but if you’re calling to ask me to represent you, you can forget
it.”

“I’m not asking for you to represent me.”

“Good.” She hung up the phone and stuck it into
her pocket. “Sarah?” she called out as she locked the door behind her.

Rory came racing down the stairs, furiously barking.
As soon as he saw Madison, he jumped up on his hind legs and scratched at her
dress, excited to see her.

She leaned down and picked him up. “Where’s Sarah,
huh?”

“Upstairs, taking a bath.”

Her gaze flew to the dining room. Jamie, clad in
a leather jacket and jeans, his boots propped up on the dining room table sat at
the table staring at her. She glanced down at the rifle lying in his lap before
turning her attention to the pink phone lying on the table next to his hand.
Using one finger, he spun Sarah’s phone around in a circle. “About time you
arrived. I was starting to get worried.”

“What did you do to my sister?”

“Nothing.” Using his chin, he gestured to the
stairs. “Go see for yourself.”

Madison set Rory down on the floor. “What are you
doing here?”

“Celebrating the New Year with the ones I love.”

“That’s great.” She backed up to the hallway as
his boots slipped to the floor. Spinning around as he rose to his feet, she ran
into her grandfather’s library, making sure to keep one eye on Jamie, as she
rummaged through her grandpa’s desk drawer. She took her eyes off him long
enough to find the key to the gun cabinet.

She turned back and craned her head to the side,
trying to see where Jamie had disappeared to as she took out a revolver and loaded
the gun.

When she finished, she cautiously stepped out
into the hallway.

Jamie was standing near the door, his rifle slung
over his shoulder, and a dark stocking cap over his head. He reached into his
pocket and pulled out a pair of gloves.

Hands shaking, Madison lifted the gun. “Please leave.”

Jamie reached behind him and unlocked the door.
“Do you know how to use that thing?”

“Just had my first lesson this week.”

He smirked as he opened the door. “Good, lock the
door behind me,” he said, stepping out into the cold.

“Don’t worry, I will.” She slammed the door after
him and locked it before bounding up the stairs with Rory hot on her heels.

“Sarah!” she yelled as she raced to the guest
room.

Sarah screamed as Madison burst into the room. She
raised a hand to her heart. “I really wish you would stop doing that.”

Madison ran up to her sister. “Are you okay? What
happened to your leg?”

Sarah dragged the towel off her head. “You are
the second person who has asked me about my leg tonight. Did you send the cops
out here to check on me?”

Madison blew out her breath in relief as she laid
the gun on the dresser. “I thought you were hurt.”

“Why on Earth did you think that?” Sarah asked
rubbing the towel against her wet hair.

“I got a text from you saying you had fallen.”

Sarah looked at her strangely. “I didn’t send you
a text.”

“I have a feeling it was Jamie. What is he doing
here? You promised—”

Sarah’s eyes widened. “Jamie’s here?”

“He was sitting at the dining room table when I
arrived.” She looked at her sister’s shocked expression. “You didn’t know?”

“No,” Sarah said stepping into the bathroom. “I
didn’t tell him where I was.”

“Well, he found you. He’s outside now, standing
guard at the door, or at least, that’s what I think he’s doing.”

Less than a minute later, Sarah stepped out of
the bathroom, wearing jeans and a blue sweater. She looked out the window. “He
can’t be out there in this weather?”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m pretty sure he’s got pneumonia or
the flu. I can’t get him to go to the doctor to find out.”

“Really? He looked pretty healthy to me.”

Sarah reached for her boots. “I’m going to go
bring him inside.”

Madison’s mouth opened and closed reflexively.
“Are you insane? We’re not bringing him in here. Do I have to remind you that
he’s a convicted killer?”

“I thought Ethan was the one trying to kill you?”

“He is. Look, just because Ethan is guilty
doesn’t make Jamie innocent. The man tricked me into coming here tonight and
I’m betting he’s the one who disabled your car.”

Sarah sighed as she crossed her arms. “He’s trying
to protect us.”

“Or he’s waiting to finish us off. For all we know,
Ethan hired him to do the job for him.” Madison saw the doubt in Sarah’s eyes
and decided to switch gears and appeal to her sister’s emotion. “Sarah, I’m
your sister. I’m scared to death right now and I don’t want that man in here.”

Sarah’s shoulders sagged as she sat down on the
bed. “Okay.”

“Thank you.” Madison reached into her pocket as
her phone began to ring. “Hi, Becca, I was just about to call you. It was a
false alarm. Sarah’s fine.”

“That’s a relief. Have you seen the news yet?”

“What news?”

“Ethan’s out.”

“They released him? How? They had more than
enough evidence—”

“They didn’t release him. He escaped. It’s all
over the news.”

She felt lightheaded. “How long ago?”

“I don’t know. I just found out about it a few
minutes ago. DOT’s put out a winter warning. They want everyone to stay off the
roads tonight. If I were you, I’d stay there. Ethan doesn’t know where you are
and he’s going to be too busy hiding from the police to do anything to you
tonight.”

“I can’t count on that.” Madison sat down next to
her sister. “It might be a while before I get in touch.”

“If you need anything, just call.”

“I know. Thank you, Becca. Good bye.” She laid
back against the bed. “Ethan’s escaped.”

Sarah laid down next to her. “We’re so screwed.”

“Yes, we are.”

“Are we going to find a hotel?”

“I barely made it here alive. The roads are a
mess. We’ll have to wait until morning. Hopefully, we’ll be safe until then.”

“How long until midnight?”

Madison lifted her arm up and looked down at her
watch. “About an hour and fifteen minutes.” She glanced down at her evening
gown. “I’m going to change.” She sat up, only then remembering that she didn’t
bring any clothes with her. She tipped her head back and blew out a disgusted
breath. “I didn’t bring any clothes with me.”

Sarah gave her sister a sheepish smile. “Well, I
have good news. Turns out, I forgot to pack all of your clothes when we left
here a few days ago,” she said, standing up.

“Yeah, I figured that out when I unpacked.”

Sarah reached inside the dresser drawer and
handed Madison a black turtleneck sweater and a pair of jeans. “What are we
going to do tonight?”

“Praying sounds like a good idea about now.”

“I haven’t stopped since all this started.” Sarah
stopped at the door. “I’ll go downstairs and make some coffee.”

“Good idea. I don’t really want to go to sleep
tonight. I have to stay awake just in case he finds us.” Madison lay back down
and stared at the ceiling. “Just in case.”

§

10:51
P.M.

Madison
kneeled on the window seat in the kitchen and checked the locks on the windows
behind the kitchen table.

Sarah, who was sitting at the kitchen island,
pouring herself another cup of coffee, gestured to the windows with her cup. “You
checked those windows ten minutes ago.”

Madison shut the drapes, crawled off the window
seat and walked over to the farm sink on the other side of the kitchen. Standing
on her tiptoes, she pushed the curtains to the side as she tested the lock.

“You checked that one five minutes ago.”

Madison tapped her hand against the sink
nervously as she stared out at the snow piling up in the backyard. “It looks so
pretty.”

Sarah grimaced. “It looks scary to me.”

“Yeah, that too,” Madison said, pulling the curtains
closed. Turning around, she passed the dining room door and headed for the one
leading to the living room. She hurried to the French doors, which led out into
a wraparound porch and pulled aside the white sheer curtains.