Mad Love: Madison (40 page)

The light blue down comforter from the guest
bedroom caught her eye. She looked down, noticing a quilt, a blanket, a thermos,
a portable heater, and a plate with a half-eaten sandwich lying next to the
comforter.

“Is Jamie still out there?” Sarah asked.

Madison’s gaze shifted to the porch swing where Jamie
sat hidden in the shadows and covered by a dark thick wool blanket.

“How many blankets do you think he needs?” she
asked Sarah as she glanced back down at the pile stacked near the door.

“It’s freezing out there. He’s liable to catch
his death of cold.”

Madison closed the drapes. “How was the coffee?”
she asked hoping to change the subject before her sister could make another
plea to let Jamie come inside.

“Fine. We can’t let him sit out there all night
in the cold.”

“I beg to differ.”

“If he wanted to hurt us, he would have by now.”

“It’s not midnight, Sarah. Alex’s not going to do
anything until midnight.”

“Yeah, but Jamie isn’t Alex. Ethan is.”

Feeling the cold seeping in from the glass door,
Madison wrapped her arms around herself and walked to the fireplace. She stared
down at the fire as tears spilled over her cheeks. “I know that but... My heart
tells me one thing, my head another. I don’t want to believe Ethan’s guilty but
there’s too much evidence against him. I don’t know who to trust,” she said, her
voice choking up. “I thought I could trust him but now...”

Placing her hands on Madison’s shoulders, Sarah gently
turned Madison around until she was facing her. Sarah’s face crumpled as she wrapped
her arms around her sister.

“I love him,” Madison admitted softly, holding
Sarah tight. “I still love him.” She pulled away and wiped at her cheeks. Her
gaze fell to the charm bracelet around her wrist. “Look at this. I haven’t even
taken it off yet. I can’t bear to remove it. How could I still care about him after
what he’s done? How? How do I stop loving him?” She choked on a sob and sank
down into the chair next to the fireplace. “Because I don’t want to love him anymore.
It hurts too much.”

Sarah shook her head sadly, as she kneeled down next
to her sister. She took Madison’s hands. “I wish I had something I could say to
make you feel better right now but… I don’t. They say time heals all wounds. I
don’t know if that’s true, but I know that I love you and I will stay here
beside you as long as you need me.”

Madison wiped the tears off her face with the
back of her hand. “This isn’t how I pictured myself ringing in the New Year.” An
image of her in Ethan’s arms popped into her mind. She forced it away.

“Me either,” Sarah said. “We might as well make
the best of it though. Why don’t we watch TV?”

Madison stood up. She reached around her back and
pulled the gun out of the waistband of her jeans, then sat down into the
leather chair facing the French doors. She placed the gun in her lap as she
stared at the doors.

The white sheer drapes prevented her from seeing outside,
but judging from the noise the wind was making and the sound of the trees near
the house scratching the walls, she knew the storm must be in full swing.

Her suspicions were confirmed as the local news
forecasters interrupted the New Year’s Eve broadcast on each major network.

The winter weather advisory had been upgraded
into a winter weather storm that had dumped about six inches of snow in over an
hour on the ground.

Madison glanced back toward the doors as the
shadow of a man passed by. She laid her hand on the gun.

Rory growled a low warning before padding over to
the window. He pushed the bottom of the drape to the side with his nose. With a
soft little whine, he stood on his hind legs, his tail wagging furiously at
whatever he saw outside the window.

Madison shook her head in disgust. “Some watchdog
you are.”

There was a soft creak as the shadow passed back in
front of the window.

Rory’s tail picked up speed.

Madison looked at her sister. “Why doesn’t he bark
or growl?”

“He likes Jamie.” Sarah lifted her head off the
cushion and patted the floor next to the couch. Rory ran over to her and sat
down next to her hand. She lazily ran her fingers through his fur. “Jamie’s the
one who rescued him from that dumpster on Christmas Eve.”

Madison looked at her sister curiously. “Was
Jamie the friend you went to take care of the other day?”

Sarah’s gaze bounced around the room. “Um…I.”

“Sarah!”

“He was sick. He doesn’t have anyone. I couldn’t
just leave him alone.”

“How close are you two?”

Sarah pursed her lips together in a tight line.
“It’s not like that.” She rolled over onto her back. “Trust me. He has
absolutely no interest in me, whatsoever.”

Madison raised her eyebrows at the bitterness in
her sister’s voice. “Somehow, I have the impression the feeling isn’t mutual.”

Sarah lifted her hand as she examined her nails.
“That’s silly, just because I don’t want him to die doesn’t mean that I’m in
love with him.”

“Okay.”

“I’ve just been trying to be nice to him because
he’s been nice to me.”

“Uh huh.”

Sarah’s voice turned hard. “He’s been flirting
with me ever since he arrived but the moment—”

They jumped at the sound of Madison’s phone
ringing.

Madison picked up her phone and looked at the
display. “It’s the police,” she said before answering. “Hello.”

“Where are you?” Ethan asked.

“You stole a cop’s phone too? Why am I
surprised?”

“Madison, listen to me.”

Sarah sat up and hissed, “Why are you talking to
him?”

“So, I can do this,” Madison said placing her
thumb and forefinger in her mouth and letting out a shrill whistle.

She smiled when she heard a soft groan.

“What good did that do?” Sarah asked with a
frown.

“Is that Sarah with you?” Ethan asked.

“Goodbye, Ethan,” she said, taking the phone away
from her ear.

She just barely heard him ask, “Is Jamie there?”

Madison brought the phone back up to her ear. “Why
do you ask?”

“He’s been following Sarah. If she’s with you, then
so is he.”

“Well, I’m not going to let you talk to him.” She
paused, waiting for him to say something else. When he didn’t, she brought the
phone down.

“What did he say?” Sarah asked.

Madison set the phone on the end table. “He
wanted to know if Jamie was here.”

“Why?”

“I have no idea.”

They turned their heads toward the glass door that
led out to the wraparound porch as a phone rang.

Madison jumped to her feet and hurried to the
French doors. She pushed the white sheer drapes to the side and looked out.

Jamie stood with his back to the window, a hand
pressed against his ear.

“Who’s he talking to?” Sarah whispered from
behind her.

“I have a feeling it’s Ethan.”

Madison turned the lock, wincing as it made a
small sound.

Sarah clamped her hand down on Madison’s
shoulder. “He heard that,” she whispered.

“Are you sure?”

“He turned his head toward the door.”

They glanced toward the window.

Jamie was still standing with his back to them,
his head nodding occasionally.

Being as quiet as possible, Madison opened the
door a crack.

“So I heard,” Jamie said into the phone. He
laughed softly. “Well, gee, thanks for the heads up. I’ll be waiting.”

There was silence while Jamie listened.

Madison opened the door another inch, wondering
if he had hung up. She was just about close the door when he said, “We’re at
their grandpa’s place. You better hurry up and get here because the clock’s
ticking.”

Sarah clamped a hand over her mouth as Madison
shut and locked the door.

“Why would he tell him that?” Sarah asked, her
eyes wide and scared.

“I don’t know.” Madison looked back through the
window. Jamie was still standing on the porch. She watched as he stuck his
phone in his pocket and rearranged his rifle on his shoulder before setting off
toward the woods.

~Zero~

M
ONDAY
, J
ANUARY
1
^ST

12:00
A.M.

Madison
stared at the TV as the ball dropped in Times Square, nervously tapping her
fingers against the leather chair. Her eyes flew to the grandfather clock as it
began to chime.

“This is a good sign,” Sarah said with a hopeful
note in her voice. “It’s midnight and we’re still alive.”

“I doubt Alex will give up and wait until next
year just because he missed the countdown. Laura didn’t die until a few minutes
after.”

Sarah laid her head back down on the couch. “I just
think—” She sat up as Rory jumped off the couch furiously barking. The hair on
his back stood up as he attacked the window.

Just then, the crack of a rifle rang out,
followed by the sound of an engine revving and a crash.

Madison immediately dropped to her knees. When
Sarah attempted to go near the window, she grabbed her sister’s wrist and
pulled her down next to her.

Sarah immediately crawled over to the end table,
picked up Madison’s cell phone and called the police. When she had explained
what had happened, and been assured that help was on the way, she hung up. “Jamie
must have shot him. I told you he was on our side.” She smiled slightly. “Best
one hundred dollars I ever spent.”

Madison sat up with her back against the chair.
“I can’t go out there,” she whispered. “I can’t see him…dead.”

Sarah winced. “I’m sorry, Maddy. I wasn’t
thinking when I said that.” She reached over and turned the TV off before calling
Rory to her. When she had the dog safe in her lap, she said, “You don’t have to
go out there. I can identify the body if necessary.”

Madison laughed as she wiped away her tears. “We
don’t know that he’s dead. This may not be over. What did the police say?”

“They’ll try to get here as soon as possible.”

Madison turned her attention to the fireplace. “I
don’t envy them driving out this way.”

Sarah ran her hand over Rory’s head. “I wish
Jamie would come back.”

“If he’s smart, he’ll get out of here as soon as
possible.”

“Why?”

“It’s a violation of his parole to carry a
weapon. Not to mention, he just shot someone who was driving up to our
doorway.”

Sarah laid her hand on her sister’s arm with a
horrified gasp. “What if it wasn’t Ethan?”

“Who else would be visiting us at this time of
night?”

They jumped at the sound of gunfire. Two quick bursts,
then nothing but Rory’s barking.

Madison gripped the gun tighter in her hand,
waiting for something else to happen.

The minutes ticked by without a sound or even a
clue as to what was happening outside, then suddenly there was a banging on the
kitchen door and a frightened voice shouting, “Help! Help! Help! Please, dear
God, Help!” repeatedly.

Sarah and Madison cautiously walked to the
kitchen, only taking a moment to place Rory in the bathroom before continuing
the rest of the way to the door.

The pitiful begging only intensified as they hesitantly
approached the door.

“That doesn’t sound like Ethan,” Madison
whispered.

Sarah kneeled on the window seat and looked
outside.

Madison cocked her head to the side trying to
make out whom the high-pitched terrified voice on the other side of the door
belonged to. “He sounds familiar.”

“That’s because it’s Derek and he’s bleeding!” Sarah
said as she bounded off the seat towards the door. Pausing at the door, she
glanced back at her sister with a questioning look in her eyes.

Madison nodded as she stepped back, bringing the
gun back behind her back.

As soon as the door was open, Derek crab-crawled
inside. Once in, he turned and kicked the door shut with his foot. “Thank you,
thank you, thank you,” he mumbled as he fell flat on his back. He pressed a
shaking hand to his forehead as blood streamed from a gash just above his eye
and pooled on the white tile beneath him.

Sarah locked the door before snatching a
dishtowel off the counter and pressing it to his forehead.

He gripped her hand as he moaned. Soon his eyes
shut and his hand limply fell to the floor.

“Is he dead?” Madison asked in horror.