Crime & Passion (13 page)

She shrugged away from him and marched
through the apartment. She unlocked all the locks on the door, but
hadn’t opened it by the time Donovan caught up to her. She forced
herself to relax her clenched fingers. There was no way she would
be one of those unruly women who hit a man. If she hit Donovan, she
expected him to hit her back. It was only fair. And really, she had
no right to strike him, no matter how badly she wanted to.

“Madeline,” Donovan’s voice was low and had a
pleading quality to it. “I have no clue what you’re talking about,
and I don’t understand why you’re angry. I thought you understood
what happened between us and why I stopped it.”

She rolled her shoulders, trying to ease the
tension in her neck. “I do understand.” She looked steadily at him,
refusing to back down now that she had started. “I understand that
men look at me, see how freakishly tall I am, and they get scared.
They don’t want a woman who might challenge their manly stature.
Once they find out how fat I used to be, they’re even more afraid
to be with me.”

“You’re not—”

“I’m not a size zero, I know. Trust me, I
know. I never will be. I accept that.” She bit her lip and shook
her head. “Please, just get out of my house. We can talk about the
killer another time.”

He gripped her hands in his. “I don’t give a
damn about the killer. I care about you. Who cares if you’re not a
size zero? You’re voluptuous, curvy—”

“All words men use when they’re trying to be
nice to overweight women.” She took her hands from his and opened
the door, wondering if it was possible to have a broken heart when
she’d only known the man a few days. “Please, Donovan. Get
out.”

He stepped into her, lightly brushing a kiss
across her cheek. “I’m not sure what happened here, but I’ll do
what you ask.” He walked into the hall. “But I won’t stay away
long.”

“I know you won’t.” Madeline’s heart
clenched. She realized why Donovan let the kissing go as far as it
had. With the killer fixated on her, Donovan needed her help to
clear his name. He needed her as much as she needed him.

She started swinging the door closed, but
wanted to reassure him they were still on the same team with the
investigation. It wasn’t his fault she misunderstood his
intentions. “Call me tomorrow. We’ll work together and catch the
killer. I need today to myself. But don’t worry, I understand
perfectly where things stand between us.”

Madeline sat in a booth at Rolling Shores
Diner on Sunday for an early lunch. She gazed northward through the
window, staring at the unobstructed view of the ocean. Only about a
quarter mile rested between her and the place she found Frank
Johnson’s body.

It was unfortunate other police suspected
Donovan. They thought he had time to leave this diner, kill Frank,
and return before his partner realized he was missing. Madeline had
to admit the timing made sense; she just didn’t believe he did
it.

Donovan hadn’t contacted her for the
remainder of the day yesterday, and she was a bit disappointed.
True, she asked him to leave her alone—she just hadn’t expected
he’d actually do it. This morning she’d found a small slip of paper
tucked beneath the teakettle when she brewed her morning cup.
Donovan had left his phone number.

She knew she should call him and figure out
what to do next as far as the investigation, but she wasn’t quite
ready for that. She overreacted yesterday morning and owed him an
apology. Even though she understood that subjectively, it irked her
to admit she was wrong.

Donovan had no way of knowing how badly the
name Maddie upset her. She didn’t know why she expected him to
understand without an explanation. She would apologize, but she
wanted him to make the first move in calling. If he really wasn’t
interested in her as a woman, she didn’t want to seem to be
throwing herself at him. Again.

The waitress appeared at the table, plunking
down the lemonade Madeline had ordered. “You know what you want
yet, sweetie?”

Madeline glanced up. Her gloomy thoughts
decided the menu selection for her. “A bacon cheeseburger.”
And
damn the consequences.

“Want fries with that?”

She shook her head. “Can I get a salad with
light ranch on the side, please?” That would be sufficiently
virtuous and counteract the burger, wouldn’t it?

The waitress wrote in her notepad and then
grabbed the plastic-covered menu off the table. She walked to the
kitchen, and Madeline heard her holler the order at the cook.

Madeline shifted her weight on the worn out
booth bench. A spring dug into her butt and she grasped the edge of
the table, scooting herself closer to the window. Her hand went
into something sticky and she shuddered. No telling when someone
last cleaned the underside of these tables.

She grabbed the blueberry-scented hand
sanitizer out of her purse and applied it liberally to her hands,
briskly rubbing them together.

“Madeline? How nice to see you.” Brandon
Feldman stood next to her table, a large smile on his tanned
face.

With raised eyebrows, Madeline took a sip of
lemonade before replying. “You really think you have any right to
talk to me after that news article?”

Brandon slid into the other side of the
booth. “Come on, don’t be angry with me, Maddie. I was just doing
my job.”

What the heck? Now
he’s
calling me
Maddie?
“Doing your job caused me to lose mine. Everyone
canceled my dog-walking services.”

Brandon’s eyes widened and he reached across
the table to take her hand in his. “I didn’t think they’d do that.
I’m so sorry.”

His sweaty hand felt slimy against her skin
and she moved hers away, wondering if it would be rude to use hand
sanitizer again. “Your paper turned me into a bigger target. I’ve
essentially become a prisoner in my own apartment.”

The officer who checked on her this morning
suggested the restaurant when she confessed to going stir crazy at
the house. The other diners offered a level of safety from the
killer, and Madeline didn’t feel as vulnerable as she would
somewhere by herself.

“I’m sorry that happened, but you can’t
expect me not to report a story like that. It’s big news,
Maddie.”

Madeline ground her teeth together and took a
deep breath. “I appreciate you saying hello, but it’s time you went
to your own table.”

Brandon shook his head. “I already told the
waitress to bring my food here.”

Is this guy for real?
She drummed her
fingernails against the yellow Formica tabletop. “So,
un
-tell her.”

He leaned forward. “Hear me out first, okay?
I’ve been meaning to call you. I don’t like how we left things the
other night after dinner. I think I misled you a little bit.”

If he wasn’t best friends with her boss,
Madeline would have insisted he leave. However, if she did that and
Brandon said something to Lindsey, it could cause Madeline problems
at work. She couldn’t afford to lose any more jobs.

She sighed and met Brandon’s eyes. “What do
you mean misled?”

“About Lindsey, and how I feel about
you.”

“How you feel about me? I thought we cleared
that up. You want Lindsey.”

Brandon stayed quiet when the waitress
appeared and placed his soda on the table. “Food will be up in
about five minutes,” she said.

“Lindsey isn’t who I want,” he said when she
walked away. “But Donovan was there and already inside your house,
and you seemed convinced you knew what was best for me.” He brushed
his hair out of his eyes. “I didn’t know what to do, so I
left.”

Madeline knew she probably had a stupid look
on her face, but she couldn’t help that. “You told me Lindsey was
remarkable.”

“And she is,” he said. “She’s my best friend,
but you’re the woman I want to spend more time with.”

Madeline took another sip of her drink, just
to give herself something to do. She wasn’t attracted to Brandon,
but it sure did feel nice to know he wanted to be with her.
Somehow, being desirable to
someone,
even if she didn’t
return the feeling, took away a bit of the sting from recent
rejections from Donovan and Cameron.

He grabbed her hand again, and this time she
didn’t pull away. “Is there any chance for us, or are you going
with Donovan?”

“I’m not sure about you and me going out
again.” She closed her eyes, not wanting Brandon to see the pain in
them. “But Donovan and I are just friends. He doesn’t want me for
anything except to clear his name. Not now anyway. He said he did,
but I guess he changed his mind.”

Brandon raised her hand, and she felt his
lips brush gently across the back of her fingers before he let go.
“You slept with him, and he did what he always does. I tried to
warn you.”

Madeline’s eyes flew open. “Of course not.
What kind of girl do you think I am?”

She tried to hold onto her indignant rage,
but it was hard to sustain when she knew if Donovan hadn’t stopped
things, Brandon would have been correct. It wasn’t through any
willpower of her own she didn’t become a notch on Donovan’s
bedpost.

To her surprise, Brandon smiled widely.
“That’s good news.”

Maybe to you.

She shrugged, grateful that the waitress
placed their food on the table and she didn’t have to come up with
a response.

“Can I get you anything else?” the woman
asked.

Madeline shook her head.

“No thanks,” Brandon said.

Madeline squirted ketchup onto her bun and
cut the burger in half, taking the first bite and reminding herself
not to feel guilty as the delicious hickory bacon flirted with her
taste buds. Brandon dipped some fries into a cup of honey mustard
on his plate and they remained silent while they chewed.

“I hope you’re being careful around Donovan,”
Brandon said after a few minutes. “I really believe he could be the
killer.”

Madeline nearly choked on lettuce from her
salad as she laughed. She swallowed quickly. “That’s rich. Donovan
thinks you could be the person framing him.”

Brandon’s face turned red and his eyes
narrowed. “What?”

Madeline wished she could pluck her words out
of the air and shove them down her throat. She didn’t need Brandon
and Donovan any more pitted against each other than they already
were. Besides, if Donovan happened to be right, she was having
lunch with a killer and should be careful about what she said.

“I just meant that he told me you hate him, a
lot.” She had no idea what to say to make this situation better. “I
take it you’re old rivals.”

Brandon glared down at the remainder of his
hamburger. “I have every right to hate that bastard. He ruined my
life.” His green eyes met Madeline’s, and she swallowed hard at the
cold rage burning in the depths of Brandon’s soul. “Because of him,
I lost my wife.”

Madeline’s mouth dropped open. “What do you
mean?” she asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

“When I bought the paper, my wife moved out
here first while I took care of finishing up the sale on the house
we had in Arizona and tying up loose ends. She came here to get our
home ready. And she met Donovan.”

“But surely he wouldn’t do anything with a
married woman.” Madeline didn’t know why this shocked her so much,
given everything she’d heard about Donovan, but she couldn’t
believe he would waste his time with a married woman when he had so
many single ones throwing themselves at him.

Brandon rolled his eyes. “Get real, Maddie. A
married woman is perfect for him. There’s guaranteed to be no
commitment.”

She nodded, conceding the point to him. She
hated to think of Donovan doing such a sneaky, underhanded thing,
but she had to admit it made sense. Donovan told her he hadn’t been
looking for a commitment in the past—though he had mentioned trying
to be a better man now.

“He must have badgered her until she finally
gave in.” Brandon’s hand resting on top of the table balled into a
fist. “When I moved here, it went on for another week before
someone in town clued me in. I was so mad. I wanted to kill
him.”

“I can understand that.” Madeline wondered
who pursued whom in that situation. Donovan never lacked for female
company. Possibly Brandon’s wife was the person instigating
things.

“Lori was a good person, a gentle soul. When
I confronted her about it, she was tearful, but told me she wanted
to be with Donovan, that she was leaving me for him.” Brandon
pulled at his hair and tears gleamed at the corners of his
eyes.

Madeline reached across the table to squeeze
his arm gently. She, too, had been in the position of confronting a
cheating partner. It hurt, and it kept hurting. “That must have
been hard to take.”

“We would have worked things out,” Brandon
said, his voice so soft Madeline strained to hear him. “I know we
would have, but we never got the chance.”

“What happened?”

“Lori went to him, told him she loved him.
She told him she would divorce me so they could be together
forever.” Brandon stopped talking and rubbed the tears from his
eyes.

“And he rejected her,” Madeline finished,
knowing with certainty that’s what happened. “Why didn’t you guys
get back together then, work things out?”

Brandon sighed. “She came home and tried to
talk to me about things. I said horrible stuff to her.” His face
crumpled, and Madeline grabbed his hand.

“You were angry. She should have understood
that.”

“I don’t know if it was Donovan’s rejection,
or my calling her a slut, but she took off in the car, saying I’d
never have to deal with her again.” He rubbed his eyes. “I actually
shouted ‘Good!’ out the door to her while she got into the
car.”