Crime & Passion (34 page)

After grabbing her hand, Donovan sat in the
chair next to her and faced Jeremy. “Do you have anything new?”

The older man nodded and pulled a folder from
his briefcase. He opened the file and slid a paper across the
table. “That’s a signed statement from Chris Tatum—”

“He owns the hardware store,” Donovan
whispered to Madeline.

“He says you always left your phone lying
around,” Jeremy said. “He’ll testify that there were many times he
locked it up in the back room because you forgot it on a counter in
the store.”

Madeline picked up the paper and looked it
over. “He says he remembers Donovan setting it down the last time
he was there, but can’t remember who picked it up.” She passed the
paper to Donovan. “How does this help us?”

“It helps because I am really pressing the
issue that someone’s setting him up,” Jeremy answered. “This
establishes a pattern of him leaving it, Chris says Donovan did
place it on the counter, and no one can testify as to who picked it
up. I also have statements from people swearing it is common
knowledge Donovan keeps his car unlocked so anyone could have
returned the phone.”

Donovan read the statement over and handed it
back to Jeremy. “But that doesn’t prove I didn’t make the
call.”

“No, but it places doubt.” Jeremy put the
paper back into the file. “All we have to do is provide reasonable
doubt. Your hatred of cell phones is well known. Many people can
testify to the fact that you left it everywhere. Honestly, is there
a business in town you
haven’t
left it?”

Donovan shook his head. “I doubt it.”

“Exactly. Then, there’s the case regarding
Maria.” Jeremy blinked a few times in what Donovan had come to find
was a telltale sign he was trying not to cry. “The only DNA they
could find was one strand of your hair on her blouse. Since you
don’t deny you were there and you hugged Maria, this is very weak
evidence to go on. There was no blood or saliva or anything.
Unfortunately, she didn’t scratch the killer and leave us any clues
that way.”

Donovan stood to pace the room once again. If
only Maria had gotten a piece of her attacker, it would have saved
some heartache. He wondered for the thousandth time if Brandon
killed her. Even though Suzie went after Madeline in a similar way,
Donovan couldn’t convince himself she was responsible for Frank and
Maria’s deaths.

“Character witness to testify about your
relationship with Maria will cast doubt on a motive for you to kill
her. The evidence with Maria’s murder is just too weak to stand
up.” Jeremy sighed and rubbed his eyes. “The real problem is the
Johnson murder. We have Eric’s testimony that you hit Frank Johnson
combined with Madeline’s testimony that it might have been a cop
she saw on the beach. It’s hard to make that go away as
easily.”

Madeline folded her arms across her chest.
“Great! I’m the biggest threat to Donovan’s freedom?”

Donovan stopped behind her chair. “It’s okay,
Maddie. Jeremy can argue that you have no way of knowing it’s me.
You can’t make a positive ID.”

“It would be easier if I could get it thrown
out,” Jeremy admitted. “If we only had Eric to contend with, I
could throw suspicion on his actions. He was mad at Frank that day
too. He was with Donovan at the hardware store and could have
swiped his phone. He’s the one who conveniently found the phone
later. The DA is already hesitating. I think he’d drop it if that
was all he had to go on.”

“I wish there was some way to tie Brandon to
all of this,” Donovan said.

“Brandon Feldman?” Jeremy raised his eyebrow.
“You’re convinced he’s involved?”

“He’s the only one I can think of who might
hate me enough to frame me for murder.” Donovan rubbed Madeline’s
shoulders absently while he thought about it. Unless it was Suzie,
but if she did kill Frank as a favor to him, wouldn’t she have said
something by now to try and lure him to her side? “Has anyone been
allowed to question Suzie yet? Is it possible she’s responsible for
all the murders?”

“Anything’s possible. Her father’s blocking
our efforts to question her.” Jeremy glanced at the clock on the
wall. “The DA should be here soon. I’ll do the best I can to cast
doubt on Eric and try to downplay what Madeline might have
seen.”

Madeline placed her hand across Donovan’s,
stopping its movement. “What if I couldn’t be made to testify?” she
asked.

“Don’t worry, darling.” Donovan bent to kiss
the top of her head. “Everything’s going to be okay. You can’t go
back on what you saw because eventually it’ll help us catch the
real killer.”

She tilted her head back to look at him. “I
didn’t mean I’d retract my statement. There
is
a way to make
it so they can’t force me to testify against you.”

A smile broke out across Jeremy’s face. “You
mean if you guys are married? Excellent idea.”

“We could go down after your meeting and do
it today.” She grinned at Donovan. “What do you say?”

“What do I say?” Donovan shook his head.
“No.”

The smile slid from Madeline’s face and her
chin trembled slightly. “No?”

Someone tapped on the door and opened it
without waiting for an answer. A red-haired woman poked her head
inside. “You guys are all set for room 108,” she said. “DA Sorenson
is already waiting.”

Madeline stood as the door closed, her hand
to her face, covering her scar. “I’ll let you guys get to it then.
Good luck.”

She brushed past him and headed for the
doorway.

Shit!

“Maddie, wait.”

She opened the door without looking back at
him.

“Don’t just stand there, you idiot,” Jeremy
said. “Go after her. I swear, if you stick your foot in your mouth
one more time with that girl...”

The rest of Jeremy’s words were lost behind
him as Donovan ran out the door. Madeline had just opened the door
leading outside the building.

Donovan grabbed her shoulders and spun her
around, wrapping her in his arms and pulling her close. “Don’t be
mad at me, Maddie. Hear me out.”

She stood stiffly in his arms. “I don’t think
there’s more to say. It’s okay. You don’t want to marry me. I get
it. I was only trying to help.”

“No, you don’t get it. I love you.” He
pressed his cheek against hers, placing his mouth next to her ear.
“I don’t want you to marry me because you feel you have to.”

“That’s not what I—”

“I told you, I don’t want a relationship of
convenience. I meant that.”
And you’ve never said you love
me.
He didn’t say that aloud because it might make her feel she
had to say it now. He wouldn’t marry Madeline unless she truly did
love him. “If we were to get married, I’d want it to be because
it’s what we both want.”

Her arms went around him and he felt her body
relax. “So, you’re not saying no forever?”

That sounded promising. “We should revisit
the issue when we aren’t forced into it.”

She pulled back from him and lightly stroked
his face. “Okay. We’ll wait.”

He nodded. She seemed to understand what he
was saying. Even if she still didn’t say she loved him. He tried
hard to remind himself that she spent a month in a coma. In
essence, he’d known her for an entire month more than she’d known
him. He couldn’t expect her to feel as strongly as he did. Not yet.
That didn’t stop him from hoping she got there.

“Donovan,” Jeremy called from the hallway,
“we need to get in there.”

“Do you want me to stay?” Madeline asked.

He shook his head. Her parents had called and
said they were leaving for home today. Madeline needed to spend
some time with them. “There’s nothing you can do here besides sit
and wait. We’ll meet you for lunch when we’re done.” Donovan kissed
Madeline one more time. “Wish me luck.”
I’m going to need
it.

***

Madeline stepped out of her car at Rolling
Shores Diner. Although she’d checked her phone constantly the last
hour and a half while visiting her folks, Donovan had yet to call
and give her good news. She could only hope the DA decided not to
pursue charges.

Her parents were at their hotel packing, but
would drive to the diner in a few minutes to join everyone for
lunch. Madeline searched the lot for Jeremy’s car, but the guys
hadn’t arrived yet.

Although she and Donovan were getting a lot
of exercise of a horizontal nature, a quick walk along the beach
would be nice while she waited for everyone to get to the diner.
She missed walking the dogs and spending time in the fresh air.
Besides, her doctors had told her that getting her body back into
shape was important after spending so much time in the coma.

She walked to the beach access stairway at
the side of the diner. Grasping the railing, she stepped onto the
first stair, careful of her footing. One thing about the
stairways—the sand made them treacherous.

“What are you doing?” a voice asked from
right behind her.

Madeline jumped and fumbled in her pocket,
trying to reach her pepper spray. Her feet slipped from under her
on the sand and she skittered horribly down a few steps. Strong
arms went around her waist, keeping her from falling
altogether.

When her heart stopped thundering from the
near disaster, she craned her neck over her shoulder to look at the
person holding her.

Eric’s hazel eyes were wide with surprise.
“Sorry, Madeline. I wasn’t trying to scare you. I called out to you
from the parking lot, but you didn’t hear me.”

He steadied her and let go when Madeline
gripped the hand railing again.

“It’s okay,” she replied. “When I heard your
voice, it suddenly occurred to me that I was out here on a beach
where someone killed Frank Johnson.”

Eric nodded. “Probably not smart for you to
be running around alone.”

“Not smart at all.” She shrugged. Nothing to
do about it now, but Eric was right. Even though Suzie was locked
up, Madeline still needed to be cautious. “Thanks for keeping me
from breaking my head open. These steps are always so slick.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m surprised Donovan
let you out alone. He’s been so ultra-protective. Everything okay
with the two of you? You’re not fighting, are you?”

Since she’d only had a handful of
conversations with Eric, his asking about her personal relationship
seemed a bit odd. Then again, he was Donovan’s partner and claimed
to be her friend. Maybe he was genuinely concerned.

“He had a meeting. He’s on his way here, but
I thought I’d go for a quick walk. I want to enjoy the ocean like I
used to.”

“Well, you can’t be out here by yourself. The
beaches aren’t safe for women out alone.”

Frank Johnson’s face flashed into Madeline’s
mind. “Or men.”

He nodded. “I’ll walk with you, if that’s
okay.”

It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a cop with
her, just in case. If the killer was still on the loose like
Donovan feared, Eric’s police uniform and gun offered reassuring
protection.

“Okay. You can come along,” she agreed,
resuming her descent down the stairway.

She reached the bottom and set off at a quick
pace, heading for the water’s edge. The tide was out and she walked
along the wet sand, searching the ground absently for shells as
they made their way south.

Eric seemed content to walk beside her, not
breaking the silence with chatter. The only problem with that was
it gave her time to think about Donovan.

When he told her he wouldn’t marry her, she’d
been surprised by how much it hurt. They’d been together such a
short time, and she already couldn’t imagine her life without him.
She wondered how long it would be before he was ready to consider
marriage. Hopefully he received good news today and they could put
this whole murder accusation behind them.

She looked at Eric, not wanting to think
about the death sentence Donovan might be facing. “What are you
doing here anyway? You’re in your uniform, so shouldn’t you be
working?”

He shrugged. “I just finished lunch and saw
you walking toward the beach. I figured that wasn’t safe and
decided to check on you.”

That was kind of him. Even though he
sometimes annoyed her, Eric really was a nice guy. “Thanks for
keeping an eye on me.”

He grunted in acknowledgement. “I told you we
needed to stick together, since we’re both new here.”

She smiled and stopped walking, looking out
at the rolling waves of the ocean. The two new kids enjoying the
beach, but things certainly hadn’t turned out as she’d planned.
Living in her beachside apartment for a year should have been the
culmination of her deepest fantasy. Suzie turned it into a
nightmare.

Then again, what she wanted out of life had
changed since she left Utah. Five years with Cameron never made her
feel the way she felt for Donovan. The question was, would he ever
be ready to marry her? Could he really become the better man he
wanted to be?

She touched her face, again feeling the ridge
of damaged skin. Would a life with Frankenstein’s monster be enough
for him?

“The scar bothers you a lot, doesn’t it?”
Eric asked. He took her hand and moved it away from her face,
studying her. “It’s not that bad.”

“Yeah, right.” She took her hand from his.
“Tell me that once you’ve lived with it.”

“Sorry.” He resumed walking and Madeline
followed him. “I didn’t say that to belittle your feelings.”

Oh, dear. I’m being a bitch. And I’m not
even mad at him, I’m frustrated about my face. Get over yourself,
Maddie.

She felt a smile tugging the corners of her
mouth. That was the first time she ever thought of herself as
Maddie. It seemed Donovan had rubbed off on her.

“I’m still sensitive about the scars, but I
shouldn’t take it out on you.” She looped her arm through Eric’s
and squeezed. “I know you’re trying to make me feel better. Thanks
for being my friend.”