Mad Love: Madison (19 page)

She slapped her hand against the CD player, shutting
off the music and whirled around.

“Sarah!”

There was no answer.

She started for her sister’s room but jerked to a
stop.

In the center of the door was a giant red number six.

A sense of dread began to fill her as she pushed
open her sister’s bedroom door.

 She picked up the cordless phone in her sister’s
bedroom and dialed nine one one.

She swung her attention to the door as the sound
of boots hitting the hardwood floor echoed through the apartment.

She froze in fear as her heart started hammering
against her chest.

He was inside the apartment.

He was coming for her.

She dropped the cordless phone to the floor and looked
around the room in a panic, frantically searching for a weapon to use. Spotting
the cane Sarah had used a few months before, standing in the corner of the
room, she leapt for it before dashing behind the door. She wrapped her fingers
around the end of the cane, waited behind the door as the footsteps came
closer, and then stopped just outside of the bedroom.

Hoping that surprise was on her side, Madison
slammed the door against the intruder and raised the cane above her head.

Sarah fell against the wall with a strangled cry.
“Madison!” she yelled as she protectively covered her head with her arms.

Madison jerked the cane back. Relieved, she
lowered the cane to the floor and took a couple of calming breaths.

Sarah climbed to her feet and took a cautious
step forward. “What is going on?”

Madison pulled her sister into a hug. “I thought
he had you. Where were you?”

“At work.” Sarah leaned back. “Why is there water
on the floor and what happened to the Christmas tree?”

“I don’t know.” She dropped her gaze to the
floor. “I called the police but I dropped the phone. Do you see it?” She swept
her hair over to one side as she bent over, searching for the phone. “I walked
in and the music was playing. The water was running—”

“Madison,” Sarah interrupted, her voice strained
as her gaze swept along the floor.

Madison paused in her search to look up at her
sister. “What?”

Sarah’s brow furrowed in concern. “Where’s Rory?”

Madison’s mouth dropped open. “I don’t know.”

The next thing they heard was the sound of
someone screaming from outside.

They rushed to the window and looked out.

Paul Harris’ body lay, unmoving, in the middle of
the street.

 5:15
P.M.

Madison
stood in the lobby of her apartment building staring out the window as the
police finished their investigation outside.

Sarah stood next to her wiping away tears. “What
do you think happened to Rory?”

Madison ran her hand down her sister’s back. “Sarah,
sweetie, I’m sure he’s fine.”

Sarah looked at her as if she was crazy. She sat
down on the couch near the front door with a faraway look in her eyes. “Rory’s
only a few months old. How could someone just take him like this?”

“He may not have been stolen.”

“Whoever did this,” Sarah said, tearfully
gesturing to the police walking around, “must have taken him too.”

“We don’t know that. The door was wide open when
I arrived. It’s possible that Rory ran outside. Let’s just try to think
positively.”

Sarah shook her head. “The blood on the door…”

“It wasn’t blood.”

“Are you sure?”

“Detective Kim said that it was ketchup.” She
looked back at Sarah as the younger girl slipped a pair of gloves and a knit
cap out of her coat. “Where are you going?”

“The temperature’s dropping,” Sarah said, pushing
the door open. “If you’re right and he got out, he’ll freeze to death tonight.”

“Sarah wait,” Madison yelled out as Sarah trudged
through the snow. She started to open the door and run after her sister but
stopped when Detective Kim stepped out of the elevator and called her name. He
looked around the lobby. “Where did your sister go to?”

“She’s out there looking for her dog.”

“Do you have a safe place to stay tonight?”

She glanced up at the ceiling. “I guess this
place is out of the question.”

“I think it would be best if you found someplace
else.”

“Do you have any leads? Anything at all?”

“Not yet.”

“At least we can now rule Paul out.”

“We already did before he was murdered.”

“Why?

“Paul Harris was in a residential treatment
facility two hundred miles away the entire months of August and September.
There’s no way he could have killed Quincy. Now, what can you tell me about
Paul’s wife?”

Madison’s eyebrows rose to her hairline. “My
client?” She crossed her arms. “Vanessa didn’t kill Paul.”

Detective Kim rubbed a hand across his jaw. “It
wouldn’t be the first time a spouse went after her ex. There have even been
cases where they’ve gone after the attorneys involved in the divorce.”

“Except in this case, I’m
her
attorney and
she has absolutely no reason to come after me. She’s also not even in the
state. She’s cruising the Caribbean as we speak.” She turned back to the
window. “It’s someone else.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. I’m worried about my friend Ethan.
Last time I saw him, he told me he was going to take Quincy’s things to you. Did
he?”

The detective looked at his watch. “He left the
police station about three hours ago.” At her crestfallen expression, his face
softened. “He mentioned that he was going to nose around the old sanitarium
where they found Quincy’s body.” He looked back at his notebook. “I don’t know
what he thinks he’ll be able to find that we couldn’t.”

“I would figure you guys would have that blocked
off.”

“We did. Ethan’s supposed to restrict his
activities to the surrounding area. Not that there’s much to see. The sanitarium’s
out in the middle of nowhere. I’m sure he’ll show up soon.” He placed his notebook
back in his pocket. “We’re going to be here awhile. Where are you planning on
staying?”

She lifted a hand to her head. “I don’t know.
Possibly my grandfather’s in Winchester, but I’m not making any decisions until
my sister comes back.”

“I understand.” He glanced outside with a
grimace. “If I were you, I’d make a decision quick. The roads are getting
pretty dangerous. They’re expecting over a foot of snow tonight.”

“Looks like Grandpa was off by a day,” she
muttered under breath.

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing. Thank you, Detective, but I’m just
going to wait here in the lobby until Sarah arrives.” She glanced towards the
window and the growing pile of snow just outside the door. “I have a friend who
lives near here. I’m sure she’d put us up for the night. When will you be done
going over my apartment?”

He glanced out the door. “It’s really hard to
say. It looks like it’s going to be really bad tonight.”

Madison nodded in agreement as the detective
pushed the front door open.

She moved to the couch, trying to stay out of the
way as crime scene investigators drifted in and out. She kept most of her focus
on the front door, but occasionally her attention would drift towards the side
window and the park across the street.

She didn’t notice him at first. There had been a
couple of looky-loos standing around watching the police work for an hour or so.
All but one had left as the temperature dropped.

It was that one lone figure huddled by the gate
to the park that caught her attention.

She threw open the door and hurried across the
street where Jamie waited.

He nodded toward the police crime scene van
parked near the apartment building as she approached. “The neighborhood is
getting dangerous,” he said unzipping his coat. “And it used to be so safe.” He
reached underneath his coat causing Madison to take an instinctive step back.

She stopped when he moved his coat back far
enough to reveal Rory.

“Where did you find him?” she asked with a
relieved smile as she took the puppy from him.

“Wandering around behind the hamburger joint down
the street. First place I looked after I heard he was missing.”

“Lucky,” she said wrinkling her nose at the
smell.

“Smart,” he corrected. “A dog will follow his
nose. He’s been cuddling up to the garbage for the last couple of hours. He
needs a bath.”

“Well, thank you.”

“No problem. I’m just glad I found him before
some creep in a blue car ran over him.”

Madison stiffened. “Did you see what happened
here?” When he didn’t answer, she said, “If you saw what happened, then the
police are going to want to speak to you.”

Chuckling, he held up his hands and backed up a
step. “Nah, I don’t think so.” He pressed a hand to his heart. “I didn’t say I
saw anything.”

“Well, that’s a pretty shrewd guess you just
made. Psychic, by any chance?”

“I’ve seen that blue car driving around here for
the last month. It just circles around the park when you get home and then it
drives away. He’s been coming back more often. Sometimes, I see the car late at
night when you girls turn off your lights.” He looked around. “He’s not here
now. I guess your guardian angel didn’t want to be around when the police arrived.”

Madison frowned. “My guardian angel? What makes
you think the guy in the car is my guardian angel?”

“He did you a favor by taking out that guy who
was harassing you, didn’t he? He ran him down a few minutes after your little
altercation.”

Madison felt her throat constrict. She held the
puppy tighter. “I doubt he did it for me.”

Jamie cocked his head to the side. “Do you know
the driver?”

“No, I don’t. It doesn’t make any sense. Why
would he kill Paul? I’m the one he’s after.” She glanced down the street. “What
could be his motive?”

Jamie looked at her strangely for a moment. “There
are many reasons to kill a man. Maybe this Paul guy owed the driver money. He
seemed like the type. Cheap suit. Horrible taste in hotels. I should know. I
live at the Waverly.”

Madison shook her head. “It’s not about money.”

“No? Hmm… Maybe he knew too much. Like in the
movies. He overheard something he shouldn’t have and he had to go.” He made a
face before shaking his head, immediately dismissing his own theory. “Nah, he
looked like the self-centered type. They almost never overhear anything of
interest unless it’s about them.” He snapped his fingers. “I know. I bet Paul
was messing around with someone’s girl. Men hate that. I’ll let you in on a
little secret. Some men can be very possessive. They don’t like it when someone
gets between them and what they want.”

A gust of cold air hit them and she felt a small
tremor go through the dog.

Despite the smell, she opened her coat and
shifted the puppy closer to her chest. “You seem to know a lot about the
subject.”

“Apparently, not enough.” He reached out a hand
and began to scratch Rory behind the ears. “You should take the pup inside.
It’s freezing out here.”

“Wait,” she called out as he started to walk
away. “Have you seen Sarah?”

He jerked his chin towards the park. “Here she
comes. Goodnight, Madison.” He held up a finger as he started to back away.
“Don’t forget, watch out for blue cars, they’ll kill you.”

Madison turned toward the park. She held Rory
above her head, smiling at Sarah’s squeal of delight.

Rory, for his part practically leapt out of
Madison’s hands in his effort to get to Sarah.

“Where have you been?” Sarah asked as she cuddled
the puppy to her chest. She closed her eyes as she pressed her hand to her
nose.

“Jamie found him down the street behind Freddie’s
Grill.”

Sarah’s eyes flew wide. “Jamie was here?”

“He just left.” She wrapped her arms around her
middle. “Come on; let’s get inside before we freeze to death.”

She stepped to the side as the police van pulled
from the curb. Once it had passed by, they dashed across the street and entered
the lobby.

“Are the police done investigating already?”
Sarah asked.

“I think some of them are still upstairs.”

“Has Ethan called yet?”

“No, not yet,” she said as they walked towards
the elevator. “I’m really starting to get worried.”

Sarah leaned back against the wall. “Well, you
can stop now.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s here.” Sarah pushed herself away
from the wall and opened the door just in time for Ethan to stride forward.