The Key To Micah's Heart (Hell Yeah!) (36 page)

“My little Madison is small, but she’s tough. She might not be so easy to find. Especially if she doesn’t want to be found.”

Micah had heard more then he wanted to hear. Now he knew for certain that she was upset and he’d been the one to cause it. He’d already known it, but having the truth laid out for him hurt even more. Madison might be good at making herself scarce, but Micah would turn the world upside down if that was what it took to find her.

“I’ll take my chances, I guess. That girl has burrowed too far into my heart for me to just let her go. I intend to find her and I don’t intend to stop until I do.”

Micah’s next stop was Angel House. Sonya was there, but she hadn’t seen Madison tonight or any other night for that matter, for weeks. He drove over to Mozart’s, then to the nursing home she worked at on Tuesdays and spent an hour asking people if they’d seen Madison or her car. Hours stretched out before him and the frustration mounted. Normally Micah would call Saxon in on a search like this, but he was still too angry with his friend.

If Micah was being honest with himself, he had a part in all of this. He should’ve brushed Saxon’s accusations off right away, put his foot down and refused to even listen or read the material in the folder Saxon had handed him. He knew Madison, knew her heart and soul as well as he knew her body and there was no way Madison would be involved in the things Saxon had accused her. And even if she had, he still loved her without condition.

The search proved fruitless. Madison wasn’t in any of the places he could think to look for her. He was tired and not thinking clearly. The things Saxon had said still angered him, but he’d been so worried about Madison, he had forgotten about them. If he couldn’t find Madison right away, he could at least disprove Saxon’s claim. So, Micah’s next stop was the Austin Police Station.

As he entered, he couldn’t help but think about the last time he’d been here. Destry had pulled a rabbit out of his hat and the only repercussion for his arrest was a five hundred-dollar fine, which Destry had paid for him, knowing he’d pay him back the next time they were together.

Today, he was here needing help and his nerves were beginning to fray. He’d called and texted Madison a million times and now every time he called, he was informed her mailbox was full and he couldn’t leave any more messages.

Going to the front desk, he leaned on it and made direct eye contact with the woman answering the phone. “Look, I’ve been sitting here for almost an hour waiting to see Detective Myers.”

The woman kept her demeanor calm and he couldn’t get angry with her. She probably spent a large portion of her day dealing with unruly strangers.

“Detective Myers is unavailable at the moment, sir. Please take your seat.”

Micah took his seat begrudgingly and ground his teeth while he waited. Finally, he saw a familiar face behind the glass station. “Pete.” Micah called out as he approached the desk.

A man walked by without seeing him and Micah called his name again. “Pete!”

“Please have a seat, sir,” the woman behind the desk told him with a stern tone.

But Micah ignored her and moved for the door that granted access to the inner sanctum. There was a clear warning scrawled across it, but Micah was sick of waiting. He pulled the door open and walked into the Vice divisback office.

Moving down the corridor, Micah looked to the left and saw the man whose name he’d called out. “Pete!”

A tall figure in a crinkled blue suit stopped in his tracks and wheeled around to see who had called out to him. “Micah? Is that you?” Pete Dover asked from behind thick glasses.

Micah walked up to his old friend. “I didn’t know you were in Vice.”

Pete took a sip of coffee and offered his friend a smile. “Transferred over last year.”

They’d finished college together a lifetime ago. “I guess we need to keep in better touch.”

The woman from the front desk appeared in the corridor a moment later with two uniformed officers accompanying her. “That’s him,” she said with a point and the officers approached.

“What did you do now, Wolfe?” Pete wanted to know.

Micah offered a sly smile. “You know me, Pete. Patience isn’t my strong suit.”

“Sir,” one of the uniformed officers said, “please come with us. You can’t be back here.”

Pete spoke up. “It’s okay, fellas, he’s with me.”

The woman looked them both over. “But Mister Dover, this gentleman entered the office without permission. He’s trespassing.”

Pete looked to his friend. “Yep. Same old Wolfe, I see. It’s okay. He’s my guest. I’ll take responsibility.”

The woman and officers gave him the eye, but finally relented.

“So what are you doing here, Wolfe?”

“I need to talk to a Detective Myers.”

“Fred? What about?”

“An old case from a few years back. I need information on a girl he interviewed.”

“That usually isn’t a good thing.”

“I need him to clear something up for me.”

Pete snorted. “Well, well. Say it ain’t so. Micah Wolfe finally falls for a woman and she ends up being a working girl.”

The comment boiled Micah’s blood, but even he knew there was a time to bite his tongue and play nice. “Can you point me in his direction, Pete? I need to talk to him quick and get the hell out of here.”

“Yeah, sure. Fred’s office is a few down from mine. I’ll take you to him.”

Micah found a thin man with a thick brown goatee sitting at a beige desk. “Detective Myers,” Micah offered his hand. “I’m wondering if I can talk to you for a moment, sir.”

The detective eyed Micah with suspicion, but agreed to talk to him after Pete said he knew Micah. “Have a seat.”

They talked and Micah explained the situation and handed over the dossier.

“I see a lot of girls in my line of work, Mister Wolfe. But I can have a look.” Micah sat and waited while the detective scanned the notes. “I remember this case.”

“There’s no pictures of the woman you refer to in your notes as ‘Madison Fellows’.”

“We don’t always get pictures. These girls tend to come and go, but you remember the regulars.”

“Do you remember this particular girl?”

“Not off the top of my head. Sometimes seeing a picture can jog my memory. Do you happen to have a picture of the woman in question?”

Micah fished his phone out of his pocket. Still no response from Madison. “Yes, right here.”

Myers took Micah’s phone and looked at the image on the screen. It was a shot of Madison eating a baguette in one of the Parisian bistros they’d had lunch in on their trip. “Oh, yeah. I remember her.”

Micah’s heart sank. “You do?” He knew Madison’s past didn’t matter to him, but it hurt a bit to know Saxon had been right.

Had she been lying to him all along?

She’d said she was a virgin. And God knows she’d been tight, but maybe it had just been a long time for her.

Shit!

He was chasing rabbits in his head. “Are you sure?”

“Well, I do remember the woman you’re asking about now. The woman from the notes. I’ve had a few discussions with her over the years. She definitely didn’t fall under the category of a ‘regular’ girl, but I’d seen her out and about a few times.”

Micah took the phone back. He was almost angry at this Detective Myers for telling him the truth. “Well, I thank you for your time, Detective Myers.”

“But that’s not her,” Myers said just as Micah was about to leave.

Micah stopped in his tracks. “I beg your pardon?”

“The woman in the picture isn’t the same as the woman I refer to in my notes. She’s very pretty and she looks almost exactly like the woman I remember, but the girl on your phone is too young to be the Madison Fellows I remember. The woman I interviewed was older and had more miles on her. That could definitely be her much younger sister though.”

The truth hit Micah like a freight train. “Or her daughter?”

Myers took a sip from his mug. “Why yes, it could very well be her daughter. It happens all the time. We stop someone to talk and they know we can’t arrest them for anything, but they give us a false name anyway. A lot of times they’ll use a family member’s name. You know, a sister or a cousin they don’t like.”

Goddammit!

Sunny had used her daughter’s name the day Myers had spoken to her. He felt ashamed for his momentary lapse of faith. He should’ve known all along that Saxon had been wrong about Madison.

Micah ran out of the police station with his phone in his hand. “Where the fuck are you?” he asked into the phone as he moved.

“I’m at headquarters with Kyle,” Saxon answered. “Why?”

“Stay there. I’m on my way.”

Kyle, Jet and Saxon were at the Equalizer’s office on the river when Micah arrived. This building used to serve as Kyle’s campaign and headquarters and now they just mostly used it to store their equipment, have meetings or crash if one of them needed it.

Micah strolled in with purpose in his stride and went right to Saxon without a word.

“Did you find her?” Saxon asked a moment before Micah floored him with a right cross to the jaw.

Micah stood over his prone friend. “You son of a bitch.” Jet was off the couch in a flash, restraining his friend. “Next time get your facts straight before you accuse someone of something.”

Kyle stepped in the middle and helped Saxon to his feet. “Somebody want to tell me what the hell is going on here?”

Micah made an effort to pull free of Jet and go back after Saxon for one last shot, but the big fella had a hold of him and Micah knew Jet was ox-strong, so he relented and let himself be led to the other side of the room to cool down.

“Well?” Kyle asked again when neither opened their mouth to explain.

Jet went to the fridge and got an ice pack for Saxon’s jaw.

“How can you be so sure I’m wrong?” Saxon asked Micah from across the room.

Micah looked at Jet, he knew he wasn’t going to let him get to Saxon. “Because I went and talked to the detective who wrote the notes. I showed him a picture of Madison and he said that it wasn’t her. Her mother, Sunny, was the one he questioned. She gave him a false name. She gave him her daughter’s name. There’s no way Madison even knew about those things before tonight. She probably stood outside the door and listened to you hurl those unwarranted accusations and waited for me to defend her–and I didn’t!”

All listening knew that this was the real problem.

Micah was angrier at himself than he was at Saxon.

Saxon studied his shoes. “I guess I’ve been working too hard. My judgement’s off. I didn’t even consider that possibility. Hell, I was sloppy. I knew better, I should’ve verified what I found with the detective before coming to you and spouting off like I did. Micah, I’m so sorry. I made a huge mistake. I need to apologize to both you and Madison.”

“Well, let me know when you find her because I can’t.” Micah laid his head back on the chair cushion. He was at the end of his rope.

“All right, I will.” Saxon went to his laptop and took a seat. In a few moments he made an announcement. “She’s at the hospital. Seton Center on 183.” He looked across the room to Micah. “Micah. I’m so sorry.”

The word ‘hospital’ made Micah’s blood run ice cold. “Hospital? What do you mean she’s at the hospital?”

“I traced the GPS on her cell phone. It’s at the hospital right now. I’m looking through the computer to find out what happened to her.”

Micah wasn’t going to stick around to find out what Saxon learned. He ran for the door and flew down the steps to his car. He got to the hospital as quickly as he could and was in Madison’s room before anyone at the front desk could stop him.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Love-Lock…

“Fellows?” Micah stood just inside the semi-private room. The only patient he could see was not Madison. An old man, hooked up to numerous machines, was lying still with his eyes closed. Whether or not he was in a coma or just asleep wasn’t clear. A curtain divided the room in half and obscured whoever was on the other side. The four or five steps he had to make to reach that curtain seemed like a mile. “Madison?” Once the white material was in his hand, he shoved it back, only to find an empty bed.

“Where is she?” he shouted.

“Sir, sir,” A chubby dark-haired nurse came bustling into the room. “Please keep your voice down. If you’d stopped at the desk like I asked you too, I could have told you that Miss Fellows has been moved to another floor for X-rays.”

“How is she? What happened? Is she awake?” He fired the questions faster than the nurse could process them. Micah ran his fingers through his hair, he kept thinking it was still long and it always surprised him a bit when he found less.

“Are you a member of her family? I can’t give information to anyone but family.”

When this was all over, Micah swore he was going to hunt a doctor who’d give him a prescription for Xanax.

Was the whole world out to drive him fuckin’ nuts?

“Yes, goddammit, I’m her family. I’m her fiancé.” He wasn’t lying. He was just stretching the truth a mite. “Her immediate family are all…” Unstable. Unreliable. Unworthy. “They’re all out of town.” All of this fibbing could possibly send him to hell–if he wasn’t already there.

The woman crossed her well-rounded arms over her ample chest and narrowed her gaze. “I’m not sure whether to believe you or not.”

“I don’t care whether you believe me or not…” Micah was tired of this shit. Bottom line–he needed to see Madison. “Just tell me where she is or when she’ll be back.”

“Sir, you can wait in the lobby.”

The nurse, Alma Simms, so her name tag stated, was about to say more when the room suddenly became extra crowded.

Saxon, Jet and Kyle burst in.

“Wolfe, you drive like a bat out of hell. If you don’t slow down, you’re going to set my safety goals for the city back ten years.”

Alma was just about to go off on a rant when her eyes became focused on Kyle’s face. “Governor, what an honor. May I help you?”

Jet and Saxon left Kyle with the nurse and they came to his side.

Words of despair burst from Micah’s lips. “I don’t know a damn thing, guys. I don’t know how she is or what happened and that woman won’t tell me anything because I’m not a relative.”

Micah’s voice was tired, he was tired.

Jet put an arm on his shoulder. “Come on, Micah. Let’s step down to the lobby. We can see the hall from there. Let Kyle deal with the nurse. We’ve got a little news for you and we’ll stay with you until we find out more.”

“She’s hurt and I don’t have any idea how bad.” Micah knew he wasn’t telling them anything they didn’t already know, but he didn’t know what else to do.

“Of course, Governor, I’ll have the doctor come speak to Mr. Wolfe straightway. I don’t know the details of her accident, but a policeman has asked to be notified when she gets back to her room.”

“Police?” Micah looked at Saxon. “What does she mean?”

Saxon felt like shit already. But seeing Micah looking disoriented and scared didn’t make things any better. “Let’s get you some coffee and I’ll tell you what we know.”

“I don’t want coffee. Where’s X-ray?”

Micah started toward the elevator, but Jet used his big body to force a course change. “It’s on another floor and they wouldn’t let you in there with her anyway. Sit.”

Micah sat in one of the green padded chairs that lined the wall. A TV blared Fox News at one end of the room and a coffee table covered with assorted rag-tag magazines sat at the other. A soda vending machine offered refreshing drinks until one noticed the ‘out of order’ sign over the money slot.

Jet sauntered over to the messy coffee station and poured Micah a cup. “Here, you look like you’re on your last legs.”

“I’m fine.” Micah took a sip. “Ye gods,” he coughed, “motor oil.” He swallowed, grimaced, then squared a stare at Saxon. “Tell me what you know.”

“Madison’s car was struck by a brick thrown from the top of the MLK overpass.” Saxon ignored the blue streak coming from Micah’s mouth and just kept talking. “The brick didn’t strike her, but she lost control of her car, skated off a concrete barrier and hit the guard rail. She was unconscious when they found her. I don’t know her current condition.”

“Son-of-a-fuckin’-bitch!” Micah exploded. “The last time I saw her, she was happy and smiling, going to take a shower in my house. What’s the odds that the damn brick would land on her car? Now, she’s laying somewhere broken and I…” he stopped, unable to go on.

Jet hunkered down in front of him, a veritable mountain of a man.

“You’ve got to have faith. She’ll be fine. In a few minutes, they’re going to wheel her down this hall and you’ll be with her. But I need you to listen to me a minute, buddy.”

“You don’t understand. She left my house thinking I didn’t care. I’ve never even told her how I feel. Oh…I’ve skated around it, but I’ve never said the words.” His voice broke. “Women need the words.”

“I know and I understand. You’ll make this right.” To have such a gruff voice, Jet kept it on an even, soothing keel. “You need to hear me, Micah. I’ve got to tell you something important.”

“I’m listening,” Micah said evenly.

“Kyle got a call when we were high-tailin’ it over here. A camera on the overpass recorded the whole thing. We know who the rock-thrower is. And this time, it doesn’t look like an accident. We think Madison might’ve been targeted.”

“What?” Micah wasn’t processing the information very well. “Targeted? How?”

“Yes. We had our suspicions, but the police have made a positive identification. It seems he was in custody a few weeks ago, at the same time you were.”

The wheels in Micah’s head were turning, albeit slowly. “No. You don’t mean…”

“Yes.” Saxon leaned nearer Micah. “It was Rudy Douglas, her mother’s husband. We can’t say for sure that he is responsible for the other incidents, but we’re suspicious that he is.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Micah groaned. “He had it in for her. Her place was the first stop I made when I left to look for her. She wasn’t there, but her mother was and I would bet everything I own that the scumbag knew what the mom knew. She told me that Madison would probably end up at the shelter. I bet that asshole went and waited for her. Ambushed her.”

Kyle walked up about that time. “Dr. Harris will come talk to you as soon as he’s checked out Madison’s X-rays. She has regained consciousness and her condition is stable. I understand she’ll be brought back to her room shortly.”

Micah let out a long breath. “Thanks, Kyle.”

“Hey, Gov, Micah tells us that Madison’s mother is at Madison’s apartment.” Saxon relayed the info. “Do you want to tell the cops to go pick her up for questioning? Hell, that idiot might have gone back there too. We haven’t hidden the fact that we’ve got cameras up, it’s been on the news. Apparently he was none the wiser or too stupid to care.”

“Too stupid,” Micah inserted, his eyes on the hall where Madison would appear.

“Good idea,” Kyle stepped away for a few seconds to make the call.

“I want ten minutes with him.” Micah began. “Ten uninterrupted minutes. Kyle’s the fuckin’ Governor and he can make it happen. I got hauled in for defending her before, but now it should be damn evident the kind of lowlife fucker we’re dealing with.”

“I understand how you feel, buddy,” Jet commiserated, but made no promises.

The squeaking of an ungreased wheel alerted Micah that someone was coming down the hall. When a gurney came into view surrounded by two white-coated attendants, he held his breath until he saw a familiar profile. “Here!” he thrust his coffee cup into Saxon’s hands and took off. “Madison! Madison!”

Madison kept her eyes closed. The fluorescent lights passing overhead hurt her eyes. Her head felt like it was three times normal size and every time her heart beat, her brain throbbed. “Madison! Madison!”

Every nerve cell in her body seized. Micah was here. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter.

“Madison, I’m here.” Micah pushed in next to the gurney, laying his hand on Madison’s shoulder. “God, baby. Are you okay?”

Madison was saved from answering when the nurses guided the smaller bed she was lying on up close to the regular bed.

“I want Madison taken to a private room.” Micah announced.

“No.” She feebly answered.

“You’ll have to take that up with the nurse’s station on this floor. We work in X-ray,” the nurse said.

Madison held her breath as she was forcibly picked up and eased from one flat surface to the other.

Standing impatiently to one side, Micah waited until the nurses, one male and one female, hooked Madison back up the monitors, checked her IV and asked her if she needed anything.

“No, I’m good,” she answered with a small voice.

Micah wanted to argue with her. She wasn’t doing good. He couldn’t believe how small and fragile she looked. The more they’d been together, the more his estimation of her had changed. As she’d grown comfortable with him, as she’d felt more secure in their relationship, Madison had emerged from a cocoon of meekness to be a little fireball of sass and sweetness. For the first time in a long time, he saw that same hesitant, timorous person who doubted her place in the world.

And whose fault was that?

His shoulders felt stooped, bearing the burden of guilt.

He’d done this to her.

As soon as the nurses stepped away, he expected her to look for him, to say something. She didn’t. Without fully turning over, she drew up and angled her body away from him.

“Madison, baby. Please God, look at me. I need to know you’re okay. How do you feel? What did the doctor say?”

“The doctor says he’s behind you.” A deep, cultured male voice behind Micah caused him to whirl around. “Dr. Harris.”

“Micah Wolfe.”

“The Governor gave me a bit of insight.” Harris said vaguely.

“Good to meet you.” Micah shook his hand, taken aback by the doctor’s presence. He didn’t look like any doctor Micah had ever seen. The man looked like one of those actors who played a doctor on TV–a McDreamy/McSteamy character.

“How’s our patient?” Harris moved closer to the bed and placed a hand over Madison’s.

Micah’s lip turned up in a silent snarl and he felt his proverbial hackles rise.

“I’ve been better,” she whispered.

This response Micah could believe. He felt helpless. Isolated. He wanted to push this handsome Dr. Do-me aside and lay claim to the woman he loved.

“How’s your headache?” The doctor’s hand moved to her brow as he shone a light in her eyes.

“Bad.”

“We’ll get you something for that.” He checked his iPad, then made a note on it.

Micah could remember when doctors carried clipboards. Medicine was keeping up with the times.

“I checked your X-rays. You have a slight concussion. I want to tell you that after talking to the EMT’s about the incident and your subsequent crash, you are a very lucky young woman.”

“I know,” was her only answer.

“Dr. Harris, I have a question.”

“No need, Micah.” Madison addressed him for the first time.

“There’s every need,” he answered, a bit too forcefully because he saw her tense and close her eyes once more. He’d attend to her in a moment. “What can I do? I want her to have a private room. I want her to have the best of care.”

“No, Micah, I don’t have any insurance.”

The doctor looked between them, then motioned for Micah to follow him outside. “I think we’re upsetting, Miss Fellows.”

“She’s…we…had a misunderstanding before she got on the road.” Micah felt ashamed to admit the truth.

Harris waved his hand. “The Governor spoke highly of you and explained just a bit of the situation. But I think you’ve got an uphill battle in there.”

“I’m afraid your right,” Micah agreed. “And she doesn’t need any insurance. I’ll pay whatever it costs. Gladly.”

“I’m sure the business office will be glad to hear that. But as far as the room. I don’t think moving her is warranted. The air bag did its job. Her concussion came from banging her head on the driver’s side window. Her ribs are bruised and she’ll be sore for a while. I need to keep her overnight, but if everything checks out, she can go home tomorrow–if she has someplace to go where she can be monitored.”

“She’ll be with me.”

Harris pursed his lips and tried to hide a smile. “I wish you luck.”

A few seconds later, Micah stood just outside Madison’s door. He felt like a fuckin’ coward. He wanted to be with her more than he wanted to breathe, but he was afraid. He was afraid that she wouldn’t listen. He was afraid she’d push him away.

“Cowboy-up, Wolfe,” he lectured himself before pushing the door open.