The Key To Micah's Heart (Hell Yeah!) (37 page)

Madison lay perfectly still, trying to hear what was going on outside the door–which probably wasn’t a good idea. The last time she’d eavesdropped had led her to this point. Remembering made her wince, which sent a sharp pain lancing through her head.

No, she couldn’t blame this on Micah. It was all her fault. She shouldn’t have run out like some scared rabbit. She should’ve stood up for herself. Not only with Micah, but also with her mother and Rudy. Leaving Micah’s was the only thing she could’ve done, but she should have stayed at her apartment, called the police and had Rudy forcibly removed.

What she needed was a backbone. And now would be as good a time as any to grow one. What was Micah doing here anyway? She’d been in an accident, but nothing had changed. She was still the same person.

Madison felt him before she heard him. Just as before, there seemed to be an electric field that arced between them. She steeled herself against an attraction that could go nowhere.

She expected him to say something, but he didn’t. The next thing she knew; he’d pressed his face to her chest softly. This wasn’t Micah joking around or being flirty, he buried his face against her and let out a long ragged breath.

Her first instinct was to touch him–place a soothing hand on his hair. But she couldn’t…she just couldn’t… “Micah.”

“Don’t send me away, please.”

Again, Madison’s hand rose to touch him–again, she forced it down. “What are you doing here?”

“Where else am I supposed to be? You’re here.”

“You need to go, Micah. I’m fine. Nothing’s changed.”

Micah stood up. “Everything’s changed.” His face was pale. He wasn’t crying. “I let you down.”

He could see the hurt swimming in her big eyes. Her lips trembled and he wanted to kiss them so much he ached.

“I hate this happened.” She spoke so softly Micah had to lean in to hear. “And I don’t really know what happened, but I think it’s probably best if we let it go. Our worlds are too far apart and…”

“Stop.” Micah needed for her to hush and listen and the only way he could think to do that was to just cover her lips.

The touch of his mouth to hers awakened a familiar joy. A joy she couldn’t afford.

With the simple kiss, Micah tried to convey everything he was feeling. But she wasn’t responding. For the first time, his Madison wasn’t kissing him back.

“Tell me you’re okay first, please.”

“A brick came crashing through my windshield.”

“I know. The police are on their way to your apartment now.”

She studied his dear face. “My apartment? I don’t understand.”

“They have a tape of who dropped the brick off the overpass. It was Rudy.”

Madison recoiled. “Rudy? Then the death in Fort Worth…”

“Could’ve been him. An investigation will tell them if he was the only culprit or if he was taking advantage of a situation. Either way, in your case, it’s attempted murder.”

Madison’s mouth went dry. “Can I have a sip of water?”

“Sure. Sure, baby,” he hustled to give her what she needed.

She allowed him to help her with the water. Madison was shocked to find out Rudy had tried to kill her. “I knew he hated me, but I didn’t expect this.”

“You didn’t deserve this, Madison. You didn’t deserve any of it.” Micah picked up her hand and kissed it. “I told you I’d protect you and I did a damn poor job.”

Madison tried to extricate his hand from her grasp. “No, Micah. You think…” The words stuck in her throat. “You think I did things for money.” The tears began to flow. She couldn’t hold them back. “I don’t even know how to defend myself against that.”

Micah felt his heart break. “You don’t have to. I know you didn’t do anything wrong. When Saxon came, I’ll admit it, he took me by surprise. I was taken aback, and God, I’m so, so sorry you overheard us. If you’d stuck around a little bit longer, you would’ve heard me tell him to shove it. I know you, Madison. I know who you are. You’re the woman I love.”

Madison heard him, but she didn’t comprehend his words. “I don’t blame you for believing Saxon. My life is so far removed from yours. I just want to start over,” she ended on a sob.

“Me too.” He didn’t let her weak protests deter him. Micah gathered her against him in a gentle embrace. “I want to start over too. I want to start anew with you in my life. I love you. I love you so much.”

At first, his declaration took her by surprise. This was what she’d longed for. The moment she’d dreamed of. Madison wanted to believe him so much she could have died from it. Giving in to her heart, she wrapped her arms around him and held him close.

“Excuse me, Miss Fellows. We’d like to ask you a few more questions.”

The police had arrived.

Micah pressed his lips to her forehead. “To be continued.”

“Okay.” The one word served to answer both requests.

“Alone, if you don’t mind, Sir.” The officer meant for Micah to leave.

“I don’t think so…” he began.

“It’s all right, Micah.” Madison said. “I’ll be fine.”

He would’ve argued more, but about that time his phone rang. “Wolfe.”

“Hey, you got your ten minutes.” Jet muttered.

“Really?” Micah’s adrenaline spiked. “Where is he?”

“Madison’s accident has been all over the news. Apparently Rudy caught a report in some bar or something and realizes he’s been spotted. He didn’t go home. So, the guys and I figured he wouldn’t go far or risk boarding public transportation. We called in some favors and someone gave us a tip. He’s in one of the abandoned warehouses on E. 5th Street. Before we call the cops, we thought you might want to have a word with him.”

“Thanks, man. I’ll be right there. Keep an eye on him.”

“Will do. We’ll meet you one block west next to the palm reader’s shop.”

“I’ll be there.” Micah wasn’t about to leave without saying something to Madison, not after gaining as much ground as he’d been lucky enough to do. He wasn’t all the way to home plate yet, but he’d get there. Slipping in, he could hear the police questioning Madison about Rudy.

“Do you have any idea who his friends are here in town?”

“No, I don’t.” she answered.

Micah felt no remorse about keeping what he knew from the police. Madison belonged to him and this was his battle to fight. “Hey,” he slipped up by her, “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. I promise. Don’t go anywhere,” he teased her with a tender smile.

“No chance of that,” she answered.

He touched his lips to the top of her hair and left.

Taking out the trash…   

Micah wasn’t tired anymore. He felt like he could turn the world upside down. Whipping Rudy’s ass was something he could handle alone. The rest…he was going to need a little help. “Hannah, honey, this is Micah. I need you to do something for me.”

“You name it. Kyle’s kept me abreast of the situation and I want you to know that we support you a thousand percent. What can I do?”

“I need you to go to the hospital and sit with Madison. I’m going to be gone for a few hours. There’s a man I need to see about a horse.”

Hannah laughed. “Micah, you’re talking to a girl from the barrio. No further explanation needed.”

“Thanks. She’s on the third floor, Seton on 183, room number 310. I want you to tell her that I’ll be back as soon as I can. It might be a few hours. I’ll have to get cleaned up and then there’s a stop or two I want to make.”

“You got it, Micah. When things get settled down, I want to visit with you and Avery about the book tour. I hear it was a riot.”

Micah groaned. “I love my fans, but I am not cut out for stuff like that.”

“I can just imagine. Do you think Madison would like to meet Paulo? I’ll bring his nanny and if he gets fussy, they can come home.”

“I think she’d love that.” He smiled. “And Hannah…she’s not too happy with me right now. I messed up, but know this... I love her so much it hurts and I’m going to convince her of that if it’s the last thing I ever do.”

By the time he was through speaking to the Governor’s wife, Micah was pulling up to an old green and white building with a six-foot neon raised hand in front, declaring ‘Madame Rosa knows all and tells all.’

“Yea, for a price.” Rudy wasn’t going to be needing a fortune teller to give him any advice. By the time Micah finished with him and the cops picked him up, he’d hopefully spend the rest of his sorry life in prison.

Jet came walking up to Micah as soon as he stepped out of his black car. “I’m ready.”

“Listen to me, closely,” Jet said. “The warehouse is dark. We’ve watched both exits. Douglas is in there by himself. I advise you to say nothing. Keep him out of the light from the windows and remember to leave the cops something to prosecute.”

“He’ll accuse me, Jet, but I don’t give a rat’s ass.”

“Let him. Right now, Micah Wolfe is in a meeting with Governor Kyle Chancellor and Secretary of State Destry Cartwright discussing the Austin Book Fest of 2017.”

“Well, I hope Mr. Wolfe behaves himself in such fine company.”

“Go get him, man.” Jet slapped Micah on the back. “Leave your car here and take that alley. Saxon and Tyson will be close by.”

Micah did just as Jet directed. Every step he took seemed to fire up his determination to prove to Madison that he would do anything in his power to make her happy. This man, Rudy Douglas, would never harm a hair on her head again.

When he was a few yards away from the old building, he heard a whistle. Darting to one side he saw Tyson. “Still a go?” he asked, finding Ty leaning against his ancient Jeep.

“Yea, he’s holed up in there with a fifth of whiskey.”

“Good. You keep a watch for me.”

“If I see anything, I’ll toot the horn three times and you skedaddle out the back. Saxon is waiting for you out there. As soon as you finish, we’ll call a tip into the cops and no one will be the wiser. Saxon’s got a program in place that will make the call untraceable and his voice unrecognizable.”

“What would I do without you guys?” Micah gave Tyson a hug. Yea, he might get cross-ways with them occasionally, but these men were his family.

Micah walked the rest of the way with confident strides. The task at hand would be a pleasure.

He opened the door slowly, not wanting to give Rudy any forewarning. As Jet had said, the interior was almost as black as night. He could smell the dust of a hundred Texas summers. The lights were so high in the three story building, that any illumination they gave in the fading afternoon could be easily avoided. Sticking to the shadows, he walked a few steps, then stopped to listen.

Soon, Rudy Douglas gave himself a way with a great big sneeze.

“Thank you, dust.”

He changed his course and walked deeper into the cavernous warehouse. As his eyes adjusted to the dimness, Micah was glad he’d had a haircut. The change gave him a slightly different look. As he neared, he saw the scumbag sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. The idea that this was the moron who’d been raining down bricks on unsuspecting drivers infuriated him. The fact that he’d hurt Madison was unforgivable.

Without a word, he marched up to the man, seized him by the collar of his shirt and hauled him to his feet.

“What the hell?” A stunned Rudy asked.

Micah didn’t bother to answer his question. He just drew back his fist and punched the worm right in the mouth. The sound of his teeth rattling gave Micah extreme satisfaction. Rudy squirmed, trying to get away, but Micah didn’t give him a chance. He landed a second blow to Rudy’s jaw, followed by an uppercut that knocked a cursing grunt from bloodied lips.

“Who are you?”

Micah answered silently, ‘your worst nightmare’. He didn’t stop when he could have. Rudy was too drunk to fight back. But this wasn’t a fight, this was punishment. So, Micah landed a few more blows until Rudy was on his knees coughing blood. Only then did he begin to back out, leaving as silently as he came.

But something stopped him. He wanted Rudy to know someone loved Madison enough to fight for her.

Going back, he hauled Rudy up one more time. Taking him around the neck, he squeezed the asshole like Rudy had choked Madison.

While he was gasping for breath, Micah whispered. “This was for Madison; you piece of shit.” Then, he threw him down – walked out into the night and took a cleansing breath of fresh air.

“Micah, over here.” Saxon whispered. “Get the job done?”

“It’s taken care of.”

“Good.” Saxon picked up his phone, placed an anonymous call to the police and the deed was done. 

The Key to Micah’s Heart…

On the drive to Johnson City, Micah found a new appreciation for his writerly skills. He’d penned enough stories to know the value of the climactic scene. What he had to do in the next couple of hours was set the stage for the most important question he’d ever ask. Micah intended to make sure that Madison had no doubt of his love and he intended to do it in a way that would touch her heart and make saying ‘no’ to his proposal an impossibility.