The Madison Files (Vol. 4 - Case Closed) (4 page)

That night, I also vacated my home, going to hide out at my employer’s home. At this point in time, I was going by an alias, Mark Reimers. I had changed my name months before to cover up my true identity.

Several days later, on Friday, the tenth, I was hired to track down and kill a Louise Butler. I found her at the state fair, on the day she owed us money. I called her, she had no excuses, and so I killed her with a single bullet to the head. I returned to my employer to inform him what had ensued.

Even later, on the following day, Saturday, the eleventh, I found a Joseph McKenzie hiding in a hotel room. I had been tracking him for several days, so I had been searching for him before I killed Miss Butler. I found out what hotel he was staying and, under the guise of a friend, managed to get a key from the hotel receptionist. When she tried to make things hard for me, I threatened to kill her if she told anyone anything.

I made my way to Mister McKenzie’s room and found him in the bathroom. He tried to tell me why he didn’t have the money, but I didn’t give him a chance and shot him as well. I left with the key and reported to my employer again. When a detective Trent Baker and his partner Madison Rose came to my door, questioning me as Mark Reimers, the friend of Louise Butler, I willingly went with them to the station.

They knew me from a call they’d made after finding Miss Butler’s body. I claimed to be Mark Reimers and told them I was formerly her coworker but couldn’t meet with them as I was going out of town on business. I answered a few brief questions before the call was over. In the station, they asked me more routine questions and I gave the identity of my employer to them through a story.

I understood they would know the story as detective Rose had formerly dated him. However, I would not reveal the name. I was held in the holding cell before the chief of police came and took me to the prison. It was there that I was questioned again and have willingly offered my employer’s name in return for a lesser sentence. The man I worked for is known as Liam Amsel. He gets me the drugs and tells me the client name to sell them too. We put the amount on a tab and add it up, giving them a deadline to pay it off.

If they are unable to pay, the sentence is death. Liam is currently working at a law office as a lawyer.

Madison stared at the last few sentences of the statement. He had already been offered a lighter sentence, but he wouldn’t give herself or Trent Liam’s name. She slowly averted her gaze to Trent. “How did he do that…?” she asked. The man looked to her, their eyes meeting as he searched for a longer explanation to her question.

“Who do what?” he asked. Her gaze shifted back to the statement and the last few sentences, mainly the one naming Liam as his employer.

“Get the name from Jasper, Billy,” she answered. Trent shrugged and set the statement down. He chuckled a bit as he thought about it. Billy often had his way with the suspects; he never saw the man violent or even heard him angry, and yet he could get just about any information from a suspect when he tried.

“I’m still wondering why he didn’t present this to Liam, might have saved a lot of trouble,” he muttered. Of course, it didn’t replace real evidence, but he didn’t see why they needed to carry it out any longer either. He motioned for Madison to follow him and headed out of his office, back down the hall and to the holding cell where Liam still sat.

He slipped inside and took a seat across from him again, not waiting for Madison to follow him in or take a seat. “What if we told you we had evidence against you now?” he asked. Liam tilted his head slightly.

“What evidence would that be, detective?” he retorted. Liam paused, trying to hide his annoyance at the almost casual manner in which he was being spoken to.

“Well we went through your home, we got a warrant because we have a written statement to say that you were the one that hired him to kill the three victims,” he stated. He watched Liam’s eyes narrow slightly and he couldn’t stop his own grin. “Billy seems pretty convinced that this will be your end.”

“What did you find?” Liam asked, his tone becoming much lower.

“I’m not sure, he didn’t really answer that,” he stated with a shrug. He could tell from the way the man was changing that something was at his house, something he didn’t want them to find and use again him. Liam suddenly straightened some.

“You don’t have any evidence, do you?” he asked. Trent chuckled.

“Not yet,” he answered. He stood up, putting a hand on Madison’s shoulder. “I need to make a call,” he stated. His hand slid off her shoulder as he stepped into the hallway and pulled his phone out. He turned, to make sure he could he see into the cell and keep an eye on Madison. It took several rings before he got an answer.

“Billy here,” the voice on the other end greeted.

“It’s Trent. There’s something in his house he doesn’t want us to find,” he responded.

Billy chuckled a little.

“Like a list of people and debts owed and not all of it for drugs?” the man asked. Trent stared into the glass a moment.

“I thought you still needed a warrant?” he asked. He heard a chuckle from the other side again and rolled his eyes. “You already had the warrant didn’t you? You sneaky bastard,” he muttered. Maybe now he could understand how the man got information from his suspects.

“Bingo. Now, we’ll book him when I get back,” he answered. The man hung up and Trent entered the room again, practically laughing until he saw Madison with tears lingering in her eyes. He quickly jammed the phone back into his pocket.

“We have it; you’re going to jail,” he practically growled to the man. He motioned for Madison to stand up and glared at the other man.

Liam arched a brow. “It’s not that easy though,” he answered. He chuckled some as he watched the woman get up and head to the door, the detective following. Trent took hold of her hand once they were out and headed to his office. He felt it would definitely be more private there, without cameras and prying coworker ears and a place she could break down if she really needed to. It was a bad idea to leave them in a room together and he had a feeling it would be, but he thought Liam would lash out physically rather than emotionally as he had.

He closed the door to the office behind them and, without really thinking about it, put his arms around her and pulled her close. “I want to know what he said to you,” he muttered, soft but stern at the same time. If he could, he would beat the man, but he knew he couldn’t. For one, he was on duty, and two, it wasn’t right anyway. Nor was the man worth it. He was scum; that was it. Madison shook her head, however, and looked up at him, her eyes still only lined with tears.

“I think it’s enough closure though,” she muttered softly. She forced a bit of a smile but he couldn’t stop his own grin.

“Only if you’re sure,” he muttered. It wasn’t a lie, per se. He wanted to have her, full heartedly and now, but he also wanted to make sure she was all right, make sure she was really ready to move on. She nodded a bit.

“I’m sure. He’s our man, he’s a villain, he’s the type I swore to bring in,” she muttered. He nodded and pulled her a bit closer.

“As soon as Billy is back, he’s going to be arrested,” he stated. She smiled a bit again. He stared down at her. Even when she was upset she was beautiful, though her eyes were red and slightly puffy. She was still well taken care of and looked nice, her make-up was still not messed up, and it made him chuckle. Most people fell apart instantly, everything getting messed up and the emotions flying, but she didn’t.

“What?” she asked in response to his chuckle, her brows furrowing ever so slightly. He shook his head.

“You just look so… put together, even when you break down,” he stated. His tone had changed again, to something softer than she was used to, even from on their date and during their agreement. She tried to glance down at herself, but couldn’t really see anything from their current proximity. Her gaze shifted back upward to him.

“Do I?” she asked. “I feel a mess” she answered. He chuckled again and shook his head.

“You look lovely.” He leaned down a bit and put his lips to hers, not sure if it was entirely appropriate, but he really just couldn’t resist. Her eyes widened slightly, thoughts of rebounding and their job together flashing through her mind, but in the end, they all disappeared from her concern and she returned the bit of affection.

*****

Billy returned back at the station a few hours later. He immediately made his way back to the holding cell and to the guards outside of Liam’s room. Without hesitation, he entered, not even noticing Trent and Madison follow after him.

“Liam Amsel, you’re under arrest for drug dealing, hiring an assassin, and the murder of Drew MacEnfield, Louise Butler, and Joseph McKenzie,” he stated.

Madison kept close to Trent, not really afraid of Liam lashing out, but almost afraid of it. She listened to Billy read him his rights as the other two officers made their way behind him and clasped the cuffs on his wrists. Liam grinned a bit and headed to the door, the two following close behind him as he passed the officers. He watched Madison as he walked passed.

“It was fun,” he purred.

The men pushed him toward the door a bit and he laughed. Madison felt herself let out a heavy breath and looked to Trent and Billy, a smile slowly taking over her lips.

“It’s finally all over.”

She grinned, wider than she had in months, delighted at the thoughts and possibilities of her life to come.

The End