by Boone, Lisa
“Oh, come on. Give me a break,” she said throwing up her hands. “We’re looking for someone living. Todd’s dead. He had an autopsy. They embalmed him. Why would I immediately suspect him?” She walked over to the dining room table and sat down. “It never even occurred to me that anyone from Todd’s life would try to get revenge. Other than Yvette and Gina, he was alone. In fact, they were the only people at his funeral. There was no one else. His parents were dead. He didn’t have any siblings. He sure as hell didn’t have any friends besides those two.”
“What happened between you and Todd?”
Madison swallowed hard as she primly folded her hands on her lap. “He tried to kill me and Sarah. Mainly me. Sarah just got in the way when she tried to come to my defense.”
Ethan’s chin dropped to his chest.
“Again,” she began defensively, “he is dead and it’s been over two years. Why wait until now to get revenge?” She wagged her finger at him. “And let’s not forget that until last night, we were operating on the assumption that Paul was the psycho after me.” She adjusted one of the cuffs of her blue silk shirt as she softly added, “It turns out that he was just one of the psychos after me, but how could I have known that.”
Ethan punched a few more keys on the keyboard. “It looks like I need to read Death at Midnight. Do you want to give me an idea as to what it’s about? And please tell me it’s not about a woman getting mysterious calls counting down to New Year’s every day.”
“No, I would have said something if it had. It’s about a woman named Laura Ladd who was murdered at a New Year’s Eve party. According to the book, she died while everyone was counting down to the New Year and that’s why no one could hear her screaming for help.” She made a face. “The truth was that she died sometime between twelve-fifteen when several people noticed her walking towards the bathrooms and one thirty, when her body was found. Todd thought that wasn’t sexy enough and that it would sell more books if he tied her murder to the actual countdown.”
“So, Todd Abbott wrote a true crime book about the murder of your client’s wife and that’s how you met him?”
She nodded. “Laura was married to Jeremy Ladd, a childhood friend of mine. I had lost touch with him while in college but he called me for help soon after his wife was found murdered.”
“What really happened to her?”
“We don’t know. All we know is that someone killed her at that party a few years ago. The cops ended up charging Jeremy for the murder.”
“Why? What did they have on him?”
“Nothing other than Laura was having an affair and he was her husband. Case closed as far as the police were concerned.”
Ethan came around the desk and walked to the dining room table. He looked uncomfortable for a moment as he stood on the other side of the table. “What was your relationship with Todd?”
“He was a pest.”
He tilted his head as he looked at her. “That was it?”
“That was it. He wanted to be more but I wasn’t interested in him in the slightest. He was too cold. Too slick. Too weird. Too angry.”
He placed his hands on the back of one of the dining room chairs and raised his eyebrows. “So, what happened on New Year’s Eve between your client and his wife?”
“Jeremy and Laura went to a party at one of the big fancy hotels here in town that night. There was a lot of drinking, and at one point, Laura disappeared for an hour. When she came back, she was sporting a huge black eye and crying. Naturally, her husband demanded to know what had happened but she wouldn’t tell him. The whole night was like that with Laura crying and Jeremy angrily demanding to know who hit her. It wasn’t until just before midnight that Laura finally told him. She confessed in front of a dozen witnesses that she had been having an affair, and that her boyfriend wasn’t too happy when she told him that she wasn’t about to leave her husband for him. Jeremy was naturally angry, hurt, and devastated. He left the hotel about ten ‘til midnight and Laura left about twenty-five minutes after that carrying a bottle of champagne. Hotel staff found her body in an alley behind the hotel a few hours later.”
“How did she die?”
“Someone had stabbed her more than fifty times. I suggest you read the court transcript from the trial before you read the book. Todd added his own little flair to the story. According to the book, Jeremy knocked Laura out in the middle of the dance floor that night after she told him about the affair. According to the witnesses that were there, that didn’t happen. The book also said that Jeremy threatened to kill Laura, only that didn’t happen either. Todd even claimed to have met the lover who insisted on remaining confidential out of fear as to what Jeremy might do to him. He was a good writer. I can give him that. By the time I finished reading the book, I started questioning whether my client was guilty. He did a spectacular hatchet job on him. I barely recognized Jeremy.”
“I see,” he said leaning his forearms on the back of the chair. “So, Todd got angry when Laura rejected him, killed her, and then tried to pin the blame on Jeremy.”
“I don’t think he killed her.” At his surprised look, she added, “I still think that when he wrote the book he genuinely believed that Jeremy murdered her.”
“Why did you think Todd was innocent? He seems like the most likely suspect after Jeremy.”
“True, but, by the time the trial rolled around, Todd had become convinced Jeremy wasn’t guilty and had become obsessed with finding the real killer. If he murdered Laura, why would he do that? He even led me to a witness who saw Laura being murdered. But, of course, that’s when Todd changed his tune.”
His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Well, when we all sat down to interview her and she started to describe the killer, he stood up and called her a liar and tried to end the interview.”
“I’m surprised he was even at the interview.”
She held up a hand. “It wasn’t my idea, but she wanted her fifteen minutes of fame and thought Todd could give that to her. She insisted he be there. I think he also offered her some money in their emails back and forth with one another, but I’m not positive about that.”
“What did she say to make him turn on her?”
“It all started when she began to describe the killer. I think Todd recognized whoever it was that she was describing. He was sitting right next to me when she started talking about the murder and I could practically feel him stiffen up. It got so bad I had Quincy throw him out. After that meeting, Todd did his best to convince us she was unreliable, a flake, a liar, and that Jeremy was guilty.”
He straightened back up. “So, you think he was protecting someone. How did your witness describe the killer?”
She glanced up as she tried to remember what the woman had said. “I think she said that he was young and tall… he had blond hair and a goatee.” She closed her eyes trying to picture the woman sitting in front of her. “She also said that the killer had thick glasses and was wearing dark jeans and a black jacket over a white shirt.” She opened her eyes. “Jeremy, on the other hand, is practically bald, overweight and shorter than I am.” She shook her head. “She would have been a great witness.”
“She didn’t testify?”
“Couldn’t. She died of a drug overdose the next morning.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Accidental?”
“That’s what the police report said, but I think Todd tipped off the real murderer. Quincy thought so too. In fact, Quincy thought Todd was planning to blackmail the killer. I wouldn’t have put it past him.”
“That must have killed you to lose your witness. How did you discover that Todd was Laura’s boyfriend?”
“Well, after our meeting with the witness, I started to get suspicious of Todd, so I had Quincy do a little checking on him. He discovered that most of what Todd told us about himself was a complete lie. Once he started looking, it didn’t take him long to discover that Todd was at the hotel that New Year’s Eve. He even found
a witness who could testify that he saw Todd and Laura together earlier in the evening arguing in the hallway. As soon as I heard that, I knew Todd had to have been Laura’s lover.”
“So, what did you do?”
“I put him on the stand and asked him about his relationship with the victim.” She shook her head. “He tried to lie, but when he realized he had been found out, he admitted to the affair. You should have seen him. He wasn’t even embarrassed to have been caught in a lie. He actually seemed amused. It was like I was dealing with a little kid. There was absolutely no remorse for all the lies he told.” She shook her head. “Drove me crazy but it didn’t really matter. The jury found Jeremy not guilty and that’s what was important. To be honest, I was just happy it was all over.”
“I’m guessing it wasn’t though.”
“No, it was not. Todd wouldn’t leave me alone after the trial. He kept threatening to write a new book all about me. I told him in the politest way possible to buzz off, but unfortunately, he didn’t get the hint. He became obsessed with me. Started taking pictures of me wherever I went. For the book, he said, but I figured he had a shrine somewhere dedicated to me. He just kept getting creepier and creepier. I finally had to take out a restraining order against him. Not that it did much good. About an hour after he was served, he confronted me outside my apartment. He was so angry. He grabbed my arm and tried to drag me towards his car, but I got away from him and ran into my apartment. He was right behind me. I didn’t even have time to shut the door. He threw me up against the wall.” She touched her neck, “He wrapped his fingers around my neck. I thought he was going to kill me.”
She watched as Ethan’s hands tightened on the back of the chair until his knuckles turned white.
“Luckily, Sarah and Quincy saved me. Sarah was here on vacation and Quincy had stopped by my apartment to talk to me, funnily enough, about Todd. They were in the kitchen when Todd attacked me.” She lifted a hand to her face. “Quincy pulled Todd off of me and slammed him against the wall, but Todd came right back at him.” She smiled. “Todd should have stayed on the floor. Quincy made mincemeat of him. He finally put Todd in a chokehold. I thought it was over at that point. We all did.” She pushed her hair back with a sigh. “But it wasn’t. Todd had been playing possum. As soon as Quincy walked away to call the police, Todd popped up and went after me again. That’s when Sarah picked up a poker from the fireplace. She hit him in the face and then hit him again and broke his leg.”
“Your sister’s pretty tough,” he said in an admiring tone.
“She’s a fighter. She was no match for him though. He reached up and yanked the poker out of her hand. He was just about to hit her with it when Quincy returned and beat the hell out of him again. He even broke his fingers. They had to carry Todd out on a stretcher.”
“What did the courts do to him?”
“He got about a year in the county jail. He hung himself two months later.” She held out her hands, palms up. “He couldn’t take being locked up.”
Ethan looked down at the table thoughtfully. “Sarah broke his leg and hit him in the face with a poker. A couple of years later, someone breaks her leg in three places and cuts up her face. Quincy beats the hell out of Todd; chokes him out even, and then is later tortured and asphyxiated. Quite a coincidence.”
Madison nodded. “All this time I thought Sarah was just mugged by some random stranger. Guess when Todd attacked us.”
“July?”
“Good guess. Todd tried to kill us on July second. Sarah was attacked two years later on July twenty-third. Not exactly the same date, but it’s pretty close. I guess Alex or whoever he is couldn’t get to her on the second.”
“That’s interesting. Our guy is clearly enamored with dates. Why wouldn’t he attack her on the second? Why did he wait?”
“I have no idea.”
“Well, at least we know Yvette’s involved and that’s why she wants to hurt you and Quincy. Now, we just need to find this Alex. What can you tell me about Gina?”
“Quincy called her, Shadow.”
“Why?”
“She wore a lot of black and followed Todd around. Hardly ever spoke to anyone and when she did, it was very soft and barely audible.”
“What did she do for Todd?”
“Just took notes and I assume typed them up for him. Strange girl. She loved Todd. When I walked in to the funeral parlor, Gina was draped over his casket crying her eyes out.”
“What’s Gina’s last name?”
“Gallagher. Gina Gallagher.”
“If I don’t get anything out of Yvette tonight, I’ll try to locate Gina next. Hopefully, she’s still in the area. You might as well call Detective Kim and let him know what’s going on.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket as it softly beeped. “Casey’s parking his car. He’ll be here in a few seconds.”
She touched his arm. “Ethan, what are you planning to do tonight?”
He smiled down at her. “Are you sure you want to know, Counselor?”
She groaned.
“Don’t worry, you won’t have to defend me tomorrow morning.”
“Promise?”
He leaned down and kissed her lightly. “I promise. Don’t stay up. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
FOUR
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28TH
3:22 A.M.
Madison blindly reached out and felt for the alarm clock. She groaned as the buzzing continued despite her best effort in hitting the snooze button.
Finally, the buzzing stopped and was replaced by the sound of two masculine voices. Her eyes flew open and she sat up in Ethan’s bed and looked around, momentarily confused as to where she was and why she was still dressed.
She swung her gaze to the bedroom door, immediately relaxing when she recognized Ethan’s voice. She looked at the clock on the nightstand as she pushed her hair back away from her face. She didn’t even remember falling asleep.
The night had gone by so slowly. Casey had tried his best to find ways to entertain her, and while he was pleasant company, Ethan was whom she wanted to be with. The idea that this whole thing could be connected to Todd Abbott had thrown her for a loop, and she needed more than anything to feel Ethan’s strong calming presence near her. The logical side of her knew he was exactly where he needed to be. The emotional side, however, desperately wanted him beside her. She needed him to hold her and tell her that he would keep her safe, now more than ever.
Throughout this whole ordeal, she had felt that everything would turn out okay and that while this was all nerve wracking and confusing, it wasn’t something insurmountable. She had been convinced that once they knew what was going on and why, everything would return to normal.
All of that was shattered, however, when she realized that everything that had happened the last week had something to do with Todd Abbott. It was as if a cold bucket of water had been thrown in her face. Todd Abbott was dead, but just saying his name caused the fear she had felt when he tried to kill her to come rushing back.
When she was talking to Ethan about Todd and what happened, she had purposely kept her voice calm and even. She didn’t want to tell him about the sleepless nights and the constant state of fear that Todd had kept her in for weeks before she finally got the restraining order. Or how badly he had hurt her when he finally made good on his veiled threats.
Todd haunted her dreams for months afterwards, and it wasn’t until she heard he had committed suicide that she finally relaxed enough to put him out of her mind. To forget him and move on.
It turned out it was easier than she thought it would be. When Ethan was grilling her about her past, Todd Abbott never even came to her mind. She had pushed the memory so far away that it didn’t reappear until she saw Yvette slam the door in Ethan’s face. That’s when all that fear she felt years ago came rushing back, threatening to overwhelm her.
She had hoped talking to Detective Kim might ease some of h
er tension, but he only made it worse. He was still suspicious of Vanessa Harris, despite the fact that the woman had an ironclad alibi for Paul’s death and didn’t seem to take her concerns about Todd Abbott seriously.
“Abbott’s been dead for over two years,” he had told her over the phone. “He hardly seems like a viable suspect for Paul Harris’ murder or Quincy’s for that matter. Vanessa, on the other hand…”
Frustrated that she couldn’t seem to convince him that someone close to Todd Abbott may have been behind both deaths, she ended the call and retreated to Ethan’s bedroom where for most of the night she lay, still dressed in her black pants and silk shirt, staring at the clock.
As the minutes ticked by without a word from Ethan, fear for her life turned to fear for his. The more time they spent with each other the more her feelings for him deepened and grew. So much so that the thought of losing him now was becoming almost unbearable.
It was with those unhappy thoughts uppermost in her mind that she fell into a restless sleep, dreaming of cold dark places and shadowy men she couldn’t run from fast enough. She was still running when she heard the sound of a buzzer going off.
Wincing, she rubbed a hand along her face. She had been clinching her teeth together as she slept, causing her jaw to throb.
She glanced back at the door. The voices had stopped. She could hear the front door shut and the locks being returned to lock position one by one, then footsteps and rushing water.
Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she stumbled to the door and out into the hallway. Ethan was standing in the bathroom, stripped from the waist up, his hands in the sink. The white shirt he had on earlier was on the floor. Her eyes widened at the sight of several large red stains covering the sleeves.
Madison quickly covered the distance between them. She laid her hand in the middle of his back, as she looked him over. “Where are you hurt?”
