by Rebecca Deel
Nick flinched. “I love your hair.”
A smile played around the edges of her lips. “What about coloring it? I need a change, something different from my sisters. Think I’d look good with red hair?”
“You’re kidding, right?” He stared hard at her through narrowed eyes. “I don’t want to come back from Knoxville to a red-headed stranger.”
Madison smiled. Oh, this was good. She found a weak spot in her macho boyfriend. Maybe the beauty shop owner, Maeve, could help her find a red wig.
Her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket. Her eyes widened. Why was he calling? “Hey, Josh. What’s up?”
“Go to the hospital.”
Madison’s heart skipped a beat. She stiffened. Blood drained from her face. Hospital? “Why?” she croaked. Mom, Dad, Julia? Nick flagged down the waitress and asked for the check.
“Somebody tried to kidnap Serena.”
“Get away from me with that pill. I don’t want to be a walking zombie or knocked out.” Serena’s voice carried into the hallway.
Madison smiled, relieved to hear her sister’s grumpy comment. Nick’s hand tight around hers, he pushed open the door to a hospital room filled with Josh, Meg, Serena’s grim-faced fiancé and a grinning doctor hovering near Serena’s feet.
“Baby, the medicine will help with the headache so you can rest. Don’t give the doctor grief,” Ethan said.
“I’m not taking it,” Serena said. “Pain medicine makes me loopy and mean. I’ll take Tylenol or Alka Selzter.”
Meg sighed. “For crying out loud, sis, you’re already cranky. Just take the medicine so you can go home. Look at it this way. If you take it and fall asleep, Ethan will feel obliged to stay until he’s sure you’re all right.” She looked at him with a wicked grin. “I’ll camp out in your guest bedroom and let him fold his big frame onto your small, lumpy couch.”
The young doctor chuckled. “Sounds like a good offer to me, Ms. Cahill. I’ve got other patients to see. The nurse will be in to help you with the paperwork in a few minutes.”
“Thanks, Doc.” Ethan shook the doctor’s hand.
“Glad I could help, Chief.” He eased by Nick into the corridor with a wave and hurried away.
Madison moved to Serena’s bedside and hugged her. She studied her sister’s pale, bruised face. The injuries were all on her left side. The white bandage on her temple and scratches on her cheek stood out against her pallor. An icepack covered her left hand. “What happened?”
“I bought groceries for you and Josh. When I arrived at your house, the porch light was off. I thought the bulb burned out. Anyway, I grabbed a bag and walked up the path. When I reached the top stair, somebody shoved me off the porch.” Serena frowned. “I think the eggs were in that bag, too.”
Madison waved her concern aside. “Never mind that, what happened next?”
“The fall stunned me for a second or two, then I realized I had to get back on my feet. Ethan keeps telling me it’s hard to defend myself from the ground.” She flashed a wan smile at her stone-faced future husband. “I rolled away from the attacker, scrambled to my feet, and turned to face him. He shined a flashlight in my face, threw it at me and ran off.”
“Do you know who it was?”
Serena shook her head, then grimaced and pressed a hand to her forehead. “Just somebody dressed in black with a black ski mask and dark gloves.”
“He didn’t say anything?” Nick asked.
“Nothing I can repeat, but it was only a hoarse whisper.”
Ethan reached out and clasped her hand. “She doesn’t know if the attacker was male or female.” He turned to Nick, fury flickering in his eyes. “Serena didn’t tell you that she hit her knee getting out of the car and limped to the house.”
His cold expression sent goose bumps surging across Madison’s skin. She glanced over her shoulder at Nick, then back to Ethan. Though they said nothing, the set of their lips spoke volumes. Limped to the house? Oh, no. “Which car did you drive?” Serena’s troubled look sent a prickle of fear down Madison’s spine.
“Your Jeep.”
She stared in horror at her sister. The assailant had attacked Serena thinking it was Madison.
“Rod found anything yet?” Nick didn’t expect much, maybe nothing. Since the perp wore gloves, there wouldn’t be prints. If they were lucky, a neighbor might have noticed someone hanging around the area.
“Neighbors didn’t see anything,” Ethan said. “One reported hearing a car peel out. Rod collected tire residue, but I doubt it’ll be much help. We need a description of the car. Officer Sanchez is working the car angle.”
“Notice any cars that seemed out of place?” Nick said to Serena.
She frowned. “You’re as bad as Ethan. I’m usually at Maddie’s during the day, so I’d recognize all the retirees’ cars and the stay-at-home mothers’ vans.” Serena shrugged. “I saw two or three dark cars parked on the road to her house, but nothing that stood out.”
He nodded. Some of Madison’s elderly neighbors were interested in cars. He talked to several last week when he alerted them about her stalker. One of them might have noticed something.
A red-haired nurse carrying a clipboard loaded with paperwork opened the door. “Dr. Hadley says you’re ready to go home, Ms. Cahill.” She glanced at the other two Cahill women and paused, staring. “Triplets? Cool!”
A burst of laughter from the sisters dispelled tension in the room. Nick caught Ethan’s attention and motioned him to the hall. He leaned his head close to Madison’s ear. “I’ll wait for you in the hall.” She eyed him, but nodded.
He closed the door behind him, pleased Josh also slipped out with Ethan. “The stalker thought he had Madison,” he said, wasting no time. They wouldn’t have long before Meg or Madison shelved good manners for curiosity and joined them.
“We need a guard on Meg and Serena. If the stalker can’t get Madison, he may use one of them as leverage.” Ethan massaged the back of his neck with one hand. “The only problem is they’re both independent and stubborn, and they won’t tolerate someone watching them every minute. They’d ditch the guard.”
Josh chuckled. “A guard wouldn’t last more than an hour without Meg slipping away. Put the triple trouble together at Serena’s place for tonight, and I’ll watch them. They’ll want to stay together tonight anyway. That’s how they deal with crises. If we can’t nail the stalker by tomorrow night, we’ll have to devise another plan.”
Ethan nodded, turned to Nick. “How soon do you leave?”
“I planned to leave tomorrow morning, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea now.” He glanced at Josh. “You know Madison; she’ll distance herself from her sisters and make herself a target to draw the stalker away from them.”
The tall soldier’s lips curved in an amused smile. “Yeah, like you’re doing with that bull’s eye on your back. Hoping the stalker follows you to Knoxville?”
Nick shrugged. He’d lead the stalker all the way to the Sahara desert if it enticed him away from Madison and her family. “I don’t have jurisdiction problems like Ethan or Rod face. Besides, I have to dig into the Bates-Castigian connection, see if the key to all of this lies buried in the brush pile.” He ran a hand through his hair, stomach twisting into a knot. “I hope a rattler isn’t coiled, ready to strike.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Madison stumbled into Serena’s kitchen and shaded her eyes from the sun’s rays pouring through the window above the sink. She yanked the ruffled blue curtains closed and fumbled in the cabinet for a coffee mug. At the first steaming sip, she turned up her nose. Yuck! No doubt who made this pot of coffee.
“Morning, sunshine.”
Madison choked down another bitter sip before she replied. “Did you strain the coffee through one of your dirty combat socks, bro?” She held back the threatening smile. Wouldn’t do for him to realize he influenced her mood.
“Figured you and Meg could use a strong kick to get started this mo
rning.”
Right. With coffee that strong, she could kick a Dallas Cowboys defensive end all the way to Washington. “Catch any bad guys while we slept?”
“Spenser and Hawk did, but not me,” he said with an easy smile. “This is the easiest babysitting assignment I’ve ever had with you girls. All the rest ended up with me explaining to Mom and Dad about your purple-streaked hair, Serena’s combat-zone kitchen disasters or Meg’s hair caught in the typewriter.”
She grinned, the urge to smile too hard to resist. “Had it rough, didn’t you?”
Josh chuckled. “The men in my unit weren’t as much trouble as you three.” He nodded toward the white box on the counter. “Nick dropped those off a few minutes ago.”
Madison lifted the lid and drew in a deep breath. Chocolate covered donuts. “Serena will lecture all of us about healthy eating.”
Josh rolled his eyes. “Sure, after she eats a couple. Your boyfriend figured out the Cahill women are chocoholics.”
“He’s a smart man,” she mumbled around a melting bite of donut. Madison carried her plate to the table. “When did Ethan leave?”
“About 4:00. He slept a few hours on the couch, then went to the station.” Josh sat across from her. “He talked to Mom and Dad before he left and convinced them Serena was all right. They’ll be back late tonight.”
Madison nodded. Her father’s Aunt Dot was in the last stage of bone cancer and, since he was executor of her estate, she’d asked him to make sure all her affairs were in order. She remembered her eccentric great aunt’s Christmas gifts arriving in the mail from exotic locations every year until she and her sisters finished high school.
After graduation, Aunt Dot sent tuition money for her sisters and set up a dream fund for her. Tears misted her vision. That dream fund had been her seed money for The Bare Ewe. She wiped the moisture from her eyes. When her stalker was behind bars, she’d take Nick to meet Aunt Dot.
Jewel, Serena’s Westie, raced across the kitchen and leaped onto Madison’s lap. Laughing, she turned her face away from the enthusiastic licks.
“Jewel, down,” Josh said in his drill sergeant voice.
The dog leaped to the floor and sat with her nose twitching, her brown-eyed gaze locked on Madison’s plate. Madison smiled. “Serena must be awake. I’ll make a cup of tea and take her a couple donuts.” She stepped around the dog and washed her hands.
“Need help?” Josh gave her a wicked grin.
“I think I can manage to nuke water without setting the house on fire,” she said. Great. Another round of cooking jokes. Would she ever learn to cook without the fire department’s help?
Madison grabbed the empty tea cup and plate and tiptoed out of Serena’s bedroom. At the doorway, she peered over her shoulder at her sleeping sister, grateful for Serena’s improvement from last night. She closed the door behind her and loaded the dishwasher. With Meg already on the trail of a hot story for the Gazette and Josh filling out paperwork at the police station, only the refrigerator’s hum and Jewel’s claws broke the silence.
She glanced at her watch. An hour until her appointment with Craig Lawrence. If she hurried, she could drive home, change clothes and go to the old dress shop. She chewed on her bottom lip. “Well, what do you think I should do?” she said to Jewel. The dog cocked her head at an angle, her ears swiveling. “I need to see Craig because this might be the perfect place for my shop, but I’m not supposed to go anywhere alone. Hard to do when no one’s free to babysit.” Jewel whined and inched closer.
Madison grinned, grabbed the dog leash and clipped it to Jewel’s collar. “Do you count as a babysitter?” The dog leaped around her feet. “All right, let’s go for a ride, girl.”
She left Serena a note, waved at the officer on duty in front of the house and drove home. After she showered and dressed, Madison called Ethan from her home phone.
“Jewel’s not a guard dog.”
“Don’t let her hear that.” She trolled through her purse for her cell phone. How did it always manage to burrow under everything to rest on the bottom? “Ethan, I have several appointments today. I promise not to be alone with anyone.” She listed her errands. “My last stop is delivering a hat to Julia.” Ethan’s silence spoke volumes. “I’ll lock my car doors when I’m driving and I won’t stop to pick up strangers.”
“Madison, this isn’t a game.”
Her smile faded, a knot of uneasiness growing in her chest. “I know it’s not. I won’t lie to you. I’m afraid, but I’m through running. The stalker’s been stealing pieces of my life for two years and I’m taking them back.”
“This isn’t a good idea.”
No, it wasn’t a good idea. It did, however, draw the stalker away from her sisters who made a convenient target. With Madison in plain sight, the stalker should be focused on her. Tension coiled inside her while she waited, muscles taut as piano wire.
Ethan sighed. “Call my cell phone after every stop and keep your phone on and in your pocket, not in your purse.”
Madison grabbed her cell phone and stuffed it in the front pocket of her jeans. She hoped the stalker stayed with her all day. She’d lead him on a winding trail around Otter Creek, everywhere but near her family.
After Ethan hung up, she gathered her keys, purse and the dog, and walked to the door. Her left hand on the knob, she stopped. The diamond in her engagement ring glittered in the sunlight, reminding her of the statement she’d made to Ethan a few minutes earlier. Reclaiming her life included stepping away from the old one, embracing a new path.
Madison released the doorknob and retraced her steps to the bedroom. In the closet, she shoved hanging clothes to one side and knelt in front of a black, fire-proof box. She opened the box. Without looking at them, Madison removed her rings and dropped them inside.
Ethan stared at the phone, frowning. He didn’t like it, but short of arresting her, he couldn’t force Madison to accept protection. Why did she have to be so stubborn? If he and Serena were blessed with daughters one day, would they inherit the Cahill triplets’ temperament?
A knock sounded on his door. He motioned Rod into his office. “What did you find out?”
“No one confirms Bates’ porn habit or violent temper.” Rod settled into the chair in front of Ethan’s desk. “I talked to neighbors, cousins, co-workers and the apartment manager. The cable company pulled his billing records. No pay-per-views listed. No skin magazines in his place. No evidence to support a porn addiction.”
So Jenny lied. Why? Fear held her captive to Bates. Maybe she insinuated he was more dangerous to cover her own embarrassment. Maybe she had something to hide. “Any possibility Jenny slipped away from work on the day Bates was murdered?”
“The store manager said they weren’t very busy Friday morning. Jenny checked inventory and unpacked stock, some of it in the store’s stockroom.”
“So she could have slipped out of the store for a short time without anyone noticing.”
“Possible.”
Ethan tilted his chair back, frowning. “What about Ava Castigian?”
Rod shook his head. “No trace of her in Minnesota or anywhere else. She dropped off the planet for the last couple of years.”
The dispatcher threw open the door. “Chief, there’s an overturned truck at the intersection of Pennington Road and Harbor Springs Boulevard.” Suzie grinned, amusement shining in her eyes. “Three thousand breeding chickens are cruising around the intersection, blocking traffic. Who do I dispatch for fowl reconnaissance?”
Ethan grabbed his cell phone and stood. “Send the fire department to help herd the birds and a couple of patrol officers to divert traffic. Call Animal Control; we’ll need their nets and a lot of cages.” He glared at the detective who was doubled over with laughter. “Rod will be out of the office for a few hours, Suzie. He volunteered for bird patrol.”
Nick turned into the dreary neighborhood and parked his Jeep in Richard Bates’ driveway. This time, he didn’t worry about damage to t
he bottom of his car from the driveway’s deep ruts. He needed answers which meant asking the right questions.
He climbed out of his vehicle and knocked on Bates’ door. When it opened, Nick’s eyes widened at the change wrought by cancer and grief in a week’s time. Richard Bates looked like a wraith, his skin almost translucent. The old man turned and shuffled to his recliner in the darkened living room.
Nick stepped inside, leaving the door ajar for light. He maneuvered around piles of magazines, newspapers and empty containers of beer scattered on the floor. Keeping a wary eye open for Snowball, he sat in the same spot he occupied a week ago. “I’m sorry for your loss, Mr. Bates.”
The old man stared at him with expressionless eyes. “What do you want?” His reedy voice seemed like a whisper of wind.
“I need to ask about Scott and John Castigian.”
Bates’ eyelids flickered. “Castigian?” His voice grew stronger. “Scotty’s cellmate?”
Nick nodded. “I know Castigian died right after Scott’s release from prison. Do you know if your son contacted the Castigian family?”
Bloodless lips curved into a sneer. “My boy’s dead. Newspaper says it was by your hand.”
“I didn’t kill your son, Mr. Bates. Someone clipped me on the back of the head and killed Scott, probably with my gun. I think someone used him as a red herring. When I got too close to the truth, Scott was caught between me and someone out to destroy me.”
“The cop who came to tell me Scotty was dead said the same thing.” The corners of Bates’ mouth turned down. “You used to be a cop. How do I know he’s not covering for you?”
“Who was it?”
“Said his name was Blackhawk.”
His respect rose another notch for the Otter Creek police chief. Ethan could have notified Bates by phone or sent one of the Knoxville officers. Instead, he’d gone out of his way to treat the old man with respect. Nick leaned forward, his forearms on his knees. “An innocent family’s under attack. One woman has already been hospitalized because of this vendetta against me.”
