Becoming Maddie (The Casterhouse series Book 1)

by Hannah Gittins

  “Bring her back in one piece.” Sarah whispered her eyes filling and over flowing with tears. “Please, Aiden, please bring her home.”

  John quickly moved, wrapping one arm round her waist and the other he used to make her let go of Aiden.

  Looking up at Aiden, John nodded before saying huskily,

  “Go.”

  Aiden left the room and went after the man that was doing his very best to lead him to the love of his life.

  Through he never turned round to look, Aiden could hear Sarah fall apart.

  Chapter 30

  Cuffing his wife to the radiator in the motel room, Charles felt a kind of calm come over him. The weeks, months and years that had seen them apart fell away and it was like old times. Maybe even better.

  Maddison didn’t seem to struggle or react to the blows and although that was annoying him, he did miss the fighting, there seemed to be a new kind of pain. A pain that seemed to be in her very soul. Charles was going to have so much fun making that hurt. She had cheated on him and now seemed to actually be in love with the good guy. Knowing that was inside her was going to make it fun as he worked that out of her.

  He didn’t know when but Charles was going to make her his wife again. The woman that stood at his side and did not speak, did as ordered, and took what she deserved. Now that could come in the form of sweet or it could be rough, hard and violent. It really depended on his mood. The main thing she needed to learn was that Maddison would have absolutely no say in what was going to be her life from now.

  It wasn’t that Charles was a bad man. Not really. He just liked things a certain way. His wife having him sent to prison, running off to a new town and letting a man fuck her was not Charles’s way. Now she needed to be punished. In fact, that in itself showed what a good guy he actually was because he was willing to take the whore back and make her understand where she had gone wrong. Then he would help her get back on the right track.

  As the cuff clicked around Maddison’s wrist he stood back to look at her. After she had fallen Charles couldn’t stop laughing. Granted it had pissed him off that she had nearly wrecked a new pair of shoes but then the moment took over him. Just having her back in his presence for a couple of hours had already turned him on, pissed him off and made him laugh so hard his ribs hurt. Nope, he was never letting her go again.

  Hurting the fucker that defiled his wife was always going to be a threat that Maddison was too scared he would follow through on.

  Although he had very pressing things to do, he could not leave her covered in blood and her own sick. What if he came home in the mood to get really ‘reacquainted’ with his wife and that was the mess he came back to, no Charles had to wash her up.

  So being the gentleman that he was at heart he had made her take a shower. Charles had even stayed inside the room to make sure she didn’t try something funny. Once she was done he gave her a high necked dress to change into, see… he had even been shopping for her.

  He really was a good guy.

  It was about time she started dressing the way he liked again.

  Maddison now sat on the ground with wet, but clean, hair. The clothes fitted great and it was nice to see her covered up again. Her eyes were to the floor. Although he would like to think that was because of him, Charles was certain it was more to do with Craig’s body.

  Crouching down in front of her he lifted her head by grabbing a handful of her wet hair. Maddison needed that cut too, it just got in the way when it was long.

  “I know it is tough being in this room just now sweetie.” Charles tried to soothe her by running a finger along her jaw. “Craig was a good friend to us both but he knew too much about my plans. The silly fool even thought he was going with us. I had to do something. Do you understand?”

  Maddison kept her eyes on the ground and when it seemed she wasn’t going to respond at all he decided to do something about it. Charles tightened his grip on her hair and pulled sharply. Slowly her eyes came up to meet his and inside them he saw nothing but hatred.

  God he was going to love beating that out of her.

  He yanked on her hair again and gave a warning

  “Maddison.”

  The beaten and wet woman before him closed her eyes before nodding, well the best nod she could considering the hold he had on her hair. It was a response.

  Just not quick enough.

  Pulling his free hand back and keeping her face upturned, Charles swung his hand and slapped her hard across the face. Again she made no noise and did her best not to let the pain show on her face. Irritation flamed to life inside him but he really didn’t have the time to deal with it now. He would work the irritation out later.

  “I don’t have time to wait on you today Maddison, don’t make me have to do that again.” Charles growled at his wife. “Now I have to go but I will be back in a couple of hours. I want you to think long and hard about trying to escape or something stupid like that. I know everything there is to know about your Aiden Scott.”

  At that Charles watched her face flicker in fear before going back to the mask that she was set on keeping there. Fine, if that was how she wanted to play it, he knew it would just be funnier watching it fall and break with her will.

  “I have to go.” Charles said standing and walking around the mess that was in the middle of the floor. “I will be back before nightfall. Try not to miss me too much sweetie just remember I will be back to look after you. In no time at all we will be sunning it up somewhere else.”

  As he unlocked and opened the front door the fresh air hit him in face. It really did stink in the room now. Dead bodies and sick did not a good combination make.

  Turning back to look in at his wife one more time, he couldn’t quite stop the smile that lifted his lips. Maddison sat curled up on the floor with her legs to her chest. Her head was tucked into her knees and all you could see was her wet hair hanging limp down over her arms. Maybe he wouldn’t make her cut it after all.

  Just this sight of his wife like and the fun he would have later made his cock got hard. Putting his hand in his pocket he rubbed himself through the lining. He was really looking forward to claiming his wife again.

  “Maddison.” Charles said huskily, when his wife slowly looked up at him with puppy eyes he carried on. “I can’t fucking wait to remind you what real man feels like slamming into your whore pussy.”

  Charles grabbed his hard crotch and rubbed it blatantly. Maddie quickly looked away and tucked her head back into her knees. He really didn’t have time to do this now. Letting go of his dick he tried to ignore the unfulfilled ache.

  “Maddison.” Charles snapped wanting her to look up at him again.

  She slowly lifted her head just enough so that she could see him. That would do for now because if he started to teach her how to behave right he would not leave the room for hours.

  “You are my wife.” Charles stated smiling. “I own you.”

  With that he turned and let the door close behind him. Turning he checked it was locked before pocketing the door keys and heading to the car he had stolen that morning. Time to get the money he and Maddison would need to start again.

  * * * * * * * *

  Aiden’s heart had been racing since he set foot in his truck. Every turn in the road or roundabout made him feel like he was getting closer to Maddie, like the very next turn was going to have her stood waiting at the end of it. It was stupid and crazy.

  Mostly though, it was unrealistic.

  He at least felt better being out on the road, following the Detective’s car, than he had done pacing in the family room. Here he felt like he was doing something, even if that something was just driving.

  When Aiden had reached his truck outside the police station and was unlocking it he felt someone come up behind him. It had been Eddie. No words passed between them as none was needed. Eddie had to be out of that room too, he had to feel like he was doing something to save Maddie too. Aiden got that.

  As th
e big black truck followed the grey car, which was behind three police cars, nothing was said between the two men. Miller had gotten Aiden’s number so that he could call when they were getting close. His mobile was linked up to his truck radio so that he could answer it while driving. There was many reasons that the two men didn’t talk but one of the biggest one’s was that they didn’t want to miss the phone ringing, not that they would.

  Aiden didn’t know about Eddie but he was working really hard to try and keep what was inside him under control. With every fibre of his being he was praying for a happy ending to this situation but his gut told him to be ready. Ready for anything that they might find.

  The only thing that his brain, heart and gut agreed on was that Aiden would never give up on Maddie. He was always going to be the man by her side. All he had to do now was find Maddie so that he could be next to her.

  The grey car in front took a right on a roundabout three towns over from Casterfield. It felt like they had been driving for hours and hours. This turn off felt different. The other towns they had skipped through, taking every turn they could to get out of it as quickly as possible but this time they were heading in deeper. Surely that meant something.

  Aiden’s racing heart stuttered as his mobile rang.

  Hitting the pick-up button as quickly as his fingers could he called out,

  “Aiden.”

  “This is what is going to happen.” Detective Miller replied straight away, wasting no time. “We are going to pull up into a motel car park. I don’t want you to get out of the car until I give you the okay to do so. I will only give you that okay if I feel the situation is safe for you to do so. If you think that you can’t do that then I am asking you to not come to the motel at all. I am not being a bastard by asking you to do this I am trying to make sure nothing bad goes down.”

  Aiden understood where this man was coming from but that didn’t stop him from wanting to growl at him. Tightening his hands on the steering wheel, he sucked in air through his nose and let it out slowly. Eddie put his hand on Aiden’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. It was just like before, no words needed to be said, Eddie was with Aiden no matter which choice he went with.

  “We will stay in the truck till you say it is okay for us to get out.” Aiden replied his voice firm.

  There was no way he was going to make this situation harder for the police. There was also no way he wasn’t going to be one of the first people Maddie saw when she got free.

  She was going to get free.

  “I need you to really mean that Scott. If Wallace is there and he sees you or somebody else he recognises then he might do harm to Maddison.” Miller said sternly.

  Again Aiden’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. Fuck! Maybe he had made the wrong choice, maybe he should have stayed in the room. His gut disagreed with his head again and told him that he was doing the right thing. Maddie was going to need him.

  “Maddie.” Eddie said next to him. “Her name is Maddie.”

  Surprise that the older man had spoken he looked quickly at him only to find Eddie staring out the front window. His face was still blank but somehow Aiden knew there was a lot going on under the surface. Miller getting Maddie’s name right was not only important to Eddie but Aiden too. Giving the older man a quick nod he looked back at the road.

  Maddison was Charles’s name for her. As far as Aiden was concerned he never wanted to hear that name again. More than that, he never wanted Maddie to be called that ever again.

  “Maddie.” The Detective said softly, then more sternly. “I really need you to understand where I am coming from here. I want zero casualties today but to do that I need you to promise me right now.”

  “I am a man of my word.” Aiden growled trying to not take his anger out on the man on the other end of the line. “We will stay in the truck till you say it is safe to come out.”

  There was a pause down the other end of the line. Aiden held his breath. If the police Detective asked him to not go to the motel he would do as the man said. It was Miller’s choice to make and he was not going to put Maddie in anymore danger than she already was.

  That didn’t mean Aiden wasn’t desperate to be there when she got free of that fucker. He wanted to be the first person Maddie saw so that he could scoop her up into his arms and tell her that she was safe, that never again would he let her be hurt.

  Knowing that he had said those words to Maddie before burned in his gut. This time would be different… It had to be fucking different this time. It had to be.

  “Okay.” Miller said down the phone. “We are about to turn into the car park. I need you to go to a space that is right in front of the entrance. If you can get a space that is between two other cars that would be best. I want to hide your truck and this car as much as I can.”

  The two men in the truck watched as the three police cars went one way while the grey car kept going straight. Aiden kept following the grey car that held the Detective. He didn’t know the full plan but if they wanted him to park in the motel car park in a certain place, then that was what he was going to do.

  “I am going to get out of the car and go into the reception. I want you to stay in the truck.” Miller carried on. “We think she is being held in a room on the furthest side of the building. The room has its own entrance. The information came from the man running the front desk so I going in to get the keys off him.”

  Aiden and Eddie both sat up straighter in their seats as the grey car indicated to turn off into a motel. It was a long plain building. It was hard to believe that something so massive and wrong was happening in such a boring looking building. You really never know what is going on behind closed doors.

  “When I come out I will be walking to the building. I will look like I am by myself but I have people watching my back so don’t act the hero.” Miller said as his car parked in a space. “What happens next will be a rush but whatever you do don’t get out of the truck till I say so.”

  “Fine.” Aiden barked and listened to the Detective hang up.

  Never in his life had Aiden been the person that sat and watched things unfold. He was always in the mix of things. It was so much harder knowing that this drama had Maddie right at the centre. One day he would have her as far away from that drama as she could get.

  Next to him Aiden heard Eddie sigh. Not taking his eyes off Detective Miller as he walked into the reception area, Aiden sighed too.

  “This better fucking work.” Eddie muttered.

  It was so totally out of character for Eddie to swear but Aiden still didn’t answer him because he couldn’t think about what would happen if this didn’t work. To never have Maddie safe in his arms was not something his brain could take in right now. Instead he just sat there and watched the man who had his future in his hands, walk down the long building to a door right at the end.

  The door he prayed Maddie was behind.

  * * * * * * * *

  The sun was just starting to touch the horizon as Chris took a deep breath and wished he hadn’t quit smoking just weeks before. The feel of nicotine filling his lungs and moving through his blood stream was exactly what he was needing right now. Especially before taking on whatever was behind the door.

  The information he had been given was clear that Wallace wouldn’t be in the room. The receptionist had told them that the ex-husband left leaving a woman behind in the room. It had also been said that there had been a second male in the room but he had not come out in a couple of days.

  That didn’t say good things to Chris. In fact he got a really bad feeling about that.

  When Maddison Wallace, Maddie, had first gone missing he had sent a number of uniform officers to cheap hotels and B&B’s. They started in Casterfield and worked their way to surrounding towns. They were lucky that the receptionist felt like sharing.

  As he reached the door the Detective let everything that was unimportant flow out of his mind. This meant he was a hundred percent focused on whatever he was
about to face.

  A hundred percent focused on getting Maddie safe.

  * * * * * * * *

  This was it, this was her life. Every ach in her body, every pain, was nothing to what was going to come next for Maddie. Any hope of a good life, a clean life, were gone. No more safety would be found in her life. Instead it was going to be filled with terror and suffering.

  Her legs started shaking so she hugged them to her body that little bit tighter. It could have been the cold that made them tremble but it was more likely knowing what was to come.

  Trying to steady her breathing Maddie filled her lungs and regretted it straight away. The smell of Craig and her own vomit filled her senses.

  Craig.

  A sob escaped from her throat. That poor man may not have been the best person to have ever lived but Maddie was still sure he didn’t deserve to die the way he had, nobody did. Then to just have his body stay where it was slowly decomposing on the floor. Another sob broke free. The poor bastard just got sucked into Charles’s strange and fucked view on the world and now he lost his life for that faith.

  Maddie tucked her head further in her legs. It wasn’t a comfortable way to sit but she could look at his dead beaten body anymore. Plus if she stayed like this she could close her eyes and pretend she was somewhere else and not cuffed to a radiator, in a motel, waiting for her abusive ex-husband to come back.

  Inside her head she was in a dream shop she would have set up with Jean. Then she went to the ice cream shop with Claire, Sarah, Ethan and Rosie. After that she popped in for some heart-warming food at Eddie and Fiona’s. Before ending her time wrapped up in Aiden’s arms on the sofa in their flat with Marvin at their feet watching a movie or something like that.

  Oh God, who would look after Marvin? He had had enough loss and pain in his life this was just more broken promises for him. Maddie had promised that she would always be there for him. Look at her now. Sucked back into her living nightmare.