by Grey, S. R.
Who told you that? I thought, but instead said, “Yes, she was.”
Mitchell scribbled something down, even though the light on the voice recorder indicated I was being taped. “Did you have occasion to speak to Ami Hensley on the phone yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember what time it was?”
“Um, before noon.”
“How did she seem when you spoke to her?”
I glanced at Hoffman, and he nodded. “Um, she seemed normal,” I said.
“Mr. Hensley stated that his wife was on her way to visit you here on the island when she disappeared. Is this correct?”
A distracted nod from Hoffman, who appeared preoccupied with taking notes of his own. But I somehow knew he was acutely aware of everything. So I answered, “Yes, that’s correct.”
“What was the nature of this visit, Miss Fitch?” The detective’s voice grew tight, and I knew we were getting down to the heart of the matter. He was hoping to get some kind of lead on this case—catch me up on something, see what I knew.
I opened my mouth and then closed it. I debated whether or not to mention the scratch I’d seen on J.T.’s arm, something I had yet to relay to Adam. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it until I knew if it meant more, so I was ready to let it go. Some part of me wanted to let this play out, get the answers on my own, but then my dad’s words came back to me.
I started to speak, but Hoffman silenced me with a light touch to my arm. “Detective Mitchell” he said in his smooth lawyer voice, “my client is not required to answer that question. The context of the visit was, no doubt, personal and not related to the case. Therefore, Ms. Fitch will not be responding to that question at this time.”
I nodded in agreement since I had waffled on whether to answer or not. Mitchell conceded with a sigh, “As you wish.”
Hoffmann had no idea why Ami had been on her way to visit me, but I supposed he didn’t care. In any case I was kind of glad there were no more direct questions for me. Mitchell and my attorney continued to speak, arguing over what kinds of questions were appropriate and what were not. It seemed to go on forever.
I soon tuned out their voices, opting instead to stare out the window and watch the play of lightning across an ever-darkening sky. Ultimately we were at nature’s mercy, weren’t we? It made me wonder what control we really had. Was it all an illusion? The study felt further and further away as I lost myself in the vivid display until, bringing me back to the here and now, Adam came up from behind me. Touching my shoulder gently, he murmured, “Maddy?”
I glanced around. Detective Mitchell and Hoffman had evidently departed without my even realizing it. “How long have I been sitting here?” I asked.
“Just a few minutes,” Adam said. “You looked like you needed some time just to think. Mitchell and Hoffman said good-bye, but it didn’t look like you even heard them. Do you want to talk?”
“Not really,” I said truthfully, standing. “I just feel so tired.”
And I was tired. Tired of being a suspect, tired of police interrogations, tired of not having the right answers. Adam’s fingers traced down my cheek to my chin, and then he tilted my head up to meet his gaze. “Why don’t you go upstairs, get some rest?”
Our eyes met, and something passed between us. Something unspoken, something unmistakable. “Are you coming up?” I asked, but I was really asking for so much more.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Promise?” I murmured, losing myself in his eyes.
“Promise,” he replied.
I made my way to Adam’s bedroom in a daze of sorts. With one hand on the bed to balance myself, I kicked off my shoes. And then I peeled off my jeans, leaving only my panties and long-sleeved tee on before crawling under the covers. I buried myself in the downy comforter, the pile of blankets. I needed to forget, if only for a moment. So I shut everything out, it was easy to do with the storm. Darkness had descended, the winds roared ferociously, and the rain sheeted relentlessly against the windows. The storm had arrived in full force.
Turning to lay on my back, I stared at the ceiling and pulled distractedly at the hem of my sleeve. And then reality came rushing back. So I went over all that had happened while flashes of lightning played like a strobe light against the walls around me. Where was Ami? And who had murdered Jimmy? There had to be a connection. I had that feeling again—like when Julian had arrived on the island—the feeling that someone was pulling strings like a puppet master. But this time, instead of having my ex-boyfriend pay me a visit, this person was making it look like I was involved with Jimmy’s murder and Ami’s disappearance. It was too much of a coincidence. But who would be able to orchestrate such a thing? And why? Had I gotten too close to the truth? Was this person, whomever it was, trying to silence me?
I shuddered just as a huge bolt of lightning lit up the entire room, illuminating Adam standing in the doorway. “Adam,” I gasped, sucking in a breath of air. “You scared me.”
In a beat he was on the bed, above me, his arms a cage around me. My heart beat wildly, fear morphing to excitement. “Are you afraid now,” Adam asked, blue eyes clouded with desire.
“Maybe a little,” I replied, my breathing quickening in anticipation.
Adam chuckled darkly while dropping to his elbows. His lips grazed mine, and I responded. Our mouths moved together, slowly at first, lingering and kind of sweet, but soon our kisses grew desperate, hungry. This is what we both needed, what we both wanted.
Finding the hem of his shirt, I fisted my hand in the cotton material, my knuckles skimming his abdomen. Adam sucked in a breath and found my eyes. “It isn’t going to be gentle, Madeleine. I’ve waited too long, we’ve waited too long.”
“I don’t want it to be gentle,” I rasped.
And I didn’t, so I raked my nails up his back to show him how much I wanted it. How hard I wanted it. Adam hissed and yanked the shirt he was wearing over his head, flinging it to the floor. And then his lips crashed into mine in a flurry of hot, wet, frenzied kisses. Somehow my shirt, my bra, my panties, he peeled them off while we kissed like our lives depended on it. I don’t know, maybe they did. And then it was Adam’s turn—his clothes, discarded in a flash.
We were finally bare, skin to skin. And it felt so good, so right, so different from the night at the cottage. Our kisses slowed, stopped. Our eyes met, our souls now bared as well. Adam’s strong hands were everywhere—cupping my breasts, skimming over my hips, tracing up the sensitive insides of my thighs, sliding along my core. God help me. He drove me crazy with lust. Had I ever wanted someone like this? I wanted Adam to conquer me, invade me. I wanted Adam to fuck me. I moved with the rhythm he set as his fingers played me like an instrument. And if I thought I could ever want Adam more than this, I realized I was sadly mistaken when he lowered his body and put his mouth on my sex. His lips, his tongue, the things he was doing drove me wild. I raised my hips up to give him more access, and he gripped my ass…hard. “You like this?” he asked smugly, glancing up from between my legs.
I did, oh I did. But all I could do was let out a moan of pleasure. His lips traveled back up my body, until our mouths met once more. My hands trailed down his chest, lower and lower. When I grasped him in my hand, he inhaled sharply, “God, Maddy, that feels good. Don’t stop.”
I stroked his full length; he was so hard, so heavy, so thick. Desperate to feel him inside of me, I pulled him down to me. He settled between my legs. Lightning flashed, illuminating the room once more. Adam pulled back slightly, his eyes—so, so blue and as stormy as that first night when I’d awoken on his sofa—met mine. No words were necessary. As he’d said, we’d waited long enough. And with no hesitation Adam plunged into me, eliciting a gasp from me. He stilled, burying his head into my neck, “Are you OK?” he murmured against my skin.
“Mm-hmm,” I responded.
Words eluding me, my mind clouded with desire. Adam remained still, buried deep inside of me, but unmoving. Not that I didn’t savor the invasion, but I could feel him smiling against my neck. He was teasing me. Damn him.
“Adam,” I huffed, circling my hips, “more.”
“What do you want, Maddy?” He chuckled. “Tell me what you want.”
Writhing wantonly beneath him, I said, “Just fuck me, Adam. I want to…fuck.”
The words sounded erotic as they fell from my lips, and Adam must have though so too. He pulled out almost all the way, very slowly, and then plunged back in, making me cry out in pleasure. Faster, faster, he pumped into me. Harder and harder. He gave me everything I wanted, and more. “Oh my God,” I breathed out. He felt so, so, so good.
We soon found a rhythm, moving with desperation, lust, but also with love. With thunder echoing out to sea, Adam and I were one, united in body, united in heart. And when our bodies reached an almost-simultaneous crescendo, for the first time, it felt like we were united in soul.
Chapter 26
While the storm raged through the night and into the next day, Adam and I remained locked away from the world—our current problems forgotten in the darkness of his bedroom. Not surprisingly, electricity had been lost on the island, so we lit candles and placed them all around the bed. The next several hours became a palette of images that blended into one another…
Adam ignites a candle with a flick of flame to wick, bringing it to life. His face as close to perfection as I’ve ever seen, bathed in the warm glow of candlelight. A playful smile tugs at his lips as he catches my expression of lust. I am ignited as well. And now this gorgeous man’s body—a body that hasn’t been clothed since yesterday—is above my own…and then behind…and then under me. Again and again—heated skin to heated skin— gliding together on a light sheen of perspiration. Touching, tasting, exploring. The darkness of night never quite goes away as the hours pass. There is just less darkness—a kind of illuminated gray. Until a new black night, this one clear as the storm passes, swallows the gray.
“Maddy,” Adam began, clearing his throat. His voice was husky. Though we’d been communicating, it hadn’t been with words. I lifted my head from where I was resting on his smooth chest and met his gaze. “I think we should do something special tomorrow. Just the two of us,” he continued and then dropped his voice to a mere whisper, “Maybe forget about…things for a while.”
Things like me being the prime suspect in Jimmy’s murder. And things like the police exploring the possibility that I had played some nefarious role in Ami’s disappearance. Yeah, it would be great to forget about those things. Locked away in Adam’s bedroom was an excellent way to forget, but we couldn’t stay here forever. Or could we? In any case it was sweet Adam was trying to think of ways to keep my mind from getting too caught up in all the unsettling events of the past few days.
“But you have to fly to Boston in the morning,” I reminded him, sighing.
Adam was finally closing the deal with the Boston client, which was a relief. It meant his frequent business trips of late would slow down considerably, allowing us more time together.
“Yeah, but I’ll be home by late afternoon,” Adam reminded me in return, and then he suddenly smiled slyly, blue eyes dancing. “And I know just what we’re going to do. We won’t even have to leave the island.”
“What?” I queried. “Does it involve leaving your bedroom?” I arched an eyebrow. If it involved spending more time here, I was game.
Adam tousled my hair playfully. “Yes, naughty girl, we’ll be leaving the bedroom.” he said. “But I’m keeping the juicy details secret until tomorrow.”
“Adam!” I chastised, swatting lightly at his chest and feigning a pout.
He caught my hand easily and pulled me to him. And just like that, our words were silenced once again.
Thursday night turned into Friday morning, and somewhere during that time frame the electricity was fully restored to the island. Reality was slowly creeping back in. And our brief respite from the troubles of the real world ended completely when Adam left for Boston. Before departing, however, he’d awoken me with a soft kiss. Proclamations of love were uttered from both of our mouths, but his secret surprise for later in the day remained unspoken.
I couldn’t sleep after Adam left, so I got up, showered quickly, and dressed for the day. Once I reached the kitchen, I toasted a bagel and glanced out the glass panel windows that ran along the back of the house.
In contrast to the past forty-eight hours, this day was positively sparkling. It was as if the heavy rains had washed away all the darkness. But then I remembered my life was still in turmoil. The Harbour Falls Mystery was no closer to being solved than it had been the day I’d arrived on Fade Island. Jimmy was dead, and according to the morning news, Ami was still missing. Worst of all, I was probably close to being arrested, seeing how I was unfortunately linked to both cases.
The walls were closing in, and time was not on my side. The more days that passed with no new leads, the more likely it was that the police would take me in. Even if I wasn’t officially charged with Jimmy’s death, I certainly expected to be asked to come in for more questioning. So it was imperative that I find answers. And quickly. As if to underscore my last thought, my cell rang at that very moment.
Without looking at the display screen, I answered with a hesitant hello.
“Maddy.” It was my dad, thank goodness. I needed a dose of my father’s levelheadedness.
But his tone was grim, so I asked, “What’s wrong?”
My father took an audible breath and exhaled slowly. This couldn’t be good. “I just got off the phone with Detective Mitchell. He wanted to give me a heads-up…” He trailed off.
“Dad?” My voice trembled. “What kind of a heads-up? What’s going on?”
Following another unsteady breath, he began to explain, “Some small-time drug dealer who hangs out at that dive, Billy’s, has been running his mouth.” —Zeb, I thought— “He was taken in on some kind of parole violation late last night, and they found drugs on him.” The mayor coughed, clearly not approving, and then continued, “Anyway he’s promising to testify against you in exchange for leniency in his own charges.”
I groaned, and my dad added in a strained voice, “Please tell me you don’t know this guy, Maddy. He’s a drug dealer, for God’s sake.”
“I met him once,” I confessed. But I didn’t intend to detail my brief and disconcerting interaction with Zeb to my dad, so I only added, “He was creepy.”
My father said nothing. I had no idea what he could be thinking, so I asked quietly, “What did he say about me?”
More throat clearing and then, “He’s claiming you were more than, uh, friends with Jimmy Kingston. Claims he saw you there with the bartender a number of times and that you looked rather close.”
“That’s a lie!” I cried out, cursing Zeb. “An outright lie.”
I didn’t know which was worse, my dad knowing I’d had some sort of interaction with a sleazy drug dealer, or him thinking I’d had something going on with Jimmy. Ugh.
I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing for it all to be a bad dream. I silently wondered if—in addition to saving his own ass—Zeb was getting back at me for not taking him up on his unseemly offer of drugs. I recalled his leering stare when he’d hinted at his “payment plans,” and I almost lost my breakfast. Instead I started to cry.
“Maddy,” my father soothed, “I know he’s lying. This dealer is just looking to get out of trouble, and he thinks he can bargain with testimony against you. He’s nothing more than an opportunist scumbag.”
Yeah, an opportunist scumbag Detective Crowley was probably salivating over at this very minute. He finally had what he needed to issue an arrest
warrant for me. If Zeb were willing to testify that I’d been having some kind of a physical relationship with Jimmy, then the police could claim my motive was possibly one of a lover scorned. Even though the whole idea was ridiculous, that, coupled with the circumstantial evidence, could be enough to convince a jury that I’d killed Jimmy Kingston.
At least my dad was still on my side. If Mayor Fitch ever lost faith in me, I didn’t know if I’d have the strength to keep going. But with him (and Adam) believing in me, I knew I had to fight.
And I needed to take action now. Answers that could potentially save my ass were not going to come to me while I sat here at Adam’s compound. I was going to have to go out and find them. On my own, since Adam wasn’t due to return from Boston until closer to dinnertime.
In that moment I made a decision. If I didn’t find anything new by the time Adam got back to Fade Island, then I’d tell him the things I had yet to mention—like my having met this Zeb character on one of my trips to Billy’s. And I’d ask for his thoughts regarding the scratch I’d seen on J.T.’s arm. And then I’d go to the police. There were far more things I’d kept from the police, but I trusted Hoffman would keep me from getting into too much trouble. I’d take the “honest” route my father had proposed days ago. Until then, though, I planned to search with renewed intensity.
With the clock ticking on my new self-imposed time limit, I hastily ended the call with my dad. And then I grabbed my jacket and headed out to the Lexus. A crisp blast of wind hit me as I walked across the driveway to my car. Though it was sunny, the November air was icy and brisk. I sat down in the driver’s seat and tried Adam’s cell. I wanted to get him up to speed on what was happening, but the call went straight to voicemail. No way was I leaving a message detailing the updates—especially the stuff about Zeb—so I hung up.
