She called Haley from the burner phone. It was after midnight, so she was hoping the lateness of the hour would cause enough curiosity that Haley would answer a call from a number she didn’t recognize.
Madison was right. “Hello?”
“Haley, it’s Madison. Don’t say my name if there’s someone with you. I’m in trouble and I need help.”
“It’s kind of late to be calling, Mr. Samuels. I know I’m your attorney, but I also have a personal life, and I’d appreciate some respect for my time.”
Okay, Haley wasn’t alone. “The police are looking for me, but I didn’t do anything wrong. I need a car and a place to stay.”
“And I’ll be in the office at eight AM as usual.”
“Can you meet me in the garage of the Horton Plaza Mall in like twenty minutes? Meet me by Macy’s. And somehow I need a car. But we can’t switch, because you do not want mine. The police are looking for it. I mean, if you can meet me maybe we can figure it all out?”
“That’s perfect, Mr. Samuels. I’ll see you then.” Haley disconnected.
If Haley hadn’t been a powerhouse attorney, Madison would’ve insisted they work together as PIs. Haley had a natural instinct for subterfuge that couldn’t be taught. You either could think on your feet or you couldn’t. Madison hadn’t talked to Haley in a while, so she didn’t know who she would be hanging out with at midnight; a boyfriend? God knew Haley could have any guy she wanted.
Madison decided to leave the front license plate off. She only had to drive about ten miles to Horton Plaza in downtown. She would drive it on city streets so that she wasn’t on the freeway with the electronic signs blasting her license plate. She would drive sedately and not attract attention.
She exited the Target parking lot and drove south on Genesee. She made it less than a mile before a cop came out of a 7-Eleven and started driving behind her. My God there are a lot of police in San Diego, Madison thought. She tried to breathe and not overreact. Just because they were behind her didn’t mean they were after her. It didn’t mean they recognized her license plate, and it didn’t mean they would even run her plate. They could be eating their 7-Eleven snacks and telling old war stories. She tried not to look in the rearview mirror or side-view mirror. She drove one mile an hour over the speed limit, because most people did, and then put her cruise control on so that her speed would be consistent. Several other cars came up behind the cop car, but no one wanted to be the one who passed a cop. So they ended up all in a train, with Madison in the lead.
Madison started to sing. The radio was off, but she figured that if she sang, she could lower her heart rate and blood pressure, and maybe the cops would sense her nonchalance. She started singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” because it was the first thing that came to mind. Halfway through the song, it struck her as so melancholy that she stopped abruptly; if bluebirds could fly over the rainbow, why indeed couldn’t she? How had she gotten to this point in her life, where she was running through the night with the police hunting her?
There was a housing development coming up on the right up a hill; fortunately, having a job that involved driving all over meant that Madison knew every part of San Diego County like the back of her hand. She decided to take the long road that led up the hill into the development, which had pricier homes for this area. She couldn’t hope to outrun a cop; the minute they realized she was running they would call the helicopter and it could be there in mere minutes. So first she had to determine if they were actually following her. She made the right, and the cop followed. This was not good. There would be no reason for a cop on regular patrol to come up the hill into this neighborhood. The road led nowhere other than into more housing developments. That meant they’d decided they were interested in Madison’s car. Were they waiting for backup before pulling over the “armed and dangerous” suspect? Madison needed to lose them, and she needed to do it before ABLE, the airborne law enforcement unit helicopter, was called to watch her from the sky. She took the first left into a maze of homes, all built in the 1980s and packed into streets that began with the world Old: Old Bridgeport, Old Heather, etc. The cop made the turn after her. It was official: they were following her. They were just waiting for other units to arrive to make the felony stop. She had to outrun a cop, which was impossible. That meant she needed good old-fashioned luck.
Madison increased her speed slightly so that she could make the next turn without them. If she could turn right up ahead and be out of their sight even momentarily, she would have about thirty seconds to disappear before they turned after her and continued their tail. They would be expecting her to maintain her current speed after the turn. She made the right; then she floored the gas and sped up to sixty miles per hour while she was out of their view. She skipped the next right—the one they would assume she’d taken when they turned and didn’t see her, just based on the speed she’d been going when they last saw her—and turned right at the second street. She raced down two blocks and made a left; they would just be turning onto that first street and wondering where she was. She accelerated fast and made the next left; now she was two streets away from them. They would be making the next right, thinking that was where she’d gone, based on the speed she’d been going. As she sped along, two streets away from them, she saw manna from heaven: an open garage door attached to a darkened house. Someone had left home and left the garage door up. She pulled into the garage just as she heard the siren begin two streets over; they’d just realized she’d ditched them. They weren’t playing anymore. Another siren joined the chorus—backup had arrived. She jumped out of her car and ran to the right side of the garage door; no button to close the garage. She raced to the left wall. There it was. She pushed the button and nothing happened. She was literally a sitting duck right now. If the cops came down the street, which they would any minute, they would see her car up the short driveway and her standing right next to it, just waiting to be taken in. She pressed the button again. Nothing. What if it were broken and that’s why it had been left open? She took a deep breath. She’d found that mechanical things almost had a spiritual component to them. If you were upset or frantic, they didn’t work. The sirens were getting closer.
“It’s time for you to close now.” She took another deep breath, let it out, and slowed her heart rate. She flowed admiration at the garage door and its opener. It was pretty. More sirens, closer now. It was loved. It would work. She pressed the button.
The door creaked and started a slow descent. “Come on come on come on come on,” Madison chanted under her breath. “You can do it. I believe in you garage door.”
The door came all the way down, and she was in darkness.
A siren came by the front of the house; she’d been moments away from capture. She stood still and listened to the silence as the siren passed. She was waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark before she started exploring her new hiding place. Then she heard the helicopter. They had called it in to assist in the search, and it was circling the neighborhood.
She walked carefully to the door leading to the house. Unlocked. These people were pretty trusting, or maybe just absent-minded. She slowly opened the door and listened. One of her abilities was a heightened sense of sound. A guy had once told her that she had bat hearing. Normally it was just an inconvenience, since the sound of people whistling or humming could drive her around the bend. Now it helped her. She listened to the sounds of an empty house: refrigerator buzzing, undisturbed air, a kitchen clock ticking gently; no other sounds. She made kissing sounds softly to see if a dog lived here. Nothing. She stepped into the house.
Well now she had committed a crime: breaking and entering. If she got before a judge, she would argue that the door was unlocked and therefore she wasn’t breaking, just entering. Right now she just needed to get a hold of Haley, since she was clearly not making it downtown to Horton Plaza. She went back to the car and grabbed the burner phone. She could hear sirens outside going up and down the streets, and sud
denly there was an intense light shining under the garage door. She froze. It passed, and she realized it was a cop car driving by with the spotlight on, shining it along at the houses, looking for her or her car peeking out from somewhere. After the light passed, she went back into the house and shut the door.
When were these people coming home? First things first: she didn’t need the surprise of an entire family coming home to an intruder. She went to the calendar on the refrigerator, the center of all households. The days up until yesterday were crossed off. On today’s date it said Vacation, and the next week was blocked off. Bingo. She knew that often neighbors watched out for each other, but if that were the case, wouldn’t someone have reached in and pushed the button to close the garage? Maybe these people weren’t close with their neighbors. Unless everyone knew the garage door was “broken” and they were just watching the front of the house.
She called Haley. “Change of plans.”
“Okay.”
“Are you alone?”
“For a minute.”
“I got spotted. The cops are really looking for me. They know they lost me in this section of town, so I can’t drive my car again. I’m hiding in someone’s house and my car’s in their garage.”
“How did you—”
“No time.”
“Right.”
“I’m going to give you the address. Can you meet me here and drive me somewhere so I can get a car?”
“I’m going to bring you a car.”
“Okay great. Here is the address.”
Madison grabbed a bunch of papers and receipts off a spindle on the counter. There was one for Tina and Jack Williams at an address that matched the street Madison knew she’d turned down. She read it to Haley.
“Thank you, Mr. Samuels. Yes, I’m sure that will be fine. Please stop calling now.”
Madison disconnected. Now she just had to wait for Haley. What she didn’t want to do was think. She needed to stay in action mode or her hysteria might just come back. Once she had a car, she could decide where she was going in it. She didn’t think it was safe to stay here. The neighbors were a problem. It was officially the middle of the night, so Madison decided to hope the neighbors were asleep. It would keep her from getting frantic before Haley got there. But she couldn’t stay here all night. And just in case, she left the lights out. Haley pulling up might attract some attention, but Madison hoped not.
Madison realized the sound of the helicopter was gone. Probably called to a more pressing matter. The police could still be in the neighborhood, though.
She wandered around the house. She found a den set up as an office with a computer. It wasn’t the newest setup, but practical. It would be good if she could have access to her database if she needed it. She walked around and sat in the desk chair. The computer was off, so she hit the power switch and waited. Didn’t most people have a password on their computer? She knew she did. The screen lit up, and she could see the desktop; no password needed.
Now what? She had no plan, something she wasn’t used to and she didn’t like. Even in the past few months while she’d been trying to decide how she wanted her life to go, she’d had a plan—the plan was to take time to figure it out. Now she had no direction and no idea of how to get one. Where would she sleep tonight? Hopefully Haley would put her IQ toward helping to figure this out, or at least talking it out with her might help.
Madison suddenly remembered another number she’d written down: Ken’s. He had said to call him if she needed “help with Tom.” Had he known what was brewing? Had he known Tom was going off the deep end? And if she called him, how exactly might he help her? She might as well try. But for all she knew, he was sitting next to Tom right now, so she dialed *67 before his number, thereby blocking the number of her burner phone.
“Hello?” He sounded dubious at answering an unknown number.
“It’s Madison.”
“Oh fuck. Oh Madison. Thank God you called. I’ve been worried. Where are you?”
He sounded genuinely concerned, which inexplicably made her want to cry.
“Why is Tom doing this?”
He paused before answering. “I don’t know, Madison. He just … I don’t know.”
“What is his end game? Like just torture me? Or am I supposed to call him for him to save me? Is that it? Some kind of weird Munchausen’s by proxy where he puts me in a situation that only he can help me out of?”
“I don’t know. He’s acting crazy. He was trying to call you and your phone was going to voicemail, and now I don’t even know where he is. I tried to call you too just to tell you what was going on. Where are you? I can come get you and we’ll figure this out.”
It was tempting. She really couldn’t do this by herself. It was something she’d thought she’d never feel: that she couldn’t get herself out of a problem by using her wits.
“I was driving, and then these cops came behind me. I had to try to get away from them. They even brought a helicopter out! So I was—”
There was a light tapping at the front door. Could Haley have made it so quickly?
“Hang on.” She ran to the door and looked through the peephole: it was Haley. She must have come from someplace nearby. Madison opened the door and scanned the street. Haley’s white BMW was at the curb, but so was a brand-new black Range Rover.
“Don’t be mad.” Haley walked past Madison into the house, and Madison shut the door.
Madison put the phone back to her ear. “Ken, I have to go. I’ll call you back.”
“Wait! How will I reach you? Let me come get you—”
Madison disconnected and faced Haley. “How can I be mad? You’re helping me.”
“Because you will be.” Madison was struck by Haley’s beauty every time she saw her. It was almost painful to look at. “My boyfriend’s in the Range Rover outside.”
“Oh.” Madison didn’t want another person involved, but if Haley trusted him, she figured she could.
“And there’s more.” Haley went over to the sectional and sat, barely touching the edge of the sofa with her designer jeans, Prada blouse, and Louboutin heels; the middle of the night and she still managed to be better dressed than Madison on a good day. “He’s a deputy district attorney.”
Okay this was bad. “Haley. Why did you tell him?”
“Because you kept calling so late I didn’t want him to think I was cheating on him. He’s really a good guy, Madison.”
Madison was sure he was. Normally Madison would consider a deputy DA to be a real catch. But not when she was running from the police.
“He insisted on making a few calls about you. So he knows you’re wanted and considered armed.”
Madison stood up fast. She looked around for her purse. She’d just have to run for it in her own car.
“Sit down, sit down! I got him to see that you wouldn’t be asking me for help if you’d actually done something. That you know I’m an attorney and you wouldn’t put me in that position. I’m right … right?”
Madison sighed. “Yes, you’re right.” She sat down. “So, he’s going to give me a ten-minute head start before he calls the police, or what?”
Haley stood up and went to the window and peered out. “No, no. He’s letting me give you my car, and he’s going to forget the whole thing. But he won’t let me help you beyond that. I’m to drop the car and we’re leaving.”
Letting me. Won’t let me. This was why Madison didn’t have a boyfriend.
“Okay. Well, I appreciate the car.” Madison had hoped that she’d have a partner in crime, so to speak, and Haley would stay and help her figure out what to do. That they would do this together.
Haley stood up but lost her balance in the high heels and fell back down to the couch. “Jesus.” She stood up again and gave Madison an awkward hug. “I’m on your team. I really am. I just have to be careful. You understand, right?”
Madison understood. If their situations were reversed … no, if their situat
ions were reversed, Madison would help her. But Madison wasn’t an officer of the court, and Haley and her boyfriend were.
“I understand.”
They walked to the door together, and Haley handed her the keys to the BMW. “Just keep it. I need a new car anyway.”
Madison could never do surveillance in a pearl-white BMW with red leather interior. But hey, she could sell it and buy something else. “Thank you, Haley, I appreciate it. If anything comes up … just tell them I stole the car.”
Haley didn’t say anything. Madison realized that she and her boyfriend had already come up with that plan; that was the only reason he “let” Haley give Madison her car. So this meant if Madison got caught, they would actually have a criminal offense she had committed: grand theft auto, a felony. Up until now everything that was going on had been a mistake or lies. This would be an actual crime. Was Haley helping her or hurting her right now? Well, Madison needed a car. So this was the price.
Madison opened the door, and Haley vamped down the walkway and got into the passenger seat of the Range Rover. Her boyfriend hadn’t even turned off the car. The car sped away down the street. Madison was alone.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Madison closed the door and walked back to the office. She sat at the desk. She’d always enjoyed her alone time; apparently that was a fault, according to Dave. But it was just the way she was. But this was more alone than she’d ever felt in her life. Haley had been her last lifeline, and even that had been taken away from her. She decided that if she started wallowing in her misery, the family would come home from their vacation in a week and find her sobbing on the couch. Sometimes if you start crying you’ll never stop.
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