by Sosie Frost
Delta shifted the papers on the coffee table and dug out the framed picture Granddad gave me. She flashed the photo at me, and I didn’t realize how much I missed Granddad’s smile until I saw it beaming from that perfect time years ago when the shop kept us all together.
Just another reason to find the man who destroyed it.
I pointed to the wall where I hung police reports and newspaper articles with details on the chief.
“I have two other suspects,” I said.
Delta laughed. “Suspects? Are you setting up an interrogation room in your kitchen? A forensics lab in the bathroom?”
“Chief Craig was blackmailing Maddox.”
Her smile faded. “He what?”
“He paid him thousands of dollars, but the chief was looking for a reason to throw him in jail before Maddox exposed him.”
“Exposed…what?”
“His affair with Chelsea.”
Delta blinked, completely shocked. “But that’s impossible. He’s been married for fifteen years. They have kids!”
Revealing Chelsea would destroy the chief and his family, but exposing the abuse and prostitution? No wonder he wanted to keep it quiet.
I handed her a stack of papers from the town’s zoning office—every complaint and letter and hearing notice about our property line.
“And Bob Ragen threatened Maddox and me after the town meeting. He said if he knew Granddad would have been hurt in the fire, he’d have lit the match years ago.”
“Holy shit!”
“Given all the problems with our property lines and survey markers and uh…” I shrugged, suddenly aware of how pale my blonde best friend was, and how identical she looked to the rest of the town. “He didn’t like my family. Bob’s not stable. He could have easily broken inside and caused the fire.”
“Okay.” Delta paced the room, rapping a finger over my whiteboard. “But…what can you do with all this information? What do you hope—”
“If I can prove Maddox was innocent and have his record wiped, I might be able to win him back.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Even if Maddox is innocent in this crime, he’s guilty of others. If he hadn’t been jailed for arson, he’d be behind bars for something else by now, maybe something worse or bloody.”
“That’s not true.”
“I know how you felt for him, but his leaving is for the best. You haven’t slept, you haven’t eaten. And honestly?” Delta bit her lip. “Your apartment is one copy of Catcher in the Rye short of an NSA watch list. Maddox is not worth this stress. He just isn’t.”
“I’m in love with him,” I said.
“He’s not right for you.”
“He’s the only one who’s right for me.”
Delta didn’t believe me. “He’s dangerous. He was back for only a few weeks and look at how much trouble he caused. How many times did he get into Nolan’s face? And the Chief? Josie, he’s too frightening to even get a job in this town.”
“That because no one will give him a chance.”
“He’s not a man who deserves a second chance. I know you blame his parents, and I know you think it’s just his upbringing and that he can be changed…but he thinks with two things—his cock and his fists. Neither of those will get your store back or help you take care of Matt.”
I sighed. “I really don’t have time to be lectured.”
“Make time. You need to listen. Maddox leaving is the best thing that could happen to you.”
“Delta—”
“I came here to give you another file I found at work—the reports we had to re-do after we conferred with the police.” She prevented me from reaching for the folder. “But I’m not helping you drive yourself crazy.”
“I’m close to figuring this out.”
“No, you aren’t. Put it down, come outside with me, and we’ll walk so you can clear your head.”
“You don’t understand.”
“You hurt now, but I promise. One day you’ll see that Maddox was the wrong man for you—”
“I’m pregnant.”
The air trapped in my chest. It was the first time I admitted the truth out loud. It still shocked me more than Delta.
She sunk onto the couch. I followed.
“You’re…pregnant,” she said.
“Yeah.”
“With a baby?”
God, I hoped so. “It’s not a gingerbread man.”
“And you’re...it’s…”
“Maddox’s baby.”
Delta paled. “I thought you were on…”
“We…no. Not anymore. We were trying.”
More than a few times.
Her mouth dropped open. I was lucky she was too shocked to chastise me. “Does he know?”
“No.”
“Does anyone know?”
My smile forced the words out. “You?”
“Oh God, Josie.” Her eyes closed. “How far along are you?”
“I just found out earlier this week.”
Now she got pissed. She slapped my arm but immediately apologized like I was carrying Maddox’s secret baby in my shoulder.
“You didn’t tell me! How could you let this happen?”
“Once upon a time, Maddox and I wanted to start a family.”
“And now?”
“He wants nothing to do with me. I don’t even know how to get in touch with him.”
She snorted. “Call the nearby jails.”
I groaned, rolling off the couch to hide from the smell of the food. “Don’t start.”
“Seriously. Call his parole officer. He can’t leave the state, right?”
“Somehow I don’t think he cares.”
This was supposed to be a happy occasion, but everything turned inside out, upside down, and then tangled itself in a knot of bad decisions and heartache.
Maddox would have been so excited. All he ever wanted was a baby and me and a life where we could just love each other. He deserved nothing less.
“It might be for the best.” Delta broached the subject gently, but not cautiously enough. “I don’t know if he’d be a good father.”
I stiffened. “Why not?”
“It’s not like he comes from a good family. And his dad?”
“He’s the reason Maddox wanted to be a father. He wanted the family he never had, Delta. We take it granted—your parents, what Granddad and Nana did for me when mine died. No one tucked Maddox in at night or threw a ball with him or helped him with school. He grew up with abuse and drugs and…” I didn’t even want to think of it. “I’m going to clear his name and win him back. He should know that kind of love.”
Delta quieted. “He might not forgive you for what you did.”
“I have to try.” The tears prickled my eyes. They stung, but not as much as the loneliness gnawing at my heart. “The baby needs a father. Maddox deserves a second chance. And I…”
I didn’t even know anymore. I just wanted answers. The mystery exhausted me, and every second it went unsolved tore me further from Maddox’s arms. Delta took my hand.
“What can I do to help?” she asked.
“You don’t happen to have a spare candy shop lying around do you?”
She giggled. “I’ll check my closet at home. Haven’t cleaned it out in a couple years. Maybe I’ll find something.” She picked up the papers at her feet, absently sorting through the piles. “You know, I used to have a ton of Nancy Drew books. Maybe…we could sort the suspects again?”
For all the good it’d do. I had two suspects, and neither made sense to me. Still, two heads were better than one, especially when mine was jammed full of anxiety, frustration, and baby names.
Delta woofed down her dinner and settled in on the floor. She agreed with me. We were missing something. No matter what angle I approached it, I couldn’t find enough evidence that proved or denied Chief Craig or Bob Ragen had anything to do with the fire. Every lead led to more uncertainty. We’d never figure it out without a confession.
But that meant confronting someone. I wasn’t prepared to piss off two of the most dangerous men in the city without Maddox at my side.
“Maybe it was Benjamin!” The idea struck Delta so suddenly she spilled her soda and tore the papers in her hand. Her smile grew into a hysterical laugh. “He wanted a new place where he could take Jean-Baptise on a walk, so he made his very own parkette.”
“Oh, right.” I rolled my eyes. “Mrs. Greentree too. They’re in cahoots. It was all a puppy conspiracy. They meant to breed Jean-Baptise and Millie so they could start a pet store!”
“A puppy mill!”
“Shih Poos everywhere!”
Delta giggled and checked her watch. “You should sleep, Josie. It’s late.”
“I will.”
“Seriously. You’re sleeping for two.”
I frowned. “I don’t…think that’s how it works.”
“Do you have any idea how a baby works?”
Good question. “I knew how to make one?”
“I don’t need the details.” She grabbed her purse and pointed me to the bedroom. “Go. Now. Seriously. And call Sean and tell him you need another day off. You should go to a doctor tomorrow and get checked out.”
“I will.”
She smiled and let herself out. “Night-night, Momma.”
Oh Lord. I wasn’t used to that nickname. I didn’t mind it though. I just wished Maddox was the one to hear the news first.
I peeled myself from the couch and avoided the containers of leftover Chinese. The smell wasn’t doing anything for my appetite. I battled my wavering tummy and stole the files Delta brought for me. I made it to bed without throwing up. A minor victory.
The papers from the insurance company weren’t new, just copies of the original documents filed after the adjustor walked with the fire marshal.
Except for a few.
Some of the pages were stamped VOID. I wasn’t sure why they were kept, or why they were stapled to the official paperwork. No one ever said Delta wasn’t organized—even if most of Saint Christie politely referred to her as dedicated instead of OCD, just like her mother.
But something was weird with the pages. Both the voided copy and official were signed by the adjustor. The official paper detailed the police findings—citing ARSON in bolded letters as the cause of the fire. I checked the second. That was the same. And they both detailed the same method—electrical tampering.
Except the voided copy included two additional words.
INSURANCE FRAUD.
“What in the world…” I stared at the page. It didn’t make any sense. I flipped to the official copy. Those words were missing, and the paper was signed and stamped a day later.
Weird.
I reached for my phone to call Delta and ask about the discrepancy, but a violent knocking rattled my door once more.
I leapt from the bed, clutching the reports. I couldn’t catch my breath, and the hope surged through me, mending a heart that shattered like peanut brittle and the guilt that poisoned me in bitter regret.
Maddox.
I had stripped to my tiny tank top and boy cut panties for bed, but I didn’t bother dressing. I raced to the door. The pounding hadn’t stopped.
Maybe Delta called him. God bless her meddling. She wouldn’t let me be alone and pregnant, even if she didn’t trust Maddox.
My fingers trembled over the chain. Maybe he came back on his own? Maybe he knew? Realized I needed him? That…we needed him?
The door burst open, shattering the old lock. I leapt back, but the intruder grabbed me before I had time to react. The handkerchief was stuffed over my mouth. It smelled horrible, and I struggled against the cloth. I ran, but the man caught me, wrapping me in his arms from behind. I reared back, head butting his nose.
He swore.
It wasn’t Maddox’s voice, but I recognized it.
His words crashed around me as I dropped in his arms and fell into a dark and terrible nightmare.
Chapter Eighteen - Maddox
I meant to forget her.
I thought I’d get over her.
I hoped I could live without her.
Fucking bullshit.
How the hell was I supposed to breathe without her sugared, honey scent? I couldn’t sleep without dreaming of her. Couldn’t eat without imagining the desserts she used to stuff in me. Couldn’t dress without remembering the heat of her hands.
Couldn’t speak without feeling an imaginary brush of her lips.
Couldn’t exist without understanding why she would betray me, destroy me, damn me.
Why she thought that was the only way to protect me?
Fourteen nights on the road hit me harder than the year in prison. At least then iron bars and guards and the law kept me from Josie’s bed.
Now?
For two weeks, I’d lived out of a cheap motel with a pre-paid cell phone and the last hundred dollars in my wallet. I gave the chief two grand before I left. It wasn’t enough to buy Chelsea’s freedom, but it convinced him to leave her in peace until I could find some money.
Wherever that would come from.
When I got to the city, Ironfield welcomed me home with a piercing rain shower and an attempted mugging. I blackened the eye of the asshole who tried to knife me, and then I chased him to steal the blade. Some instincts died hard, but the streets had once been my old job. I did whatever I could to survive, and I wasn’t proud of any of it. Josie only ever knew what she had to know. I vowed I wouldn’t corrupt that cupcake any more than necessary.
Though the lies had corrupted her all the same.
The world wasn’t made of chocolate; it reeked of shit. Except that I hated teaching her that lesson. If anyone needed rose-tinted glasses, it was my little sugar plum fairy with the piping bag of pink icing.
I’d asked around for the usual jobs. Shady, immoral bullshit that would never come with a 401k or healthcare. Once, I protected as many whores as I shook down pimps, and I dealt in as many drugs as I muled. As long as it paid, I’d do it.
But something stopped me. Running guns and kicking the shit out of debtors worked for earning the money I needed to pay off the chief, but it wouldn’t rebuild the walls of Sweet Nibbles.
If I ever went back.
Why the fuck did I leave?
So I stole a paper from a diner and hunted through the pages for a decent job. I circled the electrical work, but I never thought I’d get a call.
Doubted more that they’d take me on.
First time for everything.
Some prick named Sam hired me. He didn’t give a shit about my record, just wanted a certified electrical subcontractor who’d keep his mouth shut and get paid under the table. It sounded great, except the job was in some little pet shop in the middle of Ironfield. One of the districts that hadn’t been updated in thirty years.
I took one look at the shop and considered taking up dealing again. Sam hoisted his pants over a beer belly and rubbed a mustache that was missing a leather cut and motorcycle.
“You gotta be kidding.” I pointed to the mess of a breaker box. “I can’t rewire this.”
“Don’t want you to,” Sam said. “Just change the covers on the outlets.”
Gut instinct was a bitch. This job was more crooked than drugs. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. In and out, and you get your money.”
“This whole system is a fire hazard. The connectors are probably worn to shit. I’ve seen it before. Give it time and the whole box will short out and burn. Bust up a couple connectors, and she could collect her insurance money.”
“Just replace the goddamned plates,” Sam said. “Now.”
And risk my fucking certification? Hell no. “Screw you. You set your own death trap.”
“No one’s asking you to play fire marshal.”
“You’re lucky I don’t call him in here.”
I flipped him off as I stormed out. My record was ruined already. If I got pinned to a job with another elec
trical fire?
Fuck it. Once was enough.
Hell, I still couldn’t believe Josie’s shop burned the way it did. She never had an issue with the building or health codes. All her equipment was top of the line, too new for fraying cords. How the hell did the arsonist even set it on fire? Not like Matthias left him a detailed instruction manual on the store’s outdated circuits.
My chest seized.
I nearly walked into traffic and got my ass kicked by a bus.
In that moment, I knew exactly what had happened that night.
I knew how the arsonist did it and why I was framed.
Revelation felt a hell of a lot like a screwdriver touching a live wire. What the hell was I supposed to do? I had to get back to Josie. She deserved closure. I needed…
Anything.
Just an excuse to see her again. She held my heart, and the aching pit in my chest festered and ached without it. I couldn’t think straight when I was separated from her.
How the hell was I going to tell her the truth?
She hurt me, betrayed me, but I couldn’t protect her anymore. She had a right to know what had happened—even if it killed her.
It was late when I made it to her apartment, later by the time I worked up the courage to approach her steps. Like a ball-less asshole, I twisted with cowardice and shame.
How had we fucked this up so badly? She forgave me when I offered my services to Nolan, even when she knew I was in danger every second I let that bastard near.
She had been scared. Helpless. And she understood me better than I knew myself. No matter what I said, no matter how much I swore, nothing would have stopped me from murdering Nolan a year ago.
She didn’t put me in jail to stop Nolan. She did it to protect him, to save me from myself because I was too consumed with rage and now too consumed with revenge to see clearly.
I lost her because of it.
No. It ended now. I let time and prison and people separate us for too long. I wasn’t letting her get away. I promised to marry her before. I’d make good on it now.
I took the steps to her porch two at a time, but my fist stilled before I pounded on the door. Saint Christie was a quiet town, and not everyone locked their doors.