The grandfather clock downstairs rang, and Madison counted the chimes. Twelve. It seemed fitting that the romance which had started at midnight would end at the same hour, over six years later.
She began to pack.
~*~
Carsten didn’t sleep well. He kept picturing the look on Madison’s face when she left the living room earlier that evening. He rolled onto his side and tried to get comfortable. His eyelids might as well have been pinned open.
He punched his pillow, as much to release frustration as to fluff it. Their date had gone so perfectly. He should have known something that wonderful couldn’t last. His stomach twisted as he remembered the feel of Madison in his arms, the taste of her kiss…
Carsten groaned. He was torturing himself. He had to get a grip. He had told his heart all along not to get involved, to stay focused on the job.
He’d fallen for his client.
But did it count when she’d stolen his heart long before the assignment?
He thought back to the first time he saw Madison, that cold night in Germany. The night he’d relived more times than he should have. No wonder he’d botched this.
Though it’d been inevitable. It truly had been only a matter of time before Madison figured out his official role in her life—she would’ve overheard a phone call between him and home office, such as when he’d called to run the plate on the black SUV back in NYC. Stolen, of course, and a dead end. Or she could have seen his gun sooner—could have felt the butt of it when they’d danced in the rain and she’d wrapped her arms around his back.
His head and throbbed at the memory. He’d messed up big, but how much of a choice had he had in the first place? He’d have told her the truth immediately if he hadn’t promised her father he’d keep the secret.
He drew a tight breath as that realization dawned for the first time all night. Teddy Lawrence would have to be told of this change in operation, ideally first thing in the morning before he heard from Madison.
Carsten’s stomach rolled, and he groaned. He’d dealt with wealthy, entitled clients before, but none like Teddy Lawrence. Madison’s issues with her father were legit, and probably ran a lot deeper than Carsten could ever realize.
And he’d made it ten times worse. Would she ever forgive him?
Her stricken, betrayed face was the last thing he saw before he drifted off to sleep.
~*~
Madison was gone with the sunrise, the scenery flying past the window of the bus as the wheels carried her farther from the Running R. She had imagined that traveling by bus would be the safest route. Too much traceable information was available in a rental car. Besides, she had no idea where to go. Instead, she had paid cash and hoped for the best. Maybe that would be enough to keep her undetected.
At this point, she wasn’t sure if she was running from Carsten, or from whoever was pursuing her. She just wanted to be safe—physically, and emotionally. At the moment, she had no control of either. Especially over her traitorous heart. If she were honest with herself, she missed him already. Or maybe just who she thought he was.
Now she knew the truth. He was a liar. A manipulator.
Yet she couldn’t get him out of her mind.
What did that say about her? Too many fairytales had warped her sense of reality. She was still trying to see only the positive and not the glaring negatives right in her face.
More like happily ever never. The clock had struck, and she hadn’t left a shoe behind. It was over.
Madison rested her head against the back of the seat, eyelids drooping. She wanted to stay awake and alert, but her efforts were failing fast. She hadn’t gone to bed the night before, but rather had sneaked out of the house with as many things as she could carry comfortably in a duffel bag, and walked to the bus stop a few miles down the road.
Madison shuddered, remembering the long walk in the pitch of night.
She’d convinced herself that she’d imagined the whole ordeal in her room. No one, not even a ransacker, would break into her room miles from New York just to clean out her hairbrush. That was ridiculous.
She wasn’t entirely sure now whether that were true.
But one thing was certain: she couldn’t stay at the ranch a minute longer. She couldn’t face Carsten at the breakfast table, and try to pretend that she didn’t love him, that this hadn’t wrecked her. She couldn’t ignore the intensity of the feelings that still lingered, despite the betrayal boiling deep. . She had to give them time to simmer away.
And the part of her heart that was still able to beat was determined to prove—both to Carsten and her dad—that she wasn’t a little girl anymore. She could take care of herself. Hadn’t she done so this far all along? She’d created a successful business, and lived off her own means.
She could make it back to New York alone, and forget this entire drama ever happened.
One bus had let her off at another station, and she had purchased a ticket for as far south as she could afford with the amount of cash in her purse. She wasn’t sure where she was going, or even where she was at the moment. Idaho, maybe? The passing countryside offered no explanation.
She needed a plan. She couldn’t ride all the way to New York on her dwindling funds But she didn’t want to use her credit cards to purchase a plane ticket. Her dad would be monitoring those—and who knew who else.
When had her life become a suspense novel?
Madison stared out the window into the hazy morning sky. Hopelessness tugged at her spirit, and she embraced the coldness that came with it. Were Carsten and Rita awake? Did they miss her? Had they noticed she was gone yet?
A twinge of guilt flickered in her stomach, but Madison ignored it. All it took was remembering what Carsten had done to her, and the guilt was replaced by burning indignation. She had kissed him, had offered a piece of her heart in exchange for his, and he’d slapped it away with the truth. Just like her father always had.
Rita, however, had been nothing but kind to her throughout her entire stay. Madison remembered the note she had scrawled and left sitting on the kitchen counter.
Rita—
Thanks for everything. I’m sorry I had to leave like this. Maybe you’ll understand. I appreciate your sweet hospitality, and hopefully, we’ll meet again someday.
Gratefully,
Madison
Madison wiped away a tear from each eye and continued to stare out the window. She relived each of Carsten’s words, his seemingly reluctant admittance of the truth. Was it all an act? Had he meant anything? She was such a fool. With each memory, each thought, she placed a brick on the wall she was building around her heart. Hopefully, by the time she reached her destination, wherever that might be, the barrier would be firmly in place.
Then no one would be able to hurt her again.
19
The bus stopped two hours later, and Madison stepped into the station anxious to stretch her legs. Her stomach growled, and she realized she had skipped breakfast. She scrounged in the bottom of her purse and came up with enough change for some food. Purchasing a sausage biscuit from the deli next door, she sat down on a bench by the station to eat while awaiting the next bus.
Her cellphone rang. She jumped, dropping the biscuit in her lap and fumbling to retrieve the phone from her purse. Her heart pounded. Carsten? Shan? Had she been discovered? Or was it her father, checking in again?
Bitterness filled her mouth at the thought. She had no desire to speak with him. She was used to his antics, but secretly hiring a bodyguard to pose as a client? That was low, even for him.
A pang struck at not getting to finish the job on the beautiful ranch house. Salt in the wound.
She didn’t recognize the number blinking on the caller I.D. Should she answer? Mouth dry, Madison flipped open the phone and pushed the “on” button. “Hello?” She held her breath. If it was her father, she’d just hang up.
“Maddie!”
Madison winced at the familiar, accented voice that still
sent a shiver down her back. She willed steel into her spine. He deserved nothing from her.
“Carsten.” She kept her voice tight. Hang up, hang up. But she couldn’t do it.
“Where are you? We’ve been searching the ranch since before dawn. Are you all right?”
He sounded so sincere. But he couldn’t be. He didn’t care—or if he did, it was because if he lost her, he was going to get fired from his job as guardian.
No, that wasn’t true. He wasn’t heartless, even if he was a liar. Madison closed her eyes, wishing her wall were more secure. Guilt was seeping through the cracks, trailed by something dangerously close to regret. “I had to leave, Carsten. I left Rita a note.”
“She found it. But we didn’t think you would have gotten far. Where are you?” Carsten asked a second time, his voice firmer now. She supposed not many people told him no.
But she’d lived that life long enough under her dad.
She sighed. “I’m fine, Carsten. I’m safe I’m heading south currently. That’s all you need to know.” The last thing she needed was for him to come after her. One more look into those blue eyes and she’d be toast.
Her wall needed time to cement.
Silence filled the line.
“Madison, I know you’re upset about all of this, but I want you to come home. Right now.”
He sounded strangely like her father. Commands, always commands. She swiped crumbs off her lap onto the concrete ground, not bothering to lower her voice even as several people walked past to catch their bus. “And where exactly is home? With my father, who pretends I don’t exist? Or perhaps it’s with you, the man I trusted who has been lying to me about everything since the day we met? No wait, I know. It’s in New York, where a crazy person is following me!” She swiped back an angry tear. Her emotions were on full boil, and she feared she’d erupt at any moment.
“I’m not sure where you belong, Madison.” He sounded tired now, as though he’d aged in the hours she’d been gone. “I don’t know where your home is.”
He paused a beat. “But I want you to know that my home is anywhere you are.”
No. He wasn’t supposed to be nice. That made it worse.
He was supposed to yell back at her. Make her angry. Then she could leave and not look back.
Why did he sound so sincere when his feelings obviously weren’t? Her resolve came back in full force. Nothing about their relationship—could they even call it that?—had been normal. She couldn’t trust any of it.
“I’m sorry.” She ducked her head, her voice low. “I can’t trust you. You lied to me, and ganged up on me with my father. I don’t feel safe anymore—with you or with anyone.”
She had to end this and move on. From here on out, it was just her. And her business. She could focus on that instead of her broken heart. Her friendship with Shan. Her next career goal. There was plenty to keep her occupied until Carsten faded from her heart.
The fact that he hadn’t in six years was slightly discouraging.
“I hope you’ll change your mind.” Carsten’s voice softened, and held a hope that tore at Madison’s heart.
She squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t do this. She had to get off the phone. She opened her mouth, but Carsten changed the subject.
“I found out who broke into your room.”
Madison opened her eyes and sat up straighter on the bench. “What? Who?” Had it been that simple? Was the nightmare over?
“It was Mitch.”
What? Mitch was her stalker? “I don’t understand. Why would he do that?” It didn’t make any sense at all. Had Mitch been in New York? She had a dozen questions but couldn’t get any of them out.
“I questioned the staff this morning, asked if anyone had seen or heard anything suspicious last night. The more I revealed, the more Mitch squirmed. I took him aside and he confessed to it.” Carsten sounded tired. “But only to that.”
Madison’s mind reeled. “So then Mitch isn’t the person who was chasing me in New York?” Her heart sank. It wasn’t over. Mitch was a separate problem, not the main one.
“Unfortunately, no. Mitch said that he was jealous over your rejection of him and dating me, and he wanted to get to you. He had no idea that you were at the ranch under protective custody. He felt badly about scaring you when he realized the truth.”
Wow. She’d never have thought. Mitch had been leering and creepy, but that was an entirely different level of vengeful. Who did that? She shivered, grateful she was away from his piercing stare.
“He’s fired, of course, with the understanding that if he steps back onto the ranch, I’ll shoot first and ask questions later. He left somewhat peaceably.”
Madison shook her head. “At least that mystery is solved.” But the larger one remained. So she had been safe on the ranch after all.
What about now?
She cast an uneasy look over her shoulder. She had fled safety, assuming it was dangerous, yet had possibly run straight into it. Was her stalker still in New York, or had he been on his way to Montana?
What if they met in the middle?
She shook off the unease. That was the exact attitude which had made her weak and incapable. She was strong. She could handle herself.
Carsten rambled on. “This means that whoever was bothering you in New York is most likely still in New York. Right now, we have no reason to believe that they caught up to you in Montana.”
“Drop the phone.”
Madison froze as cool metal pressed into her back. A million thoughts ran through her mind in an incoherent jumble, ending in one thought.
She was foolish.
She slowly lowered the phone the bench beside her, careful to keep it turned on as she did. Would Carsten hear any of this? Would he know what to do? Her heart pounded as she debated whether to look over her shoulder.
“Move forward now, and don’t even think about causing a scene.”
Madison’s mind raced with possibilities as she stood on wobbly legs She had the clarity of mind to grab her purse as she made her way from the bench. Where does this guy want me to go? She walked rigidly in front of him, desperate to see his face. Would she recognize him?
Carsten’s voice, panicked and tiny from her phone now several feet behind them, filled the air around them. The man cursed and slapped the phone off the bench and onto the ground, stomping it with a booted foot. It was all she saw before the gun jammed back into her spine and her kidnapper instructed her to walk slow.
She didn’t want to upset him, but she also didn’t want to move too far from the public area. Maybe someone would notice her distress and help. She rubbed her damp palms down the front of her jeans and took a few more tentative steps.
Her captor had the gun pressed firmly against her ribcage, and he was walking closely beside her. To anyone in the crowd, they would look like couple just taking a stroll. She darted a sideways glance, hoping to catch a glimpse of his face. But he had a baseball cap pulled down low, and wore casual clothes. He looked just like any other person in the crowd. No recognizable features, nothing that stood out or screamed danger to anyone in passing. How was she going to get free? Was he going to kill her?
Madison gulped, fighting back fear. This was not the time to panic. She had to think clearly and find a way out of this mess. God, a little help this time!
Once away from the crowd at the bus station, the man grabbed her arm, and spun her to face him. She averted her gaze, afraid to look at him now that she could. “I don’t want to have to use this thing, but I will. We can make this easy or hard.”
She vaguely recognized the voice, but had no idea how or from where. Daring to look into his face, she noticed the whites of his eyes. Her adrenaline surged. This guy was either insane or plain nervous. He didn’t exactly seem like a real criminal.
But that gun sure looked real enough.
20
Madison winced against the shove that propelled her toward a car parked at a meter. She mentally noted
the make and model just before a blindfold was slipped over her eyes and she was shoved into the backseat.
“I’m sorry.”
Surprised, she jerked her head to the side as the door slammed closed after her. What kind of kidnapper apologized before pushing their captive into a getaway car? This man really must be crazy. Or maybe she was hearing things through the adrenaline that refused to stop coursing through her body.
What if he really was that insane? She shivered, fighting for a measure of control. Just as quickly, she remembered that Someone else already had it. God was still God. She needed to wait and do her part when the time came… assuming God gave her that opportunity. Was He watching? She could really use a reassuring sign right now.
Madison braced against the seat, heart pounding, as she another door clicked open and closed. An engine roared to life. “Lay down.” The voice snapped, but the tone held more nervous energy than agitation.
She obeyed, draping blindly over the seats, and licked her dry lips. Leather pressed into her cheek. A hymn suddenly blared from the radio, and for one delirious moment, Madison felt the urge to giggle. Was that her sign?
The radio shut off abruptly, and the gun’s safety clicked. She sobered fast.
“Don’t try anything stupid back there.”
Yes. She definitely knew that voice. Maybe if she could place it, she’d have a lead, or know how to work the situation to her advantage. The doors locked and the car peeled out, tires squealing.
Madison began to pray.
~*~
Carsten slammed his fist into the wall. The sheetrock crumbled, leaving a hole the size of his hand. He barely noticed the pain. He called the police and reported the emergency and then paced anxiously as he dialed his partner for back up. He needed to know who was the owner of that SUV from New York.
The phone rang, three times. Four. With each ringing repetition, the same fact cycled through his head.
He had failed. The events that had led him back into Madison’s life had at one point seemed orchestrated by God. But now she was in danger. Had he misinterpreted God’s agenda?
Midnight Angel Page 11