“Did Maddie James ask you to lure the victim to Wichita Falls for her?” Nolan asked.
Ella laughed. “God, no,” she said.
“How did you know Bree Douglas then?” Suarez asked.
“My sister, Emma, was incarcerated at Sand Ridge. Emma pointed Bree out to me and said Bree was trying to recruit her into her prostitution ring. Tried the same thing with Maddie, according to my sister, but Maddie fought back. When Emma refused to join Bree’s group, Bree had her beaten up. Emma was never a fighter and eventually acquiesced, but hated being used that way. It drove her nuts and when she couldn’t take it anymore, she killed herself,” Ella explained. Tears dribbled down her cheeks, but she wiped them away quickly. “Emma was only thirty. Just got mixed up with the wrong crowd when she was younger,” she added. “And the prison officials wouldn’t do a damn thing about it!” Ella took a deep breath to calm herself, sitting there and staring blankly at the wall.
“Eight years later, when Maddie walked into my store, I knew she was a messenger from God, and I could finally avenge Emma’s death,” Ella said with a smile. “That’s when I sent the note telling Bree where Maddie was. I knew she wouldn’t be able to resist coming after the one who got away. And I was right,” she laughed. Her face looked as if she was re-living everything that had happened the night Bree Douglas lost her life, taken by someone she didn’t even know existed.
“Did Maddie James assist you in killing Bree Douglas?” Nolan pushed.
Ella shook her head. “She was out cold after one of Bree’s goons hit her. Bree told them to leave and said she’d finish Maddie off. Well, I couldn’t let that happen, so just as Bree was getting ready to sexually assault Maddie, I whacked her with a tire iron. Then I don’t really know what happened. I just went crazy and beat Bree to a pulp, but it felt damn good letting all that frustration and anger out. I thought she was dead, but she groaned, so I wrapped her in a tarp and rolled her onto one of those things they use to work under a car...”
“A mechanic’s creeper,” Suarez said.
“I guess,” Ella shrugged. “I grabbed something off a work table and put it in my coat pocket, then pushed Bree down a back alley and hid her body under a pile of debris, but not before I did to her what she’d forced on my sister. Probably got a little carried away, but I don’t regret any of it. She got what she deserved. I didn’t think it out too well though because I never meant for Maddie to get blamed for any of it. If she’d gone to trial, I’d have had to suck it up and come forward,” Ella apologized.
“Any other questions, Suarez,” Nolan asked.
“We didn’t find any of your prints anywhere,” Suarez said.
“I wore gloves,” Ella said. “I burned them when I got home. They couldn’t be salvaged. Unfortunate because I really liked them,” she frowned.
“Officer,” Nolan said. “Would you escort Miss Sandiford to booking? We’ll be down with the paperwork shortly.”
TWO DAYS LATER, Saul Orbach followed the jailer to Maddie’s cell.
“Get your shit together, James,” the jailer said as he unlocked the door of the cell.
“What the fuck are you talkin’ about?” Maddie snapped. “And what’s he doin’ here?” she asked, pointing at Orbach.
Orbach stepped around the jailer and said, “You’re being released, Maddie. You’re free. I came to escort you out and have the paperwork to prove it. So unless you’ve grown accustomed to this cell, let’s get out of here,” he smiled.
“Is this a trick or somethin’?” Maddie asked. “Am I gonna walk out of here and then get yanked back inside again?”
Orbach pulled a folded court order out of his pocket and handed it Maddie. She sat down on her cot and looked at the paper in front of her. “I don’t know what any of this means,” she finally admitted.
Orbach sat beside her and gently removed the paperwork from her hands. He flipped to the last page. “This is the most important part,” he said. “Someone else confessed to killing Sabreena Douglas; therefore, all charges against you were dropped. The judge authorized your immediate release.”
“Will this still be on my record?” Maddie frowned.
“No. Your record has been expunged...um...erased,” Orbach explained.
Maddie stood. “Then let’s get the hell outta here,” she said.
Dani stood next to Flo, anxiously waiting for Maddie to be released from the County Jail. Saul preceded Maddie, who stopped to sign for her personal belongings. Saul strode to where Dani waited and accepted a warm hug.
As soon as Maddie stepped away from the discharge counter, carrying a small paper bag, Dani noticed how much she’d changed since her release from the hospital nearly a month earlier. Maddie had lost a noticeable amount of weight and her clothes seemed to hang from her body. She needed a haircut, and her eyes seemed to have sunken into their sockets. Dark rings were evident beneath her eyes and she looked broken. A healing bruise marred one side of her face.
Maddie stopped to wait for an officer to unlock the gate between her and freedom before stepping out into a gray, overcast day. Flo wrapped her arms around Maddie and whispered, “Let’s go home, honey.”
Maddie nodded and made an attempt at a grin. Dani couldn’t stand not touching Maddie again, but she looked so frail and beaten down, that Dani was afraid she might hurt her. Maddie stepped closer to Dani and stopped. She raised a hand and trailed her fingers slowly down the side of Dani’s face. “Hi,” Maddie said.
Tears ran down Dani’s cheeks as she embraced Maddie and dropped a soft kiss on Maddie’s dry lips. “Hi,” Dani smiled. “I missed you so much.”
Dani slid an arm around Maddie’s waist and guided her toward her car.
Maddie slid into the passenger seat, but only sat stiffly, gazing out the side window as Dani got in and started the car. After about a mile, Dani couldn’t stand the silence any longer.
“Sal told me you believed I lied to you,” she said.
Maddie finally looked at her. “I did,” she acknowledged. “I’m sorry. Maybe it was the stress, the concussion, or somethin’.”
Dani slid her hand across the front seat and slipped it into Maddie’s. Maddie squeezed Dani’s fingers. “I thought you betrayed me,” she said. “Just like everyone else always did.”
“Why would you think that, Maddie?”
“Because my ass was sittin’ in a fuckin’ jail again and you were bein’ paid to make sure I stayed there,” Maddie answered. Her voice started softly, but seemed to grow tenser as she spoke, gripping Dani’s hand tighter.
“I would never do anything to hurt you, Maddie,” Dani said, ignoring the pressure on her fingers. “I don’t know exactly how or why others hurt you because you aren’t ready to tell me yet, but I’ve never lied to you. I’ve never betrayed your trust. I care about you though because you sacrificed your life for mine eleven years ago. Let me be your friend now and trust me.”
Maddie nodded. “What do we do now then?” she asked.
“Well, I’ve still got to bake all those damn cookies my mother was complaining about. Will you come to my place this weekend and help? Perhaps we can talk then, too.”
“I can do that,” Maddie smiled.
Chapter Thirteen
MADDIE RANG THE doorbell, expecting to see Dani’s mother again. When the door opened, she was surprised to see Dani, an apron covering her jeans and T-shirt. There were smudges of flour on Dani’s face and hands. Maddie grinned, finding the scene before her unexpectedly sweet and incredibly sexy.
“Looks like you started without me,” Maddie said, stepping inside the small duplex apartment. She looked around and saw the Christmas tree, loaded with a plethora of multi-colored ornaments reflecting the lights embedded in the branches. “I thought having the tree up would inspire us while we made the cookies,” Dani explained nervously. She seemed mildly uncomfortable being alone with Maddie for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.
Maddie
took a step closer and began removing her jacket. “Where’s your mother?” she asked with a crooked half smile.
“Visiting my aunt for the weekend,” Dani answered with a laugh. “She’ll do anything to avoid baking cookies.”
“What will I do if you decide to take advantage of me...since it’s just you...and me?” Maddie teased, stroking her hand slowly down Dani’s arm.
Dani turned away quickly and said, “I made coffee.” She walked into the kitchen and poured steaming coffee into two mugs, adding cream and sugar before sliding one in front of Maddie.
Maddie took a small sip and asked, looking at Dani over the rim of the mug, “Well, what should we do first?”
“I was thinking...hoping really...that you might consider...perhaps...uh...kissing me,” Dani stuttered as she played with her mug without looking at Maddie. “I know I must look a mess, and you might not be interested, but—”
“Is that what all lawyers do? Talk somethin’ simple to death?” Maddie interrupted as she moved closer to Dani and brought her hand up to play with her hair for a moment before slipping it to the back of her neck. She smiled when she saw the vein along the side of Dani’s neck begin pulsing wildly. She raised her hand to brush a smudge of flour from Dani’s cheek before running a finger down the throbbing vein. “Do I make you nervous?” Maddie asked softly.
“Very,” Dani muttered when Maddie began teasing her ear, outlining it with her tongue.
“Why?” Maddie whispered, moving her mouth lower to suck lightly at the vein below Dani’s ear.
“I...I don’t know...ooo... that’s so...nice,” Dani said, tilting her head slightly. Her hands gripped Maddie’s waist as Maddie moved closer and pressed her thigh against the vee of Dani’s crotch. When Dani’s legs parted slightly, Maddie slid her lips over Dani’s, stirred by the heat her tongue felt as it glided smoothly into her mouth to explore. Dani groaned as she sucked Maddie’s tongue farther into her mouth and deepened the kiss. When the kiss ended, Dani rested her forehead against Maddie’s and smiled.
“What...cookies...were you plannin’ to make first?” Maddie’s voice cracked. There was something different, calmer, about the way Dani was looking at her.
“Touch me,” Dani breathed out slowly, her fingertips outlining Maddie’s jawline.
Maddie blinked, watching the woman in front of her transform from a frightened sixteen-year-old into a grown woman who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to ask for it. Maddie’s eyes drifted down Dani’s lush body for a moment. When she looked into Dani’s eyes again, she opened her mouth to speak, but her mouth was dry. She finally managed to swallow and ask, “Here?”
Dani moved away a step and pulled her apron over her head. She tossed it on the counter and took Maddie’s hand, leading her down a short hallway. She opened a door and backed into a dark room. “Here,” she said, pulling her sweater over her head.
Maddie could barely see in the darkness with only the light from the front room filtering in. But it was enough to see the fullness of Dani’s breasts. They were glorious and she ached to feel their weight in her hands. She watched them sway gently as Dani bent over to push her jeans down her legs. Dani smiled and walked toward Maddie, pausing to kiss her again, slowly and deeply. “Your turn,” she said. “I want to see you now.”
When Maddie made no move to remove her clothing, Dani pulled her shirt from her jeans, unbuttoned it, and pushed it down her arms, stopping to kiss the skin just above her cotton sports bra, teasing the nipples pushing against the material. She smiled when she straightened up and looked into Maddie’s eyes. “Nervous?” she asked.
Maddie grabbed Dani and pulled her into a hungry kiss, running her mouth down her neck as her hands found Dani’s breasts, squeezing the pliant skin gently. “You’re killin’ me, baby,” Maddie said, pressing her hands in the middle of Dani’s back and taking a breast into her mouth, teasing it with the flat of her tongue. “I’m so hungry for you,” she said, walking them toward the bed.
Dani reached for Maddie’s jeans, but before she could lower the zipper, Maddie grabbed her hand and leaned over her until they were both lying on the bed with Maddie on top. “I need to... touch you,” Dani groaned. “Please, Maddie...let me...,” she started before Maddie’s fingers stroking between her legs prevented her from speaking coherently. “Oh, yes, baby...right there...feels so good.” She attempted to twist away when Maddie slid down on the bed, her mouth replacing her hand.
Dani’s body began to buck when Maddie’s tongue pressed into her. Dani covered her face with her hands. “Oh, God...I can’t stand it...almost there...you’re so good.” Maddie slipped smoothly into her, sucking hard on Dani’s engorged clit while her hand thrust in and out of the tight muscles clasping her fingers. She looked up at Dani, breathing heavily, “Let it go, baby. I gotcha. I’m ready to go off, too. Just let it go.”
Dani pumped her hips and forced Maddie deeper. Maddie felt Dani’s muscles clamp down on her fingers, followed by a wave of heat flowing over them. The feeling overpowered Maddie and she reached a hand between her own legs and worked her fingers quickly up and down her throbbing clit. Without removing her fingers from Dani’s body, she drew her knee up and jerked into a powerful release that left her weak, barely strong enough to crawl up to cradle Dani in her arms. Dani rolled onto her side and buried her face against Maddie’s neck. Her hand brushed lazily down Maddie’s chest and abdomen, her fingertips sliding onto Maddie’s pubis before Maddie stopped it and said, “Don’t.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want it. I don’t like it,” Maddie said.
“Well, I love it when you touch me,” Dani said, hugging Maddie tightly. “You have no idea what you’re missing.”
But Maddie did remember. Not long after she came out, she and a teenaged friend, Jenny Farrell, had been playing around and became unexpectedly intimate. Although, they were young, inexperienced, and clumsy, she remembered how wonderful Jenny’s soft touch made her feel and her body’s reaction.
As if reading her mind, Dani asked, “When was the last time you let anyone touch you intimately?”
“Long time ago,” Maddie answered.
“Do you remember how it made you feel?”
“Yes,” Maddie answered quietly, but now she refused to trust anyone, even Dani. She sat up and leaned back against the headboard. Dani draped her arm over Maddie’s waist and snuggled against her. Her hand skimmed down Maddie’s side and stopped when she found a rough raised area not far from Maddie’s breast. She sat up and pulled Maddie over to look at a jagged scar.
“Where did you get that?” she asked, running a finger down the scar’s length.
“Got shanked in prison after a disagreement,” Maddie answered dully. She closed her eyes and remembered getting shoved on the rec yard, falling, and feeling the smothering weight on her body as everyone around her dog-piled on top of her. Before Aggie and the guards could break it up, Maddie lay at the bottom of the pile, with a homemade shank protruding from between her ribs, bleeding profusely, and unable to draw a full breath. No one was ever accused of the stabbing, but Maddie was certain that Bree ordered it done to warn everyone what happened when they didn’t go along.
“I’m sorry,” Dani muttered softly before leaning over and dropping kisses along the thick, raised scar tissue.
“You didn’t stab me, so you’ve got nothin’ to be sorry for,” Maddie said.
“I don’t like the idea of anyone hurting you,” Dani murmured between kisses.
“Eventually everyone does, even if they don’t mean to,” Maddie said, pulling Dani’s hair back and kissing her neck. “Can we talk about somethin’ else, or maybe not talk at all?” she asked.
Dani sat up and smiled. “Do you have something in mind?”
Maddie nodded and pulled Dani up to straddle her hips. She drew Dani against her and sucked her breast into her mouth, biting the nipple lightly, releasing it to shift her mouth to its neglected twin.
Dani threw her head back and arched her back as Maddie’s mouth claimed her. She held Maddie’s head tightly against her breast and moaned. “Oh, God, I’ve waited so long for you.”
When Maddie responded by sucking harder and sliding a hand between their bodies to stroke through Dani’s slick folds, Dani whimpered, “Oh, yes, baby. I’m yours.” Her hips began slowly rotating against Maddie’s hand and she brought her mouth to Maddie’s, enveloping her in a devouring kiss, pressing her pelvis against Maddie’s seeking contact.
“No!” Maddie said harshly, breaking the kiss abruptly and pushing Dani away. She quickly sat up, breathing heavily. “I can’t. I’m sorry,” she mumbled as she buried her face in her hands, reflexively fisting her fingers in her hair.
Dani sat up behind Maddie and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “You can trust me, sweetie. I won’t hurt you...ever. I love you,” she whispered.
“I’ve heard that before,” Maddie laughed humorously. “But it was always a lie. I was just somethin’ that needed to be controlled until I was no longer a real woman, but a thing to be controlled and used.”
Dani circled her hand across Maddie’s back to soothe her. “Please trust me, baby,” she whispered. She had an idea what Maddie had been through with Shay, Courtney, and Bree, two of whom had claimed to love her. “Let me show you how you should have always been loved. I know you remember how it should have been. Let me give that feeling back to you. Don’t be afraid, darling. Please let me love you.”
“I can’t,” Maddie snapped, whipping her head around to glare at Dani, tears running down her cheeks. “What part of that can’t you fuckin’ understand?”
While Dani continued to lightly run her hand over Maddie’s back and sides, gazing at her calmly. Maddie avoided her eyes and wiped her tears away. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I should go.”
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