by Dana Mentink
Madison shook her head. “I’m not hurt.”
“It would be good to have a doctor check you out. Sometimes injuries don’t show up right away.”
“I want to stay.”
Godwin spoke slowly. “That isn’t a good idea. It could take a while to...” Her voice quivered, just once, before she took a breath and continued. “It’s not a great idea for you to stay here. How about if I take you to your cabin? I’ll have someone stay with you.”
“No.” If James was dead, if God had ended his life so abruptly, she wanted to see their friendship through to the end, to finish together a relationship that had changed her in some intangible way. Tears burned but did not fall. She would stay.
Godwin’s eyes searched Madison’s face and must have read something there, because she sighed and nodded. She was reaching for her radio when a shout drew their attention. Madison couldn’t make out exactly what was being said, but the searcher’s excitement was unmistakable. Frenzied activity threw puffs of dirt into the air as the men and women scrabbled like wild dogs in the rubble. Madison’s nerves caught flame. They hadn’t found a body. They’d found someone very much alive.
She leaped to her feet so quickly her head swam.
“Stay here,” Godwin said, jogging over to the gathered cops.
Madison wasn’t about to stay anywhere until she knew for sure. She raced over in time to see them pull a grime-covered body from the wreck.
“He was in the void below the trailer, under the axles,” Shane yelled. “There was a crawl space down there, only about eighteen inches, but it was enough. He’s alive.”
Alive.
The word echoed through her.
Alive? She was afraid to believe it.
Alive, but would he stay that way?
She could not see past the rescuers’ shoulders as they worked on him, two paramedics running forward with a stretcher. Another team was assisting Jennings.
Hawk finally succeeded in breaking free from the man holding him. He bounded forward, barreling past Madison. “No, Hawk,” she hollered.
The dog paid no heed.
She raced to catch hold of his leash, but Hawk plowed through the circle of cops, knocking them aside, and dove right on top of James.
There was a scramble and cry as everyone tried to heave the dog off James.
Madison did her part, also, finally succeeding in snatching up the end of the leash. As she did so, she heard a groan. Was it James? She looked at his face, covered with grime, blood oozing on his cheekbone, a trail of dog slobber on his chin. His eyes were still closed.
His lips moved. “We’ve got to revisit that ‘sit, stay’ thing,” he groaned.
Madison joined in the relieved laughter, and then she stepped back and let the rescuers to do their jobs.
* * *
Officer Godwin gave her a ride to the hospital—Madison in the front, Godwin’s pointer, who answered to the name of Hunter, in the back. They’d given Hawk over to another cop Madison didn’t know. She saw a small photo of a sweet-faced little girl stuck in the driver’s sun visor.
“Your daughter?”
Officer Godwin smiled. “Yes, Shelby. Having her picture there reminds me of what my priorities are.”
And what were Madison’s priorities? Her mind still whirled. A few hours ago they had been to ditch James, get the story and hightail it out of Desert Valley. Now she found her emotions were ricocheting around in such confusion, she could not string a decent thought together. She’d believed James dead. Then, in a blink, he’d been returned to her life and her heart.
Just go see for yourself that he’s okay. Then you’ll be able to keep moving. That had been her solace since her father was arrested: keep moving, keep doing, run forward without letting any attachments form. No one to trust, no one to let her down.
She pictured the necklace James had given her.
I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
What would it be like to let go of her past and take a new way into the future? Was that what God wanted from her? A path that included someone to walk by her side into a phase of her life that was not clouded by what her father had done?
She closed her eyes against a sudden throbbing in her head and tried to focus on her breathing for the rest of the trip. It occurred to her that she was grimy, dusty and scratched all over, but she could not put much energy into complaining about it. She was alive and so was James, and those two enormous blessings were enough for now. Add Jennings pulling through, and it would be blessings times three.
They arrived at the hospital, and Madison joined in the throng of people waiting for word on James. Chief Jones was there, Shane Weston, Ken Bucks, Dennis Marlton and others. Part of the time was spent answering questions Shane put to her about the accident.
What had she seen? Only a forklift barreling at them, no clear view of the driver. What did she know? That Albert Jennings was being threatened by someone—possibly Myron Falkner making him pay protection money—and Jennings finally had enough?
Officer Marlton quirked an eyebrow at that.
“Frances is being coerced, too, at the bridal shop, though she won’t admit it,” Madison insisted.
“And you’ve got proof of this?”
“Isn’t the fact that someone is constantly trying to kill me enough proof for you?”
He looked as though he was trying to tamp down a smile. “You don’t think maybe you’ve collected some enemies along the way?”
“Funny.” Madison had only one question for Marlton. “Did you find the forklift driver?”
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“What are you doing to locate him?” She waved a hand. “Never mind. I know you’re not at liberty to tell me.”
Not yet. Working on it. Official police business. She was getting heartily sick of hearing those words. She wandered down to the end of the hallway to get a drink of water from the fountain. The elevator doors opened, and she was surprised when her sister Kate stepped out with Sterling Harrison.
Kate took one look at Madison and embraced her in tight hug.
Madison hugged her back, clutching her close. Sterling regarded her with outright hostility.
“It’s your fault, isn’t it?” he snapped. “What happened to my brother?”
She gently pushed Kate away.
“A forklift dumped a load of beams on the trailer I was in. I certainly didn’t cause that accident.”
Sterling’s nostrils flared. “Tell me one thing. Was my brother in that trailer because he was helping you?”
No, she wanted to say. No, no. What happened to James could not be laid on her conscience. She’d not invited him into her life, her heart. I didn’t ask for his help, and I don’t want it. Her silence answered for her.
“That’s what I thought,” he said. “Do us all a favor and leave Desert Valley.”
Kate straightened. “Madison’s here doing her job. Your brother was doing his, too.”
Madison thrilled at her sister’s support.
Kate put her hand on Sterling’s arm. “Go see how James is doing,” she said more gently. “I’ll come in a minute, okay?”
Sterling looked at her, his gaze gentling, too. Then he nodded and strode off.
Was something developing between those two? Madison wondered.
“Thank you for standing up for me,” Madison said.
Kate whirled on her. “I don’t know why I did. You’re my sister and I love you, but he’s right. You attract this trouble, and it’s almost gotten you killed, and now it almost got Sterling’s brother killed.”
“I...”
“No, no more excuses. You’ve got to stop prying into things. I mean it. I can’t stand this anymore. I want a normal sister, not
an investigative hound.”
“I’m not a normal sister,” Madison said. “How could I be? After what we lived through, after what Dad did to us?”
Kate’s face went flat and cold. “Uncle Ray sent our father to jail.”
“He killed our mother, Kate,” she snapped. “He’s a murderer.”
“Maybe you two are wrong about Dad.” Madison hated the desperation in Kate’s eyes. “He might have made a mistake. I never knew our mom, but I lived with Dad. I loved him. There was no way he would ever have done something like that.”
“The evidence...”
“Don’t talk to me about evidence or truth or justice,” Kate spat. “I didn’t want any of that. I wanted a father, and you took that away from me.” Tears crowded her eyes. Pink infused her cheeks. She looked so young then, so very young.
Madison reached out a hand, but Kate backed away.
“You know he did it,” Madison whispered. “The DNA and fingerprints from the crime scene. It’s the truth, and you can’t pretend it isn’t.”
“Why not?” Her voice grew savage. “Wouldn’t I have been happier in my life oblivious to those facts? We were happy for many years until the truth came out. What if I had never known the truth? Never known what he did?”
Oh, Kate, Madison thought. “Then you’d be living a lie.”
“A lie, but I wouldn’t be alone,” she murmured, sagging suddenly as if all the anger had drained out of her.
Madison seized her hands. “You’re not alone. We have each other.”
Kate gripped Madison’s fingers, her hands icy cold. “Then stop doing this reporter thing. Stop it, right now, before I really am alone. Do you hear me?”
“I have to finish.”
“No, you don’t.” With each word, she crushed Madison’s fingers in her own. “Walk away from the story. You don’t need to dig up the truth for everyone. You’ve already done enough of that for a lifetime. Put our relationship first. Walk away, Mads. Please.”
Kate pivoted on her heel then and joined Sterling, who stood in front of James’s room. He gave her a shy smile.
The doctor came out, and Madison heard his report. James had suffered bruised ribs, a sprained ankle and abrasions, but nothing more. There was a cheer from the cops waiting in the hall. Sterling closed his eyes in relief.
James’s parents hustled out of the elevator and rushed by without seeing Madison. They embraced their son and hurried into James’s room.
Madison saw the swell of people, the intimate conversations, the shared joy. She felt very much alone, but she was used to that.
Joining in meant there would be hurt, disappointment—betrayal, even.
She’d salved that lonely hole inside with her work, elevating it into some kind of moral imperative. Kate’s words struck at her. “Walk away from the story. You don’t need to dig up the truth for everyone... Put our relationship first. Walk away.”
If she did walk away from the story, she’d be turning her back on her job and James, too, and what would be left for her? An empty apartment with mismatched furniture and a view of a parking lot? A town being quietly terrorized because victims were too afraid to speak the truth, much as her mother must have been? Surely those things were not what God wanted for her, for Desert Valley?
God, what do You want? The need to hear from Him throbbed through her.
Why was it so hard to know which way He wanted her to go?
Again she watched the gathering in the hallway, the crush of noise, the music of connection. Longing, fear, duty and past hurt all rolled around inside her until she felt as if she would go to pieces.
Though she desperately craved a moment to see James, to prove to herself that he was all right, she would not intrude on that happy throng. She’d always chosen a different path, a solitary life broken only by the tap of her fingers on the keyboard, a life that did not heal her brokenness but didn’t add to her storehouse of hurts, either. After a deep breath, she made her way down the deserted cement stairs and out the clinic doors.
* * *
“Where’s Madison?” was James’s first question. “And Hawk?” was his second. His mother clasped his hand in a death grip, his father’s arm around her waist. Her face was ashen, but there were no tears, and for that he was grateful. He never wanted her to cry because of him, ever again.
“Madison is fine,” Sterling said. “A lot better off than you. I talked to her in the hallway.”
The throbbing in James’s temples increased. “You talked to her, or yelled at her?”
Sterling did not back down. “She’s the reason you’re in here, brother, or didn’t you notice?”
“No she’s not.”
His dad shook his head. “Not the time for this, boys.”
“No better time,” Sterling said. “James could have been crushed.”
“Sterling,” his mother said, “Madison was almost killed, too, along with the lumberyard owner.”
“Don’t defend her,” Sterling snapped. “You know what she is.”
She raised her chin. “She’s a woman who has just been through a terrible experience, just like your brother, and I thank God that they’re both alive. I know she’s a reporter, but that doesn’t mean she deserves your ill will, and I won’t have you talk like that.”
James watched his father. How much forgiveness was he willing to extend to a reporter?
“As I said, this isn’t the time.” He rubbed a hand over the loose flesh of his stubbled cheeks. “Your mother is upset enough already, Sterling. This isn’t about you and your past. It’s about James. Your mom and I have been talking and praying about it. It’s wrong for us to paint all reporters with the same brush, and we’ve allowed this hard-heartedness to go on too long in our own lives and yours, too.”
James felt a stab of surprise. He’d never heard his parents speak in that way about the past.
Sterling fisted his hands on his hips. “That’s not how you felt when they were busy cutting me into pieces, accusing me of rape.”
“That was a different person,” his mom said, “not Madison Coles. Honey, I know the past hurt you a lot, hurt all of us, but we can’t let it ruin us now.”
“We are ruined,” Sterling said bitterly. “We lost the ranch.”
His mother bit her lip. “And I miss it every day. So does your father, but that was just a piece of land. Let’s make sure we don’t lose any more.” She took Sterling’s hand, too.
Sterling colored, looking down. “I’m sorry, Mom, but Kate tells me Madison finds trouble wherever she goes.”
“Kate?” James asked, raising an eyebrow.
He shrugged. “I told you—I met her at the café when she was job hunting. I bought her a cup of coffee. We’ve gotten together a few times. I didn’t know who she was related to until the day of the bridal-salon attack.”
James’s mind spun. Sterling’s gaze softened when he spoke of Kate. He could not seriously be interested in her. From the few facts he’d gleaned, Kate had bounced from one disastrous relationship to the next. For his part, Sterling never dated a woman more than a few times. He needed a good, stable relationship. And his brother, interested in Madison’s sister? That had trouble written all over it.
Sterling must have noted the silence. “We’re not an item or anything.”
Good to know. “Where’s Hawk?”
“With Dennis Marlton,” Shane said, sticking his head into the room. “He said he’ll stay at the condo for a few days with Hawk until you’re better.”
“Hawk will run him ragged,” James said, struggling up on the bed. “That dog will decide he’s the boss and ruin the place. I’ve got to get out of here.”
“No,” his mother said firmly. “They’re going to do a complete exam, and you’re staying until they give you the thumbs-
up.”
Shane shrugged. “Can’t argue with a guy’s mom. Besides, Chief said the same thing. So I guess I’m gonna have to find someone to sub for you at our basketball game tonight, preferably someone who can make free throws better than you.”
Then who was going to watch Madison?
Shane read his thoughts. “We’ll take shifts keeping watch on Ms. Coles until you’re discharged or she leaves Desert Valley, whichever comes first.”
He remembered the overwhelming joy he’d felt at finding her alive in that trailer. She wouldn’t leave, walk away with the story unfinished. Somehow he had to get out of that hospital and find out who was behind the protection racket, if there really was one.
Solve the crime.
Keep Madison Coles safe.
He shot a look at Sterling, who was walking to meet a shy Kate, peeping through the door.
And keep my brother away from Kate Coles.
Eleven
James badgered and pestered and generally made a nuisance of himself to anyone in the proximity until he was finally released Monday evening.
“It’s against my better judgment,” said the exasperated doctor while James buttoned up his tattered shirt.
“Duly noted. Thanks for the help. I’ll have a follow-up appointment at the clinic, I promise. Appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” he said over his shoulder.
He was burning to talk to Madison. She had not answered his calls or texts, though Shane said she was “quiet and in place” in her cabin and hadn’t left. “Quiet and in place” seemed uncharacteristic, and it worried him. Plus, he’d already gotten a string of emails from Marlton about what to do with a cantankerous bloodhound. The last had been ominous: Going to have to replace a few things.
He was in the Crown Victoria and pulling up at the condo within forty-five minutes.
Marlton greeted him on his knees, where he was engaged in a vigorous wrestling match with Hawk over his work boot. They both cut their eyes to him, and Hawk let go of the boot so suddenly, the portly cop went sprawling on his back. James painfully crouched down and accepted a thorough tongue swabbing from the frantic Hawk.