“Well, look at you,” Mildred told her with a look in her eyes that Madison had seen all too many times, the look of someone who knew something was different. “I’ll call the others to come into the board room, so you can sign the papers.”
“Fine,” She smiled, making her way towards the board room to wait on the others. She tried not to giggle but she knew how Mildred was and it wouldn’t take her long to realize something was new about her.
When Bob and Tim came in along with Mildred, they began to sign the papers. It was something simple and quick or so she thought, but when she pushed over the paper back to Bob after she signed it, Mildred shouted out, “Oh my God, you got engaged!” She quickly took her hand, ogling at the diamond on her dainty hand. Giving her a hug, the rest of the guys came over to look as well.
“When did you get engaged and to who,” Bob asked.
“Last night and to Austin, the man I showed you who sent me that photo album a while back. He proposed to me during dinner, actually it was during dessert, he had the ring in a box made of chocolate on a silver platter. It was so romantic and beautiful, I wasn’t expecting him to do it, but he sure did surprise me.”
“So when is the date?” Tim asked giving her a hug.
“That I don’t know, but of course, I’ll let you guys know. I couldn’t let you out of something as important as this in my life. You’ve been with me throughout everything I’ve done and vice versa with all of you.”
“You know we have to make this a big announcement in the office now,” Tim told her as she laughed a bit when he pulled her out of the room. “Everyone, attention please, we have a huge announcement to make here!” Pulling Madison next to him as most of the office stood up to look. “We need to say congrats to our Madison who we just found out this morning got engaged last night.”
Squeals and claps came from the secretaries as Madison got hugs and praises from everyone who seemed happy to see she was finally with someone who cared for her as well.
After all the fanfare from work, Madison was heading to her house to get those extra clothes when she noticed a number pop up on the screen that she hadn’t seen before. Despite the fact that she used to just let the voice mail get numbers she didn’t know, Madison decided to answer. “Hello?”
“Hi Madison, this is Paul.”
Biting her lower lip for a moment, she took a long deep breath to keep her from hyperventilating. “Hi Paul, how are you? I wasn’t expecting a call from you.”
“I’m doing just fine. I’m sorry to be calling you like this but I was hoping to meet you at the house. I thought that I’d gotten everything of mine but it seems that I forgot some papers I thought I had them on my computer, but they weren’t there. I just wanted to pop in and pop back out after I got them.”
“Sure, I’m headed back to the house right now. Would you meet me there in about ten minutes?”
“Actually, I’m already here. I’ll just wait for you to come.”
“See you then.” Hanging up, Madison looked to her right before going into the next lane to get onto the highway. All she wanted to do was get her clothes and head on back to Austin.
When she pulled into the driveway, Paul’s car was parked along the curb.
He waved at her as he made his way towards her wearing a blue short sleeved shirt and jeans. “Hi, thanks for letting me get my papers.” He told her with a wayward smile as she began to put her keys into the door.
Madison nodded at him as she began to open the door. When she walked in, a very sharp pain suddenly hit her in the back of the head, and then an even sharper pain pounded on her forehead. Eventually, everything went black.
Madison didn’t know what was going on. It took her forever to wake up and her head felt like it had been split wide open. Even her face hurt, especially her lip which when she tried to lick the side of it with her tongue, she tasted blood. She looked up and saw Paul standing in front of her with a look that could kill.
He twirled her engagement ring between his fingers and sighed. “I see that you were able to move on. You are the fucking lucky one. You just couldn’t wait to get rid of me so you could get with another man and a white man too! My God, you were always a vindictive bitch you know that Madison?” He slapped her in the face.
The sting went through her skin and into her jaw causing her to wince and groan in pain. “Why are you doing this? What have I done to you Paul? You were the one who did so much to me during our marriage and I never did a thing to you at all.”
He stooped down to meet her eye to eye and smirked at her. “What have you done? Well, let’s see, as soon as I got my divorce from you, I ended up losing my job at the firm. It seems one of your nosy ass coworkers went and told someone at my job about my little ‘affair’ with that woman I was with that night you found me. Even though I still have some of my old clients, I have been dealing with trying to make it out on my own but of course, once again, thanks to you and your blabber mouth coworkers spreading gossip about me to other people, I have yet to get myself settled back into the game!”
She couldn’t believe this was happening and she honestly couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You are blaming me for that? I had nothing to do with you failing. I haven’t even paid much attention to you since you left this house. I am sorry that your life has turned out the way it has. But don’t you dare go and put the blame game on me for it, because you brought all of this on yourself!”
With that statement, he back handed her face causing her head to go back hard, making her scream from the pain as she blacked out once again.
This time, Madison didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious but when she did wake up it was dark. She was bound, gagged and put into a closet. Her mind kept racing and wondered how she was going to get out of this mess alive. She knew now that he would do something crazy or he would more than likely kill her in her own home. Now, she completely regretted letting her guard down. She should have known better than to let this happen but honestly, she never thought it would. Why in the hell had he snapped like this? She never knew he was violent. He never showed this in all the years they’d been together. He blamed her for the turn in his life. He definitely was sick.
Now, the humming of the furnace could be heard as the burning smell of the heater came through the vent in the floor of the closet. Usually, it was closed because for the life of her, she never knew why there was a vent in a closet but the house was old and therefore, she kept it as it was.
She tried to not gag on the fabric that had been tied tightly around her mouth by pushing it away from the back of her throat with her tongue. But the more she tried, the worse it seemed to get. Maneuvering herself around to where her feet would be up against the door, she began banging on it hard, trying her best to break it down. Soon, the bottom of her feet and heels began to hurt. Madison felt tired and the heat was starting to make her head throb again.
Back at the Collins home, Austin was continuingly calling Madison’s cell and home phone but every time he did, it went straight to voice mail. This was strange because she said she would call when she got there and let him know when she was on her way back.
“Still getting the voice mail?” Candace asked.
Austin nodded as he paced the living room.
“This is not like her to not answer our calls. Plus, she knows that you guys are supposed to be going on that trip.
“Did you call her office?” Jonathan mentioned.
“Yeah, but Mildred said she’d left a while back headed back to her place to go on the trip,” Austin replied.
“Maybe she went home and then had to go someplace else to get something for the trip, probably left her phone in the car?” Jonathan suggested.
Candace shook her head. “If I know Mad, she keeps that phone with her twenty four seven. It’s like she has it attached to the hip. Wait a minute. I have Debbie’s number, that’s her neighbor. I’ll call her to see if she’s been by there.” Grabbing her cell phone, she scro
lled through it and found Debbie’s number then clicked it to dial. “Hello, can I speak to Debbie please?”
“This is Debbie. May I ask who this is?”
“Hi Debbie, this is Candace Collins, I’m Madison’s sister. I was wondering if you could see if Madison’s car is over at her place right now. We’ve been trying to call and call her and no one is responding. We’re getting a bit worried about her.”
“I will look and see…”
Candace glanced over at the guys. “She’s checking.”
“Actually, her car is here and another car too, a red BMW,” she said while peeking out the window in her kitchen.
“Are you talking about Mrs. Wilson, mom?” her son asked in the back ground.
“Yeah, I’m talking to her sister.”
“We saw Mr. Wilson.”
“Just a minute, Candace, I’m going to put this on speaker phone.”
“Okay, I will too,” Candace replied.
Austin and Jonathan stepped closer to hear.
“Umm hey, I’m Ronnie and we saw Mister Wilson pull up in that red car and he looked really weird. We went to say hello to him. He seemed very jumpy and he looked all sweaty, even though it wasn’t even hot out today.”
“It looked like he was hopped up on something,” another voice interjected over the speaker. “I’m, Ronnie’s friend.”
“How do you know he was hopped up, Charlie?” Debbie asked.
“My brother used to be on drugs and I used to see how he looked and he looked something like how that guy did. But when Mrs. Wilson pulled up, he got out of the car really quick and we went on with our game. Then Jimmy said before he left to go home that he saw that guy push…no, it wasn’t push, he hit, yeah he hit the lady with something and pushed her inside.”
“WHAT!” both women yelled.
“Are you sure?” Debbie asked.
“I’m positive ma’am, that’s what he told me but I thought he was crazy because he’s always making up stories, so we went back to our game. We didn’t see it happen.”
“I’m calling the police Candace,” Debbie sounded upset. “I suggest you come down here right away.”
Candace looked over at Austin and Jonathan.
Austin looked like he wanted to kill someone then he ran out through the front door to his car.
Jonathan fisted his hands at his sides.
“Jonathan, please take the kids over to Maryanne’s, tell her to watch them for us for a few while we are gone. I’ve got to call Patrick and let him know what’s going on. I think he’s in California right now. We got to go now!”
Madison was finding it harder and harder to swallow much less to remain awake. Trying her best to hold her head up, she didn’t even have enough energy to do that but mustered enough to prop herself up against the wall. Pounding and thumping startled her as she started to cry and moan, all along she wondered to herself why this was happening to her. She couldn’t believe her ‘torture’ was from a man who was vindictive and soulless inside. Someone who was resentful of the fact that she had moved on, that she had found love as his rants made words from a blistered tongue of hate.
“I hear the police a coming,” he said. “They are going to be in for a big surprise when they come to the door.”
She wondered what he meant as it soon got silent until the doorbell rang.
“Who is it?” Paul shouted.
“This is the police, we have—”
And that was all that the officer was able to say when Madison heard a boom from a gun as it echoed throughout the house and into her small prison. Her muffled screams could only be heard by her and her alone while gunfire continued with round after round of shots. Then there was silence as she listened for something…anything but she heard nothing at all.
Why is this happening to me?
When Austin, Candace, and Jonathan pulled into the neighborhood, the street was flooded with police cars and fire trucks.
When they stopped, Austin’s mind and heart were racing as he jumped out of the car, making their way through the crowd of people that had already gathered.
They were stopped by a couple of cops before they could advance any further. “I’m sorry but you cannot go any further.”
Austin kept trying his best to go past him and another cop. “We have to find out about my fiancée, she’s in that house!”
Another officer came over to the group. “I overheard that you know the woman in the house.”
“Yes, she’s my sister and that’s her fiancée and this is my husband,” Candace replied.
The officer let them come through while he took them over to one of the patrol cars. “I’m Sergeant Williams. We got a call from her neighbor telling us about what could have been a disturbance at this home. Two of our officers came to see what was going on and both got shot. One is in the hospital and the other was killed at the front door, instantly.”
Candace cried in horror as Jonathan held her.
Austin stood there with his head in his hands, in complete disbelief over what he was hearing.
“Do you know what’s going on in there? Is my sister alright in there?”
“Honestly ma’am, we don’t know where she could be in the house or whether she’s alright or not. The only person we have been able to see is the ex-husband. We have S.W.A.T as well as a negotiator on their way. Just stay back here and out of the way in case something might happen.”
Candace didn’t want to leave nor did Austin but it was Jonathan who pulled them back. “He’s right, you guys. Let’s just go back here and get out of the way in case they start firing or something.”
It took about forty five minutes before both S.W.A.T and the negotiator came—those forty five minutes seemed like hours for Candace and Austin. Both had been pacing around with worry for at least word of what was going on.
Sergeant Williams came over to the group. “We have the negotiator fixing to get ready to make the call to talk with Mr. Wilson, I’ll be back.”
The phone rang and Paul answered, “What do you want?”
“This is Lieutenant Ricky Johnson. I am calling to see about trying to figure as to how we can come to some sort of compromise with getting Madison out of there safe as well as yourself. Also, I need make sure that she is alright.”
“I figured that SWAT would be calling soon. Oh, you want to know if the bitch is fine. Let me get her so that you can find out for yourself.”
All that could be heard was tussling and a woman’s gasp.
“Now tell the fucking SWAT that you’re all right.”
“Hello, this is Madison,” she said with a dry rasping.
“Madison, I want you to remain calm as you can and just answer yes or no to the questions I will ask you real quick. Does he still have the gun?”
“Why yes, I’m fine,” she stated.
“Has he hurt you? Are you in pain?”
“Yes, yes we’re both fine, just waiting that’s all.”
Paul took the phone from her.
There was a slapping sound as she screamed.
“Now you know how she’s doing. If you guys try anything funny, I swear to God something will happen to this place and her as well!”
With that—the phone went dead.
“Well, how is she doing?” Candace asked the Sergeant.
“She’s in pain, we believe he’s been rough with her, but at least she’s alive. We can continue talking some more. I’ll try and call him back in half an hour.”
Then minutes turned into hours as the standoff raged on into the night. Talks continued back and forth with Paul and S.W.A.T but he just wouldn’t cooperate with anyone. It was taking a toll on everyone outside as Candace and the guys were welcomed to stay at one of the neighbor’s house since they had no plans to leave.
“Yes, I know. Nothing has changed but they did say that they heard from her.” Candace was on the phone with Patrick as she watched Angela, the neighbor giving Austin a cup of coffee. “How long do you think i
t will take for you to get here? Well, whenever you can, just come because this is just as nerve wracking as when I had the twins. Oh, no they’re at our neighbor’s house. I called her and told her what was going on and that they should just spend the night. No we are staying right here, I doubt we’ll be able to get any sleep. Just call me when you get off the plane. Love you.” Hanging up, Candace rubbed the back of her neck.
The doorbell echoed throughout the house and Angela’s husband Harold answered it. It was a reporter from one of the local news. “Hello, my name is Janice McMillian, I am a reporter with Fox 27 and I was hoping to talk with Mrs. Candace Collins for a moment if she can.”
“What do you want with Mrs. Collins? She’s already had a trying day,” Harold replied.
“I thought that maybe she would like to talk about how she might be feeling throughout all of this, maybe try and convince your ex brother in law to let her go. Sometimes, when the family tries to talk with the hostage taker, then the outcome is better.
Candace came over to the door, looking at the reporter, with Austin right behind her. “I don’t think I’m in the right frame of mind to get on television to talk.”
“I’ll do it,” Austin offered.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“I’m Austin Collins, my fiancée is in there, and I don’t mind trying to do something.”
“Great, if you want, we can have the interview here on the steps or inside.”
“You can use our dining room, that way there can be a bit more privacy,” Harold suggested.
The reporter along with a cameraman came inside and they followed behind him towards the dining room.
Austin glanced over at Candace who was still looked bewildered by what was going on. “Don’t worry, I’ll do my best and be direct.” Giving her a hug, he walked towards the dining room as the cameraman began to set up his camera.
“You can just sit right here Mr. Collins and just try and relax. I will make sure that we keep this quick and direct.”
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