Brody (15 page)

Reaching
for his cell phone, he dialed Madilyn’s number and got her voicemail. He called
the shop but Kaitlyn told him Madilyn left two hours ago since she wanted to
pack more clothes. Brody swore. What did she think she was doing, going to her
apartment alone? Brody picked up his weapon and ran outside to his truck. He
drove like a lunatic to get to Madilyn’s apartment. He ran up the steps and
pounded on her door. There was no answer. He used the key she’d given him and
entered her apartment. It was eerily quiet.

“Madilyn,”
he shouted as he went from room to room. He entered her bedroom and sat on the
bed. Brody knew Delgado had her. Brody reached into his pocket for his cell
phone when he noticed a piece of paper on the nightstand beside the bed. He
leaned over and read it.

How does it feel to lose the
woman you love?

Brody
stared at the note until his eyes blurred. He called Sam.

“Delgado
has Maddie,” he said when Sam answered.

“How do
you know?”

While
Sam listened, Brody explained about the red rose and the note he found.

“Don’t
touch anything. I’m on my way,” Sam told him.

Brody
hung up but he knew there would be no evidence Delgado had been there. He was
too good at getting in and out no matter what the situation. Whether it be
taking something from someone or murder, he knew how to cover his tracks. He
was too smart and that scared Brody more than anything did.

 
A few minutes later, Sam arrived and
dusted for fingerprints.

 
“You won’t find any. He’s good,” Brody
told Sam.

Sam
glanced at him. “I still have to do it.” Sam straightened and narrowed his eyes
at Brody. “Why didn’t you tell me every damn detail, including the rose, which
you failed to mention?”

“I’d
forgotten about it until I saw it. You might want to dust for prints at my
place too.”

“Is the
rose still there?”

Brody
nodded. “I didn’t touch it. As soon as I saw it, I called Maddie. When she
didn’t answer, I called Katie then came here when Katie told me Maddie had left
two hours ago to pick up clothes. She wasn’t supposed to leave the shop without
me.” He paced. “Christ, Sam. That bastard will kill her just to torment me.”

“We’ll
find her. He’ll get in touch with you.”

“I
don’t think so. I think he’ll just kill her.” Brody ran his fingers through his
hair. “I have to find her. I can’t lose her again.”

Sam
nodded. “I’m sure he’ll call to tell you he has her if only to play with you.
We’ll put a tap on your phone but if he’s as smart as you say he is, he won’t
stay on there long enough to let us home in on him. But if he uses a cell phone
to call you, we can narrow his location down by the tower it pings off.”

“I just
hope he calls,” Brody muttered.

Sam
moved around to dust for fingerprints while Brody paced. Once Sam finished,
Brody drove to the ranch with Sam following him. They went inside the house and
Sam took pictures of the rose lying on the table. Then he began dusting for
fingerprints. He shook his head when he finished.

“I
don’t think we’re going to get anything. There’s nothing on the rose stem, or
petals, and the note is clean, too. You’re right, he’s smart.”

“He’ll
kill her, Sam, just to hurt me. He won’t do anything to me. He told Maddie
about this being payback. Although I didn’t kill Abby, he blames me that she’s
dead.”

“We’ll
do what we can to find her.” Sam sighed. “Too much shit going on in this little
town lately.”

“I
know. Maddie told me about Jake and
Becca
then Gabe
and Emma. What happened to the sleepy little town where nothing ever happened?”

Sam
shook his head. “I wish I knew. The only trouble back when we were younger was
us.”

Brody
smiled. “The bunch of us sure raised hell.” He sobered. “I have to find her,
Sam.”

“I
should notify MEPA, missing and endangered person advisory.”

“I’d
rather not notify anyone yet. Let’s see if he calls me first. If you notify
MEPA, the media gets involved. He’ll kill her for sure,” Brody told him.

Sam
shook his head. “You want me to break protocol on this? Do you realize how much
trouble I could get into? We’d both lose our jobs.”

“I know
and I’m sorry to ask you to do this but anyone else involved guarantees her
death,” Brody pleaded.

Sam
blew out a breath and nodded. “All right, but if we can’t find her in
forty-eight hours, I’m calling it in.”

“I’ll
go along with that.”

Sam
glared at him. “You sure as hell don’t have a choice, Brody. We will do this my
way or not at all.”

Brody
gave him a terse nod then went to the living room to sit and wait. The waiting
was going to kill him. He wanted to be out there, looking for her.
Saving her.
He sat forward and clasped his hands together.
Praying seemed to be the only option right now. Brody had never been much for
praying but he needed to pray now, for her safety and her return to him. His
jaw clenched as he thought of what Delgado would do to her.

* * *
*

Madilyn
slowly woke up and immediately knew she sat tied to a chair. The man stood
across the room from her, smiling. She narrowed her eyes at him. “Who are you?”

“You
know exactly who I am,
Miz
Young. I’m sure your lover
told you all about him and my wife having an affair.”

“My
lover?”
Madilyn frowned. She wouldn’t give this man anything.

He
snorted. “Come on,
Miz
Young. You know I’m not
stupid.
Far from it.
I’ve been watching you both for a
long time. Way before
I
even called you.” He moved
toward her. “You do know he was fucking my wife?”

“I have
no idea what you’re talking about.”

Delgado
burst out laughing. “You can tell me that all you want, but I know better.”

Comprehension
dawned. “You’re the guy who came to my apartment looking for Caroline, only
there wasn’t a Caroline, was there?”

“Give
the woman a prize. I saw Morgan leave your place, and I wanted to see what you
looked like so we could have this nice little chat.”

Madilyn
stared at him. He was an attractive man in an expensive suit. It was all a
façade. “We don’t have anything to talk about.”

“Oh but
we do,
Miz
Young. I want Morgan to know I’m going to
kill you, and you’re going to call him for me.”

Madilyn
shook her head. “No. I won’t do it. Brody didn’t know she was married.”

Delgado
laughed. “So, he did tell you. Is that what he told you?” He strode to her and
put his face close to hers. “You don’t look stupid to me, but yet you believed
his lies. He knew. Trust me.”

“I
trust you about as far as I can throw you. I trust Brody. He’d never lie to
me.”

“You’re
a fool. Tell me how a man sees a woman for six months but knows nothing about
her. He was a U S Marshal, I’m sure he looked into her background.”

Madilyn
shook her head. “If Brody told me he didn’t know then he didn’t know. I won’t
call him so you can get him here to kill him.”

Delgado
shook his head. “You won’t be here to see me kill him. You’ll be dead. I plan
on killing you in front of him so he’ll suffer because he loves you, just as I
suffered when my wife was killed.”

“Brody
didn’t kill your wife. You did,” Madilyn screamed at him.

“It was
because
of Morgan she was killed.
Same thing in my book.
If he hadn’t screwed around with her,
she’d still be alive. He should’ve broken it off when he found out she was
married.”

“He
didn’t know! Besides, did you ever stop to think she wasn’t happy with you?
That’s why she screwed around.” Madilyn knew by the muscle twitching in his
cheek, she’d overstepped her bounds. He straightened up and moved away from
her.

“I
should kill you right now for saying that.”

“Then
do it,” she shouted.

“You’re
going to call him first, and then while he listens, I’ll do it.”

“Not
happening, asshole."

“I have
your cell phone. I’ll call him myself.”

Madilyn
blinked tears away. She would not let this bastard scare her. Shaking her head,
she glared at him. He blew out a breath and turned from her. How could she get
out of this situation? Glancing around the room, she saw they were in a small
room with a kitchenette area, a bed, and a door leading to what she assumed was
the bathroom. She remembered
Becca
Stone telling her
she’d tried escaping through a bathroom window when a man obsessed with her
abducted her.
Becca
hadn’t gotten away, but Jake
rescued her.

“I have to use the bathroom,” she told him.
                                                              

“Fine
but you will leave the door open.” He moved toward her and untied her hands and
feet. Madilyn stood and after giving him a dirty look, entered the bathroom.
She saw him standing by the doorway.

“I
can’t go if you’re going to watch me.” She placed her hands on her hips and
narrowed her eyes at him.

“Then
you won’t go because I’m not moving.” He folded his arms and stared at her.

“At
least turn your back.”

Delgado
grumbled and turned around. Madilyn knew she had to act quickly. She slammed
the door shut and locked it and then moved to the window and pushed it open.
She could hear him kicking the door and it was starting to break. Madilyn got
out the window and dropped to the ground. Without hesitation, she ran through
the woods, screaming. She came out on a road and had no idea where she was.
Glancing around, she watched as cars whipped past her on the two-lane road.
When she spotted a police car, she ran toward it, waving her arms. Madilyn saw
the car pull down a side street and she ran toward it as fast as she could. As
she ran in front the woods, someone grabbed her, put their hand over her mouth,
and pulled her back into the woods. They spun her around and she gazed up into
Wilson Delgado’s angry face.

“Scream
and I’ll kill you right here. Do you understand?” he growled. Madilyn blinked
back tears of frustration and nodded. He pulled her along behind him and
entered the house. He pushed her toward the bed. “Sit down,” he shouted and
then paced in front of her. “The next time you pull a stunt like that, I will
kill you, and I’ll make sure I leave your body where Morgan can find it. I
don’t necessarily have to kill him.” He shrugged. “I just wanted to in case he
decides to try to find me but I’ll get away. I have a lot of connections, I can
disappear.”

“Brody
doesn’t care about me,” Madilyn told him.

Delgado
laughed. “You don’t expect me to believe that, do you? I’ve seen you together.
I know you’re staying with him.” He put his face close to hers. “I am not a
stupid man,
Miz
Young, so don’t treat me like one.”

Madilyn
stared up at him then glanced away. There was no way she could lie to him. He
was a very smart man. He’d
bided
his time and watched
her and Brody. Anyone seeing them together would know they were in love.
Delgado was no exception. When she sighed, Delgado laughed.

“As
long as we understand each other, we’ll get along just fine.”

“I have
no desire to get along with you. I hate you. You’re a murderer.”

“Me?
I’ve never, personally, killed anyone but you know what?
All
that’s about to change with you.
I’m going to take great pleasure in
killing you in front of Morgan. But as I said, pull this little stunt of
running again, and I won’t wait for my men to get him.” He pulled her up from
the bed and reached into his pocket to remove her cell phone. “I’ll just give
him a little call before we move on.”

Madilyn
watched as he scrolled through her phone. A grin came across his lips. He
turned the phone in her direction to show her Brody’s picture.

“Please
don’t do this. Kill me but leave Brody alone. You’re right, if you kill me, it
will hurt him more. Letting him live with only my memory will slowly kill him.
He loves me so much.”

“And
you love him. You wouldn’t be pleading for his life if you didn’t. You see, I
don’t care, though. I saw my wife murdered because of Morgan and I want him to
see your life end too. I want him to watch it happen. I had to wait for another
man to get here before I could do anything, since the other idiot got himself
arrested for drunk driving, but my two men will have Morgan and he’ll be
allowed to watch from a distance.”

“He’s
too smart to be taken by your men.” Madilyn glared up at him.

“He’s
not as smart as you seem to think. He let you out of his sight, didn’t he?”