Chapter 26
Zach
Charlotte tried to call Madison again, but there still wasn’t any answer. I paced back and forth in the apartment, looking down at the street every few seconds. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but what if something was happening to her? What if Lee had snapped? He had already hurt her once. I don’t know why she would have gone there by herself. I looked at Charlotte, who was staring down at her phone.
“Did she mention going anywhere else?” I asked, trying to calm my own nerves, as well as Charlotte’s. “Like, maybe she is on the subway. There is rarely service in the tunnels.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I offered to go with her, but she thought it would just make things worse. She said she was just going to grab her things and carry them back up here. We were supposed to go grab dinner afterward. She was starving, and you know how she is when she’s starving. She’s going to hurry to get to the food.”
“That’s it,” I said, grabbing my jacket off the chair. “I’m just going to go over there and make sure everything is okay.”
“Wait,” Charlotte said, putting up her hand and answering her phone. “Oh my God, Madison. We have been so worried. I… Madison?”
“What is it?”
Charlotte sat with a confused look on her face, listening to her phone. She pulled it away from her ear and pressed the speaker button. I stood close, straining to hear. There was a lot of ruffling around, and then things got quiet. That’s when we heard it, Madison’s terrified voice.
“Lee, you don’t need to do this,” she said, sounding desperate. “Just let me leave. I just came for my stuff.”
“You know what’s funny? Every day you came into the gallery, acting like you were just so in love with art, but in reality, you just wanted the fame. I never pegged you as a fame kind of girl, but then again, I never pegged you as a gold digger, either.”
Lee sounded eerily calm, and we listened in closer. My fists clenched as he called her a gold digger. It was obvious that after all these years, he didn’t know her at all. The sounds were muffled, her voice and then his going in and out. When it came back, Charlotte held it up closer, her hands shaking.
“Please,” she muttered, sounding like she was crying. “Just let me go.”
“I’ve always thought you were so sexy,” he said. “I could tell you liked being close to me by how you never jerked away when I brushed up against you.”
Then, without warning, a loud bang came through the speaker, and the line went dead. I looked up at Charlotte, whose face was riddled with terror. I turned and ran for the door, flinging it open and taking off down the steps. I could hear Charlotte running after me, and I stopped at the sidewalk and turned back to her. The car wasn’t there. The driver had to circle the block to avoid blocking traffic. No matter. The gallery was only three blocks away anyway.
“Call the police,” I said, looking at Charlotte. She nodded her head and dialed the phone, taking off running down the street behind me.
The wind blew across my scruffy beard, and I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this sense of urgency. At the same time, I could never remember a time I felt this much fear in the pit of my stomach. Madison was in trouble, and I had no idea what I would find when I got to the gallery.
My feet moved quickly beneath me, and I darted out into the street, dodging between moving vehicles. I turned the corner and made my way down the block, seeing the lights of the gallery illuminating the street in front of the building. As I approached, I slowed down, putting my arm out to Charlotte. I crept to the edge of the window and peered around the corner. I didn’t see anyone inside. As I reached for the front door handle, I heard a scream and instantly realized it was Madison. I tugged hard against the door, but Lee had locked it.
I turned to Charlotte in panic and looked around us. The trash cans were all bolted to the ground and the only other thing was the postal box. I slammed my hands against my sides angrily, needing something to use to break the glass. Breathing heavily, I looked down in front of the store three doors down and noticed it was under construction. I took off toward the building and grabbed a large cinder block from in front, lugging it quickly back to the store front.
“Stand back,” I shouted at Charlotte, who moved quickly to the side and covered her face.
I leaned back and heaved the cinderblock through the clear glass doors, watching it shatter into pieces on the ground. Instantly, the alarm began to sound, and I climbed through the doorframe and took off down the hall. I could see Lee holding Madison against the back door, his arm pressed against her chest and his mouth inches from hers. I grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him off, whirling him into the wall.
He lunged forward at me, and I ducked down, grabbing him by his soft, round waist. Madison covered her mouth and cried out as we tumbled to the floor, wrestling for control. I rolled over on top of him and reared back, punching him in the mouth. Immediately, he stopped struggling and pulled his hand up to his bloody face. I stood up and rolled him on his stomach, keeping my foot firmly placed on his back.
Charlotte ran past me and grabbed onto Madison, hugging her tightly. Tears immediately filled her eyes, and she sobbed into Charlotte’s shoulder. The three of us turned and put our hands in the air as several police officers entered, their guns drawn. I moved back away from Lee and wrapped my arms around the girls as the cops pulled Lee’s arms behind his back and handcuffed him. As they pulled him to his feet, he looked up at us, smiling a big bloody grin and chuckling. It was obvious that he had completely lost his mind. I couldn’t even begin to think what he would have done to Madison had we not shown up when we did. The cops dragged him to the front of the gallery, and Madison let go of Charlotte, throwing her arms around me and burying her face in my chest.
The officers led us all into the meeting room at the other end of the hall, and I wrapped my arms around Madison as we walked. She had a large, red bruise developing across her cheek, and I could see the imprint of Lee’s arm against her chest. I was so angry I could barely stand it, and I instantly regretted not beating the ever-loving shit out of him while I had the chance. They took Madison’s statement first, and I clasped my hands in my lap, listening angrily at what he had done and said to her while she was here. Just the thought of his fat arms and fingers touching her face made me want to throw up.
After they had asked her about a million questions, the medics came in to check her wounds. I stood close beside her as she flinched at their every touch. Luckily, they said nothing was broken, but she would have a pretty nasty bruise on her face for a couple of weeks. I was glad that there was nothing more serious, though just looking at her bruised cheek enraged me. After Charlotte, they took my statement which was identical to Charlotte’s but included how I threw the cinder block through the window and tackled Lee, punching him in the face to subdue him. The police found no fault in any of our actions, and when the medics were done with Madison, Charlotte and I walked her out to the sidewalk and back toward the house. She leaned into me as we rambled along, my arm tightly around her shoulders. She grabbed my hand and held it firmly, her body still trembling from the traumatic event.
I pulled my jacket off and stopped, draping it over her shoulders and rubbing her arms to try to warm her up and calm her down. She looked up at me with tired eyes and took in a deep breath, fighting back her tears. I leaned in as she whispered, her throat hoarse from screaming.
“I don’t want to be alone,” she said. “Can I stay with you tonight?”
“Of course,” I said without thought, pulling her into my body. I looked up at Charlotte who smiled and rubbed Madison’s back. We walked Charlotte back to the house, and I got Madison inside the limo and comfortable.
“Thank you,” Charlotte said, looking at me with appreciation. “I don’t know what would have happened if you weren’t here. I told you that you were good for her.”
I leaned in and hugged Charlotte tightly. “You going to be okay?”
“Of course,” she said, blowing off the concern. “Take care of her, and call me if you need anything.”
“We will,” I said, opening the limo door and sliding inside.
I wrapped my arm around Madison and pulled her in close, feeling her head against my chest. She had stopped shaking but was very quiet. I nodded to the driver, and he pulled off slowly, heading toward Manhattan. As we drove, the lights from the city reflected through the car, brightening the moment a bit. Madison sat up and sighed, hugging her bruised cheek with her hand. I reached up to move her hair from her forehead. She flinched and closed her eyes, reminding me that she just went through something really traumatic. She opened one eye and scrunched up her nose.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Don’t be sorry,” I replied. “It’s all very fresh. It’s going to take some time to get past all of this. But I’m here for you, whatever you need. You just let me know, and I will take care of it.”
She cracked a forced smile and looked out the window on my side. The lights glimmered, and the people moved through the streets. Everything kind of felt like it had been a very bad dream, and now, I was trying to wake up from it. If I felt that way, I could only imagine what was going on inside of Madison’s head. I wanted so badly to take that from her, to make her feel better on the inside, but I knew I couldn’t. It was an incredibly helpless feeling to have, and I hated it. At that moment, the only thing I could do was be there for her, whether she wanted to sit quietly, talk, or cry. Part of me knew that if I hadn’t done what I did, she might not be in this situation in the first place, but at the same time, with a man like Lee, I assumed that it was bound to happen eventually. I was just glad that when it did, I was there to save her from him.
As we turned through the streets of Manhattan, making our way to the penthouse, Madison leaned back in the seat, rubbing her hand over my thigh. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as she opened the sun roof. The passing street lamps overhead made a disco effect of shadows in the car. I put my hand over the top of hers and squeezed it hard, looking at her beautiful face. There was nothing in the world I wouldn’t do for this girl, and I hoped that tonight showed her how sorry I was and how much I really cared.