Chapter Fifteen

Isaac

Beth was up my ass as soon as I walked into the office Monday morning. “You tell her yet?” she asked.

Damn, she nipped at my ankles like a small dog wanting attention as I made my way to my private office. “No,” I admitted, but didn’t want to indulge her on why.

“Isaac, you have to; things are going too far,” she insisted.

I knew that, I wasn’t an idiot, but I loved this woman with all my heart. “I can’t risk her getting hurt,” I snapped, moving towards my safe.

“You don’t think you lying to her all this time is going to hurt her?” she persuaded.

“I don’t trust this guy, Beth. He’s a bad man, and with the nightmares Maddie’s had, there’s no way I can allow her to run back to him,” I snarled.

Beth sat down in the chair facing my desk. She crossed her long legs, tapped her knee with perfectly manicured red nails, and pursed her lips into a pucker. “How are things going between you two?” she asked.

“They are going great actually,” I smiled, pulling Maddie’s phone from the safe.

“Has he called anymore?” she asked, motioning to the Motorola in my hand.

A green light flashed at the top of the phone, so I slid my thumb across the screen to see what message was waiting. My stomach churned as I noticed four more missed calls from Rob, and several texts begging for her to come back. “This guy isn’t going to leave her alone,” I sighed, sitting in my tall leather chair.

“What’s he saying?” Beth asked.

I handed her the phone and let her read the texts herself. Her nose crinkled as she stared at the screen, and then looked up at me. “Yes, he’s good,” she sighed, handing the phone back to me.

I clicked on the voicemails and let them play. His voice was sincere and filled with worry. “Baby, I know you wouldn’t just take off like this; please let me know you’re okay. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat. I just really need to hear your voice,” Rob pleaded on the phone.

“You think she wouldn’t buy into this?” I asked sarcastically.

Beth shook her head. “I always fell for it,” she admitted.

“Then you agree, I can’t tell her,” I growled.

“I didn’t say that. Maybe if you helped her remember on her own how bad this man is,” she suggested.

“She’s already remembering. Yesterday at breakfast, she had several breakthroughs remembering us as kids,” I sighed.

Yeah, she remembered. Fuck. Our time together is already shrinking.

Beth seemed excited about the memories, but I wasn’t so sure they were a good thing. I loved that she was remembering us, but that meant soon she’d remember him, and that there was no us at all.

“I booked us a flight to Portland for after Christmas,” I blurted.

Beth stared at me with her dark eyes, her lips still pursed together, and her chin shifting from side to side. “That’s a good plan,” she said with little confidence.

“Yeah, until she walks into her apartment and sees all the pictures of her and Rob,” I whined.

My head was spinning as I pictured the look of confusion on Maddie’s face when she realized we weren’t a couple and that I’d lied to her.

“Maybe she’ll remember how he hurt her once she sees his face,” Beth encouraged.

Maddie’s phone vibrated across my desk. I picked it up, seeing it was another call from Rob. “What am I going to do about this?” I asked, holding the phone up so Beth could see the name of the caller.

Her eyes widened and her head shook as she stared at me with dark eyes. “See if he left a voicemail,” she suggested after the ringing stopped for a minute.

I hit voicemail, and of course, he’d left another one. “Maddie, or whoever the fuck this is, I need someone to answer me. Your landlord said some man was paying your rent; where the hell are you, and who is this man? Are you safe? Please tell me you’re safe, or I’m coming to find you, and whoever this is that’s holding you against your will,” Rob’s voice threatened through the phone.

His threats made me uneasy, mainly because I knew if the cops got involved, I’d be thrown in jail. “I can’t let him find her,” I told Beth.

“You can’t let him find her, or you,” she stated.

I knew that was a true statement.

“What do I do?” I asked.

Beth reached up from her seat and snatched the phone from my hand. “There’s only one way to handle this guy,” she said, opening the text box.

“I’ll send him a text from Maddie,” she added.

I walked behind her so I could see what she typed.

Maddie: Rob, leave me alone, I am safe.

Rob: Where are you?

Maddie: With friends.

Rob: Who? Is this even Maddie?

Maddie: Rob, please, leave me alone. I don’t want to talk to you or see you.

Rob: Who’s paying your rent, and why aren’t you paying it yourself?

Maddie: That’s none of your business.

Rob: If this is really Maddie, tell me where we met.

“Do you know where they met?” Beth asked me.

My heart raced, realizing it wasn’t going to be easy to get rid of this man. I shut my eyes, trying hard to remember all the comments and posts that Maddie had on her Facebook. “Dori’s Ice Cream Parlor!” I exclaimed.

Maddie: Dori’s Ice Cream Parlor.

Beth looked relieved as she sent the text. “That should prove to him that it’s her, she sighed.

Rob: This isn’t Maddie. I’m coming to find you!

I took the phone from Beth and turned it off before putting it back into my safe. “Do you think he can find her?” Beth asked.

“I don’t know,” I sighed.

I didn’t know. Anything was possible. Fuck. That was my job, to find people who didn’t want to be found, and to expose secrets that had been so skillfully hidden. There were lots of guys like me in the field, and if he found a good one, then yeah, Maddie would be found, and so would I.

“I can’t tell her now,” I groaned.

“No, you can’t,” Beth agreed.

My phone started ringing, reminding me that I had a job to do. Beth left my office, and I answered. It was Paul Gallo, one of my highest profile clients. He used to be in the mob, when the mob was cool, and now retired. He spent his days at a swanky country club next to the pool. He went through women like crazy, all way too young for him, and all out to get their hands on his fortune. He used me to find out the dirt on them before he got too close. So far, he hadn’t been able to get too close to anyone, but this one he was really hoping was different. “She’s older,” he said proudly on the other end of my phone. His usual girlfriends were always in their early to mid-twenties. “She’s thirty-three,” he added, almost causing me to choke on the laughter I swallowed.

He went on to tell me that he had a big New Year’s planned for her, a ring that he’d offer to her to become his wife, but before that, he needed to be sure she was the one. I hesitated, knowing that I promised to take Maddie to Portland right after Christmas. I knew that Beth could handle the case without my help, but I also knew it might be a great excuse for me to postpone the trip. “I’ll handle it,” I agreed.

I called Beth into my office and explained that Mr. Gallo needed surveillance on his new love interest. “It must be done before New Year’s,” I sighed with a fake exhaustion.

“I can handle it, so it shouldn’t interrupt your plans with Maddie,” she offered eagerly.

“He can be a tricky client. He likes having me on call,” I argued.

“You’re trying to get out of this trip, aren’t you?” she smirked.

She knew me too well. I fought back my grin and swallowed the lump in my throat, the one I got when I lied. “He’s a huge client,” I explained.

“Understandable, but this is Maddie’s life we’re talking about. You can’t keep putting her recovery on hold,” she lectured. “The longer you do, it seems more likely that you only worried about your own feelings, not hers,” she added with a stiff frown following her statement.

“Okay. Here’s the file. You can work on it this week, but if things become overwhelming, or Mr. Gallo so much as scoffs at the fact you’re working the case and not me, I’m postponing the trip,” I insisted.

“Fair enough. So, that frees up your day tomorrow; why don’t you take Maddie to do something fun?” she suggested.

“She used to love antiquing; at least she did when we were in high school. There is a huge antique flea market shop not far from here, and a new beach to experience,” I smiled.

Yes, I liked that idea. I’d take Maddie to do something fun and create new memories for her, for us.

“Have you decided what to get her for Christmas?” Beth asked.

I leaned back into my chair, the leather squeaking as I adjusted my hips. I pulled my arms over my head, crossed them, and intertwined my fingers as I thought about her question. I hadn’t thought about what to get Maddie for Christmas. It would be our first real Christmas together, and, most likely, our last. I knew it had to be something sentimental, something that would show I knew her, truly knew her. But the truth was, I didn’t really know much about her since she graduated college. It would have to be something from her past, something that would help her to connect back to who she was, but not trigger her memories of who she’d become.

“I’ll think of something,” I smiled.