Chapter Nine
"What should we do with the other one?" the man who had dragged Scarlett down the stairs asked Madoc.
"Barnes? Toss him into the ocean. Give the sharks a little snack."
Max. Scarlett whimpered, hating the thought of him being tossed away like so much garbage. He was kind and gentle, he deserved so much better than to be shot down like a dog and fed to sharks. But that was what was happening, and it was all her fault.
Don't be silly. There was no way you could have known any of this was going to happen, a voice whispered in the back of her mind, but it was cold comfort. The fact was that she knew Madoc had been after her, and Max had got in the way. If it wasn't for her, he would not be dead.
"Are those tears, Kitty Cat?" Madoc peered at her and laughed aloud. "Those are tears! Imagine that, you're actually crying for him. What's the matter, did you fall in love with your mark? Or are you crying because you won't be able to steal anything from him now?"
"I was not scamming him," Scarlett said. For some reason, it was really important that Madoc understood that. "He was a good, kind man and—"
"Spare me." Madoc held up his hand and rolled his eyes. "If I wanted to hear a woman's whining, I would have brought my wife along with me."
Minutes later the men came back down the stairs, lugging Max's body with them. Scarlett couldn't stop another cry. Her legs gave out and she collapsed to the floor. Max's face was white, his eyes glassy. Up until this moment, she had been hoping against hope that somehow he had survived the onslaught, that he would heal…
But he was dead. And she would be dead soon enough. It might have been comforting if it didn't mean their child would also die.
Madoc strode past her, towards the man who was directing the others who were carrying Max's body. Scarlett watched him, pure hatred filling her chest. She yanked at the ties that held her bound, slicing them into her skin as she attempted to free herself. Madoc would die. She had never killed before, but right now what she wanted more than anything else was to see him dead on the floor, for his blood to coat her hands and to see the life leave his body.
"How many rooms are up there?" Madoc didn't bother to lower his voice.
"Two."
Madoc turned back towards Scarlett, a cruel smile twisting his mouth. Scarlett shrank back, her anger freezing into cold dread. His meaning was clear. Bile rose and she choked it down–maybe if she waited until the right moment to vomit he wouldn't…
Her legs were weak, muscles utterly limp and useless when Madoc returned to her, grabbing her arm. She knew she should fight, that now would be the time to vomit all over him, but it was as if her body had shut down. She couldn’t do anything but let him drag her with him. It was like she was seeing the scene from outside of her body, emotions flooding through her at such a pace she thought she might black out.
"I don't want to be disturbed," Madoc said, tugging Scarlett towards the stairs.
The lead man stiffened, his eyes flickering briefly to Scarlett's face. "Sir, I don't think—"
"I don't pay you to think. I pay you to follow my orders. I am not to be disturbed, understood?"
The man hesitated, then nodded.
Scarlett wanted to plead with him to stop Madoc, but her tongue was glued to the roof of her mouth. Blackness swirled around the edges of her vision. She didn't know where she was or what was happening until Madoc spoke again.
"You have caused me a lot of trouble, Kitty Cat," he purred, pushing her into the first bedroom. It was the one she and Max had been sleeping in. The sight of blood on the sheets made her whimper. Madoc snorted and spun her around, pushing her towards the second room. "I had a hell of a time explaining to the police why I couldn't be involved in the deaths of the two people in my safe."
"How did you know it was me who told them about it?" Maybe if she kept him talking…
"You left behind one of your ridiculous news articles. A family of five being evicted after the father lost his leg in a workplace accident." Madoc snorted again.
By this time they were in the second bedroom. The zip ties were cutting into Scarlett's wrists and she focused on the pain, trying to clear her mind.
"I assure you, though, I have been cooperating with the police and they've found somebody they can lock up for it. It's a shame, he was a good gardener… but I'm not going to face charges. Not for that. Not for this."
He threw her face-down onto the bed. Once again the black swirled. All Scarlet could think to do was scream and so she did, loudly, her voice piercing her own eardrums. Madoc cursed and yanked her back up, slapping her soundly across the face. The bruises already there stung.
"Shut up!" he shouted. "You're only making it worse for yourself."
She screamed louder.
"Shut up or I'll cut you up before I kill you."
Scarlett's voice died of its own accord. She stared into Madoc's eyes and saw no humanity in them. He pushed her backward. Her bound wrists were crushed beneath her and her eyes locked on his, unable to look away.
"By the look of it, you're pregnant." Madoc's hand rested on her belly and he smiled. "I like pregnant women the best."
Darkness closed over her vision, the sweet relief of unawareness.
It didn't last.
A howling rang in her ears. The noise was half-human, half animal. Something was familiar about it. It came again, punctuated by a bout of gunfire and the frightened cries of men. Scarlett blinked, the room coming into focus again. Madoc's hand was on her stomach. He was looking over his shoulder, a curse on his lips. She was very aware of the fact that her dress was still in place.
The howl came again. It was a gorilla's howl. Max's howl.
Max was alive.
"Max!" Scarlett screamed. "Max!"
"Shut up!" Madoc grabbed her arm, yanking her to her feet again.
Scarlett tried to yank herself free, spitting in his face. Madoc bellowed, slapping her again. He threw her back onto the bed and reached under her skirt—
Footsteps pounded the stairs. A man appeared, wild-eyed and pale with fear. He opened his mouth, and then a gorilla was on him. Thick arms wrapped around his neck and squeezed. Madoc cursed and backed away, his eyes going wide. He scrambled with his gun, which was still in its holster. Scarlett kicked his hand. The gun skittered across the floor.
Max tossed the dead man aside, advancing on Madoc. His eyes burned with hatred, lips turned back to reveal his canines. Blood dripped from his chest onto the floor but he didn't seem to notice.
"Max," Scarlett whispered.
The gorilla leaped forward, beating his chest. Madoc shouted, and then he was down, screaming as fists pounded his chest and face. Scarlett watched, dispassionate, as bone splintered, as the man became nothing more than a bloody corpse. Perhaps it was all the horrors of the day crashing down on her, but she didn't feel a thing. Not pity, not anger, not even satisfaction. She was just a numb shell.
Eventually, Max stopped beating the body, moving back and panting. His form shifted so slowly that Scarlett could see each hair retreat back into his skin until he was human again.
"Scarlett." He ran to her, gathering her into his arms.
"You've been shot."
"I'll be fine," Max grunted. "I'm tougher than I look."
He kissed her forehead and left her briefly to retrieve a knife, then cut her bonds. Her wrists had been sliced up by the ties and were bloody, but Scarlett didn't think about that. She stared at the two dead bodies, trying not to think about how close she had come to…
"Are you all right?" Max cupped her face.
"Fine." She tied her broken strap with trembling hands. "He didn't have a chance to… What are we going to do now? The police—"
"I'll have my friends clean up," Max interrupted. "Nobody will know what happened here. Nobody."
"My face."
Max stared at her for a moment before understanding dawned in his eyes. He touched the bruises lightly, gently, as though by touch alone he could heal them. His expression crumpled and he pulled her into his arms.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Scarlett clung to him, still in shock. "No, I am. They came for me."
"You?"
"I found the bodies of two of Madoc's victims in his safe. This was about revenge. I should have told you—"
"Shhh. It's over. You're safe now. I won't let anything happen to you."
Scarlett shivered, her mind churning with all the thoughts that had been frozen before. "We'll tell the media that I was in a kickboxing class and my partner became a little too enthusiastic. Or maybe that a jealous ex-lover attacked me."
She was still numb.
Bizarre, she thought. I should be a total wreck right now.
But as Max held her tighter, the numb feeling that filled her was pushed aside by relief. It was over. She was safe in her lover's arms, and he would ever allow anything to happen to her. She closed her eyes and clung to him like he was a life raft on a stormy sea.