CHAPTER SEVEN
OLIVER
It probably went without saying that Madison had heard about Lauren. Probably came across her name while she was working on her show. Maybe she couldn't recall, but more than likely, her name was one listed in the notebooks she kept on her cases. Some of which had apparently gone missing.
I assumed that, given her injuries and the trauma she'd endured, her memory was still pretty sketchy about a lot of things. But, it seemed to be coming back in blips and blurbs. I didn't want to press the issue with her right then though. We were both exhausted and there didn't seem to be a point in rehashing it all tonight, at least. I figured it would be more productive if I tried to jog her memory tomorrow. After we'd both gotten some rest and were mentally all there again.
Her breathing grew steady and relaxed as I stroked her hair and she flirted with the edge of sleep. Years ago, I'd have loved nothing more than to fuck her like I just had. Now that I had, though, I found myself wondering if it had been a good idea. Yes, it had been a year since I'd lost Lauren, but my feelings were still all over the place. Even more alarming to me was the fact that as I lay there next to her, stroking her hair, and listening to her gentle breathing, I found myself falling for this woman all over again.
Which was the last thing I needed.
Her head grew heavier against my chest and her breathing became steadier as she drifted off to sleep. I was used to having some sort of white noise to help me sleep. Lacking my usual gadgets, I focused on her breathing to keep myself from heading into the abyss of darkness and despair that often came when I closed my eyes.
However, having her next to me, feeling her body pressed to mine, made it easier. Made it a lot easier, actually. I closed my eyes, feeling a profound sense of peace and almost immediately felt myself drifting off when a sound disrupted my restfulness. I couldn't place it, though, so I waited. My eyes snapped open and, looking around, I held my breath, waiting for the noise to repeat itself.
When I heard nothing else, I figured that I was being paranoid. Figured that it was a noise natural enough to a hotel and I just wasn't used to it. I usually didn't sleep well outside of my own home – for reasons just like that. Every noise became sinister, and danger lurked in every shadow. It was a stupid fear I'd had as a kid and one that followed me, to a lesser extent, to adulthood. I let out a breath and allowed myself to start to drift off again.
And then I heard it again.
I opened my eyes wide and looked around the room. Slowly, I started to get up, gently moving Madison's head onto the pillow next to me so I could sit up.
Her eyes still closed, her voice thick with sleep, she mumbled, “What's wrong?”
I pressed my fingers to her mouth to silence her, which made her eyes grow wide and an expression of alarm cross her face as she came fully awake. There was a look of fear in her eyes that couldn't be missed and her body began to tremble as she seemed instinctively to know the potential danger we were in.
The noise sounded once more, and we both heard it that time. It took me a minute to figure out what it was and then it hit me – the doorknob was rattling. Someone was trying to get into Madison's room. She clung to me, her body shaking, and terror etched onto her beautiful face. Thankfully though, she bit her bottom lip and remained quiet.
Madison looked up at me, her eyes wide and scared, and I knew I had to do something. Anything. It was my duty to protect her and I was going to goddamn do that. I was not about to let anybody hurt her. I took a deep, steadying breath as I sat there in the darkness, listening to the doorknob rattle.
I tried to calm myself, tried to clear my head. Maybe I was freaking out over nothing – a misunderstanding, perhaps. Maybe it was a drunk guest at the wrong room. That happened more often than you'd think. Or, it could be something more sinister. Something more dangerous.
I slipped from the bed quietly, Madison gripping my arm. I had to slide loose from her grip, which wasn't easy. She fought to keep her grip on me, begging with her large, scared eyes to stay with her. To not leave her. Someone had to see what was going on, though.
“I'm just going to check this out,” I whispered into her ear. “Go into the bathroom and lock the door behind you.”
“I'm scared,” she whispered back.
“It's probably just some drunk,” I said. “Doesn't realize it's the wrong room.”
“Could be somebody here to kill me.”
I turned toward the doorway as the sound of the knob clicking caught my attention. There was a loud ping and a click – it sounded like someone had broken the knob. My gaze flew toward the deadbolt at the top of the door and my eyes widened slightly when I saw it wasn't locked. Dammit. How could I have been so careless? How could I have let my guard down that much? With so much at stake?
Now wasn't the time for self-recriminations. I'd have time for that later. Right now, I had only a second to get to the door before it opened. If the person on the other side of the door happened to have a gun or some other sort of weapon, things were about to get hairy.
Not having a weapon handy, I leaned forward and pressed my weight against the door, trying to keep it closed long enough so I could flip the deadbolt before the intruder got through. Luck was not on my side, as the knob turned before I could engage the deadbolt. Leaning against the door, I felt the person outside tried to push it open.
Instead of it opening, however, he felt my weight against the other side of the door. He pushed harder, but I held my ground. The door opened a crack and I stared out at him, only seeing a pair of brown eyes peeking out at me from behind a scarf. His head was covered with a hoodie, so all I saw were his eyes – and he saw mine. The intruder's eyes widened with surprise, but then narrowed with anger a moment later. Clearly, I'd spoiled his plans for the evening.
“Not who you were expecting, huh?” I growled.
The man turned and took off down the hall. I grabbed my boxers and shouted to Madison, “Call 9-1-1. I'll be back. Lock the deadbolt on the door and—”
“No, stay here,” she said, emerging from the bathroom and grabbing onto me. “It's not safe. Don't leave me here alone, Oliver. Please, I'm begging you.”
“The cops won't get here in time,” I said. “I have to.”
I pulled away from her and rushed into the hallway, looking around and seeing nothing. I growled and ran to the bank of elevators and slapped the buttons, cursing when I saw that the car was on the first floor. We were on the twelfth. Fuck. No time.
The stairwell was nearby and I ran to the door, flinging it open as I rushed into it. When the crash of the door hitting the wall behind it echoed away into nothing, I was plunged into utter silence. No footsteps. Nothing. My guy was clearly not in the stairwell.
I stood there for a moment, cursing under my breath when I realized I'd left Madison alone. Even with the deadbolt on the door engaged, she was exposed. I had a choice to make. Continue on, hoping to catch the guy, or risk more harm coming to Madison because I'd left her alone and unprotected.
It wasn't really a difficult choice to make. I turned and hurried back through the door to the stairwell and down to Madison's room. I banged on the door, calling her name, letting her know it was me. Madison quickly unbolted the door for me, throwing her body against mine, wrapping me up in a tight hug the moment I stepped through the doorway.
I held her in my arms for several long moments, feeling her body shudder as she cried on my shoulder. She was five foot six, but at that moment, she felt so tiny and small. So fragile and delicate. Stroking her hair, I kept whispering into her ear, trying to calm her down.
“You're okay, Madison,” I said prematurely. You're okay.”
“He knew I was here,” she sobbed. “He found me. He can find me anywhere. How in the hell could he have known I was here, Oliver?”
“I don't know. But I'm not going to leave you,” I said, holding her sweet, tear-stained face in my hands and forcing her to look at me. “No one is going to hurt you as long as I'm alive. Got it? No one.”
She nodded, so much trust in her sweet eyes. She believed me. She trusted me.
Just like Lauren had.
Seeing that trust sent a ripple of fear through my gut and sent a spike of fear lancing through my heart. I feared that I wouldn't be able to keep my promise. That I'd fail her like I'd failed Lauren.
~ooo000ooo~
“Did you see the person?” Officer Fellows asked, yawning as he took notes.
“Just his eyes,” I said. “His face and head were covered with a big scarf. But he had brown eyes.”
“That doesn't give us a whole lot. But maybe the security cameras caught something we can use,” he said, turning his large body around to face me. “Do you have any idea why these people are after you, Madison?”
Madison nodded but said nothing. I couldn't help but notice her skin was paler than normal, and her body still trembled. With lips that quivered and dark circles under her eyes, she looked utterly exhausted. Wrung out. Emotionally spent. I wanted to tell everyone to leave, to let her get some rest, but I knew they were just doing their job. Knew they were trying to help. I also knew they were likely the only hope we had of catching this guy.
“Could you explain that, Madison?” Fellows pressed. “You said you knew why they're after you.”
Madison nodded again, her tired eyes shifting from me to Fellows. “I was looking into some suspected arson cases on my podcast recently,” she said, her voice a little hoarse. “I have to believe the fact that I'm opening up some old cases struck a nerve with somebody.”
Fellows raised an eyebrow, the look of skepticism on his face open and obvious. He didn't strike me as the kind of man who listened to podcasts or knew much about the power of social media these days. The reach somebody with a popular podcast had, the many thousands if not millions of people who listened. The sort of influence they could have. Especially when they got the sort of results Madison had by doing the work she was doing.
I had no doubt the man who'd tried to kill her had heard her show. What else could it be? There didn't seem to be any other logical, rational reason for somebody to tie her up and leave her in a burning building – right after she'd talked about re-opening some of those old cases.
“Struck a nerve?” Fellows asked. “How so?”
She looked at me, and I answered for her. “We believe she got too close.”
I put an arm around Madison's shoulder and held her close to my body. She was still trembling, but with my arm around her, she seemed to settle down slightly – and only for a moment. I couldn't blame her for being scared. Terrified. Any normal, sane person would be, given what she'd been forced to endure.
“Too close?” Fellowes asked. “Like finding out who it was behind the arsons?”
“Yes.” Madison's voice was shaky as she answered.
“Mind sharing some of your information with us, Ms. Haywood?” Fellows asked. “Anything that might be able to help us figure this out.”
“I— umm, well, I can't,” she stammered. “It's gone. My memory is still gone, for the most part. Everything's still spotty and I'm missing whole sections of my memories. I'm trying to remember what I'd discovered though. I'm just not running at full capacity at the moment.”
“Is it possible,” Fellows asked, “that some bitter, angry ex-boyfriend is trying to hurt you?”
Madison shook her head quickly. “No, that's not possible.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“She just said she was sure,” I snapped. “Now, why don't you get to work trying to find out who's hunting her instead of creating some mysterious and bitter ex out of thin air?”
The cop shot me a look of irritation before turning back to Madison, his expression bordering on disbelief and hostility. He obviously didn't think this had anything to do with her podcast and, judging by the look in his eyes, he was probably inclined to believe it was some crazy ex-boyfriend behind it all.
“We'll take a look at the security cameras and get back to you.”
“That's it?” I stammered. “That's all you’re going to do for her?”
“We'll continue the surveillance outside the hotel as well, Mr. Miller—”
“Yeah, you guys did a real bang up job with that tonight,” I snapped, my insides boiling with rage. “Madison might have been killed if I hadn't been with her. Your surveillance team—”
“Well then, it was a very lucky thing were with her tonight, wasn't it?” the cop said, narrowing his eyes at me, his hostility becoming more obvious. “Might be a good idea to get another room – one without a broken doorknob.”
“Thank you, Captain Obvious.”
The cop and I stared each other down for a long moment before he sighed, shrugged and turned away from us. I watched him as he walked toward the door, and then through it, disappearing into the hallway beyond. If he thought I'd let Madison stay in this room – or any room at this hotel now – he was dead wrong. If they weren't going to lift a finger to help her, to keep her safe, then I guessed I’d have to. As soon as the cop left, I turned to her. Putting my hands on her shoulders, I looked her in the eye.
“Come on. Pack your stuff,” I said in a tone that brooked no argument. “You're coming to my place.”
“We can just—”
“Stop it,” I said, rubbing my temples. “I'm not in the mood to argue. It's settled. Done. You're staying with me until we figure out who is behind this and get his ass off the streets. Until this is over, I'm not letting you out of my sight. Not again.”
Madison opened her mouth to speak again but then closed it. Opting not to put up a fight. I think we were both too exhausted to fight about it. Or, she saw the reason in what I was saying. Either way, she gathered her things and followed me out of the hotel. The ride down in the elevator was silent, and there was a stiff, fear-fueled tension in the air as we walked out to my car.
The whole way, I never once took my arm off her, keeping her close to me as we hustled out of the hotel.