Frightened, I did but was surprised to see a softening in his gaze. He squeezed my hips gently. “No, not anymore, But I was plenty pissed at first, especially when you wouldn’t tell me yourself. I certainly gave you plenty of opportunities. The first night I drove you back, the lighthouse.” Adam paused and kissed my forehead, his lips lingering. “But no, I’m not mad at you. Not now.”
“Besides,” Adam continued. His lips traveled down to mine, where he paused and whispered, “Why would I be angry when I have nothing to hide?”
“Um, yeah, about that…” I trailed off, turning my head.
I had to think straight. Adam had a way of using my attraction to him to manipulate me. If I was ever going to get an answer out of him, it had to stop now.
Adam stilled, his fingers clenched on my hips. With hot breaths caressing my cheek, he asked softly, “Is there something else you want to tell me?”
“Uh, ask you, actually,” I said, my voice shaky but resolute.
Adam pulled back, his interest seemingly piqued. “Is it the reason for your behavior on the flight back? And why you’ve been avoiding me this past week?”
“Yes,” I said in a near whisper.
“Do go on then.”
I was afraid to ask him the question, but I was more afraid of the answer. Adam cocked an inquiring eyebrow and waited. I tried to slide away from his grasp before phrasing my question, but he tightened his grip on my hips, effectively pinning me to the door. It was clear there would be no escaping Adam Ward.
“I, uh, I found something out the other night. Um, while we were still in Boston. Right before takeoff actually.”
“What was it?” Adam sounded like he was running out of patience.
“It was about a phone call. A phone call, uh, Chelsea made…” I swallowed. “That night.”
Adam closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. “What night would that be, Madeleine?”
He wasn’t making this easy. “You know, the night before she, uh, disappeared.”
My voice had grown so faint by this point that I didn’t know if he had heard, but then, eyes still closed, he asked, “OK, so what phone call are you talking about?”
“A call she made from a pay phone at a bank in Harbour Falls.”
Adam said nothing for at least a solid minute. And then he opened his eyes, his penetrating, indecipherable stare falling on me once more. My pulse raced, my heart pounded. I had nowhere to go; Adam had me trapped. Moments earlier I would have been aroused by his proximity, but finally I sensed the peril I could be in. And I was kind of terrified.
“You certainly are thorough, aren’t you?” he said at last.
“She called your cell phone, Adam,” I blurted. “Did you talk to her?”
“Yes, I did,” he answered, his tone impassive.
No. No. No!
I started to squirm, attempting to break free. “Let me go,” I demanded, but Adam was unyielding.
“Quit trying to get away, Maddy.” He grabbed my flailing hands, sighed, and then pressed his body to mine in an attempt to stop me from fighting him. “You’re not running away this time.”
Exhausted and defeated, I slumped in his arms. “What did you do, Adam?” I cried, causing him to loosen his hold. “God, please tell me it wasn’t you. Please tell me you had nothing to do with whatever happened to her,” I sobbed and slid down to the floor.
He knelt down beside me, placing his hand on my cheek. I put my hand over his and let out a choked sob. Everything had finally caught up to me.
“I didn’t have anything to do with what happened to Chelsea. I swear,” Adam said, his voice tired and defeated.
I glanced up at him, and I just wanted so much to believe him. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know what to think,” I choked out.
Adam, helping me up and leading me to the sofa, said, “Shhhh, calm down.” He took my face in his hands and, with his thumbs, wiped away the stray tears. “What do you want to know?”
The tears subsided, and slowly I got ahold of myself enough to ask, “What happened when she called?”
Adam leaned back into the cushions and sighed. “There’s not much to tell. I was asleep at the hotel. Nate, Helena, and I had been drinking, and I passed out when I got to my room. Chelsea’s call woke me up.” He took a deep breath. “She started yelling, and I yelled back. I ended up hanging up on her.” He paused. “We’d had a fight earlier that night.”
“What was she yelling about?” I looked over at him, watching his features, beautiful still, even as he recalled that night.
“Most of it I couldn’t make out.” Adam ran his fingers through his hair. “It was a short call, but there were a couple of things I caught. She wanted me to tell her to stop whatever it was she was about to do.” He shrugged. “And something else, like, she’d turn around and come back if I’d tell her I still loved her.”
“And did you tell her you still loved her?”
“No,” Adam said, pained. “I told you, I hung up on her. I didn’t love her anymore, and I couldn’t lie.”
I wanted so badly to question him further about why he was marrying someone he just admitted he no longer loved, but frankly I was afraid. There had to be another way to investigate the validity of the blackmail claims. Asking Adam point blank about that particular rumor was just too intimidating.
So, instead, I focused on the phone call. “What did she mean when she asked you to tell her to stop whatever it was she was going to do? What was she up to?”
“Good question. I don’t know, probably nothing. Chelsea had a flair for drama.”
I looked down and asked softly, “Why didn’t you tell the police about the call, Adam?”
“What good would it have done?
