Madison finally moves, grabbing at the coat to pull it to her tighter, covering her chest and half of her face, but not her eyes or the top of her cheeks that are glistening with tears.
“Do you need to go to the hospital?” I ask her, and she shakes her head a little more certainly this time.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Her voice breaks on that one word. Finally, she lifts her eyes to mine and asks, “How did you…”
“I thought I heard someone scream. I wasn’t sure if that’s what it was or not,” explain. “I wish I had been wrong.”
“I didn’t think…one of them covered my mouth…so I didn’t think anyone would hear me,” she says sadly.
“I probably wouldn’t have if my window wasn’t still down,” I admit to her.
There’s a knock on the door that makes us both jump.
“It’s Lucas and Jake. Don’t shoot us,” the voice I recognize as Lucas’s says.
“Come in, it’s open,” I tell them.
They come inside, both panting and thankfully neither are bleeding. “They got away,” Jake says.
“There’s a fence…in the back,” Lucas starts. “By the time we both got over it, they were jumping into a car someone else was driving.”
“I shot the fender as he drove away, but that’s all either of us hit,” Jake says. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. You did your best,” I tell them. “One of you stand outside the front door; the other stand outside the back one.”
“Yes, sir,” they both reply before they split up without arguing. Jake was closest to the front door, so he goes out that one while Lucas starts toward the back.
“Can I help you up?” I ask Madison when they’re gone.
She shakes her head no, so I stand up and give her some space since she doesn’t want me to touch her. I can’t blame her after what just happened; I just wish she wasn’t so stubborn and didn’t hate me so much.
Madison doesn’t get to her feet. She feels around on her coat like she’s looking for something, and then she pulls her cell phone from one of the pockets.
“What are you doing?” I ask her.
“Calling the police,” she says, her voice growing stronger.
“Why?”
Her eyes meet mine and now they look like usual – full of anger. “Why do you think, Cannon?”
“Think about it for a second, Madison. Why were those men here waiting for you tonight? If it was a random act of violence, then it’s one hell of a coincidence.”
Her jaw tightens, and then she says, “They told me why they were here. They said I had to drop out of the race for mayor by tomorrow or they would…”
“They would what?” I ask, anger raising my voice.
She swallows roughly like her throat hurts and then says, “Do what they were going to do tonight and then slit my throat.”
“Goddammit! I should’ve put a fucking bullet in both of their backs!” I run my fingers through my hair and stare up at the ceiling, counting to ten to try and calm down. I made a split-second decision to stay with the woman who won’t let me touch her instead of chasing down the fuckers responsible. So stupid.
I hear three soft beeping sounds and when I finally look down, Madison has her phone up to her ear.
“Hang up. You’re wasting your time,” I tell her.
“No,” she says, watching me with her eyes full of nothing but defiance that I don’t understand. “How do I know you’re not working with them?” she asks.
“What the fuck did you just say?” I yell at her.
I hear a clear, professional voice on the phone come on confirming it’s 911.
“My name is Madison Monroe. I live in townhouse B-4 on Villa Drive. Someone broke in and held me at knife point.”
The operator asks her more questions while I try and wrap my head around the words, “knife point.” They could’ve killed her tonight. Or worse, finished what they started when they tore her shirt open.
“Thank you,” Madison says before she hangs up. “They’re sending an officer as soon as they can.” I thought the 911 operator always stayed on the line until police showed up. Guess the problem with that is that this particular operator would have had to spend the rest of their lives on the call; because, if I had to guess, the police aren’t coming here.
“We’ll see,” I tell Madison, who is struggling to get to her feet.
“What does that mean?” she asks when she’s finally standing across from me, her coat clutched to her chest.
“It means I don’t think the police will come because they still take orders from the former chief.”
For a second, there’s concern on her face that I’m right. But then she shakes her head. Noticing the loose pieces of hair, she pushes them behind her ears. “You’re wrong.”
“He sent two men to rape you and kill you, Madison! Why wouldn’t he keep the police away from helping too?”
She keeps shaking her head. “I’m going to change. You can wait outside.”
“Outside?” I repeat. “It’s freezing cold!”
She won’t look at me, and I realize that she’s not being a bitch; she’s honestly so shaken up and scared that she doesn’t want me in the house when she changes clothes.
“Fine. I’ll wait outside. But if they’re not here in thirty minutes, I’m coming back inside for you.”
“They’ll be here,” she says confidently.
Chapter Eleven
Madison
I don’t know why in the world I told
