This was bound to be a clusterfuck of epic proportions.
I kept her hand firmly in mine as we wound through the insanity of people shot-gunning beers, a screaming fight between two rail thin women, and more than one needle within eyeshot. And this was a Thursday night? What the fuck.
It was almost a relief when we reached the staircase, until I saw the caliber of people coming in and out of the apartment next door to Maddie’s. All rail-thin with stringy hair and hungry eyes.
It burned like hell to know that she’d been living in the middle of this for months—months—and hadn’t said a fucking word.
I waited impatiently behind her as she struggled with her lock. I was almost ready to take it over for her when she pushed her door open with a whoosh.
We stepped inside as she flipped the lights revealing her sparse living room, just a sofa, coffee table and the smallest tv I’d seen in a long time.
Maddie crossed the room before hesitating in the hall entry. She rocked back and forth on her heels in indecision before swinging around. “I’ll grab a bag. It shouldn’t take long.”
I jerked my chin in a tight nod. Message received. Stay put.
I pushed the door shut behind me and stood there with my hands in my pockets. The urge to snoop around her place was overwhelming, but I restrained myself. Barely.
I still swung my eyes around, trying like hell to find what the draw had been to get Maddie to live here for as long as she did. What I saw didn’t make me feel any better. Water spots on the ceiling. A pretty substantial crack running up the common wall with the drug dealer. And shitty locks that wouldn’t hold up against a stiff breeze, let alone an intruder.
I’d be damned if Maddie spent another night in this hellhole.
She popped back into the room, clutching the smallest suitcase I’d ever seen. More like a backpack really. “Ready.”
I opened my mouth to reply when the door behind me popped open.
I whirled around and found a stringy haired man with overwhelming body odor standing in the doorway. “Ah, fuck, there’s a line?”
I looked at Maddie, incredulously, but she was slowly backing away deeper into the hallway. Her eyes were so huge, they swallowed her face.
Stepping closer to Captain B.O., I pressed a hand against his chest and pushed him back out of the apartment. “Wrong apartment, asshole. You want the fucker next door.”
When he was clear of the door, I slammed it shut and twisted the puny lock on the handle. She didn’t even have a fucking deadbolt.
“Maddie, grab your shit—all the clothes we can fucking carry. There is no way in hell you’re coming back here. I’ll get with the guys and figure out when we can come back for the furniture.”
She stood in the hallway, her eyes still large as fuck, while her whole body shook.
“Fuck.” I crossed the room to her. Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled her into my chest and felt her body shake against mine. My anger drained out of me. It wouldn’t do a bit of good to rail at her now. She was fucking scared, and something told me that this wasn’t the first time someone had walked into her apartment. I wanted to know more, but this wasn’t the time. “It’s okay, Mads. You’re not sleeping here tonight. You’ve got a cozy space over at Dylan’s house with his fancy alarm system. No one will bug you there. Well, except me. And Dylan. And probably Sabrina. And Ryan. And Hope. I take it back. Everyone will bug you there.”
She laughed wetly against my t-shirt.
I smiled and ran a hand over her silky-smooth hair. “But you’ll be safe. I swear it. Come on. Let’s grab the rest of your shit and get the hell outta here. I don’t want you here another minute longer than we have to be.”
“All right. Thank you, Nathan.” She pulled away from me but wouldn’t look at my face.
Which I hated for some reason.
“You got more suitcases back there?”
She nodded.
“Fantastic. You start in the closet, and I’ll take the underwear drawer.”
The glare she sent me wasn’t as ferocious as the one she’d given me at Aunt Wendy’s house, but I’d take it. Anything was better than that broken expression she’d been wearing a moment ago.
“Stay away from my underwear drawer,” she muttered as we walked down the tiny hallway to her bedroom.
“That’s fine. I’ll take your nightstand drawer. I bet you haven’t emptied that yet.”
“Nathan! Oh my god!”
I grinned to myself. That was more like it.
Chapter Three
MaddieFriday
I stared sightlessly at the bookshelf in front of me. Shelving books at work was a brainless task, but I was grinding on empty today since I’d hardly gotten any sleep last night. When we’d arrived at the condo Nathan took me inside, got me settled while bitching the whole time that he had a spare room with a bed. It was sweet…and grating. After I’d kicked Nathan out of Dylan’s condo, I’d set the alarm and curled up on the sofa, just staring at the door. I knew it wasn’t my old apartment. I was safe at Dylan’s place. But I’d still felt that same rush of fear every time I heard a random creak or door shutting in an adjacent condo.
It didn’t help that Dylan hadn’t come home last night. I hadn’t seen him since he’d disappeared after getting that text. And his bed hadn’t been slept in either. I’d checked.
He also hadn’t replied to my text about our little biker visitor last night.
Or my other text this morning asking him what the hell was going on.
I had no clue what was going on. Dylan definitely owed me some answers.
“Madison? You okay?”
I jerked back into the present and found Elaine Perez, a fellow librarian, staring at me with that false
