Chapter Twenty-Eight

Maddox

He bided his time, making himself wait until after dinner to get his mom alone. This wasn’t the kind of conversation he wanted to have in front of the entire community.

But when Alice stepped outside after she ate, Theo and James went with her, like a little meeting of the heads of the community. And no one had invited him.

He followed, anyway, letting the evening breeze cool him off. Theo raised his eyebrows at Maddox when he caught up to the group in the courtyard, but Maddox only crossed his arms. He was a part of this whether they wanted it or not.

“We need to show them this can’t happen again,” James said.

Alice nodded thoughtfully.

“Right,” Theo said, voice cold. “If we let one of them get away with it, it’s not going to end. We have to put a stop to it right now.”

“Isn’t that what you did?” Maddox cut in. “You already locked her up—took her away from her family.”

Not that her family seemed to care one way or the other if she was gone, but that was beside the point. Pillar cared. He cared. And it wasn’t fair.

But would he feel the same way if it wasn’t Juno?

Maddox had asked himself the question more than once. Would he be fighting this hard for someone else? If Theo had hauled back a grown man without evidence, would Maddox care that he was locked in the storage closet, or would he be right there with the rest of the community thinking justice should be served?

He hoped not.

“What are you suggesting?” James asked, mimicking Maddox’s stance. His eye was still swollen from when he’d been captured. “We let her go? Just give her a slap on the wrist and send her home?”

Yes. “It’s not—no, I’m not saying let her go.” Although, that was exactly what he wanted. “I’m just saying, I think we’ve seen the other side as the enemy for so long, we haven’t stopped to see if they really are anymore.” Maddox turned, appealing to his mom. “If that were me, and the other community said I stole something, would you want them to lock me up without any proof?”

“No, I wouldn’t. But Theo said she confessed.”

James nodded, but Maddox shook his head. “No, she didn’t. You know the truth. She said she’d come with us—not that she stole the supplies.”

“Then why didn’t she deny it?” James asked.

“Someone had to take the fall,” Maddox said. “I think she did that for her community. So we didn’t have a fight on our hands.”

“What the hell?” James asked. “You’ve seen the girl twice—you fall in love with her or something?”

The words were like a punch to the gut. How did James know? How had he not seen it before? He felt things for Juno he’d never felt for anyone else. He didn’t want to see her hurting, especially if there was something he could do about it.

He was so surprised, it took a moment for him to answer.

“In love?” he said, voice gruff. “I don’t even know her.”

Which was the worst lie he’d ever told. Because he did know Juno. He knew her better than he knew himself. She’d taken the fall for this, even though it wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t turned him in, even though he’d treated her like crap back at the bridge. She’d forgiven him more than once. He didn’t even know what he would do in her shoes, but she’d made the most noble choices.

For that, he owed her more than anything.

“That’s right,” Theo said. “You don’t know her. So how can you be sure she didn’t steal the supplies? I mean, why would she come with us if she wasn’t guilty?”

He forced himself to nod, even though it made his stomach churn. Arguing with Theo wasn’t going to do any good. He needed to take action.

Alice held up her hands. “This isn’t an easy decision. We need to do what’s best for our community—”

“What’s best for the community is to set an example. She stole from us, and we need to make sure it never happens again,” Theo said.

Maddox’s hands clenched into fists. He was talking about murder. What else could he mean when he said he wanted to make sure it never happened again? He wanted to get rid of the problem—permanently.

James nodded. “I agree. Show them this is the last time they’ll be coming to our side of the border.”

Alice sighed, and it gave Maddox a flicker of hope when she actually looked regretful. “We’ll make this decision as a community. For now, we all need rest and to get our lives back on track. We’ll have a meeting tomorrow night. In the meantime, make sure she has food and water.”

Theo gave him a smug look as Alice turned toward their home. Tomorrow. They’d make the decision tomorrow, and it would be over. He had no doubt Theo would convince almost everyone of Juno’s guilt. In fact, he had already.

“I’ll bring her more water,” Maddox said. He needed to talk to her again.

Theo gripped his shoulder. “I’ll do it. Why don’t you get some rest? You look tired.”

“I’m not tired.”

“Still. You’ll feel better if you sleep,” Theo said, stealing a quick glance at James. “This will all be over tomorrow, and you’ll feel better.”

It’d all be over tomorrow. That’s what he was worried about. He forced another nod, hanging his head like he’d finally resigned himself to the reality of the situation. “Tomorrow,” he murmured, heading in the direction his mom had gone.

The more they believed he was following along with the crowd, the better chance he had of getting to Juno.

He listened to James and Theo head off to the storage closet, and it took everything he had not to turn around and follow them to make sure they didn’t lay a hand on Juno.

Once again, Maddox had to wait. At home, he made sure his mom was resting before he grabbed another jug of water and found as much food as he could. He stuffed it into a sack and then rummaged through the measly number of possessions in his room.

Then he turned and angled his head. He knew exactly what he needed. Maddox ducked down and found the box under Theo’s bed. He opened it and allowed for a small smile. Just what he was looking for.

He pulled out the knife, the same one Theo and James had taken from Juno when they caught her in the boathouse. She deserved to have it back.

She deserved a lot more, but right now this was the best Maddox could do. Save her, and then tell his mom everything.

He stuffed the knife in the bag as well and then sat on the edge of his bed, thinking. He needed to time it just right. Needed to make sure no one was nearby. But mostly, mostly, he needed to make sure Juno didn’t get caught.

Once he was sure he had a window, Maddox would make his way to the storage closet and fix things for good.