Link
Jay drove Link to the next-most-likely place that Madison could be—her sister and brother-in-law's penthouse. She hadn’t been at her apartment, and the icy reception he got from her roommate spoke volumes. He knew he was entering the lion’s den, but figured since the cat was out of the bag already, what more harm could he do? Jay dropped him at the main entrance of Thomas’ apartment building. He was let in and put on the elevator to the top floor by a doorman who knew him from previous visits.
The elevator ride seemed to take an eternity as he watched each floor number displayed on the LED screen. He still wasn't completely sure what he would say to her but he had to try. He’d make her believe that he wasn't responsible and was just as much a victim as she was.
Link stepped out into the hallway and knocked on the stately door of what was likely to be his former best friend’s home. The door was jerked open and a fist came flying at Link’s face, knocking him backward. He fell, sprawled out on the top of a foyer table. Shooting pain surged to the back of his skull. His eyes watered uncontrollably. He reached back to steady himself, only to knock a decorative pot off the table and send it smashing to the tile floor. The side of his face throbbed. When his vision cleared, he saw Tommy towering above him, jaw clenched and eyes narrowed.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Link? I don't get you, man. We’ve been friends for years and you pull this kind of shit with my little sister-in-law?" Thomas spat the words out and balled his fist for another strike.
Link threw his arms up to protect his head and began to quickly plead his case, not sure how much time he'd have before Tommy beat the living snot out of him. Not that he would blame him, all things considered. "Tommy, it's not like it looks. I didn't set out to tape anything. I had nothing to do with this. I swear it. I just want to see Madison and explain."
Thomas struck the wall, smashing the plaster and sending drywall dust down onto Link. He shook the remnants off his fist and paused to consider Link’s words. "Why the fuck should I believe a bugger like you?"
"Because it's the truth. Remember that girl I’ve been talking about all week?" Link waited for his friend to give a perceptible nod and continued, "I was talking about Madison. I met up with her at Jerry's funeral and we’ve been hanging out. But I don't know who the fuck would have set up a camera. In fact who would've even known she'd be backstage at that show? I hadn't invited her to the back room. She showed up on her own, even conned her way past Jay. This whole thing just doesn't make sense."
Thomas reached his hand out to his friend and hauled Link to his feet. He shook his head and rubbed his reddened knuckles. "I guess I walloped you pretty good. You’ll be sporting quite the lovely shiner for a wee bit." Thomas gave him a half smirk. "I knew it would happen to you. I knew some lass would finally catch that roving eye of yours, but damn man, why did it have to be Isabel's Wee Moppet?” Thomas smiled and flicked some drywall dust out of Link’s hair.
“This thing really hurt her. I get that you care about her. Hell, you’ve been mooning over a girl all week, so the signs were all there. I can get over this whole media nightmare, but I don't know that Madison will. She was here, but she left—and not with you in her good graces." Tommy stepped back.
"I’m sorry this happened. I should have told you I was involved with Madison.” Link shook his head and dropped his gaze down to his boots. After a moment he offered his hand to Thomas and waited for him to take it in a tentative shake. “I'm trying to figure this out. I've got my lawyer contacting the news show to track down their source and get them to stop airing the footage. But honestly I can't imagine anybody in Zombie Punch wanting to set me up, so it has to be somebody else who was looking for something, somebody pretty fucking sick and evil." Link let go of Thomas’ hand and reached down to pick up the shattered vase.
"Sick and fucking evil certainly covers filming unsuspecting people and posting it on YouTube,” Thomas replied and let out a hollow laugh. “Sounds like my ex-wife Sasha. She's quite the monster. Trust me." He shook his blond head as if to clear the memory.
Link’s eyes widened and he stared up for a moment at the ceiling, lost in a memory. He slapped his palm against his face, uttering an oath as his hand touched the spot still smarting from Thomas’ punch. "Shit. I think I saw her there. I think she did it." Link rubbed his cheek.
"Bloody hell, I’ve brained the poor bastard. What are you talking about? Did I really hit you that hard?"
"Yes…no. Just hear me out because something is really off about this whole thing. Madison came backstage and we, well, you know, and she took off real fast. I wanted to follow her, get her to stay longer, but she'd vanished into the packed bar. But there was this woman there in the crowd trying to get backstage. Similar brown hair, tall, that looked a bit like her and I…I knew I recognized her, but it just didn’t click then. It was Sasha. I realize it now. I knew the chick looked familiar, but once I knew it wasn’t Madison I put it out of my head. Maybe Sasha had been trying to get back to see me? Could she be trying to find a way to get in touch with you through me?" Link hypothesized.
"I don't know. She's had no interest in seeing Christopher since she got out of lockup. Besides, she knows how to get ahold of me through my lawyer if she wanted to, so I don’t see what she'd gain by tracking you down. But if you say you saw her, I believe you. But trust me, it wasn’t an accident. Zombie Punch is really not her type of show so I doubt it was a coincidence, so I have to wonder if we haven't figured out who our monster is. But why the fuck would she be trying to get you on a spy cam?" Tommy ran his hand through his long hair before adding, "Come on in and have a pint." Thomas beckoned him to follow into the apartment. Link entered only to run into someone else who probably wanted to see his head on a platter—Isabel.
"Oh my goodness, what happened?" Isabel asked with genuine concern.
"Link’s pretty face ran into my fist but it’s all good. It may have knocked some sense into him," Thomas explained, finally looking cheerful.
"Damn it Thomas, didn’t you listen to a thing I said this evening? It's obvious Madison cares about him, and I never believed he set up that camera. Quit acting like little boys and figure it out." Isabel left the room for a moment only to return with a bag of frozen peas from the icebox. She tossed the bag to him, and he put the cold vegetable bag on his sore face.
“So what would Sasha have to gain by filming me hanging out with a bunch of guys from Zombie Punch? I know those guys all party and like to snort some lines, but that stuff hasn’t been my scene for years. Not since, you know, Chris died. Shit, Sasha doesn’t know that I don’t get high. Maybe she wanted to have some blackmail video like that thing that happened with Kate Moss caught doing lines at some party?” Link was getting a headache trying to figure this all out. Nothing made sense. Rachmaninoff’s “Isle of the Dead” ran through his head with all the darkness of the piece magnifying his fears.
“I gave up years ago trying to understand Sasha. Hell, I didn’t understand the bloody chit when we were married, never mind nine years later.” Thomas clinked his beer against Link’s and took a deep gulp, his eyes glancing about for his pregnant wife.
“She’s upstairs with Christopher; you can drink the beer without the guilty look. Damn, is this what love will turn me into—fearless in front of sixty thousand crazed, screaming fans, but hiding a pint in front of a woman?” Link laughed at his friend’s grimace and took a long swallow of his beer. He’d already changed so much about himself for fame; he couldn’t bear the thought of being someone he wasn’t with Madison.