Madison
Madison wanted to ignore the text messages that kept coming. She didn’t recognize the number, and at this hour she just wanted to go home. She’d called Jay fifteen minutes ago and now waited for him to pull up in the Range Rover. Link was worried about her taking the subway now that she was pregnant. Maddie would have been fine with a cab; his apartment was only a ten-minute ride from the Times Square tattoo shop.
Another message popped up, and this time she opened it.
“Come and see what Link Jacks is really like.”
The message had a photo of Link sitting at a table next to a gorgeous blonde. There were empty shot glasses covering the table, and Madison could make out a few other people in the background. The next text listed the address. She should have recognized the blood-red walls of Club Hell on Earth. After all, she had seen Link there just a couple of months ago. Damn it, he swore he was done with clubbing and groupies. If this was what he wanted to do then why was he pushing so hard for her to be with him? Maybe this was just some nut job’s idea of a joke. There was still a lot of tabloid press over their sex video, and now that Becket was back in the studio the old story was getting a bit of a revival.
The headlights of the Range Rover flashed through the glass windows. Madison walked out of the shop and locked the door. There were still a few artists working, but the receptionist had left and everyone else was in design rooms. Jay hopped out of the vehicle and opened the passenger door for her.
“How’d it go, Madison?” he asked, reaching for her bag.
“Not bad. Did an awesome infant portrait on this guy whose wife just had a baby. It was sweet,” Maddie responded and pulled herself into the Rover. Jay had warmed to her quickly once he knew she hadn’t set Link up in sexgate. She had to admit, she did feel better at night having someone as intimidating as Jay watching out for her. “Hey, is Link home already?”
Jay shook his head. “No, he’s doing Mickey a favor at Hell on Earth.”
Madison whipped her head toward him. No, he couldn’t be there. The text was just some crank. “I need to go there.”
“Why don’t we just call him? He said he didn’t want to be out late tonight; I’m sure he’ll be wanting a pickup by now.” Jay pulled away from the curb and into traffic.
“No, let’s just go, and I’ll run in and grab him.” And please don’t let this be anything. Please don’t let Robert and my mom be right. Just this once. Maddie’s phone rang again, and despite her fears she picked up the call with a quiet “Hello”. The Rover glided smoothly through the late-night streets, Jay’s eyes fixated on the road.