| |
Avery
––––––––
“Madison, we’re over here!” I yelled across the parking lot as she and Scott got out of the car. Evan and I leaned up against his car, which had been picked up by one of the officers from Adams’s house. We’d spent the night at my place, ate Chinese take-out, and made love three more times before we were satisfied enough to sleep. It was different with Evan. He took care of me. It wasn’t just about him busting his load. Instead, he cared about what I wanted, about what I enjoyed. I’d never come so hard, or as many times as when I was with him. Our bodies were in sync like they had been made for each other. When we were rolling around in the sheets, my mind wasn’t focused on anything other than what was going on in front of me and what was being done to me. It all seemed so right. As Madison and Scott joined us against the car, their bright faces made me even happier and a sense of comfort washed over me. Jesus, what the hell was happening to me?
“How’d the appointment go?” I asked as Evan put his arm around me. I glanced up at him and he looked at me, willing me to say something to protest his physical sign of affection. I didn’t stiffen at his touch and oddly I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to. My mind was quiet for once. Scott smiled widely and Madison twirled her hair as she often did when she was nervous. “It was good. I have to wait to see the doctor, so that might be a few more weeks, but everything else seemed to be going well.” She sighed. “I’ll have to take it easy though. Definitely no more church fires for me.”
“Desk duty.” Scott coughed, teasing Madison. “We want to visit my mother and tell her. Since Madison should definitely be on desk duty anyway—”
“Go tonight,” I interrupted. “There are a ton of us on this case and it would give Evan and I some time to see what we have for leads.” Evan squeezed me tighter and I began to feel suffocated by him near me. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be close to him, to have him hold me; it was just different from last night, when our bodies did the talking and we were alone. I wiggled free, pretending to adjust my shoe. Much better. Madison snapped her fingers as if remembering something as she released her hold on her curl.
“Oh! I almost forgot! Get this. The nurse mentioned the full moon.” Evan and I stared at her blankly. She took a deep breath as she realized she would have to explain. “So, the full moon happens every twenty-eight days, right?”
“Right,” Evan and I said in unison.
“So, it clicked when she started talking about the full moon. I think Jameson and Lorelei have been using the four natural elements to kill their victims. Just like Torres said. Air, water, fire....” She listed them off by counting on her fingers. “The only one left is earth. I think that they are waiting until the full moon to sacrifice their last victim.” She took in a big breath.
“That makes sense. It would mean more if they timed it according to the moon phases. I heard you were brilliant, but it seems they didn’t do you justice,” Evan said to Madison as she smiled.
“So where does that leave us?” I asked.
“We need to figure out where they might be and who their next victim could be. We need to stop this before it happens.” Scott said.
“Easier said than done,” I mumbled. “I do agree though. I tried Garcia and Marshall again this morning, and it still went straight to voicemail. We could really use their help on this case.” I sighed. It wasn’t like them to not keep their phones on or charged. Something just wasn’t right.
“That’s weird. Maybe try their office? It’s been a few days.” Madison found her stray piece of hair once again and twirled it between her fingers.
“I’ll call,” Evan said. “I know their boss. I worked with him on a case a while back. Why don’t you and Madison try to reach out to the ME and get some more information on the bodies? She has the body that was attached to the tree as well and is working on getting a positive ID. I have a hunch that was the intended victim. There also might be some information that hasn’t been included in the report on the woman who was found on Gateway Plaza. Maybe that can lead us to where the victims were kept.” He paused and smirked. “Careful, though, I heard the ME’s a real hardass.” He laughed.
“What morgue? Who’s the ME?” Scott questioned as he flipped through the screen on his phone.
“Her name’s Dr. Wilson.”
“Oh, Shit,” Scott mumbled. Madison punched him playfully on the arm.
“Take it you know her?” Evan smiled.
“Yeah, you can say that.” Madison laughed lightly. “I hoped it’d be her morgue. I’d love to see her.” Dr. Wilson had been the one who’d stormed through and given Scott and Liam a hard time when Madison had been drugged during the investigation of her father. The doctor was little, but damn was she fierce.
“Madison and I will handle Dr. Wilson,” I said, shaking with laughter over Scott’s fear of such a small woman. “Scott, you stay with Evan and start looking at potential places where Jameson and his gang of misfits might be hanging out.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Scott said. “Torres should be on his way as well.” He kissed Madison and then quickly left.
Evan pulled me into him, and I tensed.
“Don’t pull this shit with me now, Avery. You’re my girlfriend, and I can hug you and kiss you whenever I please.”
“Oh, is that so?” I teased, relaxing as I whispered in his ear. I liked him a lot. But PDA, it was new for me. I hadn’t even had a chance to talk to Madison about what had happened, and well, I guessed it was safe to say the cat was out of the bag.
I kissed him quickly on the lips and grabbed Madison’s hand as we walked toward her car. I was so flustered that I was about to let Madison drive.
When we got into the car, my breathing was staggered and uneven. I wasn’t tired. I was in such great shape, I could run a mile in six minutes flat, but Evan, he did things to me with his sexy little accent. On its own it made me feel like I couldn’t breathe.
“Okay, spill,” Madison said as she started the car. Her eyes were full of wonder, and I knew I couldn’t get out of giving an explanation.
“We’re going steady. He gave me his letterman jacket.” I rolled my eyes.
“Smart-ass,” she said with an equally exaggerated roll of her eyes. Then she beamed at me. “I knew it though. You guys carried that tension around, and that cloud threatened to strangle everyone.”
“What? I didn’t say we had sex!”
“You didn’t have to. The way he just held you... girl, he is so familiar with your body.” She wiggled her eyebrows. I rested my head against the back of the seat as she drove. God, was I that transparent? I had fallen, and not only had I fallen, but I’d fallen really fast. Even when I’d tried to keep my distance from him, I couldn’t, and only days later, I had a boyfriend?
“Oh, you’ve got it bad.” Madison smiled, but she kept her eyes on the road.
“Got it bad?” I questioned.
“You actually like him.” Her tone had shifted from playful to serious, and my heart thumped in my chest. I did like him. That was my current issue. I never liked any man for any length of time. I didn’t need to care about anyone else other than myself. Everything I knew about relationships had been picked up from the dysfunctional one that my mom and dad had. I saw some through Madison and Scott’s relationship, but it wasn’t exactly conventional either. But their affection, their devotion even through hundreds of miles of distance was something that even made me want to swoon. They’d had a whirlwind romance, but they also had a past together. That was what made them stronger. Something I don’t have with Evan.
“Avery, it’s okay. I know it’s scary. Trust me.” Madison took one hand off the wheel and grabbed my hand in hers. “Love doesn’t know when it’s convenient. It just sort of walks right into our lives. But when love does walk into our lives, we can’t turn our backs on it.” She gave my hand a quick squeeze before she let go. She was right. God, why did she have to be right?
At her words, my heart pounded so loud I thought Madison must have been able to hear it. I turned on the radio hoping to drown out the emotions that were overwhelming me. “At Last” by Etta James filled the car, and Madison laughed. I laid my head back against the seat again and closed my eyes. Even the universe was trying to convince me. The question was whether I was going to listen.
