Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
T he next couple of weeks passed in a blur. Madison and Cami’s coverage of the young college student’s cold case murder—and the killer’s on-tape confession—catapulted Murder She Spoke to the top of the podcast charts the week of Thanksgiving.
By the following Monday, offers from streaming services poured in for the deals they had been working toward for years.
Signing with the highest bidder should have been a simple decision. It meant financial security and more resources to hopefully solve more cases. But it also meant a multi-season commitment, and her attorney had already warned her—Felix’s lawyer would use the attack on Cami against her.
Thank God no one knew she and Jax had been there that day.
Normally, she would talk this through with Cami. But the day after Thanksgiving, her best friend had called, breathless with excitement. James had proposed, and they were getting married in two weeks.
It was fast. Her best friend had only reconnected with her college best friend the previous month, but Madison didn’t doubt it was the right decision. Cami had always loved James, and anyone could see how perfect they were together.
She was happy for her friend. Genuinely.
But she was also jealous. And lonely.
Madison hated to admit it, but she was also a little disappointed that she hadn’t heard from Alex. She knew it was for the best. But late at night, when she was alone, she couldn’t stop thinking about their kiss.
Her last relationship had ended badly when her then boyfriend, Ethan, realized she was going to move her pregnant, drug-addicted sister in with her. She didn’t blame him—but it still hurt.
Ethan knew about Opal’s problems and didn’t want to be involved. Between helping her sister stay clean and caring for Jax, Madison had stopped looking for love.
The week after Christmas, Madison and Cami signed their production deal. When their receptionist, Gerry, popped the bottles of champagne, Madison laughed along with them. This kind of deal was life changing for them.
“I can’t believe it.” Cami’s cheeks flushed with excitement.
Madison shook her head in disbelief, looking at the paperwork in front of her. “Did you ever think we’d get to this point?”
“When we were recording in my closet?” Cami laughed. “Nope!”
“Where’s your hunky husband?”
“We’ll celebrate later,” Cami grinned.
“I bet you will.” Gerry waggled his eyebrows.
Cami ignored him and held her glass out to Madison, her eyes uncharacteristically wet. “This is about us. The risk we took and everything we’ve been through in the meantime.”
Madison grinned at her friend. “To us.”
“Ahem.” Gerry cleared his throat dramatically.
“You’re part of this, too.” Madison assured him.
“What does this mean going forward?”
“Not a lot, really.” Cami shrugged. “We won’t have to worry about finding advertisers anymore or pay to subcontract with producers.”
“Thank god for that.” Madison grimaced.
“Do I get a raise?” Gerry raised an eyebrow, but the buzzer at their front door prevented them from answering. The buzzer was a precaution, along with a solid wood door to replace the previous glass one taken out after Cami’s attack.
Gerry’s eyes widened as he held the door open, allowing a delivery man to stride in with an enormous bouquet. The arrangement was stunning—vibrant hot pink and white peonies bursting from the vase. Instead of the usual greenery, large white feathers were woven throughout.
“Thank you.” Cami smiled as she opened the card.
“That’s sweet,” Madison said.
Cami’s forehead puckered before she turned to Madison, extending the small white card.
“These aren’t for me.”
Madison’s brows dove over her eyes, but she took the card.
The message was simple. A few words in dark slashing ink.
Angel,
Congratulations on your success.
Yours,
Charming
Butterflies took flight in her chest.
“Oh, my god. You’re blushing!” Gerry exclaimed, gaping at her. “I’ve never seen you blush. What does it say?”
Madison licked her lips, trying to hide her smile. She shouldn’t be having this reaction.
“It just says ‘Congratulations .’” Cami’s gaze was fixed on Madison.
She knew she needed to say something, but before she had a chance, their receptionist plucked the card out of her hand.
Gerry’s face fell, obviously disappointed. “Charming? What kind of name is that?”
“And why does he call you Angel ?” Cami asked.
Gerry’s face brightened again at the lure of juicy gossip. “Ooo! Keeping secrets, Madison?”
“It’s just a friend.”
“Who sends you an extremely expensive floral arrangement?”
Madison leaned close and pretended to smell the flowers to avoid the question.
“Angel?” Gerry pursed his lips, and then his eyes widened as they lifted to the flowers. “Is that what the feathers are about?”
“What?” The question sent an odd feeling racing through her.
“That’s effort,” Cami observed thoughtfully. “Pretty sure feathers aren’t a standard option on the internet.”
“Whoever he is, he has great taste.” Gerry added. “It’s a guy, right?”
Alex sent her flowers? Beautiful extravagant flowers? Her thoughts reeling, Madison nodded absently to Gerry’s question before she thought better of it.
“Is this a new friend?” Cami’s expression darkened with suspicion.
Shit. She didn’t want to answer. Cami was going to have all kinds of opinions that Madison didn’t want to hear.
With everything that had happened, they hadn’t really talked about what had transpired between her and Alex the day of the shooting.
“It’s Alex,” Madison finally replied.
Cami’s lips turned down.
“I wonder how I’m going to get this home without them falling over.” Madison added in a light voice, hoping to change the subject.
Cami folded her arms across her chest. “Nice try, Mads. Are you dating him?”
The memory of Alex’s eyes blazing into hers just before he’d kissed her flashed in her mind.
Dating. The word seemed far too tame for someone like him. Could Alex date someone without completely overwhelming them?
It might be worth it.
She must have given more away with her expression than she’d intended, because Cami’s mouth fell open.
“Holy shit! Are you having sex with Alex Kovalyov?”
“Of course not. I don’t have time for that.” Madison tried for a self-deprecating chuckle, but it sounded more like a strangled cough.
“But you want to.”
Cami knew her better than anyone, and it seemed pointless to deny it.
Gerry’s gaze was pinging back and forth between them like he was watching a tennis match. When neither spoke again, he exploded. “Who’s Alex Kovalyov? Is he hot?” He immediately pulled out his phone, tapping quickly on the screen.
“Madison…” Cami sounded disapproving, and while Madison knew her friend was looking out for her, something about it made her defensive.
What if I was having a torrid fling with him? Would that be so bad?
Yes, Madison. It would. He’s involved with organized crime and murdered someone in front of you.
To save us! Her brain argued back at itself.
He said he wasn’t involved in his brother’s business .
“Madison, he’s…”
Madison rubbed her temple. “It’s flowers. He must have seen the announcement about our contract. It’s not a big deal.”
“At least a thousand dollars’ worth of flowers,” Gerry pointed out unhelpfully, still swiping on his phone.
“Have you seen him since…” Cami’s words trailed off and her gaze darted to Gerry. They hadn’t told the receptionist what really happened the afternoon Cami was attacked.
“No.”
“Fuck me!” Gerry’s exclamation startled both of them as he shoved his phone at them. “Is that him?”
Displayed clearly on the screen was a picture of Alex in a black suit, walking to a dark SUV.
“Uh yeah, Madison. You should definitely hit that.” His brow wrinkled as he took the phone back, oblivious to the tension in the room. “And he’s loaded. It says here he is the chairman of some gigantic business.”
He looked up at Cami with a frown. “I don’t get it. What’s the problem?”
“There’s no problem,” Madison said, scooping the arrangement into her arms and heading for her office. Cami followed, not done with the conversation, closing the door behind her.
“He’s a walking red flag, Madison.”
“No, he’s not. He’s not perfect but?—”
“He shot someone in the head and then made a joke.” Cami gaped at her.
“He saved our lives,” Madison pointed out.
Cami cocked her head, a curious expression on her face. “Okay, so killing someone isn’t a red flag for you. This is starting to make sense?—”
“He’s just someone I met. Men are the last thing on my list of priorities right now, so can we drop it? I have more important things to worry about right now.”
“I’m sorry, Mads. I was just…” Cami looked torn, but she swallowed whatever she was going to say.
Inhaling, she pasted on one of her signature sunny smiles, but there was no hiding the worry in her eyes. “Do you want to come over to my place for New Year’s Eve?”
The sympathy in her friend’s eyes had her fear and anxiety over the holiday rushing back. Thoughts of Alex and his flowers banished from her mind.
Madison shook her head but didn’t risk speaking, worried she might start crying. Emotion swamped her, as it did every time she thought about how Felix and his wife had been awarded overnight visitations with Jax. New Year’s Eve would be the first.
It was all happening so fast. Too fast.
She’d worked in the family court system as a social worker, and the speed at which things were progressing was unheard of. Madison suspected that Felix’s new father-in-law, a wealthy senator currently running for re-election, had a hand in the almost completely one-sided rapid judgments.
Her attorney had dismissed her worry as paranoia, and let her know in no uncertain terms that the fact the court had jumped so quickly from unsupervised afternoon visitation to overnights, showed which way the judge was leaning.
“You should prepare yourself.”
How the fuck was anyone supposed to prepare themselves for their child being taken away?
Madison didn’t realize she was trembling until Cami took the bouquet out of her arms. Tears slipped from her eyes, and Cami wrapped her arms around her, holding tight.
“I’m going to lose him.” Madison’s voice broke. “I don’t think I can bear it.”
Cami rubbed soothing circles on her back. “It’s going to be okay. This is just one overnight. Jax has been okay after his visits, right? They’re living at Felix’s in-laws, and his new wife, Mary, will be there. You said she seemed okay.”
Madison bit her tongue so hard she tasted blood. She knew her best friend was trying to make her feel better. Reassure her that Jax would be safe…
She wiped at her cheeks furiously, standing straight. “My attorney said that as long as Felix continues to test clean and maintains a stable life.” She made air quotes around the term. “It is almost a definite that he will gain custody.”
Madison barked out a watery laugh. “Mary is a doormat. The few times I’ve interacted with her at visitation hand-offs, she just smiles and looks at Felix like he hung the moon. I don’t know how he’s hid what he is from her and her family, but I know he won’t be able to keep up the act forever. And when he snaps…” Madison shuddered, feeling nauseous. “I don’t want Jax anywhere near him.”
She didn’t tell Cami that every time she saw Felix, she wanted to kill him. Beat him the same way he had her sister. Or that she saw the pure hatred toward her in Felix’s eyes when the others looked away.
He’d fooled everyone, but not her.
But this was her problem. Cami had just come through her own ordeal, and Madison didn’t want her to worry. There was nothing her friend could do.
There was nothing any of them could do.
Hopelessness washed over her.
Cami took her hand. “Come over. We’ll eat junk, drink wine, and pretend like we are capable of staying up to watch the ball drop.”
Forcing down the pain, Madison managed a small smile. “Thanks for the offer. But you and James deserve to spend your first New Year’s together. You’re newlyweds.”
“You shouldn’t be alone.” Cami looked troubled.
“I’ll be fine. Probably just go to bed early.”
Cami frowned, but she knew better than to push.
“Okay, but if you change your mind, let me know.”