Chapter Nine
King
“My gut is telling me somethings not right,” I tell Blackhawk as we make our way to the Burton’s front door.
“Don’t be offended when I say that I have zero trust in your gut,” Blackhawk says. “If your gut instincts were worth anything they would know that Maddy is innocent.”
“You saw the same video I did, man,” I sigh. “She’s clearly guilty. Even Knox admitted that the video wasn’t tampered with.”
“The difference is Knox believes Maddy,” he responds before knocking on the door. “I did see that video. I’ve watched it a dozen times over. Yes, she looks like my best friend, she walks like my best friend, hell, she even smiles like my best friend. But the person in that video is not my best friend. And that’s my gut talking.”
“Boys,” Madeline’s mother greets as she opens the door. “Come on in. Maddy has been waiting for you. Actually, Dillon, she doesn’t even know you’re here.”
He smiles and kisses Molly’s cheek.
“Take me to my girl,” he tells her.
I ignore the urge to grab my gun and shoot the bastard for calling Madeline his girl.
We follow Molly into the same room we were in before when I first came here and there she sits.
She meets my eyes and smiles as if she’s excited to see me again.
“King,” she laughs. “I’m so glad you came. I want to explain everything. Oh, hey.”
She looks at Blackhawk and gives him a small smile. She just continues to stare at him until her smile widens.
“I’m sorry,” she sniffles. “I just wasn’t expecting to see you,” she laughs. “It’s been so long, Blackhawk. I’m glad you came.”
Blackhawk walks to Madeline and pulls her into a hug.
“I’ve missed you, Maddy,” he says. “Alright, I’m just going to sit here while you and the big guy talk. Is that alright?”
“Of course, idiot,” she laughs before retaking her seat. “King, are you ready to hear me out?”
I glance at Blackhawk's blank expression and then back to Madeline who is smiling with eyes of joy. “I can explain everything.”
I nod and sit down at the table.
I wait for her to start talking.
“Okay,” she sighs. “So, last year I made a huge mistake. A friend of mine asked for a startup loan to start her own business. She designs shirts, tumblers, and other things like that. She needed the loan for the building and supplies to get started. I know that my family has money and I’m pretty well off, but I didn’t want to touch the money they had put aside for me in my trust fund. I wanted to help my friend using the money I worked hard to earn. Stupid I know, but there you have it.
Anyway, I didn’t have enough of my earned money to give her what she needed. So, I made friends with the man who was always selling those pills on the streets. Getting into his building and taking those two bundles wasn’t hard. I sold it for less than half of what it was worth and was able to give my friend the rest of the money. That’s why you see me in the video. I’ve already paid the man back and was warned to never show my face there again.”
With a satisfied nod, she leans back in her chair.
“I never meant to deceive any of you,” she says, looking me dead in the eyes. “I’m so sorry, King. I know you told me to stay away from you and your family, but I just really wanted to explain everything to you and let you know that I fixed it. I hope one day you’ll forgive me.”
I don’t say anything. It’s not because I don’t have anything to say. I’m just waiting.
“I think he might need a few days to think about things before he’s ready to talk,” Blackhawk tells her. “I’ll tell you what. Let me follow him back to his place so that I can tell everyone that you’re safe. I know the girls are worried sick over you.”
“And Knox?” she asks.
“Definitely Knox,” Blackhawk chuckles. “Then I’ll come back and we can spend the day together before I have to head back home. Sound good?”
“Sounds good, Blackhawk,” she smiles. “Maybe we can go to that Mexican place you like before you have to leave? Then you can update me on how things are going with you and Mel.”
“I would love nothing more, Maddy,” he smiles, pulling her into his arms.
Their embrace is short and he nods for me to follow.
“Madeline,” I say as my goodbye.
“Bye, King. If you want to talk about everything just come on over when you’re ready.”
I nod before following Blackhawk outside. We’re quickly followed by Ben.
Blackhawk and I are straddling our bikes when Ben speaks up.
“I thought your wife’s name was Molly?” he asks Blackhawk.
The man simply nods his head.
“Do you remember where that safe house is?” I ask Ben.
“Course, son.”
“It’s recently been restocked,” I tell him. “It wouldn’t be a bad place for some alone time with your wife.”
Ben’s eyes widen before nodding and walking away.
“King,” Blackhawk says.
“Yep,” I say, straightening my bike. “I know.”
“Maddy never calls me Blackhawk,” he tells me, preparing his own bike. “She hates it.”
“I remember,” I respond thinking back to the day when she called him to prove her point.
“I know you know,” he says looking me in the eyes. “But, I’m going to say it anyway. That woman in there is not my shortcake. That’s not Maddy.”
“Yep,” I say, dread filling my every bone. “I know.”
We start our bikes and head back to my brothers. The entire trip back my mind plays the memory of the look in Madeline’s eyes when she looked back at me that final time.
“That wasn’t me,” she had whispered with so much hopelessness. Her whole body screamed with sadness. Of fear. Of heartbreak. Then I pushed her out of my life and made sure she knew I wasn’t and would never be interested in a woman like her.
What the fuck did I do?
***Madison***
I laugh as I flop down on my bed. Everything is going according to plan. Well, almost everything.
“Hey sweetheart, can we talk?”
“Sure, what’s up mom?” I ask sweetly.
“I know there’s this thing going on between you and King. Your father and I think you two need your space to figure it out.”
“I know, mommy,” I sigh dramatically. “I’m in love with the big dummy but I don’t think he will ever forgive me.”
“What if you and he spent some time together, here?” she asks, brushing back a lock of my hair. “Your father was thinking about taking me to dinner for the night to celebrate our upcoming anniversary. I bet I can talk him into renting a nice hotel for us to stay at for a day. Maybe two if he’s feeling frisky.”
She winks and I laugh.
“Gross mommy, I do not want to know those things about my parents. But I guess that’s okay. When Blackhawk gets back tonight I’ll ask him to take me to visit King before he has to leave and see if he will come over to work through everything.”
“Alright, my sweet darling daughter,” she smiles. “I love you, Maddy. You have our numbers if you need us. We’ll be leaving in an hour.”
“Have fun,” I say.
Well, that takes care of those two. I thought for sure I was going to have to do something drastic to get rid of them. I can’t have them die just yet though. I need their money so their deaths need to look like an accident.
It’s all falling into place. Soon, I’ll have the life I rightly deserve. And I don’t even have to get used to a new name. I just need to get King to stop calling me Madeline. But then again, I could easily get used to it if I had to.
Madeline and Madison. Maddy and Maddi. Damn, our mother is a genius.