Chapter 67
Madison closed all the blinds and curtains, and then tossed a few blankets she found on the backs of chairs over the curtain rods, just to dampen any light. Then she turned on a small lamp next to the fireplace. She took her first look around.
The Coleson house had the same kind of ‘feel’ as Coleson Castle.
Immediately welcoming, was her first thought.
There was the braided rag rug Hope had chattered about making with her sister Marcia once.
Madison was sure that was the rug. Hope had said they’d used scraps from all the kids’ old clothes to make it.
And all of them had taken turns braiding it. So it would be special.
There were photos on the mantle. Mostly of who she suspected were Norm and Marcia’s four kids, but there were family photos of other Colesons she recognized, too. Including Heather and Hope. “Hope loves it here. I think she doesn’t like Finley Creek that much. I really can’t blame her.”
“Probably a bit of culture shock, too. This place is small. Far cry from a mansion in Hughes Heights.”
“Hope said they all shared three bedrooms. Crispin slept in the closet off the dining room, and Marcia was in the attic. She remembered Norm putting in a window in the closet, in case of a fire. I think they were lucky to have each other.”
She had her mom, her dad, her brother, an aunt she saw occasionally, and now Dom and Vince. She definitely had those two. Even if this Acardi was so complicated. “My mom has a sister, and that is it. She has two kids, but they are more Max’s age than mine. My dad was an only.”
“My dad’s family isn’t very close, but I have a few cousins out there. I haven’t spoken to my mother in about five years.”
“Hope said they never had much money, but they were happy. Were. I don’t think she realized what she was implying.”
“I can understand that. That family has been through utter hell lately.”
“I’ll see if I can find something for you to put on.” Because she could not deal with him walking around with no shirt on and he couldn’t stay in that one. It was soaked with blood. The stain had gotten far bigger, too. “We need to do something about that.”
“We’ll see if there is a first aid kit, too. Go. I don’t want to bleed on the carpet.”
No. Madison was going to leave this place exactly as they found it. She really did feel like she was violating a friend’s trust here. But if it came down to doing that and staying alive, would it really matter? Hope would probably understand, considering…
Madison was just going to stop overthinking here. What would someone like…Heather or Zoey…do in a situation like this? What would Mel have done?
Well, each of them had been through real hell. And they had found their way out. Fought their way out, more than anything.
Madison was so a lover, not a fighter.
Well, this was just a little hot zone. She and Dom would figure this out, get back to Finley Creek in the morning and catch the guys who did this.
They were cleaning out the dirt at the TSP.
No one ever thought that would be easy. Or…safe…or anything like that.
First, she was going to search this house. With so many doctors and nurses and a cop in this family, there would probably be first aid supplies somewhere. Her own mother was almost fanatical about keeping a well-stocked first aid supply.
She was going to take care of Dom. Make sure he was okay. Then they would come up with a plan. And in the morning, they would execute it. Somehow.
She searched the house quickly, listening to the sound of that man in the bathroom.
She found what she was looking for in the small half-bath behind the stairs.
Bandages, steri-strips, antiseptic wash.
There were washcloths in a woven basket next to the cabinet.
There were even two spare toothbrushes in packages beneath the sink, and tiny travel toothpaste tubes.
Yes, they were children’s flavors, and the toothbrushes were tiny, but…
they would work. Dom could have the cotton candy flavor; Mads would take cinnamon.
Yick. Hope had said Heather’s little girl visited up in Oklahoma before.
Madison thought the Halsons had just recently moved to Texas.
Everything seemed clean and lacked dust.
It really did feel like they’d broken into someone’s house here.
And were being intruders. Which…legally, that was exactly what they were doing.
She was just going to have to get over that. And do what had to be done. She had a caveman who needed taken care of. This was just their borrowed-for-the-night cave, that’s all.
She set out the supplies she’d found. She’d poked around in the closet of the master bedroom and found a few men’s things that should fit. They were for a big and tall guy, according to the tags. Well, that was Dom. She’d wash them herself and return to their original owner if needed.
After this was finished. And normal happened again and everything.
She was trying really hard to ignore the fact that someone had ambushed him and tried to kill him tonight. They were seriously going to have to talk about why that had happened.
He was a cop. He would always face threats. That was something anyone involved in law enforcement had learned a long time ago.
That knowledge didn’t make it any easier, though.
He could have been killed tonight. How was she supposed to think about that?