Chapter 6
They were supposed to just go back to work and pretend nothing world-shattering had happened.
Madison had given all the interviews that had been demanded, taken the suggested time off for her “mental health”, done an interview with a counselor who had barely even seemed to care, and had been cleared back to duty. Just like that.
Of course she was—without Haldyn and Hope, they were down two of their best. The TSP needed bodies in the lab. Even when those bodies had been traumatized, and everything.
With Haldyn out and Charlotte in Wyoming—that meant she was heading up the lab for the foreseeable future.
Pete or Tom could have run the lab, but there would have been a massive revolt if one of them had even tried.
And Tabby made it very clear she didn’t have room on her plate for any extra responsibility at all.
That left…Madison.
Well, she had filled in for Haldyn several times before. But the administrative part of the job totally sucked. Especially with Wichita Falls eyeing everything the lab did now. The people from Wichita Falls were harassing them. There was no other way to describe it.
Madison hated days like this. Nothing had gone the way it was supposed to—she’d had to testify on a case she’d shared with Haldyn, but Haldyn had taken lead.
Madison had come in halfway through the investigation, running the tests midway.
Madison had done the best she could with what she remembered.
She’d had to deal with that jerk of a prosecutor Sano.
She hated dealing with him. He was so oily, and he definitely didn’t have much respect for forensics.
He was always trying to get her to slip up on the stand.
Like…he was a prosecutor—why would he always want to discredit the forensics?
Weren’t they both working for the same side, in a way?
Well, she’d handled him just fine. Everything had been exactly as it should have been. What she didn’t appreciate was that he’d brought up what had happened to her with Wilson and his cronies. As if he was just trying to use it to rattle her.
It had had nothing to do with her ability to do her job. He’d just done it to be a total jerk.
But she was back in her lab now. Madison had a list of things to deal with for the rest of her shift. Then…she had two days off. In a row.
Madison was going to take those days to relax. To see her mom and Max, and maybe just spend some time in the sunshine. To breathe. Before she went crazy.
All of this was getting to be too much.
“You look…ticked off.” Miriam was the only tech in the lab at the moment—everyone else was probably out on scene or at lunch. She stared at Madison for a moment. “What happened?”
“Will Sano. Worst DA in the county. Total jerk. Decided that I was apparently too fragile to do my job, after what happened with Hope and Wilson. I’m still…recovering. From the rage that man instills in all who have to deal with him.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever had him. But I’ve only had to testify three times so far.
In Wichita Falls.” Miriam was a recent transfer.
She’d come in the day after Hope and Haldyn had been shot.
Hope and Miriam had worked together in Wichita Falls.
No one knew if her assignment would be permanent yet.
Madison sincerely hoped it would. Miriam was worth three times the other forensic tech that had been loaned to them from Wichita Falls.
She seemed far more trustworthy, too. Not that Madison was sharing all her secrets with the younger woman just yet.
Miriam had claimed to be a friend of Hope’s—no one had really confirmed that yet.
But from the way Miriam talked, it was a genuine friendship.
But…until Hope confirmed it herself…Madison wasn’t trusting anyone. “I’ve never testified here, though.”
Madison hoped they got to keep her. Miriam was young, but she was seriously good at what she did.
Some of the techs with more seniority had a problem with her—she was only twenty-four, quirky, and never seemed to stop chattering about anything and everything.
She had a tattoo sleeve all up her right arm, and wild, short curly red hair that she’d streaked with purple.
Or maybe blue—her hair was just so red the blue had turned it purple or something.
Miriam was unique, that was for sure. But Pete and some of the others—they weren’t taking Miriam being around easily.
They couldn’t pitch in and pull together to help right now, apparently.
Haldyn gone and Miriam here disrupted their precious routines a little too much.
They said they’d been invaded. Madison privately thought they meant they’d been invaded by Hope first, and then Miriam.
Pete, Josh, and Tyler had the biggest problems with Miriam’s mere presence.
Some of it could have been what happened, though.
Everyone felt like they’d been at war and betrayed by the Wichita Falls post.
That was where Wilson had come from. And that was who Kimball had very clearly stated was behind a lot of what had happened in Finley Creek.
Everyone was on edge right now.
Haldyn had to deal with the catty, petty little problems constantly—Madison didn’t know how the other woman handled it without losing her cool completely. Madison was biting her tongue every night when she finally escaped this place.
Pete’s latest problem was coffee. Someone had taken his precious coffee. He was swearing up and down that it had to be Miriam—even though Madison knew for a fact Miriam despised coffee. Pete just got all out of shape over Miriam every possible chance he could.
Madison really didn’t have time for refereeing right now. She was tired, stressed, and nothing felt right at the lab any longer. Everyone was snapping and snarling and second-guessing everyone, every word, and every action.
Never had the Finley Creek post felt so divided.
Miriam seemed to be a favorite target in the lab.
Madison was still trying to figure out how to fix that.
Not that Miriam ever fought with Pete, or anyone else.
She was a proud pacifist, she said. Her parents had been Quakers—Miriam refused to engage with Pete.
Or anybody else. She did not believe in fighting—unless she absolutely had to.
She claimed Hope was her best friend. And she was there to help, as long as Madison needed. Period.
“I am only on half a shift today, unless you need me to stay longer. I’m on my way to Coleson Castle. I’m going to check on Hope. See if she and her fams need anything and play with the babies and everything. I heard she got out of the hospital already, this morning.”
Madison just shook her head. But that was good information to know. She needed to check on Hope soon. So…maybe the nightmares would stop. “Get out of here while you can. Before this place sucks you in and you can never escape.”
“Great. See you tomorrow, boss. Don’t overdo it tonight. You are young, enjoy while you can.” She shot a dimpled grin at Madison that was impossible to not return.
Miriam was good at lifting spirits, no denying that. If Pete and the others would just get to know her, they might find they liked her. But…she’d shown up the day after what had happened with Wilson. Madison understood why people were hesitant now.
“Tell Hope I said hi, and if they need anything to let me know. We’ll make it happen.”
“Gotcha. I put all my completed reports in the bin on your desk. I’ll see you in a few.”
Then Miriam was gone.
And the entire lab just felt…cold and empty.
Sinister.
Madison would probably never feel fully safe here again.
She was running reports in her temporary office—Haldyn’s—when a sound had her looking up. Her stomach clenched immediately. “Commander Hamler, Sergeant Newcomb. I wasn’t expecting you.”
Her day had just gotten exponentially worse.
Right there, with Rhonda Hamler were Stillman and Newcomb and two men in their thirties that she didn’t recognize.
And they were all looking at her now. Madison fought feeling trapped.
She wished someone would come back in. Anyone.
Even that doofus Keaten Price would be appreciated right now.
“Well, of course not. We had to relocate our meeting to Finley Creek in light of the governor’s inability to meet us in Wichita Falls as agreed.” The woman was obviously miffed. “We’ve decided to combine that with a tour of your facility while we wait.”
Great. Madison strongly suspected she wasn’t getting out of there any time soon.