Crime & Passion (24 page)

She swished her hips back and forth, biting
her lip as dark hair bounced over one eye. “You heard I was a bad
girl and told Maddie we were engaged, didn’t you?”

Bad girl indeed. She almost did as good a job
keeping him away from Madeline as he did himself. “She told
me.”

“Make the lie a reality, and you are on your
way home.” She giggled. “Well, to
my
home.”

He pulled his hand out of hers and shook his
head. “You and I both know that isn’t happening. You’re going home
alone. I don’t know how much clearer I can make myself.
We,
”
he waved his hand back and forth between them, “are not
happening...ever.”

“Why not?” She put a hand on her hip. “Give
me one good reason.”

“I’m in love with Maddie.” Donovan folded his
arms together, putting as much force as he could in his voice. “Why
can’t you understand that? I don’t love you. Blackmailing me with
various schemes won’t change that.”

Her eyes narrowed. “So, as long as Maddie’s
around, I don’t have a chance. Is that what you’re saying?”

“Suzie, please! I’ve tried so hard to be nice
to you, but you need to get a grip on reality.” He stepped away
from her and looked back at the guard, jerking his head toward the
door.

The guard nodded his understanding and walked
across the room to open it.

“There is nothing between us and never will
be.” Donovan turned his back on Suzie, walking to the door.

An unexpected shove from behind sent him
sprawling. He tried to stand up and a high heel dug into his back,
pinning him to the ground. His instinct was to throw her off him
and take her down, as his training dictated, but he stopped himself
just as he flipped over and twisted her foot in his hand.

“Everything under control over there?” the
guard hollered from the doorway.

Suzie looked up and smiled. “We’re fine, sir.
A misunderstanding, that’s all.”

She returned her gaze to Donovan and the
smile slid from her face. “Maddie’s become quite the problem for
us, Donnie,” she said in a soft voice. “You need to get your head
straight, but it seems you can’t on your own.”

“Leave Maddie out of this,” Donovan said,
hoping the guard would overhear him and do something. Then again,
who wanted to confront the Chief’s daughter? Stone would never
listen to a word against her.

Suzie yanked her foot out of his grasp. “I’ll
take care of everything. You can stay here another night and think
about what you want to do. I know you’ll change your mind tomorrow.
You won’t have a reason not to.” She stepped over him, her heels
clicking on the floor as she walked to the door.

“What do you mean by that?” Donovan pushed
himself off the floor, rising to his feet.

Suzie paused and glanced up at the guard
before facing Donovan, a puzzled look on her face. “All I want is
to help you, Donnie. We'll talk more tomorrow.” She shrugged at the
guard and smiled before stepping through the doorway and
disappearing down the hall.

“Did you hear any of what she said to me?”
Donovan asked the other man.

He shook his head. “You sure have problems
with the ladies lately.”

The guard hadn’t heard her. Damn. Panic
raised a cold sweat on Donovan’s brow. What did Suzie mean? Did she
plan to harm Madeline? “I need you to let me make a phone call. It
could be life or death.”

Whatever happened, he had to make sure
Madeline didn’t let Suzie into her house.

***

The pounding on her door wouldn’t quit. For
ten long minutes the violent hammering continued. At first she
tried to ignore it, but the person obviously wasn’t going away.
Madeline dragged herself out of bed and put her robe on. It seemed
whoever called earlier was no longer content to get her voice
mail.

She had a moment to worry that her hair was a
mess and her breath stinky before she walked into the living room.
However, if her uninvited guest didn’t want to wait until she
called them back, they deserved whatever they got.

Madeline looked through the peephole and
sighed. That wasn’t one of her callers. She left the security lock
engaged and cracked open the door. “What do you want, Suzie?”

“Maddie, you have to let me in,” the other
woman said. “I’ve just come from seeing Donnie. We have to get him
out of that place. It’s awful.”

Maddie and Donnie in the same sentence,
really?
“Look, I have no interest in helping Donovan. He’s on
his own.”
And I almost mean that.

Suzie’s eyes widened and she blinked a few
times, clearly surprised. “I thought you cared for him.”

“Relationships with Donovan go through rapid
changes. Surely, you know that. According to you, twenty-four hours
ago you were engaged.”

Suzie shrugged. “I wish that were the truth,
that’s why I lied about it.”

Madeline felt sympathy for the other woman.
After all, she knew what it felt like to love someone, only to find
out he didn’t love you back. Well, she thought she’d loved Cameron
anyway, at least in the beginning.

The spark she felt for Donovan wasn’t even
worth thinking about. He’d quickly shown his true colors...if those
were his true colors and not him worrying about the money. She
wished she knew the answer to that little puzzle.

“You should move on,” Madeline said. “Donovan
won’t reciprocate your feelings. I don’t know if he can love.”

Suzie lifted her head and met Madeline’s
eyes. “At least, he can’t with you in the picture.”

“I think you’ve got the wrong impression
about me and Donovan.” Madeline didn’t know why she felt it
necessary to tell Suzie this, maybe something in the other woman’s
wistful expression. “We’re not together.”

“You aren’t interested in him?”

Well, if that wasn’t ever a loaded question.
“Let’s just say, he and I aren’t compatible.”

“Does that mean you won’t help me get him out
of jail?”

This girl had it bad. She wanted to help him,
even though he had rejected her several times. Madeline didn’t
understand that. What hold did he have over her? Maybe it was her
original assumption. Hot sex.

“Donovan can rot in jail as far as I’m
concerned,” Madeline replied, ignoring the little jab of panic that
gripped her gut when she thought of that. “He made it perfectly
clear he doesn’t want help from me.”

“That’s funny,” Suzie said. “He told me not
fifteen minutes ago that he loves you. I can’t imagine why you
think he doesn’t want your help.”

“He said that?”
Infuriating man!
Was
it an excuse to get Suzie away from him or did he mean that?

“He was very clear about his feelings.” Suzie
cocked her head sideways. “Why don’t you let me in? We need to
figure out how to come up with the bail money.”

Madeline tried to hold onto the anger she’d
felt yesterday, but wavered in the face of Suzie’s insistence.
Maybe Donovan really was worried about owing her money and that
motivated him to treat her so poorly yesterday. With Suzie’s help,
she’d get him out of jail. Once they’d secured his freedom then she
could find out why he said those things.

Still, she hesitated over letting Suzie into
her apartment. From Donovan’s description, the woman wasn’t
completely sane. She didn’t think it would be a good idea to spend
time alone with her.

“Look, Suzie. Why don’t you give me time to
shower and get dressed? I’ll meet you somewhere for lunch and we’ll
talk about things.”

Suzie shook her head. “Haven’t I expressed to
you how urgent this is? You need to let me in. You can shower after
we have a plan.” Tears welled beneath Suzie’s lashes and she
sniffed. “They’re hurting him, Maddie. We can’t leave him
there.”

“Hurting him?” Madeline’s heart fluttered
uncomfortably. “What happened?”

Fat teardrops fell down Suzie’s cheeks. “They
beat him last night. He looks rough, Maddie. His face is all
smashed. They might have broken his nose. He said his ribs ache
horribly.”

“No! The guard promised he would keep an eye
on him.”

“What do the guards care?” Suzie shrugged.
“To the people there, Donnie’s a cop gone bad. They’d all like to
see him hurt. I wouldn’t be surprised if the guards helped. I’ve
grown up around this stuff all my life. I know how it works.”

Madeline felt awful. What if some of the
calls she ignored this morning were Donovan needing her help? “Hang
on.”

She shut the door and flipped the latch off
the lock. A small tendril of fear coiled in her gut at the thought
of letting Suzie in her house. Then again, Donovan needed her.

Shaking her head and hoping she wasn’t making
a mistake, Madeline twisted the knob and opened the door wide.
“Come on in. Try not to worry. We’ll figure this all out.” She
turned to lead the way into the living room, leaving Suzie to shut
the door. “Jeremy and I figured out how to come up with sixty
thousand. We just need ten more.” She motioned to the couch for
Suzie to sit and took her place in her favorite chair. “Do you
think you could get your hands on that much today?”

Suzie paced back and forth in front of the
coffee table, not sitting. Her hands were deep in the pockets of
her jacket as she walked. “I probably could.” She looked toward the
kitchen area. “Do you mind if I get myself some water? I hurried
here straight from the jail, and I’m parched.”

“Sure,” Madeline said, waving her hand in the
direction of the kitchen. “There’s bottled water in the fridge.
Help yourself. I’ll call Jeremy and make sure he’s still willing to
help.”

Suzie passed behind her, and Madeline caught
a movement out of the corner of her eye. The woman removed her
hands from her pockets.

A frisson of awareness passed down Madeline’s
spine, and she tried to stand just as Suzie’s hands pressed into
her shoulders.

“What are you doing?” Madeline asked,
surprised by Suzie’s strong grip.

“He said he could never love me while you’re
around,” she said softly. “I have to do something about that.”

“Are you calling your lawyer?” the guard
asked, switching directions to lead Donovan to an office. “We don’t
really let you make phone calls anytime you want, you know?”

If only I had a lawyer.
Still, Donovan
knew he could call Jeremy and get Madeline help that way. “Yeah,”
he replied. “I need to call to Jeremy Rains.”

The guard nodded and pointed to a piece of
laminated paper stuck to a desk. “The phone numbers are over there
if you need them. I’ll give you some privacy. You have five
minutes.” The man walked out of the office, shutting the door
behind him.

As soon as the latch clicked, Donovan punched
Madeline’s number into the phone. After one ring, her voicemail
picked up. He hung up and hit redial with the same response.

Shit! I have to get a message to her.

Donovan wavered between calling Jeremy for
real or calling the police station. Then again, he’d probably be
able to get Jeremy to listen to him within his five-minute time
limit. Considering his call would report the daughter of the Chief
of Police, Donovan didn’t know if he could get anyone at the
station to believe him before the guard returned.

He punched Jeremy’s number into the phone and
waited with his breath held, praying Jeremy answered.

“Rains,” Jeremy said after the third ring. He
sounded drained, exhausted.

“Jeremy? It’s Donovan. Please don’t hang
up.”

A sigh came across the line. “What do you
want? I’m not in the mood for this today.”

Guilt clenched against Donovan’s heart. Of
course he wasn’t. Not only had Donovan been a jerk, Jeremy then
spent the night making plans to bury his wife. “I’m sorry. I know I
screwed up yesterday, but—”

“I still love you, Donovan,” Jeremy
interrupted. “You should know that. I’ve always thought of you as
my son. I just don’t understand why you won’t let me help you.”

Donovan glanced at the clock, wondering if
Jeremy could convince an officer to check on Madeline before Suzie
got to her. “I love you, too, but I really need your help. We can
worry about everything else later. Madeline is in danger.”

“From who? How do you know this?” Jeremy’s
voice had a tinge of panic in it, relieving Donovan that he would
spring to action.

“Suzie Stone was here, wanting to pay my bail
as long as I agreed to marry her. She made a veiled threat about
Maddie being the reason I don’t want her and said she would take
care of that problem. I don’t have time to convince anyone at the
police station of this. I need you to do that.” He snuck a peek at
the guard standing outside the door. “I only have a few minutes
left. I’m going to try Maddie’s phone again. I have to warn her not
to let Suzie in the house. I need you to get the cops over there or
head there yourself.”

“Madeline’s phone is off,” Jeremy replied.
“I’ve been calling her all morning to figure out how to get you
free. It goes straight to voice mail.”

Donovan closed his eyes and leaned his head
against the desk. Because he hurt her, she blocked out the world.
It could get her killed and it would be his fault. The only hope
Donovan had was that she would also ignore someone knocking on her
door.

“Suzie left here about ten minutes ago. If
she headed straight there, she’s probably at Madeline’s already.
Call the cops. Get her some help. Please.”

“I’ll talk to you later.”

The phone line went dead in Donovan’s ear. He
pressed the button to get a dial tone again and punched in
Madeline’s number. Maybe, by some miracle, she decided to turn her
phone back on and he could warn her.

The phone rang once. “You’ve reached Madeline
Scott. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you soon.”

Damn. “Maddie, you’re in danger. I hope
you’re checking messages. Whatever you do, don’t let Suzie Stone
into your apartment.”