Crime & Passion (37 page)

When she entered the apartment, a delicious
aroma greeted her. Madeline locked the door and set her purse on
the back of the couch as she walked to the kitchen. “Donovan? Are
you cooking something?”

The kitchen was empty, but Madeline looked
through to the dining room to see Donovan lighting candles at the
table. It was set with her good china and a mix of wild flowers in
a vase provided the centerpiece.

“What’s all this for?”

Donovan looked at her and a smile broke
across his face. He took a step forward to grab her in his arms,
dipping her back and planting a passionate kiss against her
lips.

Despite her hesitations about whether they
headed for anything permanent, Madeline couldn’t mask her response
to him. As his tongue slipped into her mouth, she ran her hands up
his back, digging at the firm muscles there.

He groaned before standing her back up,
holding her close. “I’ve wanted to do that all day.”

Her heart fluttered and she took a deep
breath, trying to calm her racing pulse. “And I’ve wanted you to do
that all day.”

Donovan led her to the table and pulled out
her chair, helping her into the seat. After walking back to the
kitchen area, he picked up hot pads and grabbed a pan out of the
oven. He brought it into the dining room and set it on the backside
of the table, behind the flowers.

Madeline noticed breadsticks and serving
spoons already laid out, and Donovan took a bottle of white wine
from an ice bucket and filled each of their glasses.

“I hope you like Chicken Alfredo,” he said,
picking up her plate and dishing fettuccini onto it. He finished it
off with a breadstick and set it in front of her.

She watched as he loaded his own plate with
food. “I didn’t know you could cook. From now on, you’re in charge
of the bacon situation.”

He laughed and shook his head. “I wish I
could take the credit, but I ordered this from The Carriage House.
I just put it in the pan and set it to warm in the oven. Didn’t
want it ruined before you got home.”

She dipped her breadstick into the Alfredo
sauce and took a bite, setting the bread back on her plate. The
rich sauce blended with the warm bread perfectly. “I suppose that
means you expect me to learn how to cook better. I’d hoped you were
a closet chef, just coming out to me now.”

Donovan smiled and took her hand in his,
kissing the tips of her fingers and sucking the garlic butter off
them. “I’ll love you forever, even if that means eating burnt bacon
the rest of my life.”

Her heart danced with joy. Promising the rest
of his life sounded good. “Is tonight some sort of special
occasion?” she asked.

“Today’s been a great day. I have something
wonderful to talk to you about.”

This could be it. Maybe he went to this
trouble of a romantic dinner to propose. She smiled and twirled a
piece of fettuccini onto her fork. “I’ve been waiting for this
talk,” she said, bringing the fork to Donovan’s mouth and
delicately feeding him. “Lindsey said it might never happen, but I
knew you wouldn’t let me down.”

Donovan’s eyes narrowed and he chewed
quickly, wiping his face with the back of his hand. “What are you
talking about, Maddie?”

“Us. This. That fact that you are going to—”
She stopped. The confusion on his face told her she’d jumped to the
wrong conclusion. He wasn’t proposing. Her heart dropped a little.
“—to tell me what was so great about today.”

He grinned. “It’s been the best day. Brice
and Eric found some stuff out about Suzie, and they forced the
issue to question her. It’s great news. It looks like she really
is
the one responsible for all the murders. We don’t have to
worry anymore. You’re safe!”

That was so far away from what Madeline
wanted to hear, she struggled to place a pleased expression on her
face. “That’s good news.”

“I knew you’d be happy about it.”

She nodded, blinking back tears that
threatened to fall. It was stupid to be upset and feel let down.
He’d never implied this was a proposal. She’d just wanted it to be
one so badly.

“So they have all the evidence they need?
It’s finally over?” Her voice sounded too cheery, fake in her own
ears. She was trying her best, damn it.

It wasn’t lost on Donovan. “Is everything
okay? You don’t seem as excited as I thought you’d be.”

Madeline shrugged and took a bite of food.
She couldn’t tell him the truth. “It was a long day. I had to deal
with Mrs. Duncan getting an eyeful of my face for over an hour
before she decided to ask me about it.”

Donovan took her cheeks in his hands,
stroking his thumbs down her scars on either side of her face. It
still felt odd when the pad of his thumb moved from the ruined skin
to the normal skin.

“Don’t worry about that old windbag,” he
said. “I love you, Maddie. Isn’t that what really matters?” He
leaned in and kissed her lightly.

She kissed him stiffly and then backed away,
forking up a bite of food. “Thanks. I’ll try not to worry about her
anymore.”

Donovan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he
settled back into his chair. “Anyway, about Suzie’s
confession...you did know she used to be married to a guy with a
lot of money, didn’t you?”

By his quick change of subject, she wondered
if she’d somehow hurt his feelings. Maybe she should have kissed
him more deeply or something. She didn’t know what it was he wanted
from her. The thing that scared her most was, for the last few
days, he’d seemed increasingly unhappy whenever they talked. He’d
tell her he loved her, but then seem upset right after. She was so
afraid he had begun to regret the decision to live with her. If
that was the case, he’d never want to get married.

She knew she couldn’t just ask him about it.
It used to piss Cameron off any time she asked questions about his
feelings, and he certainly hadn’t wanted to hear about hers. She
quickly learned men didn’t discuss those things.

Would Donovan laugh at her, like Cameron used
to, if she told him how much she loved him and that she wanted to
marry him? Would he leave her or, worse, sleep with someone else if
she confided her true feelings?

She couldn’t risk that.

“I’d heard her husband left her a bundle,”
Madeline answered, deciding Suzie was a safer topic. “Why does that
matter?”

“During his investigation, Brice found out
she has a house in Eureka we didn’t know about, one still in her
husband’s name.”

Comprehension dawned on her. “What did they
find in it?”

“They haven’t searched it yet. Eric’s up
there, trying to obtain a search warrant and working with their
local police.”

“But I thought you said they have evidence to
totally exonerate you.”

“Patience, Maddie.” Donovan smiled. “Brice
has faith they’ll find what they need in that house. Eric
questioned her earlier today and she confessed to everything.”

“Can that be held against her? She’s in a
psych ward, after all. I thought that’s why they hadn’t questioned
her for so long.”

“Mostly, that was Stone blocking efforts to
get to her. I think he feared she’d say something to incriminate
herself.” He stroked his fingertips across the top of her hand and
stared into her eyes. “And she did. Suzie’s going to spend the rest
of her life in a hospital. It really is where she belongs.” Donovan
shook his head. “She told Eric she did it all for me, that we’re
soul mates and it was a wedding gift to me.”

“Wedding gift? I’m confused.”

He sighed. “I shouldn’t have dated her. I
guess she’s been obsessed with me since her husband died, convinced
I was in love with her but going out with other women to make her
jealous.”

“That’s sad, but I don’t understand how she
went from loving you to killing people.”

“It was like I thought all along.” Donovan
took a small sip from his wine glass. “She’d been stalking me,
watching everything I did. She broke into her father’s office and
looked over my file. She figured out how much I hate abusive
men.”

“And decided to kill one?”
She’s crazier
than I thought.

Donovan’s blue eyes met hers and the sadness
in them broke Madeline’s heart. “That’s what she meant by it being
a wedding gift to me. Apparently she planned to kill Frank and pin
it on someone else, but reveal to me what she had done.” He ran his
hand through his hair. “I guess thinking I would admire her for it
and be grateful. She thought it would make me want to marry
her.”

“So, it was her I saw that day on the beach?
How’d she overpower Frank? He was a large guy.”

“You were right about the police baton. She
stole one from the station and snuck up behind Frank. He didn’t
hear her over the sound of the waves and she knocked him out.”
Donovan toyed with the food on his plate and closed his eyes. “She
said it didn’t take long to strangle him.”

Something wasn’t adding up. “Why did she call
him from your phone? If she wanted to marry you, it wouldn’t make
sense to frame you.”

“In the beginning, she didn’t intend to frame
me. She said she found my phone that day in the hardware store. She
planned to use it to trap me into spending time with her when I
picked it up. I don’t know why she decided to call Frank with it.”
He took a few bites of food, not saying anything further.

Madeline ate some of the chicken, though she
no longer had an appetite. Suzie was a very sick woman, obviously,
but Madeline didn’t understand what she gained by killing Maria.
Unless...

Madeline covered her mouth, nausea roiling in
her stomach. “It really
is
my fault Maria died.
Frank
was her gift to you. She killed Maria because she thought I would
be in the store.”

The corners of his mouth tightened slightly.
“Brice didn’t mention Maria. We don’t know for sure why—”

“You’re lying,” she said. “Tell me. I can
handle it.”

He sighed and linked his fingers through
hers. “Okay. You’re right. She wanted to kill you and Maria got in
the way, but you can’t blame yourself.”

“Why not? I’m responsible. If I’d never asked
Maria to cover for me...” Madeline didn’t even try to stop the
tears that fell. “Poor Jeremy.”

Donovan stood and walked behind her, rubbing
her shoulders in his strong hands. “It isn’t your fault, Maddie.
It’s mine. I unwittingly played with the emotions of a very sick
woman and it sent her over the edge. I put everyone in danger.”

She wanted to tell him he was wrong, wanted
to make him feel better, but a part of her couldn’t help but
acknowledge the truth of his words. “Neither one of us meant for
this to happen,” she finally said, squeezing his hand between her
cheek and her shoulder. “It’s no one’s fault.”

He hugged her to his stomach. “Anyway, she
told Eric everything went wrong when her father looked at me for
the crimes, so she came up with a new plan. She planted the
evidence in my apartment and made it look like I did it. She
decided she could get an engagement out of me by paying my bail and
coming to my rescue that way.”

“And I stood in her way, because you told her
you loved me, so she attacked me.”

“You don’t know how I wish I’d never said
that. I’m so sorry for placing you in danger.”

“You couldn’t have known.” She shook her head
and patted his hand. “What did she plan to do once she’d killed
me?”

“She still had some blue rope left. She
planned to use it to frame someone else for all the murders,
including yours. She’d use her money to buy my freedom, while
putting someone else in prison. Then, she and I would live happily
ever after.”

“And she told Eric all this?”

The weight of Donovan’s head rested against
hers and Madeline felt him nod.

“It’s all on tape and one of the security
guards at the hospital also heard the confession. Once they find
the remaining rope in her house and any other evidence, it’ll all
be over.”

“To think she went through all of that based
on a relationship that didn’t even exist.” Madeline reached above
her to stroke Donovan’s hair. “She’s completely crazy.”

“At least she’s where she can get help
now.”

Madeline shuddered, remembering Suzie’s smile
as blood dripped into the woman’s mouth and she sat on top of
Madeline with a shard of glass. “I hope she never escapes.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry
about that. You’re safe now.”

“I suppose so.”

“I know so.” He took a step back from her and
caressed the bottom of her chin, causing her to look up at him. “Is
there something you want to say to me now? Something about us?”

Madeline took a deep breath and nodded. He
was right; they needed to talk. She had to know what he wanted. If
she brought this kind of thing up with Cameron, she knew it would
have provoked scorn and irritation. She could only hope Donovan
calmly accepted what she had to say and agreed to talk.

She chewed on her bottom lip, looking into
Donovan’s clear blue eyes.
What if he walks away from me in
disgust?

“Is there anything you want to say?” he
prompted again.

She just had to say it, get it out there, and
hope he understood. “I’m not sure our relationship is headed
anywhere,” she blurted. “And I need more.”

“Wow.” Donovan dropped his hand and walked to
his side of the table, shaking his head. “That’s not what I wanted
to hear.”

Madeline wished she could snatch her words
back, unsay what she’d said. Obviously, Donovan was like Cameron
and didn’t want to discuss his feelings.
What was I thinking? I
can’t beg for forgiveness, though. That pissed Cameron off more
than anything.

He picked up his wine glass and tossed back
the contents in one gulp, visibly upset. “You need someone who can
make you happy, Maddie, someone you love the same way he loves
you.”