“Well, everyone knows that Drew isn’t leaving your side, and the hospital notes are in the file …” She stops talking and gulps. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sure you don’t want to be reminded that there’s a case against your brother and father.”
“Actually, I’m relieved. It’s the first step in the right direction of my freedom from my family.”
“It’s hard to think that the Chief would do something like this and even harder to imagine that Donnie would be involved.”
It almost sounds like hero worship coming out of her mouth. I want to roll my eyes but Drew steps through the door, and I reel the urge in.
Drew looks from me to Monica and his eyes get big. He laughs a little bit nervously as he walks over to us and says, “Monica, I didn’t expect you, what’s going on?”
She stands up and straightens her pencil skirt. “I need to discuss that matter you asked me to look into with you.” Monica is whispering but I can hear her. She’s really bad at being quiet. It’s almost comical at how loud she’s being.
“Let me get Maddie settled, and we can talk outside in the hallway.”
“Don’t leave on my part. I can turn the television on.” I really want to know what’s going on, but I can’t blame them for wanting privacy to discuss police matters.
Monica smiles as she opens the door. “Nice meeting you Maddie.” Once the door is closed, Drew sets the water down and hands me a full cup of ice. “It will take ten minutes or less, but first …” He kisses me, and I whimper into his mouth. His lips are rough and dominating, causing me to moan his name.
“We’ll talk about where Knave went when I get back.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” I pull him down by his neck and he chuckles. My lips graze his ear and I can’t help but tease him. “Hurry back, Daddy.”
I let him go and he stares at me. “My angel is a tease. Remember, I can still find a way to punish my naughty girl.”
My entire body heats up and my breath hitches in my throat as I watch him leave the room with a satisfied smirk on his face. As the door closes, I sip on my ice water thinking about how I am going to talk Drew out of going after Knave.
Somehow, I don’t think that’s going to be the hardest barrier I have to break down.
Something isn’t addingup to me where Knave is concerned. I’m irritated that he lied to me about being The Mad Hatter. I know the killer is a woman, and there is no way in hell that Knave fits the profile. Why would he confess to something like this? I file that train of thought in the back of my mind to process later. Right now I need to figure out this mess with Donnie and Crystal.
“What do you have for me, Monica?” My tone is brisk and sharp. I watch as she flinches and worries her bottom lip with her teeth. Shit, this can’t be good if she’s nervous to tell me.
“We found the truck in time to get the coat, tracker, and syringe. It’s being processed but I’m here about something else.”
“What?” I anxiously wait for her to tell me. This is what I can’t stand about half the people that work at the station. They like to drag shit out.
“Yeah.” Monica looks down, pushes her hair out of her face and then looks at me with a grimace. Fuck, I want to yell at her to just spit it out already. “So, the fingerprints on The Mad Hatter card we found at the Chief’s house.”
She hands me the paper and I scan over it. “None. You mean to tell me there are no fingerprints on it?”
“Yup. Just like all the rest of them. Not a speck of DNA on them except the victim’s. This time there was Maddie’s blood and the Chief’s.”
“Fuck me. But that means …”
“Drew, I think you let the killer loose from the jail cell he was in earlier. Josh Knavelton had the perfect opportunity to throw the card down today.”
No. I already know Knave isn’t it. “The killer isn’t a male.Shit, what the fuck is going on?”
“Well, there was only one female at the crime scene today. But, we think that this card may have come from the Chief.” She pulls out another piece of paper. “If you look here, we found a briefcase at the scene that had the files for The Mad Hatter plus some evidence that should have been logged.”
Fuck, was the Chief trying to cover up this killer’s crimes too? “We have to assume that Maddie could be the …”
“Don’t fucking finish that sentence, Monica. Maddie is the victim. Not the criminal.” There is no way in hell Maddie is involved. I refuse to believe she has anything to do with the killings. She may be bold in some aspects, but she's not that bold.
“Besides, she’s a victim of domestic violence. If she were the killer, she would have already killed her brother and father.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to sound like I was accusing her, but we need to look at all the facts. If it’s not Maddie or Knave, who is it?”
“Well, that’s for the detectives on the case to figure out. It makes more sense to believe that Donnie and the Chief are involved in this case in some fashion. This isn’t the first time they have hidden evidence, so we need to start digging again.”
