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We had to find the assholes responsible and shut them down, whatever it took. I wasn’t going to let Maddie endure that kind of loss all over again.
As I pulled off the freeway and slowed for the drive through the city streets toward the campus, Maddie stirred in her seat. She raised her head, swiping at her eyes and then her mouth, and blinked blearily at the lights glowing in the darkness outside.
“We’re just about there,” I said.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to pass out.”
My gaze flicked toward her. “You’ve got nothing to apologize for. I’m glad you got some rest. But I’m sure you’ll be a lot more comfortable in your bed.”
“Yeah,” she said, and that single syllable contained so much uncertainty and worry it just about tore me apart.
I parked as close to the entrance of her dorm building as I could and got out to walk her upstairs. She clutched her purse a little shakily, but she managed to stay steady on her feet as we tramped up the stairs. Another pang ran through my heart at the resilience she could still show, the determination in the set of her chin. She was shaken, sure, but Madelyn Silver didn’t let anything break her.
She paused at the door to her floor and glanced at me, her eyes flashing with momentary alertness. "We need to go after the assholes who did this. We have tostopthem before they hurt anyone else."
Even more affection swelled in my chest. I grasped her arms, gazing down at her, willing her to feel how much I meant this. “We will. They’re not getting away with anything. We’ll regroup in the morning and figure out our next steps. For now, you need to get some proper sleep so you can think clearly.”
Her head drooped a bit, but she nodded with the same determination. “You should get some rest too. Thank you for driving me.”
“I was happy to.” One tiny gesture I could offer toward making up for all the crap before.
Maddie had texted her roommate to tell her she’d be getting in late. She raised her keycard to open the door, but at the faint beep, it flew open to reveal the slim, curly haired woman who’d obviously waited up. Her eyes widened as she took in Maddie’s rumpled, weary state.
“Get in here,” she said, ushering Maddie inside. “You’re exhausted. I grabbed a snack for you from the dining hall in case you didn’t eat at the hospital, but you look like you really just need to crash.”
She glanced at me with a dismissive nod, and I backed up. Maddie shot me one last look over her shoulder with a tired but apologetic smile. I gave her a little wave that felt ridiculous even as I did it, and then the door was shutting between us.
I turned to stalk back down the hall, my own resolve wrapping around me like armor.
I was tired too, sure, but I wasn’t going to sleep just yet. There was something more important I couldn’t wait one more minute to get started on.
* * *
I’d thought I was going to be working alone, but when I eased past the apartment door, I found the living room lights still on. Slade leapt to his feet from where he’d been sitting on the sofa—Dexter glanced up at the other end, his stance tensing.
“Is she okay?” Slade demanded with a forceful energy that I’d rarely seen in my friend. “You dropped her off at her dorm?”
I nodded, a thread of uneasy emotion winding around my stomach. The concern on both of my best friends’ faces brought me back to the interlude in the Vigil office just hours ago—to watching Maddie respond to Slade’s touch just as enthusiastically as my own, to seeing her hand wrapped around Dex’s and both their cheeks flushed when they’d come back into the room after doing who knew what.
My hands balled at my sides before I caught my reaction. I forced them to open, inhaling slowly and deeply before expelling my jealousy in a rush.
These two men were like brothers to me. We’d had each other’s backs for every important part of our lives. I wasn’t going to let my feelings for Maddie—or theirs—destroy that bond.
“She’s upset, of course, but not quite so panicked now that we know her mom got through okay,” I said. “Mostly she needed to get some sleep after everything.”
“Of course,” Dexter said, even but quiet. “Were there any signs of who was responsible for the threatening text she got or the accident?”
I shook my head. “If it wasn’t for the text, which only Maddie saw, there’d be no reason to think it was anything other than an accident. Her mom got T-boned by a car that made a sudden left turn and cut it too close. The driver of the other car is in a coma—I’ll look him up in the morning, but somehow I don’t think we’re going to find anything there.”
“Can’t leave any stone unturned,” Slade put in.
“We can’t,” I agreed. “Which is why there’s someone else I’d like to investigate first.” I looked from him to Dexter, folding my arms over my chest. “Just the three of us, without Maddie.”
Slade’s expression tensed. “You know how she felt about us hiding the stuff about her dad from her. We can’t keep her in the dark.”
“This doesn’t have to do with her dad. Hopefully it won’t lead anywhere at all. But I want to look up this Beckett guy. Make surehe’snot some kind of threat.”
I braced myself for an argument, but obviously it wasn’t just my jealousy driving my decision there. Both of my friends tipped their head in agreement, Dexter looking thoughtful.
