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Before I could say another word, the crazy woman ended the call.
With a smile and a renewed sense of what I needed to do, I jumped back on my bike and rode just for the fucking pleasure of the ride.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Madison
“I can’t believe I bought a new dress for a date.” Sure, it was a date with Jameson, technically our first date, but still, I bought a new dress. And what’s more? I spent three hundred bucks on the dress!
I could afford it and then some, but aside from the bridesmaid dress I wore for Maisie’s wedding, this was the most expensive dress that had ever caressed my body.
And I fucking loved it.
The fabric was soft, and the shopgirl said it was luxe, whatever the hell that meant. She said it was all right to try something other than a little black dress.
I smiled at that news because the deep blue dress had caught my eye from the moment I spotted it in the display window. It clung to the few curves I possessed, and the soft fabric highlighted my boobs and made me look petite everywhere else. I looked at myself from all angles in the full-length mirror with a satisfied grin.
“Damn, I’m hot,” I said with a smile. Still in awe that a man like Jamie asked me out. I’d never—in my whole life of trailer parks—had a man so deliciously amazing lust after me.
I’d found a pair of sexy black heels and figured it couldn’t be a bad thing to look sexy and touchable on a first real date with Jameson.
I looked good. Sexy. Like really fucking hot, for the first time in my whole damn life, and I couldn’t stop smiling. The only thing that could have made this night better was if Molly had been here to see me looking like this. To give me advice, to point out a few strands of straight hair I’d forgotten to curl in the back or remind me that I needed to do my lipstick right before leaving.
But she wasn’t here. Not yet anyway.
A knock sounded on my door. “Come in,” I called out.
“Hey, Maddie,” he started to say when he walked into my room and then stopped in his tracks. “Damn girl, where are you going all dressed up?”
Cal’s green eyes gave me a very thorough once-over before he dramatically clutched his hands to his chest. “Wow.”
I turned with a smile, and yeah, a hint of a blush at his words.
“Thanks, Cal. What’s up?”
He dropped down on the bed, all casual like, and stared at me. “What’s up? That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
I sighed, knowing he wouldn’t let up until I gave him a few breadcrumbs. “I have a date.”
“With?”
“Jameson.”
“Ellison? Charlie’s kid brother?”
When I nodded without giving him anything else, he said, “But I thought you guys were just friends?”
“We are. We were, I guess. But he asked me out on a real date.”
“Good job, girl. Jameson is a good man.” His words sounded right, but his far-off gaze left me wondering if this was jealousy or genuine worry.
“Just be careful, Maddie. People always seem to end up dead or missing when they hang out with the Ashbys and the Bastards.”
I let out a loud, snarky laugh and shook my head.
“He’s not a Bastard, and I’m not an Ashby, so by your logic, we should both be fine.”
I knew Cal’s thoughts were colored by Bonnie’s murder, and I didn’t want to minimize that.
“You know what I mean, Maddie.”
“I do, Cal, and I’m grateful to have someone like you looking out for me. But the truth is that my sister might be dead, likely murdered, and it has nothing at all to do with your family or Jamie’s.”
I was still hopeful that Molly was out there and even more hopeful that I’d run into her on my next trip to the diner, but Calvin was right about one thing. These days, death seemed inevitable.
“Molly isn’t dead, Maddie.”
Without missing a beat, I snapped, “You don’t know that!” I appreciated his hope and optimism, but I had to approach this with a measure of logic, or I’d set myself up for hurt and failure.
“In fact, I do. She’s not at that little diner in the desert anymore. She’s up near Reno under a different name. Polly Bennett.”
My gaze landed on Cal’s satisfied smile as the shock turned my stomach. “How do you know this? Are you for real?”
Before he could answer, I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed tight. “I can’t believe you did this! It’s amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Uncomfortable with all the praise and affection, especially after telling him I’d rip his balls off, Cal peeled me off of him and took a step back.
“You’ve been a really good friend to me, Madison. Better than I deserve, and I wanted you to have some answers about your sister. So I kept digging. I wrote a quick algo on facial recognition and hacked into all the cameras on the west coast. And I found her.”
