Page 37

Maddox

“Who did this to you?” Her face. Her beautiful face. He punched her in the face. I’m going to break every bone in his.

“Who are you?” a voice I don’t recognize asks.

The world widens from its sole focus. There are other people in the room.

A lot of other people.

Why is Kyle here?

“Who are you? I need your name for the minutes,” the woman asks again.

“His name is Maddox Locke. He’s my boss.” Mindy answers for me.

What happened to her voice? Her head tips to the side, revealing a handprint of bruises along her neck.

Gasps fill the room as all eyes turn to me.

“He’s the one?” A lean woman with a gun on her hip steps forward.

“No!” Mindy attempts to shout, but her voice breaks instead. “Maddox would never hurt me.”

“Then why is he here?” The woman with the gun steps between Mindy and me.

“I don’t know. To fire me, maybe.”

The woman in the business suit gasps. “You never fire an employee while they’re out sick. Are you really here to do that?”

Kyle chuckles beneath his breath.

“No, ma’am.” Even though she’s younger than me, she gives off old soul vibes. “I’m not here to fire her. Mindy has a job until she dies, if she wants it.”

The whole room gasps, and Kyle laughs.

“That is not funny. Can’t you see she almost died?” A woman in a floral fifties-style dress walks up to me.

All too well. “Sorry, ma’am.” Who are these people, and why are they here?

The one with the gun looks like she’s still thinking about shooting me.

“Leonie, don’t kill him. He’s normally a nice guy,” Mindy says. “Though he’s not that good at chess.”

The woman in the suit spins around to face Mindy. “You played chess with him?”

“Yes.”

“More than once?” There’s shock in the woman’s voice.

Why is this such a big deal?

“Yes.”

“Back off, Leonie. You can arrest him later if he messes up.” The woman in the suit steps back.

Great, the one with the gun is a cop. I should have known by the stance, but worry has thrown me off my game.

“Have you heard of Willow Street?” Kyle asks.

Leonie spins around to face him. “That’s an urban legend.”

Kyle shakes his head. “Maddox Locke runs it.”

She turns around slowly to face me. “Willow Street is real?”

“It’s on the map.” I don’t like strangers, especially ones who are cops with Plant being in the picture, to know what we do.

Leonie steps back, muttering, “It’s real.”

I don’t wait for someone else to decide to step between us. In less than a second, I’m kneeling in front of Mindy. “You’re alive.”

“Yeah.”

The women behind me start talking a mile a minute, but I tune them out. There are so many questions I want to ask her. Like, why didn’t you come to me when you were hurt? Why didn’t you let me care for you? I reach up and brush a lock of hair out of Mindy’s eyes.

“You already made that point, Greer. And I noted that Maddox touched Mindy’s face,” the odd woman with a zebra pad reads her notes.

What?

Mindy blinks a few times. “She takes thorough notes.”

Well, if Mindy isn’t going to stress, I won’t. “Are you going to tell me who hurt you?”

“No. Why would I tell you? You’re going to fire me.” Mindy sings her answer in her weird hoarse voice.

“Is she on something?”

“Yes. The doctor came in five minutes before you arrived and gave her a shot of pain medicine.” The woman sitting next to Kyle lifts her notebook. “Would you like me to tell you the name and dosage?”

“No. Thank you.” I turn back to Mindy, knowing full well it’s taking advantage of her in her drugged state to ask any other questions. “Why do you think I’m going to fire you?”

“You want to get rid of me. That’s why you gave me to Pit. Pit’s a weird name. I don’t want Pit to be my boss. I want you to be.”

She thinks I’m trying to get rid of her? We need to have that talk and soon.

“I’m tired.”

“I bet you are.” I can’t stop myself from touching her cheek. This can’t be my Mindy. “Rest. I’ll take care of you.”

She closes her eyes, and her head lolls. I gently help it lower to the pillow.

Now to deal with the crazy women around me. I stand up and pay attention to their wild conversation for a second.

It seems they’re fighting about who gets to take care of Mindy. Years of experience have taught me never to wade into a fight with women. You can’t win. Today, I have to win. Because having Mindy away from me, even for a second, while she’s like this is not an option. I pull the blanket up and cover Mindy’s shoulders, so she doesn’t get cold in her sleep.

Time to face the proverbial firing squad.

“Ladies.”

They all stop and stare at me. This was a bad idea. A very bad idea. “As Mindy’s best friends, I’m sure you’re concerned with her well-being first and foremost.”

“Of course we are.” The one in the sweet dress looks a little offended.

“Traveling to each of your homes would be extremely taxing on Mindy in the condition she’s in.”

Leonie smiles. “See. I told them that.”

“In the interest of fairness and protecting her well-being, I suggest she come home with me.”

“What?” they say in unison, surprisingly quietly.

“Each of you can come visit her and spend as long as you like with her. She will have full access to a doctor and all the nursing staff she needs at my place. Mindy will also be steps away from a clinic that’s staffed with state-of-the-art equipment, doctors, and psychiatrists around the clock.”

“We can all provide her with that.” The businesswoman puts her hand on her hip.

I’m about to lose this argument.

“Maddox Locke should take care of her,” the woman with the notebook says. “He touched her face twice.”

Leonie walks up and gets in my face. “You hurt her, and I’ll lock you up for the rest of your life.”

Good to know.

“No, you won’t, because there won’t be a body left to lock up. I’m Winnie.” She holds a handout to me. “If you’re going to take care of Mindy, you’ll need to know a few things.”

“Yes.” The thin one with a stumblingly beautiful face but a nervous look about her steps forward. “Like Mindy won’t sit down. When she starts feeling better, you’re going to need to tie her down to get her to rest.”

“And Mindy hates oatmeal. Despises it. She’ll smile and eat it because her manners won’t allow her to do anything else. But she absolutely hates it. I’m Greer, by the way.” The nervous one holds her hand out for me to shake.

But the one in the old-time dress steps forward before I can take it. “Mindy hates watching television. She’ll watch movies but only with people. You need to get her popcorn when she watches them. She loves popcorn with chocolate-covered raisins in it. I’m Cordelia. And Ottilie is the one taking notes.”

These women are so cute.

“The space needs to be warm and welcoming for her. Mindy likes pretty things around her. And plants. She’s always wanted one of those vining plants that hang around all the walls. And you should know, we don’t know this Kyle person, though he claims to be a friend of hers.” Winnie stares at him with suspicion.

“Kyle’s a great guy.” Though, I don’t know about him being friends with Mindy. That’s all he'd better be thinking of. “How about this? My best friend is standing outside this door, waiting for me. He can take you to my place. The four of you can get everything set up just the way Mindy needs it before I take her home.”

“You’ll just give us free access to your home?” Winnie asks.

All the secret stuff is kept in my office or the dungeon. “Anything you need.”

“To get it done this fast, we’ll need to hire an army.” Greer taps her pink fingernail on her pants.

“No, you won’t. My brothers will help with anything you need, from painting to wallpaper. It doesn’t matter. Tell them and they will make it happen. Are those acceptable terms?”

“What if I want to know more about Willow Street?” Leonie asks.

“On or off the record?”

“That only works for cops,” she parries back.

“And friends.” These women are going to give me a migraine.

She nods. “We’ll get it done.”

I almost feel bad for foisting them off on Jacko.