Page 24 of The Meaning Of You (Fisher & Church #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Nick

We’d walked the piers and jetties of Phillip Bay Marina looking for any sign of Madigan or the men who’d taken him. Some of the jetties were public, some had security gates. We talked to as many boat owners as we could before the light faded and the car park emptied but got nowhere. Gazza even borrowed a pair of binoculars from a bartender at the marina pub to check out the boats we couldn’t get close to, but still no luck.

The only thing keeping our hopes alive was the dark blue Ford Explorer parked in a far corner of the marina car park. We saw nothing inside to indicate whether it was our vehicle or not, but it was hard not to believe it was. I’d have believed almost anything by then if it meant we had a chance of finding Mads alive.

Under pressure from Jerry, I relented and called Samuel. He was pissed as all hell that we’d gone off on our own and threatened to fuck me up when he saw me again. I figured I could live with that. He told me they had people going through the marina booking lists and that they’d applied for a search warrant for the marina itself. Police cars were apparently on the way, and he made me promise not to go off half-cocked on our own if we saw anything.

I lied and told him what he wanted to hear.

The truth was, I couldn’t sit still. I couldn’t think. I paced the car park and public boardwalk back and forth, furious that I hadn’t done more to stop this all from happening. To stop Mads from being taken.

This wasn’t his problem. It never had been. It had been Davis who’d unknowingly got me into this mess and then I’d dragged it all the way to Mads’ door. Because I wanted his help. Because I... liked the guy. If I’d just gone to Samuel instead, none of this would’ve happened. It was my fault Mads had been taken. My fault and no one else’s.

I stopped pacing and stared up at the night sky. Clouds drifted slowly over blazing clusters of stars, blown by a warm northerly heavy with the promise of rain, which nobody was buying. We’d heard it all before. Seen the clouds. Felt the hint of moisture brush our faces. Then watched as the front passed us by.

A memory flashed in my brain. Mads’ hand in mine at the ravine that morning. Looking up. Another sky. Another time. Just a few hours that felt like a lifetime.

And back at his house. The soft crush of his lips on mine. His taste exploding over my tongue. His body snug against my own. The way he kissed like he knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it from me.

Experienced. Knowing. Rising to the challenge. Taking none of my shit.

Sexy as hell.

I’d been a fool.

And it was my fault he was gone.

What if he was hurt?

What if he was already dead? I gasped and spun around.

“What?”

I turned to find Gazza walking my way. He and Jerry had been holed up in the car, talking and watching me pace.

“What if we’re too late?” I voiced my deepest fear. “What if they’ve already killed him?”

Gazza walked right up and took me by the shoulders. “You have to stop this.”

“I can’t.” I studied his dark eyes, the odd fleck of gold sparkling in the marina lights. “It’s my fault Mads was taken. I should never have involved him in any of this,” I muttered angrily.

Gazza rolled his eyes. “Yeah, it’s all your fault. Along with climate change and the corruption of the food chain. I didn’t take you for a drama queen, Nick, so how about focusing on what we actually know and not what we’re scared of.”

“I’m not?—”

He raised a brow.

“Okay, I’m fucking terrified he’s hurt. Aren’t you?”

He sighed and his shoulders slumped a little. “Of course I bloody am. But this is no more your fault than it is mine for hooking up with that fuckwit Ben. Or Davis’s for being such a nosey bugger.”

I smiled despite myself because he was right. I patted his chest. “Mads is lucky to have you.”

Gazza snorted. “Damn right.” He dragged me into an awkward hug. “But just so you know, if this does go arse over tits, I might be more than a touch pissy with you for a long while, and you’re gonna let me be until I’m done, okay? Then you’re gonna come find me so we can talk.” He eyeballed me sternly, that pink streak of hair glowing neon under the sign for the marina pub.

I returned his stare. “Agreed.”

A car door slammed and we spun to find Jerry running our way. “Samuel just called,” she said as she ran. “They’re five minutes away. They got the search warrant.”

Hope bloomed in my chest. “Thank Christ. Did they say—” A loud crack broke the night and I spun around. “What the hell was that?” I searched the shadows and partially lit boardwalks for any movement.

“A fucking gunshot.” Gazza started running toward the public jetty on the far side of the marina. “Come on.”

I launched after him wondering how in the hell Madigan’s apprentice knew what a gunshot sounded like.

“Wait,” Jerry shouted. “Samuel said not to?—”

I kept running.

“God damn you stupid, stupid men,” she cried, following us. “Not a single fucking brain between you. Samuel’s gonna skin me alive.”

“Look!” Gazza pointed to two men running our direction from the furthest berth on the jetty.

But I only had eyes for the one in front. Madigan. Alive. My heart leaped in my throat and I kicked up a gear. I caught up to Gazza just as a small boat roared to life, somewhere in the dark. We hoofed it through the open gate onto the jetty, our shoes thundering along the wood like a herd of horses.

“I’ve lost them,” I panicked, my lungs close to exploding as I tried to see over the boats to the jetty that intersected with this one.

“Next right,” Gazza huffed, and when we turned Mads was back in the frame. But he’d stopped running and was standing still, head whipping from side to side as two shadowy figures advanced on him from opposite directions.

“Shit.” Gazza slowed, hesitating. “Maybe we should?—”

I flew past, barking Mads’ name into the dark.

The man closest to us jerked around while the other one raised his arm, the gun in his hand catching the light spilling over the boards.

No! My heart stuttered in my chest. “Move, Mads! Move!” My arms pumped for every scrap of speed I could muster; the bands of pain around my head could just fuck off and die. I wasn’t going to lose him too. I just fucking wasn’t. Dammit.

Davis! Help me!

Whether it was my prayer or simply the man’s beautiful big brain, Mads suddenly lurched forward and made a run for the water.

Do it, baby, I pleaded as he threw himself off the jetty and sailed into the air.

A gunshot fractured the night and a cry burst from Mads’ throat seconds before he crashed into the water and disappeared between the two boats.

“No!” I cried, adrenaline propelling me forward.

Keep running. Just keep running. He’s okay. He’s okay.

A siren sounded over the water and a police boat powered alongside the jetty, light bar flashing. Samuel and two officers leaped from the deck and hit the boards running.

The man closest to us ran to a moored dinghy and fired up the engine.

Almost there. Almost there.

I slowed and scanned the dark water where Mads had gone in, but there was no trace of him. I heard Samuel barking orders and feet thundering along the jetty, no doubt after the second man, but I was too busy pulling my shirt over my head.

Gazza slapped my shoulder, his chest heaving. “You guys have got this. I’m going after Ben. I wanna be there for that fucker’s arrest.”

I nodded. “Go.” Then I dropped my jeans and dived between the boats before Samuel could stop me.

Cool water shocked my heated skin. Darkness closed in as the lights of the jetty disappeared into the gloom.

When I kicked to the surface, my arm grazed the hull of a boat. I moved along its length, calling his name and feeling my way through the water.

“Madigan?”

No answer.

Samuel hit the water behind and his wake washed over me. He threw a marine flashlight my way. “I’ll take the jetty. You take the boats.”

I grabbed the flashlight and found my way under the first boat, light moving from side to side. Nothing but shades of grey and black. At the deepest point, a current kicked in and the boat’s hull grazed my back. I grunted and pushed myself free, cursing the deafening thwump - thwump of chopper blades and the unholy spotlight that lit up the water like a blinding stage.

Where is he? I swung the light in a slow arc, but still nothing.

Panic gripped my chest. It was taking way too long. Where was he?

I kicked for the surface, lungs burning, heart in my throat, and... there he was.

Floating.

His body sloshing back and forth against the hull.

Cold and unmoving.

Madigan.

I kicked over and pulled his body out into clearer water, the downwash of the blades making it almost impossible to stay afloat.

I shouted for Mads to wake up, for Samuel to come help, for the fucking chopper to turn off the fucking light so I could see.

“Madigan!” I cleared his hair from his mouth, then flapped my arm wildly at the chopper for them to move away. They did, thank God, but the water was so cut up, I couldn’t tell if Mads was breathing or not. I grabbed his face and blew a couple of breaths into his lungs just in case. He gave a small grunt but didn’t fight me, which I didn’t think was a good sign.

“Can you swim him over?” Samuel called from under the jetty.

I considered the ten metres between us and called back, “I think so.”

“Good.” He started climbing out. “I’ll take him from you when you get here.”

“Listen up, arsehole.” I started towing Mads toward the jetty, my sweeping strokes punctuated with desperate pleas. “You will not die on me, understand? It’s not going to happen. Breathe, damn you. Breathe.”

But he stayed limp in my arms, cold and silent, his face lit up like a damn angel as the chopper thundered off to one side, its spotlight casting a well of brilliant light over the scene.

“Almost there, babe. Hold on.” I shot a desperate look to Samuel who’d been joined by another officer, both kneeling on the edge of the jetty, waiting for me.

Samuel’s expression gave nothing away, but I could tell he was worried. “Is he shot?”

“There’s what looks like a bullet graze on his shoulder. That’s all other than the damage to his ear where they hit him earlier. But he’s not talking, Samuel. He’s not doing anything. ” I pushed Mads around into position and the two men secured their holds and started pulling him out.

They’d just broken free of the water when Mads suddenly jerked to life, coughing and choking and almost slipping back under the jetty in the process. I scrambled to keep him afloat, grabbing his shirt and hauling him onto his back to float in my arms.

And then it hit me. He was breathing. He was alive.

Relief coursed through my body, my heart hammering in my chest, tears flooding my eyes. But nothing, nothing beat the elation I felt when those beautiful green eyes fluttered open and locked on mine.

“Oh, thank Christ.” Samuel fell back on the deck with a shattered sigh. “He’s okay.”

“Hey there.” I brushed the hair from Mads’ face and kissed his forehead.

“Hey,” he rasped back before his face pinched and he started to cough and cough—a mountain of water spewing from his mouth in between short, choking gasps. I rolled him as best I could, keeping his head above water as he cleared his lungs.

When he was done, he turned his head and pressed his lips against my bare shoulder. “We really need to work on your timing.”

I smiled like a crazy person. “Bit late for a swim, isn’t it?”

“Can we leave the touching reunion shit for later?” Samuel scowled down at us. “After he’s out.” They lifted Mads from my arms and up onto the jetty.

A minute later, I joined them.

“Are you okay?” Samuel took me aside to look me over. He glanced to where the other officer was towelling a shivering Mads while an ambulance crew made their way toward him.

“I’m fine.” I couldn’t drag my eyes from the man I thought I’d nearly lost, and it didn’t go unnoticed.

“He’s a nice guy.” Samuel turned my chin until I faced him. “Davis would approve.”

Heat rushed into my cheeks and I nodded. “I think he would too.”

I left Samuel to dry himself off and made my way over to Mads. “I can finish.” I held my hand out for the towel and the officer obliged. I stared at the long shallow graze on his shoulder, thinking just how close he’d come to being killed. A few centimetres lower and it would have gone straight through his heart.

I gently pressed the towel to it, thanking God and Davis and anyone else that had heard my plea. When I looked up, Mads was watching me with soft eyes. I wanted to tell him everything, but I couldn’t find a single word, too frightened of what might come out.

Like he’d read my mind, he reached for my hand, holding me still, searching my face for... something. I wasn’t sure if he found what he was looking for but he smiled. He fucking smiled. Tentative at first, the corners of his mouth turning up to send my heart fluttering in my chest. Then bigger, broader, brighter, until we were both grinning from ear to ear.

He lifted the back of my hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss in place, slow and tender, his eyes never leaving mine. “We need to talk, you and I.”

I leaned down and brushed my lips over his, pulling away to find him staring at me, a warm expression on his face. I kissed him again and said, “We do, and I can’t wait.”

He watched me for a moment, then gave a curt nod. “Yes.”

I frowned. “Yes, what?”

Another of those blinding grins. “Yes, you can date me, Mister Fisher. I thought you’d never ask.”