Authors: Lisa Boone
Worried, Madison quickened her steps, dodging by
a couple of customers who were trying to make their way to the entrance.
She glanced back toward her sister who was
laughing as she tried to remove his hand from her arm. When he refused to let
go, she leaned forward again, her lips mere inches from his ear.
Madison’s eyebrows lifted in surprise as she slid
next to the young man and an older woman nursing a drink at the bar. She
couldn’t hear what Sarah was saying, but whatever it was caused an immediate
reaction. The man’s eyes widened slightly as she continued to whisper in his
ear. Suddenly, he jerked back. He looked at Sarah in annoyance. “Baby doll, I
can’t help you.”
“Then don’t,” she said simply as she moved her
arm out of his grasp and walked toward the other end of the bar.
He lightly hit the bar with his fist as he shook
his head in irritation.
“Hello,” Madison said.
The young man did a double take when he noticed
Madison standing next to him.
“All yours,” he said as he slid off the stool and
weaved his way through the restaurant to a back booth.
Madison motioned to a waitress who passed by. “Emily,
who is that guy sitting in the corner booth?”
Emily looked over her shoulder. When she turned
back, her pretty face was twisted in a grimace. “That’s Jamie,” she said with an
expressive roll of her eyes.
“Does he come in here often?” Madison asked.
“He spends more time here than I do. I’m
surprised you haven’t seen him.” She checked her watch. “Usually, he’s gone by
now. That’s probably why you haven’t seen him. He usually ducks out right
before you get here, then he goes and hits up another bar down the street.”
“What does he do?”
Emily laughed. “Do? I don’t think he does
anything but drink.” A couple at the next table over caught her eye. They held
up their drinks. With a nod, she rushed over to take care of them.
Madison turned just as two big guys, with thick
barrel chests crowded in on the younger man. Pushing Jamie over, they slid into
the booth next to him.
They appeared jovial but their manner was clearly
threatening. Jamie scowled as the shorter of the two men threw his arm around his
shoulder and whispered into his ear while the bigger man slid in from the
opposite direction. They scooted in close until they had Jamie trapped. The
bigger, heavier set man suddenly let out a burst of laughter as he pounded Jamie
on the back, causing the younger man to wince slightly at the impact.
A few seconds later, Jamie crawled up over the
top of the booth while the two men laughed.
Madison caught Sarah’s sad expression as Jamie
slunk out into the night. She stood on her tiptoes and signaled to her sister.
“What’s with you and that guy you were just
talking to?” she asked when Sarah approached.
“Nothing, he was just pestering me about
something.” Her blue eyes lit up. “So, how was the date?”
Madison tilted her head to the side as she
watched Jamie linger around outside the window. “Wonderful,” she said
distractedly.
Sarah frowned. “It doesn’t sound like it by the
tone of your voice. What went wrong?”
“Nothing. It was perfect. Well, except for a client’s
husband deciding to make his unhappiness with his divorce known.”
“Oh no.”
“Speaking of which, if you see any balding men with
big round glasses hanging around outside our apartment, do let me know.”
“Will do,” Sarah said, starting to turn away.
Madison grabbed her sister by the arm. ‘Hey, wait
a second.”
“Maddy,” she said in with an amused laugh, “I’m
working.”
“This will only take a second. Are you mad at
me?”
“No, of course not,” Sarah said still smiling.
“Why?”
“You slammed the door when you left today.”
“I did?”
“Then there was the dress you picked out.”
Sarah looked down at Madison’s dress. “What’s
wrong with it?”
“Nothing, but when I finished drying my hair, I
found it hanging back in the closet. I was just wondering why you put it back.”
Sarah’s brow furrowed. “I didn’t hang your dress
back up.”
Madison bit her lip. “You didn’t?”
“No, of course not.”
“You have been awfully absentminded lately,” she
reminded her sister gently.
Sarah’s forehead furrowed in response as a wary
look came into her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“You left the stove on the other day. I came out
of the bedroom and—”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. The fire alarm went off while I
was in the shower.”
A look of panic entered Sarah’s eyes. Madison
rushed to reassure her. “Nothing was damaged. Well, except the pan that was on
the stove.”
“Why didn’t you say something then?”
“I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it,” she
said mildly.
“Madison, I didn’t leave the stove on the other
day and I didn’t put your dress back up tonight.”
Madison tilted her head to the side as a worried
knot began to grow in her stomach. “Then who did?”
“I don’t know.” Sarah took a deep breath and
smiled reassuringly. “You were excited about your date. Maybe you put it back
without thinking.”
Madison felt her hands clench into fists. Someone
had been in her apartment. While she was drying her hair, someone had walked
into her bedroom and messed with her things. If Sarah was to be believed, it
hadn’t been the first time. “I think we should change our locks.”
“Why would someone break in just to straighten up
your bedroom?” Sarah asked with a nervous laugh.
The bell at the door jangled and Madison felt a
gust of cold air hit her back. She looked over her shoulder. Jamie stood in the
doorway. He took one look at the men at the booth and stepped back outside.
Madison and Sarah watched through the bay window as
Jamie blew into his hands while walking to the lamppost a few feet away. Once there,
he leaned a shoulder against the post and clutched his worn leather coat closer
to his body.
Sarah reached into her pocket and pulled out a
couple of dollars, which she then handed to the bartender. Less than a minute
later, she returned with a to-go cup filled with coffee. “I’m sure there’s
nothing to worry about. You must have just forgotten and put the dress up,” she
said as she passed her sister.
Madison touched Sarah’s arm. “What are you
doing?”
Sarah nodded to the lone figure by the lamppost. “He’s
cold.”
Madison bit her lip in concern. “Sarah, what were
you two arguing about a few minutes ago?”
“I told you. It was nothing,” Sarah began before
blowing out her breath. “He’s being a bit possessive.”
“Possessive?” Madison asked sharply.
“It’s okay. He’s just concerned about me.”
Warning bells started to go off in Madison’s
head. “Why?”
“Because he doesn’t want me walking home alone
either,” Sarah said with a grin. “Don’t worry. He’s harmless.”
“Remember that squirrel you took in when you were
ten? You said he was harmless too.”
“He was.”
“He had rabies.”
“Oh, he did not. He was sweet.”
“Uncle Jack had to get stitches and a couple of
shots. One of these days, one of your pets is going to bite you.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly.” She held
up the to-go cup. “This is getting cold. I’ll be right back.”
Madison leaned against the bar and waited until
her sister returned. She glanced over her shoulder at the TV set.
A picture of a large man in his sixties with ink
black hair and a weather beaten haggard face stared back at her.
Her lips parted in recognition. She motioned to
the bartender. “Can you turn that up, please?”
“It’s getting cold outside,” Sarah said from
behind her as she returned from outside. “I hope we get snow for Christmas.”
Madison watched as the nightly news anchor
replaced the picture of Quincy Sullivan.
“Hey, isn’t that the detective you guys used to
use before you hired Ethan?” Sarah asked. “I liked him. He was so funny.”
Madison nodded absentminded as she tried to focus
on what the news anchor was saying. All she could make out over the noise in
the bar and Sarah’s chatter was that the giant crumbling building behind the
reporter had been abandoned for years, and was now in the process of being
condemned.
“Why did you all switch from him to Ethan?”
Sarah asked.
“Quincy picked up and left. Retired or something.
He must be back in town.”
“That’s nice,” Sarah said as she returned to her
duties.
The bartender stepped in front her holding out a
phone. “Hey, Madison, they asked for you.”
“For me?” she asked in surprise as she took the
phone. Keeping one eye on the TV screen, she said, “Hello.”
There was no response.
“Hello?” This time, however, she thought she
heard something.
Suddenly, a man’s ragged heavy breathing came
through the line loud and clear.
The man let out a long and painful gasp and then
the word, “Nine” before going deathly quiet.
“Who is this?” she demanded. “How did you know I
was here?”
There was a resounding click as the line
disconnected. Unnerved, she handed the phone back to the bartender.
~E
IGHT
~
S
UNDAY
, D
ECEMBER
24
TH
4:47
P.M.
Spotting
a suddenly empty bench next to the Santa’s Village located in the center of the
mall, Madison hurried over and slid into the seat before anyone else could nab
it. She set the shopping bags she was carrying next to the bench before
reaching for her phone and navigating to her email.
Three shopping bags hit the ground next to her
feet.
Sarah balled her hands on her hips and looked
down at her sister in exasperation. “What are you doing? It’s Christmas. Can’t
you take a break from your phone for one minute?”
“What do you think I’ve been doing? We’ve been
shopping for hours.”
“I’ve been shopping. You’ve been complaining.”
“Speaking of which, are we done yet?”
Sarah smiled as she gently chided her sister.
“Don’t be silly.” She reached into the pocket of her pretty pink suede coat and
brought out her list. “There’s still Grandpa and my friend Hannah to buy for.”
“I thought you bought Hannah a sweater last
week?”
“I did, but I realized it was all wrong for her.”
Madison’s eyes narrowed. “You kept it for
yourself, didn’t you?”
Sarah stuffed the piece of paper back into her
pocket. “I refuse to answer that.” She sat down next to her sister. “Why are
you in such a mood today? I figured you’d be over the moon today after your
date with Ethan.”
“I was. I mean, I am.” She sighed in frustration
as she began typing out an email. She should be dancing through the mall right now,
but between Paul Harris’ little meeting, the strange phone calls and Quincy’s
picture being plastered across the nightly news, her giddiness was somewhat
dimmed.
“Who are you texting?”
“I’m not texting. I’m emailing.”
“Thank you. That’s an important distinction. Who
are you emailing?”
“Quincy Sullivan.” She hit send. “Now I’m sending
one to Ethan.”
“Oooh. Madison’s in love,” Sarah cooed as she sat
down next to Madison. Smiling, she linked her arm through Madison’s arm and
looked down at the email. Her smile fell as she read the text. “That doesn’t
sound very romantic.”
“It’s not meant to be. I want him to find Quincy
for me.”
“Why?”
“You know those weird phone calls I’ve been
getting?” At Sarah’s nod, she added, “I’ve been thinking about it all night.
I’m not quite sure—the guy was breathing so hard—but I think it might be Quincy
whose been calling me.”
“Why would he be calling you just to say a number
and hang up?”
“I have no idea.”
“Didn’t you used to say that Quincy was a
practical joker? Maybe this is his way of telling you he’s back in town.”
Madison grimaced. “These phone calls are weird
and creepy. Quincy was not weird and creepy.”
Sarah’s arm tightened around her sister. “Don’t
worry. To tell you the truth, I actually feel a bit relieved.”
Madison turned from her email to stare at her
sister. “Why?”
“Quincy was a really good friend, wasn’t he?”