Authors: Magda Alexander
“It doesn’t matter what I believe. We have to find Madison. She couldn’t have gone far.” Our estate is extensive, but several riders could easily cover the grounds in less than an hour. As long as she hasn’t left the property, they’ll find her. But if she leaves, with the sky pouring buckets of rain, they’ll have a difficult time tracking her down.
Half an hour later, Hartley returns with his report. “They picked up the trail as far as the creek before it disappeared.”
She wouldn’t have chanced crossing that creek as treacherous as it is this close to home. No. She would have traveled upstream for the nearest safe place to navigate. Or holed up somewhere. Time to bring in the cavalry. “We need to call the police. She could be hurt.”
“No. We’re not involving the police. If we do, we’ll have to explain why she ran off. And what happened to your mother will come out. It’ll make the papers. Don’t you see?”
“We don’t have to tell them the reason she ran away. We can make up a story. I’m sure she’s not the first teenager to get angry and take off.”
He pounds the desk, face florid with rage. “I forbid you to call the police. Do you hear me?”
He’s losing it, and I can’t deal with this alone anymore. “Fine. I won’t call them, but I am calling someone else.” I pick up my cell and dial the man I just left behind.
“Who?”
“Trenton Steele.”
“Why?”
Steele answers on the second ring. “Madrigal.” He still sounds angry with me.
I don’t waste time explaining the details. “Madison’s missing. She took her horse. Call Mitch. Come here.”
My grandfather yanks the phone from my hand. “Why are you calling him? What good is he going to do?”
“He’s going to help me find her just like he’s helping me figure out who killed my parents.”
“What? It was those handymen. They did it.”
“No. They did not.”
His eyes bug out. “You can’t get Trenton Steele involved. He’s relentless. He won’t stop until he discovers the truth.”
“What is the truth? Do you know? Do you know, Grandfather?” For the first time ever, I don’t call him Gramps.
He doesn’t answer. Deep down inside, I suspect he knows the truth. And whatever it is has him terrified.
CHAPTER 28
Trenton
By the time I arrive at Madrigal’s home, Mitch is already there.
“Thank God you’re here,” Madrigal says as soon as I walk through the door. From the wild-eyed look to her, I gather things are not going well.
“No sign of Madison?”
“No. And it’s been two hours since she took off. One of the riders tracked her as far as the creek, and then her trail disappeared.” Clutching me, she rests against my chest. “I’m so scared, Steele.”
“It will be all right, you’ll see.” I embrace her and drop a kiss on her head.
Wiping away tears from her face, she nods. “Mitch is in the study with Gramps, who’s yelling, pounding his desk, and not listening to anything Mitch or I have to say.”
Should have known. From the sounds coming from the study, Mitch and Holden are engaged in a screaming match.
“You have to call the police. They have search and rescue teams trained to track people down!” Mitch yells.
“I’m not going public with this. She’ll come home soon. You’ll see. She has to be hungry by now. You know how much she loves to eat.”
“Not if she fell off her horse, she won’t. What if she’s injured?”
“Marigold would have come back to the stable. We just have to give it time.” It’s clear Holden’s pride won’t allow his family’s failings to become public even if it costs him his granddaughter’s life.
“They’ve been going on like that since Mitch arrived twenty minutes ago.”
“I gather. What can I do?”
“I can’t stay here doing nothing. I need to look for her. There’s a place we used to ride to when we were younger and played hide-and-seek. Maybe she sought shelter there from the rain. We can use the Jeep.”
I take her hand and head out the door. “Let’s go.”
The garage houses several cars—a Lincoln Town Car, a Mercedes, an SUV, a Jeep.
We climb into the Jeep. When she shifts gears, I cover her hand with mine. “I’m sure she’s fine, Madrigal. You’ll see.”
Leaving the estate behind, she heads onto Route 50. Fifteen minutes later she veers onto a side road, a dirt one. She manages the wet terrain with a sure hand.
“You’ve driven this way before.”
“Yes. Sometimes when things got to be a bit too much at home, I’d go for a ride.”
“In the Jeep?”
She nods. “Madison would go as well, but she’d ride Marigold.”
She shifts again. But then she comes to a rolling stop. “There it is.”
To say I’m amazed is an understatement. What stands in front of us is a stone structure that resembles a tower from a medieval castle.
“Who on earth built that?”
“An old Virginia family with delusions of grandeur. They intended to build an entire castle, but the Civil War interrupted the construction. Their finances never recovered after that.”
“You and your sister played here? It looks like it could tumble down any minute.” Stone bricks are missing, and the turret is open to the sky.
“The turret was still whole when we played in it. I haven’t been back since high school.”
“I don’t see a horse.”
“There’s a shed on the other side. Maybe she stabled Marigold there.”
We climb out of the Jeep and trudge through the mud to the tower. Only one hinge keeps the door secured, and that has a screw missing. With care, I pry it open and am surprised at how heavy it is. Nothing but dark and dampness inside. And the stench tells us creatures have made themselves at home. When Madrigal takes a step forward, I grab her arm. “Don’t. A wild animal may be in there.”
“What if Madison is too?”
Hopefully her sister has more sense than to seek shelter in such a dangerous structure. “Call her name.”
“Madison, it’s Madrigal. Are you in here?”
Nothing but silence greets us.
She calls again with the same results.
“Let’s go check out that shed.”
There we find no evidence of Madison or her horse.
“She’s not here.” She sweeps back a lock of wet hair. “I was so sure she would be.”
“Maybe she took shelter in somebody’s house. Who owns this land?”
“It used to belong to the Wellingfords. The family died out. No one could afford to buy the property, not with the amount of back taxes owed. So it reverted to the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
“This is prime real estate. You’d think someone would buy the land and build a bunch of houses on it.”
“Most people find it too far from DC to commute. No. It’s best as a farm or a place to raise horses.”
“Or a winery. There are lots of them in this part of Virginia.”
“Maybe.”
I squint. The rain’s let up, and I spot some buildings in the distance. “What is that?” I ask, pointing in that direction.
“Middleburg.”
“Maybe she sought shelter there.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t think she’d ride that far.”
“We won’t know unless we go and find out.”
“Okay.” We climb back in the Jeep and head west to the town of Middleburg.
“Do they have a stable?”
She snorts. “This is horse country. Of course the town has a stable.”
By the time we pull into the Middleburg Stables, the rain has finally stopped. In our haste, we hadn’t bothered with protective gear. We’re soaking wet. Madrigal’s glorious hair cascades in wet strands down her back. As soon as we go in, she spots a young woman currying a horse.
“Madison!” Running to her sister’s side, Madrigal throws her arms around her. “You’re safe.”
Madison stares at her sister like she’s grown two heads. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You ran out of the house hours ago right into a raging storm. As upset as you were, I thought you’d ended in a ditch somewhere.”
Madison hangs her head. “I’m sorry I worried you, Mad. I just had to get away after reading our mother’s . . .”
Madrigal hugs her. “I’m so sorry you found her journal, sweetheart. I should have hidden it, but I was so upset myself, I wasn’t thinking straight before I ran out of the house.”
“You ran out, same as I did, without telling anyone.”
“It was the middle of the night, Madison.”
“You could have left a note. There I was all alone after having read that.” She leans her head against her horse’s neck. “It was horrible.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Madison wipes the tears from her face. “Where were you? Where did you go?”
Madrigal nods toward me. “To his place.”
Her sister’s brown-eyed gaze makes me feel like a bug under a microscope. “Who’s he?”
“Trenton Steele.”
“Your boss? Why would you go to him?”
Madrigal rubs her sister’s back. “He’s more than my boss, sweetheart. He’s my . . . friend.”
Telling her sister we’re lovers is out of the question.
“Why didn’t you call to let us know you’re safe?” Madrigal asks.
“I didn’t want to be found.”
Madrigal sweeps her hand down Madison’s back. “Why?”
“He knew. Gramps knew what our father did to our mother.”
“Only after the murders.”
Madison shakes her head. “He knew before that.”
“Why do you think that?”
“He came to our house the night our parents were killed.”
“No, he didn’t. The police contacted him in the morning.”
“He was there, Madrigal. I saw him outside.”
CHAPTER 29
Madrigal
Madison’s words throw me for a loop. She saw our grandfather at the house the night of our parents’ murders? She was four—too young to realize the significance, but apparently old enough to know what she saw.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“I forgot about it. Until I saw those pictures. And then it started coming back. My nightmares? They were like the newspaper photos, snapshots of that night. And then today . . . when I read the diary, the memories flooded back.”
“You remembered seeing him that night?”
“Yes.”
“Did he see you, Madison?”
“No.”
“Did you go downstairs to our parents’ bedroom?” Please God, let that not be what happened.
“No. I woke up in the middle of the night having to pee. I didn’t want to wet the bed, so I got up to go to the bathroom. After flushing the toilet, I saw a light go on outside.”
“We had motion sensor lights around the perimeter of our house,” I explain to Steele.
“The window in the bathroom was too high for me to see out, but the one in the hallway wasn’t. I peeked through the curtains. That’s when I saw Gramps in the backyard.”
“You sure it was him?”
“Yes. The outside light shone full bright on him.”
“What was he doing?”
“Digging up Scruffy’s grave.”
“Who’s Scruffy?” Steele asks.
“Our Scottish terrier. He’d died recently. What did he want with our dog’s grave?”
“I don’t know. When he looked over his shoulder at the house, I ran back to bed and hid under the covers. I knew I wasn’t supposed to leave my room. The next morning he came and told me about Mom and Dad. I was afraid to say anything. And then you went away, and I was all alone with only Olivia to protect me from him.”
“He wouldn’t hurt you. He’s your grandfather.”
“He doesn’t like me. He never did. He’s always looked at me differently from the way he looks at you.”
“That’s not true, Madison. He loves us both the same. But we’ll need to ask him about that night.”
Madison shakes her head. “He already knows I know. I blurted it out today when I argued with him. I came right out and asked him what he hid in Scruffy’s grave.”
“And what did he say?”
“He said I dreamed up the whole thing. But I didn’t. I didn’t, Madrigal.” Her gaze grows wild. She’s had enough to deal with today, so I pat her back in an attempt to calm her down.
“I believe you. We’ll find out why he doesn’t want us to know the truth. But first I need to let him know you’re okay.”
“Fine. But I’m not staying in that house another day with him.”
“We’ll figure out something. I promise.”
After we call Gramps and let him know we found Madison, we make arrangements with the Middleburg Stables to house Marigold until Hartley can fetch her in a horse trailer.
We ride back home in silence while everyone’s thoughts grind away. Once we arrive, Olivia sweeps Madison up the stairs for a hot bath, clean clothes, and food.
Together with Steele, I walk into Gramps’s study to confront him about what happened the night my parents died. Mitch is still there, and the atmosphere between them is tense.
“How is she?” Gramps asks.
“Physically, she’s fine. Emotionally, she’s a wreck.” Like I am. “Madison said she saw you at our house the night our parents died.”
That gets Mitch’s attention. “Holden, you were there?”
“Of course not. She was confused. She was only four at the time.”
“She’s pretty clear about it. She saw you digging up Scruffy’s grave.”
“She saw something like that and kept it secret for twelve years? What nonsense.” But his eyes tell a different story. He’s afraid. The question is of what.
“She blocked it out and only remembered it when”—I can’t tell him about the photos Madison took from the newspaper—“when she read our mother’s journal.”
“She’s lying.” His voice trembles with emotion.
“Why would she do that?”
“She resents my discipline and is trying to gain sympathy from you.”
“Madison is not that manipulative.”
“Then how do you explain it?”
“She was only four. Our parents had been killed, and you put me in a mental health facility. Her entire family vanished in the blink of an eye. She probably thought she would disappear as well if she spoke up. So she buried it deep in her psyche, forgetting what she’d seen until our mother’s diary brought back her memories.”
He points a trembling finger at Steele. “Why is he here? This is family business.”
“I told you. He’s helping me investigate my parents’ murders.”
He passes a hand over his brow. “Did you? I can’t remember.”
Oh, God. He’s losing it. “I talked to one of them, Grandfather.”
His eyes are hazy. “One of who?”
“The handymen who broke into our house. He says they didn’t kill them.”
“And you believe some crack addict?”
“I do. He liked Mom. She was nice to him. Fed him and provided drinks. He wouldn’t have killed her.”
“That didn’t stop him from robbing the place that night. When he was arrested, they tested him for drugs. He still had amphetamines in his system, which meant he was high when he broke into your house. I bet you didn’t know that.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Amphetamines stay in the body for one to two days, but a high only lasts for twelve hours,” Steele says. “So he could have been clean at the time he broke into the house.”
That’s how Steele makes his money. By poking holes in a prosecutor’s case. And in the circumstances surrounding my parents’ murders as well.
“Whose side are you on, Trenton?” Grandfather snaps.
“Madrigal’s and the truth’s.”
“Well, you’re not going to get it by badgering me.”
“When I badger you, you’ll know it, Holden. This whole thing reeks of chicanery and deception. You were there that night. I can see it in your eyes. You’re hiding something, and I’m going to find out what.”
“No. You will not. You have no right to investigate a thing.”
“Madrigal asked me to look into her parents’ murders. She’s an adult with a right to hire me. And I promise you, I’m going to get to the truth.”
Grandfather’s face turns ruddy, and he pounds on the antique oak desk our family has owned for generations. “Damn you to hell and back. Get out and stay out. You’re not welcome here anymore. And that goes for you too, Mitchell.”
Devastated by the turn of events, I curl my hands around my middle. These men, arguably the most important in my life, are tearing each other apart. And I can’t stop any of it.
Without saying a word to Gramps, Mitchell walks out of the study, and Steele and I follow him. As soon as we’re in the foyer, Mitchell turns to me. “He’s afraid of something coming out.”
“Yes. That much is clear. I don’t know if it’s that my father beat my mother or something much worse.”
He wraps an arm around my shoulders in a fatherly sort of way. “He’ll stop at nothing to protect his secret.”
“Like putting me in a mental health facility after my parents’ murders? Maybe he did it to keep Madison and me apart. He must have seen her that night when he looked back at the house. She was the only other person there. Maybe the light in the hallway gave her away. Maybe he separated us to keep Madison from telling me what she’d seen.”
“I’m not going to wait for something to happen,” Mitch says. “You need to come with me. You and Madison. Right now.”
He’s right. I don’t know what Gramps will do. I glance up the stairs. “We need to pack some things.”
“I’ll wait,” Mitch says.
“No. Tonight. After he’s asleep. If we leave now, he’ll get upset. I don’t want to be the cause of another heart attack.”
“He’ll still be upset in the morning.”
“Yes, but we’ll be long gone. He can’t yell and scream at us if we’re not here. Mitch, Madison’s not yet eighteen. You’ll be charged with kidnapping or something worse if they find her with you.”
Steele steps in. “They won’t find her. I promise you that. We’ll come for you at midnight. Wait on the street outside the gates. Don’t let the security cameras see you.” He embraces me, drops a kiss on my lips. “I hate like hell to leave you.”
“He won’t do anything to us.”
The door of Gramps’s study bursts open. He steps into the vestibule and glares at us. “Are you still here? I thought I told you both to get out.”
“They’re leaving, Gramps.”
“I swear to God, if you don’t leave in the next minute, I’ll horsewhip both of you.”
“Go on,” I say, pushing both men out the door. Once it’s closed behind them, I face Gramps. “There, they’re gone.”
“You’re never to see either of them again.” Spittle flows from his mouth.
It won’t do to argue with him, not in the state he’s in. So I turn my back on him and climb the stairs without saying another word.