“Touch a hair on her head, Kasper, or anyone else's for that matter, and I’ll make sure you rot in the prison cell you should already be living in.”
Kasper stands up from the table then, and his anger is once again replaced with that cocky, self-assured smirk. “How has that worked out for you all so far?” he asks. “The prison thing, I mean.”
I don’t say anything to this. Instead, I stand up and cross around the table until I’m inches away from Kasper’s face. I can smell old beer on his breath. For all I know, he’s probably been drinking at work.
Not that it matters. Whoever Kasper has in his back pocket hasn’t held him accountable yet, and it’s hard to say when exactly they will.
“I want you to remember that it’s only a matter of time before you get yours,” I tell him, and when I take a step in, Kasper takes a step back. It’s not much, but it’s more of a reaction than I’ve had so far. “One day, somebody is going to uncover all your hidden little secrets, and at that time, the only thing you’ll see for the rest of your pathetic life is the inside of a prison cell.”
Kasper smiles at this, but I’m pleased to see the shadow behind this smile, the uncertainty of my words.
“Have a great night, Sarge,” he says smugly, turning to leave. “Tell that sweet thing of yours that Detective Hill sends his regards.”
It takes me a moment to compose myself after Kasper leaves because all my body wants to do is follow the man into a dark alleyway and kill him myself with my bare hands. Once I’m certain I’m not about to commit homicide, I join Jake back in the main room and sit down at my desk. Before he can even ask what happened, my phone rings, and I pick it up without looking at the screen.
“Ely, it’s me.”
Jami sounds breathless, and rattled, like she’s been running from something or someone, and I’m immediately on edge. My fingers curl around the cell phone in my hand until it hurts.
“What’s going on? Are you hurt?”
“Maddy called me.” Jami’s words catch in her throat, and I can almost see her fighting tears on the other end of the line.
“Madison called you? Maddy Hill?”
“Yes.” Jami’s voice drops to a whisper, and the goosebumps forming on my arms prickle. “She’s in trouble. Her and Tara both.”
“Where are you, James?”
“I’m on my way to Tara’s new place,” she says. “I have to check on Maddy.”
“Donotgo over there alone, Jami. Wait for me, and I’ll go with you, okay?”
“No. This isn’t your problem, and I don’t want it to come down on you, Ely. Maddy says a man was in their house. It might be Kasper. I can’t ignore this. They need me. She needs me.”
“This is not your job. Let the police handle this.”
“I have to go, Ely. I’m almost there. I’ll call you in a few minutes, alright?”
“Jami, please, I’m asking you to just wai—”
The line goes dead.
25
JAMI
Tara’s neighborhood is eerily quiet when I pull up to the curb, and even though the blinds are shut in her front apartment window, I can see that nothing but blackness engulfs the room. Clutching my phone to my chest, I step out of the car and briefly consider calling Maddy back, but if the intruder is still in the house, I don’t want to give away her location if the phone rings. Instead, I take a deep breath and head to the front door, then enter the small foyer, where apartment doors line each side of the hallway. I’m shocked that nobody else seems to be awake and calling the police.
I step quietly up to Tara’s door and rest my hand on the knob. Not only is it unlocked, but it’s broken open, and when I quietly push the door open, I notice the chain lock has been completely ripped out of the wall.
“Madison?” I whisper into the pitch-black darkness of the room. I stand there in the doorway for a moment, mentally trying to prepare myself in case some criminal jumps out of the shadows to bash my skull in.
The house is silent. No one answers. Swallowing the fear coursing through my body, I step over the threshold into Tara and Maddy’s apartment, eyes surveying the mess in front of me. The homey little place she’d been so excited to move into is destroyed, from top to bottom, and something in the air makes my stomach clench and roll with nausea.
Glass, all over the floor.
Blood. Splatters of it against the wall.
