“It’s at the back of the house. Hope grew up here with Bonnie and the rest of her sisters and nieces. But after they moved to Hughes Heights, I think Norm and Marcia and their kids moved in. Hope said they had been renting in town for years, but they moved in here to save money. I feel bad, invading their space and everything. But what else were we supposed to do? I saw a lot of TSP out tonight. What if they were actually looking for us?”
He would never forget the fear in her words then. Of course she would be terrified. It had been the damned TSP who had shot her in the back. No. She wouldn’t have trusted any of them.
“We’re safe here. And I think that is what will matter to Hope and her family.” He suspected they’d decided to just absorb Madison into their ranks after what had happened to her and Hope because of that bastard Wilson. Rather like Heather’s family had just absorbed Powell Barratt after the hell she and Heather had experienced as well. “We’ll pay to replace anything we use.”
“It just feels weird.” She rubbed her elbows, that same little thing she did when she was angsting over something. Dom knew this woman better than he knew himself. Now that the adrenaline rush was over from what had happened to him, that was when the trauma of what it had been would hit her.
All he’d been able to think about tonight was keeping her safe.
Madison McAlister would always be his first thought and his last.
67
Madison closed allthe blinds and curtains, and then tossed a few blankets she found on the backs of chairs over the curtain rods, just to dampen any light. Then she turned on a small lamp next to the fireplace. She took her first look around.
The Coleson house had the same kind of ‘feel’ as Coleson Castle. Immediately welcoming, was her first thought. There was the braided rag rug Hope had chattered about making with her sister Marcia once. Madison was sure that was the rug. Hope had said they’d used scraps from all the kids’ old clothes to make it. And all of them had taken turns braiding it. So it would be special.
There were photos on the mantle. Mostly of who she suspected were Norm and Marcia’s four kids, but there were family photos of other Colesons she recognized, too. Including Heather and Hope. “Hope loves it here. I think she doesn’t like Finley Creek that much. I really can’t blame her.”
“Probably a bit of culture shock, too. This place is small. Far cry from a mansion in Hughes Heights.”
“Hope said they all shared three bedrooms. Crispin slept in the closet off the dining room, and Marcia was in the attic. Sheremembered Norm putting in a window in the closet, in case of a fire. I think they were lucky to have each other.”
She had her mom, her dad, her brother, an aunt she saw occasionally, and now Dom and Vince. She definitely had those two. Even ifthisAcardi was so complicated. “My mom has a sister, and that is it. She has two kids, but they are more Max’s age than mine. My dad was an only.”
“My dad’s family isn’t very close, but I have a few cousins out there. I haven’t spoken to my mother in about five years.”
“Hope said they never had much money, but they were happy. Were. I don’t think she realized what she was implying.”
“I can understand that. That family has been through utter hell lately.”
“I’ll see if I can find something for you to put on.” Because she could not deal with him walking around with no shirt on and he couldn’t stay in that one. It was soaked with blood. The stain had gotten far bigger, too. “We need to do something about that.”
“We’ll see if there is a first aid kit, too. Go. I don’t want to bleed on the carpet.”
No. Madison was going to leave this place exactly as they found it. She really did feel like she was violating a friend’s trust here. But if it came down to doing that and staying alive, would it really matter? Hope would probably understand, considering…
Madison was just going to stop overthinking here. What would someone like…Heather or Zoey…do in a situation like this? What would Mel have done?
Well, each of them had been through real hell. And they had found their way out.Foughttheir way out, more than anything.
Madison was so a lover, not a fighter.
Well, this was just a little hot zone. She and Dom would figure this out, get back to Finley Creek in the morning and catch the guys who did this.
They were cleaning out the dirt at the TSP.
No one ever thought that would be easy. Or…safe…or anything like that.
First, she was going to search this house. With so many doctors and nurses and a cop in this family, there would probably be first aid supplies somewhere. Her own mother was almost fanatical about keeping a well-stocked first aid supply.
She was going to take care of Dom. Make sure he was okay. Then they would come up with a plan. And in the morning, they would execute it. Somehow.
She searched the house quickly, listening to the sound of that man in the bathroom.
She found what she was looking for in the small half-bath behind the stairs. Bandages, steri-strips, antiseptic wash. There were washcloths in a woven basket next to the cabinet. There were even two spare toothbrushes in packages beneath the sink, and tiny travel toothpaste tubes. Yes, they were children’s flavors, and the toothbrushes were tiny, but…they would work. Dom could have the cotton candy flavor; Mads would take cinnamon. Yick. Hope had said Heather’s little girl visited up in Oklahoma before. Madison thought the Halsons had just recently moved to Texas. Everything seemed clean and lacked dust.
It really did feel like they’d broken into someone’s house here.
