Page 157 of Fought and Freed

They had decided this new company would be part of Shields Construction, but run by Jace. When the time came for Curtis to retire, Jace would take over both companies.

Curtis took them to dinner at his favorite Italian restaurant, and the minute Maddy walked in, the overwhelming smell of garlic turned her stomach.

Maddy just ordered breadsticks and soup and barely touched her food. She had noticed that food wasn’t appealing lately.

Once everyone else finished eating, they thanked Curtis for dinner, said goodbye, and headed home before it got too late.

* * *

The next couple of mornings, Maddy woke up and ran to the bathroom, throwing up.

Damn, she just got over the flu, and now, she had a stomach bug.

Cody instantly wanted to take her to the clinic, but she refused to go unless she was dying.

The following week, she finally woke up and didn’t instantly run to the bathroom.

Relieved she seemed to be better, she got dressed and headed downstairs.

“Good morning, Maddy. How are you feeling today? Did you and Torr have a good girl’s night last night?” Giselle asked, holding E.J. in one arm and holding a bottle with her free hand.

Maddy had called Torr over for a girl’s night. She needed her opinion on a problem she was having. Her problem turned out to not be what she expected.

The smell of coffee hit her nose. She didn’t like coffee, but the smell had never bothered her until today. Nausea rose, and she covered her mouth, running to the bathroom.

She barely made it to the toilet before she vomited.

How much longer was this going to last? No one else in the house was getting sick.

Washing her mouth, she returned to the kitchen.

Giselle stared at her and then smiled. “Are you not feeling well?”

“I don’t feel like I’m getting sick, but my stomach has been upset. I must have eaten something that disagreed with it.” Maddy looked around. “Where is everyone?”

“Let’s see.” Giselle bounced E.J. “Cody went to finish his last flip. Ryder’s out doing his thing. Jace left for school to withdraw from classes, and Skylar went with him. They’re planning to look at a project site after.”

“I’m going to step outside,” Maddy said. “Unless you need me to help with anything?”

“I’ve got this, dear.” Giselle checked the amount left in the bottle. “I’ll bathe E.J. once we’re done eating.”

Maddy leaned down and kissed E.J., then headed outside.

As she took a deep breath and settled onto the swing, her phone went off, and she pulled it out to see that someone had sent her a video.

36

CODY

Pain radiated from the back of Cody’s head.

Memories surfaced. He remembered unlocking the door at the flip house when something hit him in the back of the head, then nothing after that.

Confused, he tried to reach backward, and chains rattled, his arms barely moving.

“Cody, oh please,” a voice cried out. “Wake up, Cody.”

He recognized that voice and forced his eyes open, blinking several times to clear his vision. Boxes were placed all around, almost like a maze.

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