Page 123 of Half Baked

“George?” His face was ghostly pale, and the front of his shirt was drenched with blood. I felt slightly better knowing the blood on her shirt wasn’t from her. Still, there was no doubt there was a shit ton of dried blood on the back of her shirt and in her hair.

“He died,” she said through fresh sobs. “Trying to help me.”

“Maddie, I’m sorry.”

“Where’s the rest of the blood from?”

She nodded then winced. “They hit me in the back of my head when they kidnapped me at the house.”

The sirens outside were very close, but I wasn’t sure they’d sent an ambulance. “Lance?” I glanced over to see him going from body to body, checking pulses. “Maddie needs an ambulance.”

“I don’t,” she said, trying to get to her feet. “It looks worse than it is.”

I nearly told her to stay on the ground until the ambulance arrived, but I knew better than to suggest it. Maddie didn’t stay down. She got back up. That’s who she was.

I stood and helped her up, gently wrapping my arms around her back and pulling her to my chest. “We’re going to get you checked out anyway.”

Sheriff’s cars pulled up next to Lance’s, and several officers got out, guns drawn.

“Some of them are still alive,” Lance said. “I’ve handcuffed a few of them, but they need ambulances too.”

I looked around the room in shock, realizing I was so focused on Maddie that I’d barely noticed the chaos spread around the room.

“Too?” one of the officers asked, then a knowing look filled his eyes as he took in Maddie.

“Can you tell me what happened?” I asked her, but she shook her head and started to cry again.

* * *

I leftLance in charge as I rode to the hospital with Maddie. They put staples in the back of her head, stitched up her arm, gave her a pair of scrubs to wear, and said she could go home after they’d observed her for another hour. She still hadn’t told me what happened, and the sheriff’s department was growing impatient for her statement. I could tell she was still traumatized, though, and I refused to press her.

I left her in her exam room to get an update on the suspects. Joe Kipsey had a head injury, but the doctors expected him to recover. Several other men had gunshot wounds, but they were also expected to recover. One of them—an orderly at St. Vincent’s—had agreed to talk in exchange for a reduced sentence. He’d tied Kipsey to the car parts ring, his plan to coerce George to transport drugs to Dallas in junk cars, and also shared some of Kipsey’s distribution routes.

When I made it back to Maddie’s room, a deputy was sitting in a chair next to her bed, taking her statement. My ire rose. “I told the chief I’d let him know when she was ready to give a statement.”

“It’s okay, Noah,” she said. Her face was still pale and dark circles underscored her eyes. “They need to know what happened.”

Ineeded to know what had happened, too, but I also realized she might have felt more comfortable talking about it when I wasn’t there. A fear that she’d been harmed in other ways besides the wounds on her head and her arm hung over me like an anvil. If I found out any one of those men had violated her, I’d kill them. And if they were already dead, I’d revive them and kill them a second time.

I waited in the hall until she was done with her statement, and the ER doctor discharged her shortly after. Lance had arranged for my car to be dropped off at the hospital, so I drove us back to Cabbage Rose House.

She was quiet on the drive home, but she clutched my free hand. She was so unlike herself, she was scaring me.

I parked my car in front of her house and turned off the engine. “Maddie, before we go in…” I kept my gaze out the windshield, careful not to look at her and make her uncomfortable. “I just want you to know that no matter what happened, I’m here for you in any way you need me. If they…” I swallowed. “…touched you, I’ll support you in any way I can.”

“They didn’t touch me,” she said softly. “At least not like that. They kidnapped me, put me in the trunk of their car, stored me in a supply closet for most of the day, then hauled me out so Kipsey could try to torture George by hurting me. But they didn’t touch me like you’re thinking. I’m fine.”

“Maddie, any one of those things would be enough to traumatize you. Let’s get you inside.”

I walked around and helped her out of the car and into the house. Margarete had agreed to take care of Aunt Deidre overnight so Maddie could get some rest. After I unsuccessfully tried to coerce her to eat some reheated leftover spaghetti, I took her upstairs to bed and helped her take a shower. Once she was clean and dry and tucked into bed, I curled up next to her.

“Can I do anything else for you?” I asked, worried about how withdrawn she’d become.

“No.” She rolled partway to look up at my face. “I’m upset about this afternoon—I’ll probably have nightmares for years—but I’m most upset because I watched George die right in front of me.” She held my gaze. “He died for me, Noah. He fought all those men and attacked Kipsey to protect me. I didn’t even know him.”

“I know,” I said, brushing a few stray hairs from her face. “I don’t pretend to understand what he’s done in the past or today, but he must have cared for you very much.”

A tear rolled down her cheek, and I wiped it away.

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