Page 29 of Defending Madison

The knock on my apartment door halts my stride to the back of my apartment so I change course to look through the peephole on the door. I open the door to the apprehensive look of the Dauntless security chief, Carl, and a hot buff blond man. I recognize him as a Campbell cousin that always seems to be on the periphery of the Campbell owned places I visit.

Carl sighs as I push the door open further. “Hey, Madison. This is Maxim Petrov. He runs Campbell Petrov Security and Protection. He’s here because there’s a security issue with the team.”

Dread creeps up my spine and settles around my neck like a frightened cat. “What happened?”

Maxim smiles a killer smile and moves his hand asking permission to enter my apartment. “May we?”

I turn. “Sure.”

They follow me into my apartment, and I walk us to my kitchen table, turning to sit on the end bar stool as they take two other seats.

Carl frowns. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just blurt it out. Someone sent threatening letters and packages for you to the stadium.”

“What?” Carl’s words swirl in my brain as I try to make sense of what he’s saying. “Who?”

Maxim pipes up. “We don’t know. Yet. It seems someone is obsessed with you, and what started out as just overly-interested notes has become a little darker.”

My stomach rolls. “How dark?”

“Someone sent a blue bunny stuffed animal.”

My brows nearly touch as I try to comprehend what Maxim is saying. “A blue bunny isn’t dark.”

His face expresses concern like Carl’s. “It had a veiled threat with it.”

Sighing, I sit up in my seat. “What threat?”

Carl pulls out his phone and shows me a photo of a headless blue stuffed bunny in a box. There’s red stuff on the fabric.

“Okay. That’s not nice.”

Carl cringes as he swipes to the next picture. A photo of ‘Die Benny’, sits on his screen.

“Wait? Someone wants to kill me?”

Maxim speaks with a low voice. “We’d like you to relocate to the Quad apartment complex while we investigate this threat.”

“I can’t afford to move.”

“The team will cover the expense, and when the issue is resolved, you can move back. This apartment complex doesn’thave adequate security. If he were to find out where you live, you’d be vulnerable.”

Carl gets up from his stool. “Just agree. Let CPSP handle the person and your personal security.”

Something about the way he said it smells like rotten fish. “What personal security?”

Maxim pats my hand. “We’re going to need to give you a bodyguard until we resolve the situation. They’ll be with you outside of the stadium.”

“We travel on Thursday.” How inconvenient is it going to be to have someone tag along with me?

Maxim nods. “Your bodyguard will travel with you. It’s inconvenient, but necessary. Our CPSP team is on this. It will be handled soon.”

“Fine. Let me pack a bag.”

“We’re going to send out the moving team to your apartment in the morning. We’ll bring you any personal stuff you want and put anything else in storage at the Quad. If your stalker figures out you live here, we want to throw him off the scent.”

“Fine. I have little here, anyway.”

An hour later, I’m walking into a swanky apartment in the mile square area known as the Quad. My friend and boss, Lily, lives in the condo side of the area. I open my mouth to thank Maxim as Dixon strolls through the door. “What the hell?” His smile brightens the room and makes my stomach flip. “What are you doing here?”

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