Page 149 of Maddy's Justice

Tonight, he had the mid-watch, 11:00P.M. to 7:00A.M.sitting in the camera surveillance room. There were eight different monitors whose screens would change every ten seconds to a different camera. One of them, Henri had set so the picture remained constant.

Henri could barely keep his eyes off her. He had managed to control himself and his inner monstrous urges when it came to the twins. The boss had let it be known that if anyone touched either girl, he would die a brutal death. But this one, the new one, no one had said anything about her.

Maddy opened her eyes and found herself in a strange place looking at a dark wall. She laid on the bed without moving for at least ten minutes while her brain began to fully function. Eventually she realized she was back in the room––a comfortable cell––lying on the bed. Whoever brought her there had left the table lamp on which gave off enough light to see.

Maddy searched her memory trying to determine what had happened. The last thing she could recall was lying on a table, unable to move. There were voices but she had no memory of any faces or what was said. It was obvious that Cal or Zane or whatever he called himself, had drugged her. Probably to question her.

Maddy stretched out under the covers, testing her physical ability. Happily, she realized there was no pain or physical damage. She rolled onto her left side, now facing away from the wall. She needed to use the toilet. As she was about to get up, she heard someone at the door.

Henri could no longer completely control himself. It was a very quiet 11:20P.M.Fifteen minutes, he told himself. No one would notice him missing for fifteen minutes. It had been almost a year since the last prostitute. He only wanted to get a close look at the beautiful prisoner. Perhaps close enough to test her fragrance. Henri even convinced himself he would not even touch her. He just wanted to get close to a woman.

Maddy heard the key in the lock and decided to lie still and wait. See what this was about. The door, a heavy, thick wooden one, opened without a squeak. Keeping her eyes almost completely closed, she could tell when the man passed in front of the light. Staying calm, she waited until she could feel his breath on her face. The man failed to notice Maddy’s right hand hanging from the side of the bed.

Quick as a mother leopard, Maddy’s right hand shot out to where his crotch would be. She clamped down on his testicles and as he started to scream, her left hand flashed out and grabbed his throat. Maddy squeezed with both hands, inflicting serious pain, and cutting off his wind. At the same time, in one motion, she leapt off of the bed and rammed the top of the intruder’s head into the concrete cinder block wall. The guard was not just out, his skull was severely fractured. He would be found in the morning, dead in Maddy’s bed.

True to her word, Paxton had recruited two FBI agents, the two who worked with her on her investigation of Labelle, to help Carvelli. Their names were Aaron Diggs and Brenda Casey. With Aaron driving, Brenda in the passenger seat, they were in a government car going to find a certain pair of helicopter pilots.

A mile from the Vertiport helicopter place in Chicago, Carvelli’s phone vibrated. When he looked at the ID, he muttered a curse then showed it to Paxton. She was in between Carvelli and Sorenson.

“Answer it,” she said. “He needs to know what’s going on.”

“Hey, Marc, I’m glad you called,” Carvelli said. “I’m sorry we haven’t called back…”

“Where’s Madeline?” an obviously annoyed Marc abruptly asked. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of her for two days. Where is she, Tony?”

“She’s undercover,” Carvelli lied then turned away from the angry stare of Paxton. “We’re close to a breakthrough. We got it all on tape from Troy McGovern.”

“How did you do that and where’s Maddy?”

“We convinced him it would be in his best interest to voluntarily cooperate,” Carvelli said.

“Right,” Marc said. “And if you believe that, I have a lovely collection of diamond jewelry and Rolex watches in the trunk of my car I’d love to show you at a very, reasonable price. What did you and your merry band of ex-cop sociopaths do? And where is Maddy?”

Carvelli took a deep breath and finally came clean, sort of. “She’s undercover and, well, we lost track of her. But,” he quickly continued before Marc could say anything, “we’re about to find her exact location. I got the FBI with me and we’ll get her. I swear.”

Marc went silent for so long Carvelli finally, quietly asked, “You still there?”

“Bring her back, Tony. Please.”

“We’ll get her,” he said. “I promise, Marc. We’ll get her.”

“Are you okay?” Connie said in reaction to the look on Marc’s face. They were on Sixth Street going to a meeting at Stafford, Hughes. Normally, bringing news of a settlement offer could easily be done over the phone. Except in this case, the offer was one they wanted their client to accept and the client would be very reluctant. In-person persuasion was called for.

“Where’s Maddy?” Connie asked even though she knew Maddy had been taken.

“I think she’s been taken, again,” Marc quietly answered. “Tony said she’s undercover, but I don’t think so. He’s lying to protect me. He admitted they lost track of her, but believed he was about to find out where she is.”

By now they had entered the Wells Fargo Center. In the lobby there were a couple of dozen chairs scattered around in groups of four.

“I need to sit down,” Marc said and walked off toward one.

“He’ll get her back,” Connie said after joining him.

“Did you know about this?” Marc quietly asked.

Unable to continue lying to him, Connie said, “Yes, because we love you, we kept it from you.”

“I should be mad at both of you, but I’m not,” Marc replied. “I might have done the same thing to you. Tony put people on me, didn’t he? To protect me.”

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