Page 5 of Diamond in the Rough

Maddox glared down at his feet when he didn’t hear the familiar tap of his shoes on the concrete. He scrunched his face and breathed through his nose. Three days of being locked up had taken him to the brink of insanity. The constant noise that filtered through the station, the wake-up calls, the bad food, the confined space, the uncleanliness and being stripped of who he was.

James was right, though. Maddox had seen it in the detectives’ eyes: they weren’t going to let it go. They’d finally got him in their sights, and all Maddox had managed to do was slow them down.

He scowled at the plimsoles squishing his toes. The knees of his joggers were so worn he could see his skin through the thread, and the stain on his T-shirt filled him with disgust. Maddox flicked his lighter open, then snapped it shut. Its harsh clicking filled the silence, and Maddox forced himself to breathe evenly. He pulled his phone from his pocket and pressed it to his ear.

“Boss?”

Maddox squeezed his eyes shut. “I need you to bring Jake to the meat cooler.”

“Yeah…sure, Boss.”

He could tell Carl had heard the fatigued tone of his voice, but he hadn’t even tried to hide it.

“Carl…”

“Yeah, Boss?”

“Thank you.”

Chapter 2

A bang rang out through the shop. Jake lurched forward and grabbed the shelf in front of him. He glanced over his shoulder at a wide-eyed Rachel. She mouthedsorry, then bent down to pick the stapler off the floor.

“It slipped through my fingers.”

Jake clutched his neck, then turned back to the shelf he’d been stacking. The past few days had been pure torture, and he hadn’t found a cure for the jitteriness in his body. The waiting was the hardest part, and even though Carl reassured him that Maddox would find a way, Jake didn’t quite believe him.

He finished the shelf and began his obsessive walk up and down the shop. He couldn’t stop, even when his restlessness was drawing attention to himself. Sam’s eyebrows tugged together as he watched Jake’s manic pacing.

“You’ll frighten the customers off.”

“I can’t stay still.”.

“What’s got you so rattled?”

Jake snorted and turned away. It wasn’t like he could tell Sam what had happened in the woods, or what had happened after when Carl picked him up. The afternoon was locked away in his head, bouncing around, gaining momentum, and there was only one person who could stop it.

“I just—I need to keep busy.”

“Maybe a coffee to calm you down?” Rachel suggested.

Sam’s frown deepened, and his face cracked with hundreds of wrinkles. “Caffeine won’t calm him down.”

“I’m not some animal that needs calming,” Jake said.

“That’s exactly what you look like right now,” Sam mumbled.

Carl walked in through the storeroom, clutching his stomach. “That curry from last night got you feeling funny too?”

Jake frowned, and after a pointed look from Carl, followed his lead and rubbed his gut. “Yeah, a bit.”

“Oh,” Sam said before widening his eyes. “Oh, okay, you better not have dirtied that toilet.”

“Dirtied it?” Carl whined. “I bloody destroyed it.”

Sam ushered him towards Jake, then pointed to the door. “You two are done for today.”

“You sure?” Carl gasped. “I can…”

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