Page 88 of Diamond in the Rough

“I need you to go inside the Prince Regent and find out who’s been shot.”

Maddox heard Zoe swallow. She let go of the handle and gawped at her lap. “Your apartment’s in the Prince Regent, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…”

“We heard about the shooting in the hospital. It’s a fatality.”

“Did you hear anything else?”

“No, I only know it’s a gunshot to the head.”

Maddox closed his eyes. “I need you to find out if it’s him.”

“Jesus, Maddox—”

“Please, I have to know. I have to.”

“Okay…I’ll do it.”

****

For the first time in his life, the silence in the car was unwelcome. There wasn’t even a rustle from the front two seats, and Maddox wished there was just so he could shout about it. They waited a street away from the apartments, and Zoe had only been gone for ten minutes, but not knowing whether Jake was alive was slowly killing him.

After all they’d gone through, it was him that had killed Jake. He’d hoped his stern warning never to steal from him would be enough, but it hadn’t. That probably only added to the excitement of Jake breaking into the safe. Maddox could picture his face, the small smile of triumph as the lock clunked, and his eager hand tugging the handle. His imagination ran riot with what happened next. The nanosecond of surprise before Jake’s brains decorated the flat. He’d done that; he’d killed the only precious thing in his life. The escape had been for nothing. He’d already destroyed what meant the most to him.

A tapping on his window woke him from his daze. He was hunched forward, hands over his ears and eyes scrunched shut. His teeth ached, and he knew he’d been grinding them. He raised his head and looked out the window.

Zoe skimmed around the car and got inside. “It’s not him.”

Maddox flung himself back on the seat and rubbed his hands down his face. He could feel the heat in his cheeks and the burning sensation in his eyes. “When I get him back, I’m gonna kill him.”

“What for?” Zoe asked.

“For almost killing me…who’s the fatality?”

“I flashed them my doctor’s ID and managed to get into the lobby just as they were wheeling her out.”

“Her?”

“Yeah, she was zipped up, so I didn’t see her, but it’s a woman, and I heard someone mention blond hair. Does that help?”

“Actually, it does,” Maddox murmured.

Amber knocked her fist on the dashboard. “You got the bitch, Boss, like you said you would.”

“One down,” Tom said

Zoe shuddered and grimaced at Maddox. “Not a friend of yours then?”

“Definitely not.”

She smiled, and he frowned.

“What’s that look for?” Maddox asked.

“No reason.”

“Did you hear anything else when you were in there?”

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