Page 42 of Maddox: Wild Alaska
We stop and watch Bryant settle a woman over his shoulder. A large hand lands on her bottom. The woman squeals, andBryant laughs and gives her a playful squeeze. That's when he notices Judean and me standing there, watching.
"My wife is home to stay!"
"Ah," I comment. "Carry on, then!"
"Tell our boys not to disturb us for a week."
"Oh, you, you?—"
We miss what else she was about to say as they disappear inside his cabin.
I burst out laughing.
"The Hawke men are hot!" Judean mutters.
"You have a sexy Hawke man after you." I raise an eyebrow, but she ignores me. "Seriously, Judean, what's wrong with Colton? The man has a crush on you."
"He's horny as hell," Judean finishes with a smirk. "He isn't picky," she adds. "He'd probably sleep with a tree if it had a hole in it."
I frown, not liking where this conversation is going. “Judean, he practically drools every time he sees you. I think he really has a thing for you." I pause and take her hand. "Don't assume he only wants you for one thing." I pat her hand. “Why don’t you ask him out to dinner?” I shrug and lead us up to Maddox's cabin. "Point out that it's only dinner and see what he says. I bet he'll agree within seconds."
"Hmph, maybe." Judean inches forward, then heads out onto the back deck.
Standing on the balcony, I enjoy the sound of chirping birds and rustling leaves, which is truly therapeutic. Gazing down toward the ravine hundreds of feet below, I smile to myself. The thought of living here fills me with happiness. I really hope Judean calms down and realizes how much Colton likes her. I don't think he's only after sex. Not the way he looks at her.
A slamming door from the front of the cabin makes me jump. Within a heartbeat, Gabe appears in the doorway, surprised to see us. He winces. "I was looking for Maddox."
The man looks a little worse for wear, so I move over and grab his arm. "Come sit down, Gabe. Are you hungry?" I give him no choice but to join us.
"I'm fine." He drags a hand down his face. "I've messed up, Sofie." He glances toward Judean, then focuses on me.
"Bathroom?" my friend says.
I smile and give her brief directions before looking at Gabe. "How?"
He huffs out a breath. "I didn't tell the feds what I was really doing in Montana. It was obvious to anyone that I was lying.”
"I don't understand." I sit forward. "Why would you need to lie?" The man before me is clearly not the killer, but there is obviously something else going on with him. "Gabe, let me help you. Let Maddox help you." I grip his hand. "You came here to talk to him, right? Talk to me. I don't believe for one minute that you had anything to do with Andrea's death." The silence stretches until I ask, "Why were you in Montana?"
"I visited someone in prison." His eyes hold mine as he waits for my reaction, but I don't give him one. "He's a killer." He sits forward and drops his head into his hands, looking defeated.
I move closer and tentatively place an arm around his shoulders to offer my support. "No matter why you were visiting him, I don't believe you're a killer. I know your brothers haven't wavered in their support of you, which is good enough for me. Now, get it all out, and we'll decide what to do."
He lifts his head, and I see that his eyes are rimmed red. My heart goes out to him. Slowly pulling himself together, he says in a slow, subdued voice, "He would drain his victims—all women—of enough blood to create a gruesome crime scene but not enough to kill them. Then, he would put them in a chest freezerand leave them to suffer until they died." He swallows hard. "That's what I think the killer is doing here. But, as God is my witness, I am not the one doing this. I haven't killed anyone. I swear it." He pauses. "But you see how it would look if I admitted to the feds what I was really doing in Montana?"
I frown. "Was the man a friend?"
His eyes widen, and he sits back in the chair, breaking our eye contact. "God, no!" He shakes his head. "I wrote a book about a serial killer in Texas when I was twenty. It was a bestseller at the time. A publisher approached me about writing one about Alex Piedmont. I turned him down initially. I didn't want all the publicity that comes with writing such a book. Ultimately, I decided to reach out to the killer and see where it led. I hadn't told anyone.
This sounds bad for Gabe, but I'm sure there must be a way to prove that he was elsewhere when the girls in Montana went missing. "You need to talk to Branson. He's your brother, as well as the sheriff. He'll have ways of tracking down information. What if you were checked in at the prison when one of the girls went missing? Let him help you. You could also get a lawyer to be with you when you tell the feds why you were there and why you initially lied."
Gabe nodded, a glimmer of hope appearing on his face at the suggestion. "Branson might be able to pull up the records from the visits to the prison,” he says, wincing. "It could also backfire."
"You won't know until you try. But Gabe, you need to be honest with them because they will find out, and then it will look worse for you."
"I think I'm fucked either way."
Dripping with sweat,I remove the bandana from around my head and wipe my face and neck as best I can. I wish I could take a shower right now. Even a heavy downpour would be welcome. I take a step back while Branson and the Feds discuss things. Kalluk and I didn't see or hear anyone. It was difficult to hear anything, though, with the roar of the avalanche of rock tumbling down on us. If someone was up here, they did a good job of hiding their presence.
