Brody (16 page)

Madilyn
shook her head. “He didn’t know I was going to my apartment. I didn’t tell
him.”

Delgado
glared at her. “You lied to him. Just like every other woman. You lied.” He
pushed her down onto the chair.

Madilyn
refused to answer him and make him angrier. Delgado obviously had a very low
opinion of women since his wife had an affair and lied to him the entire time.
If the man was cold enough to have his wife killed, he wouldn’t hesitate to
kill Madilyn. A sob caught in her throat as she realized her life could soon be
over. Dear God. The thought of Delgado having Brody killed was torture. Even if
her life was taken away, she wanted Brody to live and go on with is life.

“Please
don’t kill him,” she whispered and hated herself for pleading with this awful
man.

“Don’t
beg me for your man’s life. My wife pleaded for hers too. If I didn’t listen to
her, why would I listen to you?”

“You
didn’t kill your wife, though. Your men did. You can let this go.” A tear rolled
down her cheek.

Delgado
strode over toward her, wrapped his hand around her bicep, and pulled her up.
“No! I can’t let it go. Whether you believe me or not, I loved my wife, but she
wanted Morgan and he wanted her. Not you.
Her.
Abby
was in
love
with Morgan and no matter what he told
you, he knew she was married.” He shook his head. “No. I won’t let it go. What
goes around comes around. His time is coming to watch you die.”

Madilyn
stared at him. He truly believed Brody would be involved with a married woman.
She knew better. Brody Morgan had morals. He’d never stoop low enough to do it.
Madilyn may have had a sliver of a doubt when he’d first told her but she knew
in her heart, he’d told the truth. Abby Delgado lied to him for six months and
ended up dead because of it.

“Your
wife is the one at fault. She lied to you and Brody. She’s dead. Please let
this go.”

“I’ve
told you she’s dead because of Morgan. If he’d kept his hands off her, she’d
still be alive and with me,” his voice rose in his rant. He raised his hand.

Madilyn
covered her face as she waited for him to hit her. When he didn’t, she looked
up at him. He glared at her with his hand still in the air. He shook his head.

“I’ve
never struck a woman in my life, and I’m not about to start now.”

Madilyn
stared at him and then burst out laughing. She laughed until tears rolled down
her cheeks. When she finally composed herself, she saw him staring at her with
narrowed eyes.

“That’s
rich. You won’t hit a woman but you’ll kill her.” Madilyn shook her head. “I’m
supposed to be happy you’re not going to hit me?”

“Shut up!”
Delgado roared. “I’m calling
Morgan now.” He dialed Brody’s number and waited for him to answer.

“Maddie?”
Brody’s voice came over the
speaker.

“Brody!
Don’t talk to him. Hang up!”
Madilyn yelled.

“Hang
up and I’ll kill her right now,” Delgado growled.

“Let
her go. It’s me you want, Delgado.”

“The
only thing I want for you, Morgan, is for you to watch her die and that’ll
happen soon enough. I just wanted you to know I have your woman and she’s going
to die because you fucked my wife.”

“I’m
tired of going over and over this with you, Delgado.”

“Not as
tired as I am of hearing you deny knowing she was married. I don’t believe
you.”

“If she
lied to you, what makes you think she didn’t lie to me?” Brody asked.

Madilyn
watched Delgado’s face get red as he got angry at Brody’s words. She knew by
the look on his face, the thought never occurred to him. She stood and faced
him.

“He’s
right. If your wife didn’t care about lying to her husband, why would she care
if she
lied
to her…lover?” She choked on the word. In
her mind, she knew Brody had been with other women over the past five years but
in her heart, it cut her to the core. Madilyn let out a yell when Delgado
struck her across the face.

* * *
*

 
“God
damn you!”
Brody jumped up from the chair. It rolled behind him and slammed
into the wall. His office door flew open as Sam came rushing in. Brody put his
hand up to stop Sam from speaking, as he nodded toward his cell phone on his
desk. Sam gave a terse nod.

Masculine
laughter came from the phone. “She’s fine. A little slap never hurt anyone.”

“You
son of a bitch.
I’ll kill you,” Brody growled.

“You’re
not going to get the chance. I’m going to get to you before you even see me
coming. Then I’m going to make sure you see me kill your woman. You’re going to
watch the woman you love die, just like I watched my wife die because of you.
This is your fault, Morgan. You just don’t want your woman to know you had an
affair with a married woman. No matter what you’ve convinced your woman or
friends, you knew Abby was my wife and you fucked her anyway. You knew she was
married, didn’t you?
Didn’t you?”
Delgado shouted.

Brody
glanced up at Sam, who nodded slightly. Brody swallowed. “Yes.” He heard
Madilyn gasp. He closed his eyes tightly, and clenched his fists. “Now, let her
go.”

Delgado
laughed. “Seeing the look on your woman’s face is almost enough for me to let
her go, but you still have to pay for what you did.”

“I just
admitted it. You don’t have to kill Madilyn. Take me instead.” Brody slowly sat
down. He watched as Sam reached for a sheet of paper and wrote something down.
He slid the paper toward Brody.
Did the
call come from Madilyn’s phone?
Brody nodded. Sam wrote again.
Who is her carrier?
Brody wrote it on
the paper. Sam nodded and left the office. “Come on, Delgado. I told you the
truth. Let’s meet up, and I’ll trade places with Madilyn.”

“It
doesn’t work that way. An eye for an eye and all, you know.
In
this case, a woman for a woman.
You finally admitting the truth to me
doesn’t
let you off the hook. My wife is dead because of you
and soon
Miz
Young will be dead. I’m going to keep
her for a few days, though, to make it even sweeter. I’ll be in touch.” Delgado
disconnected the call.

Brody
stared at the phone until Sam entered the office again. “I have the records.
He’s not in Clifton. The signal’s coming from the Hartland area.”

“Hartland?
How the hell are we going to
find him there? We don’t have jurisdiction there.”

“It’s
time we call in the FBI and MEPA.”

“No,
not yet.
Come on, Sam. Let me make myself available for Delgado’s men to pick me up. It
might give me the chance to save her. I’ll wear a wire…anything. Just let me do
this. Please.” His gaze met Sam’s and he knew the minute Sam gave in.

“Damn
it, Brody. I don’t like this. It’s going against protocol and we could both be
fired.”

“I have
to take the chance. If we’re found out, I’ll say you didn’t know anything about
it. I did this on my own.”

“Bullshit.
If you go down for this, I’ll go down with you. Let’s go over how we’re going
to do this,” Sam told him as he took his seat.

Brody
nodded. They worked on their plan for hours before leaving for the day.

Chapter Eleven

Brody
sat in the living room, staring at the television. Although it was on, he paid
no attention to it. He couldn’t get his mind off Madilyn and what she was going
through. Brody was sure Delgado left Hartland by now. It’d been three days and
no word from the madman yet. It was starting to wear on him. His thoughts were
driving him crazy. Trying to sleep was the worst time. He’d hug her pillow to
his chest as he lay in the bed, her perfume lingering on it. He couldn’t
imagine what was going through her head. Was Delgado mistreating her? Was he
feeding her?
Son of a bitch!
Brody
jumped up and paced. When was he going to call? Was he even going to call?

Brody
sighed and headed for the shower. Dear God, please let her be all right. He’d
already lost her once, he couldn’t lose her again. Not until he took his dying
breath and he hoped when he did, her face was the last thing he saw before he
met his maker. They’d always talked about having children.
A
boy and a girl.
Madilyn had laughed and asked him what happened if they
had two of the same? Brody told her they’d just keep trying until they got a
different one. He smiled as he remembered the look on her face then she burst
out laughing and punched his arm. That was the day his dad almost caught them
in the hayloft.

Madilyn
had put her hand over her mouth to quiet her laughter. Tears rolled down her
cheeks as Brody’s dad strolled down the barn aisle calling for them. Brody
glared at her but had trouble containing his own laughter. When they walked
into the house hand in hand, his mom grinned but turned her back. Brody’s dad
walked into the kitchen and up to Madilyn. He reached out, pulled a piece of
straw from her hair, and winked at her. Brody glanced to his mother to see her
shoulders shaking from laughter. Even Brody felt the heat in his face that day.

The hot
water glided down his body. His muscles were so tense from worry. He needed her
home and safe. He’d kill Delgado with his bare hands if he hurt Madilyn in any
way and he didn’t care what happened to him after he did. The man was a
psychopath. He had to be to have his wife killed for being unfaithful.

Brody
groaned when he remembered how Madilyn had gasped when he admitted to knowing
Abby was married when he was with her. She’d been shocked to hear him confess
to it. Shaking his head, he reached for the towel, dried off and then pulled a
clean shirt and jeans on. He knew there was another long, sleepless night in
front of him. As he walked into the bedroom, someone hit him on the back of the
head. Brody did everything he could to stay conscious. Another blow knocked him
out.

* * *
*

Madilyn
lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. She had no idea where they were. He
wasn’t mistreating her but he was still going to kill her. He made sure he told
her on a daily basis. She hadn’t slept much at all in the past three days.
Especially since hearing Brody confess to knowing Abby Delgado was married at
the time he was seeing her.
Sleeping with her.
Brody
knew Madilyn frowned on cheating and would never forgive a man cheating on her.
To her, both people were at fault. The married one for cheating on their spouse
and the one they cheated with for getting involved with a married person.
Madilyn felt a tear roll down her temple into her hair. How could he do that
and then lie about it? If she got out of this situation, she’d never forgive
him. It was over between them and it was killing her. Twice now, she’d lost
him. He’d looked her in the eye and told her he didn’t know Abby was married
and she believed him. She was a fool.

“Get
up. We’re moving right after I call Morgan. I think I’ve let him stew enough
for the past few days,” Delgado told her.

Madilyn
sighed and sat up. She wiped the tears away, refusing to let him see her fear.
She stared up at him. “What does it matter if I see where you take me? You’re
going to kill me.”

“I’m
not taking any chances with you. You’ve already tried getting away once.”

“Yes
and you told me you’d kill me if I tried again.
Which makes
no sense since you tell me you’re going to kill me anyway.
” She shook
her head.

“I
don’t have to make sense to you. All I have to do is get Morgan in a position
to see me kill you.”

“Then
you’ll let him go?”

Delgado
laughed. “I really don’t think I can. I know damn well he’ll come after me. No
matter where I’d go, I’d be looking over my shoulder and I don’t want to do
that.”

“But
you said you wanted him to suffer by killing me. You lied the entire time,”
Madilyn’s voice rose.

“I was
going to let him live, but I don’t want him looking for me.”

Madilyn
shook her head, confused. “He’s not going to suffer at all then. You just want
to kill us both.”

“He’ll
suffer when he sees you die. I’m going to let him live for a while, just to
watch the pain he’s in. Just like the pain I was in when I watched the woman I
love die.”

“You
had her killed!” Madilyn shouted.

Delgado
strode over to her and put his face close to hers. “It doesn’t matter,” he said
through clenched teeth. “My wife died because she was fucking your man and he’s
going to pay for it.” He pushed her back onto the bed. “If I wanted to be
really horrible, I’d rape you, but I’m not into that.”

“Thank
God for small favors,” she muttered as she glanced at his fly.

“You
can say whatever you like. You’ll be…” The ringing of his cell phone
interrupted him. “What is it?” He listened to the caller then laughed.
“Fantastic. What? Of course you can kick his ass, just don’t kill him.” He hung
up and laughed. “It seems my man has Morgan. He’s going to teach him a little
lesson about fucking with another man’s wife, and then you and I are going to
take a ride.”

* * *
*

 
The water thrown on his face woke him up.
He coughed and spit the water out. A burly guy stood in front of him. Brody
blinked the water from his eyes and glared up at him.

“Wake
up, pretty boy,” the man laughed.

“Fuck
you.”

 
The man burst out laughing. “I want you
to wake up so I can kick your ass.”

Brody
pulled against the ropes holding his hands. “How about untying me, and we’ll
see who does the ass kicking.”

“I
can’t do that. I have to take you somewhere when I get a phone call.”

Brody
grinned. “You’re afraid I can kick your ass.” He grunted when the man slammed
his fist into his jaw. Brody spit blood out. “It’s pretty fucking bad you have
to have a man tied up so you can beat him up. Untie me you asshole.” His head
snapped back when he took a shot to the chin.

“Keep
talking. All you’re doing is pissing me off. I’m not stupid enough to untie
you.”

“But
you are some stupid.”

“What
the fuck do you mean?” The man fisted his hand in Brody’s hair and pulled his
head back.

“I mean
you’re a stupid motherfucker—” A fist to his cheek stopped him. Brody could
feel his eye swelling shut.

“I can
do this all day. Just keep talking.”

Brody
tilted his head forward and spit more blood out. He slowly raised his head and
glared up at the guy. “You might be able to do it all day with me tied to a
chair but you untie me and we’ll see just how long you can.”

“Shut
up.” He threw a fist at Brody’s face, snapping his head back.

 
Brody kept his head back trying to catch
his breath and figure out how to get out of this. He heard the cell phone ring
and listened as the man answered it. He spoke in low tones then hung up.

“Looks
like we’re going for a ride.”
He walked toward Brody and cut the ropes binding him to the
chair. “Get up.” He wrapped his hand around Brody’s arm and pulled him up from
the chair. Brody put his head down and tackled the man. They both tumbled to
the floor. Brody sat up, straddling the man. His fists pounded into the man’s
face.

“Tell
me where we’re going,” Brody demanded.

“Go to
hell.” The man’s fist connected with Brody’s jaw, knocking him onto his back.
The man jumped up and ran toward him. Brody was ready for him as he kicked his
foot out and caught the man in the groin. He doubled over. Brody got to his
feet and punched the man in the kidneys.

“You’re
going to take me where you’re supposed to.” Brody took the man’s gun from
inside his jacket and aimed it at him. “Get up. We’re leaving.”

“Delgado
will kill me.”

“I’ll
kill you if you don’t take me or tell me,” Brody growled. “I know he wants me
to watch him kill Madilyn, so tell me now and I’ll let you live.”

The man
laughed. “You won’t kill me. If you do, you’ll never find her.”

“You’re
right.” Brody nodded. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t shoot you until you do.”

The
man’s eyes widened. “You can’t do that.”

“Try
me,” Brody said quietly. When the man didn’t say anything, Brody pointed the
gun at his leg.
“Now.”

“All
right.
All right.
I’m supposed to meet him at an abandoned
warehouse outside of town.”

Brody
knew the warehouse he was talking about. It had been
a
sawmill
, at one time. He nodded. “Come on. We’re going to
the sawmill
, and you’re going to let Delgado think you’ve
got me. I will have this gun pointed at your head at all times and once I call
the sheriff, he’ll have a rifle on you.” Brody grinned. “Trust
me,
the sheriff won’t hesitate to take you out. Now, let’s
go.”

Brody
got into the back of the car and kept the gun on the man as he drove toward the
warehouse. Brody called Sam to let him know what was going on. Sam told him he
was on his way. When they pulled up to the warehouse, the man got out and
opened the back door. Brody stepped out.

 
“Remember what I said. I’ll kill you in a
heartbeat.” Brody walked in front of him. “Make any sudden move or try to let
Delgado know and I’ll turn around and shoot you. Understand?”

“Yes,”
the man muttered.

 
They slowly entered the warehouse. Brody
stopped to let his eyes adjust and he almost ran forward when he saw Madilyn on
her knees in front of Delgado. He stood behind her with a gun pointed at the
back of her head and a grin on his face as he saw Brody.

“The
time has finally arrived for my revenge.” Delgado laughed.

Madilyn’s
hands were bound behind her back and tape over her mouth. Tears streaked down
her cheeks. Brody wanted to rush toward her and take her in his arms. He stared
at her. When her eyes met his, she glared at him. What the hell? Then it came
to him. She believed the lie he’d told Delgado.

“It was
a lie, Maddie,” he told her and watched as her eyes widened. Then she closed
them tightly as tears squeezed through them.

“What
are you talking about, Morgan?” Delgado demanded.

“I
never knew Abby was married. It was a lie I told you so you wouldn’t kill her
before you and I met up.
Abby lied to both of us, Delgado.
She hid it well. Think about it. She hid things from you too. She was seeing me
for six months. How many months did she lie to you before you found out?”

“Shut
up,” Delgado yelled.

“You
can’t accept the fact your wife lied to you, cheated on you, and God knows what
else behind your back. You’re blaming me for her death when I had nothing to do
with it. Why do you think she cheated? You made her miserable, you piece of
shit. She was happy with me and that just tears you up. Someone else made your
wife happy. Not you.”

“Shut up!”
Delgado’s face was red with
anger.

Brody
tried to get Madilyn’s attention but she wouldn’t look at him. He wanted to let
her know to be ready to move.

“The
truth hurts, doesn’t it, Delgado? Your wife was in love with me. Did you know
she told me she’d leave you to run away with me?” Madilyn looked over at him.
Brody’s eyes caught hers. “She wanted to go wherever I wanted her to. Abby was
willing to run when I told her.” He almost sighed with relief at the slight nod
of her head.

“You
filled her head with lies. Do you know how much she pleaded for her life? She
begged. She swore you were only friends.”

“What
does that tell you? She lied up until the end.
To you and me
both.
Why don’t you just let us go and move on?”

“I’m
going to kill you both. It will make me feel so much better.” Delgado shoved
the gun against Madilyn’s head.

Brody
glanced around then back to Delgado. “You’ll go to prison or die here.”

Delgado
laughed. “I’m not going to do either. After I kill your woman, Gus will kill
you while I’m heading for Canada.”