“I-I should’ve known.”
I brushed the hair away from her face. “Should’ve known what?”
Those deep blue eyes met mine, so full of sorrow. “That he’d never let me go.”
My entire body went rigid. Was this because I’d been suspended? “Mads, it’ll be okay. I promise. The council will see reason.”
She shook her head back and forth in a staccato rhythm. “You don’t get it. You don’t gethim. He’s—he’s—”
Maddie struggled to get the words out as her breaths came faster and faster, panic setting in.
“Mads…” I pulled her into my arms, sitting on the Adirondack chair and holding her close. “You gotta breathe.”
The tears started then, punctuated by her struggle for breath.What the hell had happened?
“Nice and easy. In for three, out for three.” I counted them off for her, and she struggled to get control.
Slowly, Maddie’s breaths came easier, more evenly. I kept her folded in my arms.
“Can you tell me what brought this on?”
She gripped my T-shirt. “Adam called.”
I stiffened, my muscles turning to stone. “Tell me you kept the voicemail.”
“I answered,” she said softly.
I inhaled sharply.
“I was so mad,” Maddie hurried to explain. “I just wanted him to stop.”
“What did he say?” My voice was remarkably calm. I didn’t feel even an inkling of that calmness within me, but at least I wouldn’t terrify Maddie.
She swallowed, trying to find the words. “He taunted me with your suspension.”
Of course, he had. But that also told me he was keeping a close eye on the council and that he potentially had someone on the inside giving him information.
“He said that if I met with him, he’d drop the complaint against you.”
My pulse thundered in my neck. “Please tell me you didn’t believe that.”
She scoffed. “Of course, I didn’t. But I thought that if I just told him face-to-face that we were done, maybe he’d leave.”
I struggled to keep my hold on Maddie gentle. “Did. He. Touch. You?”
She shook her head. “No. I made him meet me at Dockside Park where I knew there would be a bunch of people. He’d never hurt me in public.”
Only in private. The way he had so many times before. The thought made me sick.
Maddie pulled back so she could see my face. “He hates you.”
“I don’t give a damn if he hates me. He’s garbage.”
“No, hehatesyou. He always has. I didn’t see it until it was too late…”
Something about the complete despair in Maddie’s voice had dread setting in.
“What do you mean?” My voice sounded far away, even to my ears.
