Dylan disconnected, eager to move along withhis plan. He wished he’d be able to see her face each step of theway.
28
Wednesday morning, Maddy's doorbell woke her from adelicious dream. Chase had left for work an hour prior, locking upand setting the alarm when he left. Maddy had stayed in bed,exhausted from the night before.
Aiden was due to check in on her soon. Paysona few hours after that. It was exhausting, never having a moment tooneself. She had negotiated a few hours in between visitors, citingher alarm as a pretty good defense.
Maddy sat up in bed, still naked and even alittle sore from the night before. She threw on jeans and at-shirt, pulled her hair back, and rubbed the sleepiness from hereyes as she headed for the front door. Andrea.
Maddy adjusted the alarm and opened the doorfor her boss. Andrea stormed in. "Maddy, let's sit. Do you havecoffee made? I have an update for you."
She went into the kitchen to pour coffee forthem both. She led her boss to the couch and sat, prepared foranything by this point. "Go ahead."
"Quinn was able to officially identify Dylanas the caller the other night, not that we're surprised." Shepaused. "And, there's another thing." She handed Maddy the manilaenvelope she'd carried in with her. "These are just copies. We’rerunning the originals. God, I feel like I've horribly invaded yourprivacy, but we need the evidence."
Maddy opened the envelope and pulled out astack of photos. Her stomach rolled as she went through the pile.The first she had seen before. It was from the set Dylan had sentto the colleges she had applied to. The second was a securitycamera shot of her sobbing after Dylan had beaten her all thoseyears ago when she tried to leave him. The next of Maddy in Seattleat her martial arts studio. She'd had no idea he'd followed her allthat way.
Pausing, she tried to fight back the tears,“I had no idea he’d tracked me to Seattle. He was in jail when thiswas taken.” Maddy gagged when she saw the next one; it was her inher bedroom, having a very private moment alone in her bedroom.He’d love that. Sick bastard. He wanted to capture personalmoments, and well, he succeeded.
She flipped to the next picture. "It's fromlast night, isn't it?" Andrea was sympathetic but didn't beataround the bush. The photo was of Maddy and Chase. Last night,they'd sat out on the porch swing for hours, talking, laughing,trying to feel normal.
Clearly, they'd been watched; she wasn’tsurprised he had been watching, that wasn't the most disturbingpart. In the photo, Maddy and Chase snuggled on the swing, lookingout at the dark ocean... but someone had drawn a red X acrossChase's eyes. "Have you talked to Chase?" Maddy managed to ask.
"I assigned two officers sent to protect him.We're taking this as a very serious threat. You'll both have policeprotection 24 hours a day."
When she got to the last photo, she staredfor a minute, slowly realizing what it was. In the photo, Lang’shooker was sucking off Chase. With a choking sound, she dropped thepile and rushed to the bathroom. She’d had enough. She hadn’t eatenbreakfast yet, thank goodness. She splashed water on her face,noting her ghost white complexion in the mirror.
“Maddy, stop. Wait. Look closer,” Andreaurged. Showing her the picture again.
“I do not want to see that closer.” Shestormed past Andrea, stomach churning. Eyes burning.
“Maddy. Trust me. Look closer,” and Andreashoved the picture in her face. “Look at the outlines. Thesetting.” Curious, but still mortified, Maddy finally studied thepicture. “It’s edited. That’s not Chase. Just his face. Thelighting is all wrong. You can see outlines. It’s a decent edit,but definitely false.”
Maddy breathed slowly in and out. Stupidrelaxation breathing. Never worked, but worth a try. “Ok. I seethat. Give me a minute.”
“This was very intentional. You freaked.Which was what he wanted. To cause distrust. Don’t let him.” Andreastood by her patiently. Maddy stared at the photo anotherminute.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. I feel stupid.” Herstomach slowly stopped churning. Nausea fading. Humiliation turninginto anger. At Dylan. Again. “That first picture. Dylan sent that,among a few others, to the colleges that I had applied to for thepre-law program. It would be in the files from before. That shouldhelp confirm Dylan as the perpetrator." Maddy managed to sit backon the couch next to her boss.
Andrea smiled. "And that’s why I hired you.You’re a good cop. I'll call Boston PD and pull those records," shepaused, sipping her now-cold coffee as she collected herthoughts.
"Still working on the background checks. Asthe pictures indicate, Dylan tracked you to Seattle, and I’mwondering if he followed you there after he was released. We have alot of gaps in his timeline. We’re slowly putting it together.Business associates, acquisitions. I think he’s been busy. Maybenot legally, definitely not ethically. We have a lot of digging todo. There are still a lot of gaps. I want an airtight case."
"Where did he spend the years in between? InSeattle the entire time? Closer to his parents? The attorneys?"
"So far we know that Briggs and Johnson is areputable law firm out of Boston. They represent a number ofbusinesses, including Dylan’s. Mike will be looking into theattorneys that have been showing up with Dylan specifically. I havethe business card they gave to Chase. We’ll keep digging. I knowNielsen has a record, but nothing recent.”
"Thanks, keep me posted." Maddy sighed, herentire body feeling heavy. "I'm more worried about Chase. I hadn'timagined Dylan would go this far, but those photos... I'll freelyadmit I'm terrified. He’s building up to something. Before I wasassaulted, he had gradually tightened control. Shrunk my circle.You know I’d feel better if I could have a hand in theinvestigation."
Andrea shook her head. “You know you can’t.We need an airtight case. You’ve said that Dylan can be quitecunning. I have plenty of work to keep you busy. You’re off todayand you’re taking tomorrow off, and I want you to get your headtogether, but you’re back on duty Thursday as scheduled. Duringthat meeting. I don’t want you near it.”
“I want to help. If I can find it on theinternet while I’m off duty and send you ideas, that’s notviolating anything.” Maddy sighed, leaning back on the couch andputting her hands in her lap.
“You know I’d like my best officer on thisone,” Andrea said with a friendly wink. “You are to send me everybit of information you have; every suspicion or even vague memory.But, no official leg work here. On this case, you’re a victim.Airtight case. But protect yourself.”
A knock at the door startled her. She hoppedup from the couch, nearly knocking over her coffee. She checked thesecurity cam. Chase, thank goodness.
***
