I still wasn’t following.
“I sent you back to the room and told you to get dressed. But you must have lain down and gone back to sleep because you didn’t come out until an hour later.”
My bacon dropped from my hand. “Ah, hell. It wasn’t a dream, was it?”
His friends had totally seen me naked.
Maddox picked up my bacon and popped it in his mouth. “No, babe, it wasn’t.” He pulled my head forward by the back of my neck and kissed me. “But don’t worry. I told them this”—he gestured from my head to my feet—“is all mine, and if they touch you, they die.”
The corner of my mouth tilted up. “Yours, huh?”
“I think we established you were mine the night I snuck into your room, and you spread your legs for me.”
I wrinkled my nose.
Damn him.
He was right.
Forty-Six
Maddox
I lifted my tired lids and looked up at Addison’s dark ceiling. It was still night, yet something had woken me. I’d been in the military long enough to know when I woke on my own and when something had roused me from slumber.
My phone started vibrating next to me on Addison’s nightstand. I picked it up and frowned at the number. I didn’t recognize it.
“Hello?” I answered in a whisper, so I wouldn’t wake Addison.
“Maddox,” a shaky voice on the other end said.
It took me a couple seconds to realize who it was.
“Ben?”
What the hell was a kid doing, calling me in the middle of the night? When he’d asked me for my number the day Addison and I visited him, I didn’t think he’d ever use it.
“Yeah.”
I gently rolled Addison away from my side and sat up. “What’s wrong?”
“My-my-my dad.”
“What about him?”
“He’s here. And I think he’s hurting my mom.”
As if I needed proof, there was a distant cry from the other side of the line.
Shit.
“Okay, Ben, listen to me. Are you able to get out of the house without your dad seeing you?”
“I-I don’t think so.”
That didn’t surprise me. The house was small.
“Okay then, can you get to the bathroom?”
“I think so.”
“Okay, go there and lock the door. Keep the phone with you. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
As I threw on my clothes as fast as I could, I called Flash. My friends had picked the perfect time to come to town. And, after two days of being bored, they wouldn’t be able to complain about not having some excitement.
“Yeah?” Flash answered.
“Meet me outside. I need some help with a domestic situation.”
“On it.”
In the Navy, Flash had ranked over me since he was an officer, and I was enlisted. I wasn’t in the military anymore, but I would probably always see him as my superior. Yet he was also my friend, and he knew I wouldn’t tell him to do something if it wasn’t important.
I hung up, kissed Addison good-bye, and slipped out the door.
One minute later, Flash and Evan showed up.
Everyone piled into my SUV, and I explained the situation to the guys as I drove.
“Shouldn’t we be calling the police?”
“No police station, remember? We’re too small. We just have the sheriff’s department. That’s why I told Ben to call me if he ever had any trouble. I didn’t think he’d ever need my number though.”
“Are you saying the sheriff is so bad that he wouldn’t help a woman getting beat by her ex-husband?” Evan asked.
“God, I hope not. But let’s not take the chance of finding out.”
When we got close to Claire’s home, I parked down the street. I didn’t want this guy running away. After what he was putting Claire and Ben through, I wanted him to go to jail for a bit.
We climbed out and looked around.
“I sure wish I had my gun on me,” Flash said.
“Me, too.” The state police had taken all my weapons to test them. “We’re going to have to go into this with just our fists.”
Flash cracked his knuckles. “It’s a good thing I have huge fists.”
I laughed. “Let’s go.”
“Is this guy big?” Evan asked me.
“Not from what I remember, but I haven’t seen him for over twelve years.” When we got close, I said, “Why don’t you guys take the perimeter, and the back door, while I go knock on the front? I’m already in enough trouble. Maybe I can talk this guy down.”
Flash and Evan nodded and then split up. One went to the west side of the house, and the other went to the east. I went to the south side and knocked on the door.
I could hear yelling inside, but no one answered, so I knocked louder.
The door swung open.
“What the fuck do you want?” Mickey Williams said from the other side of the threshold.
I barely recognized him. He looked about twenty years older instead of twelve, and he had a massive beer gut.
“Where’s Claire?”
“Busy.”
Yeah, right.
I stepped into the house and pushed Mickey out of the way. I turned, so he’d be in my peripheral vision. I didn’t need him getting the drop on me.
“Claire?”
No answer.
I stepped further into the house. “Claire?” I called again just as Flash and Evan came through the back door. Knowing they would take care of Mickey, I concentrated on finding his victim. “Claire, it’s Maddox. Addison’s friend.”
I heard movement in the kitchen, and I slowly walked that way. When I rounded the counter, I was unprepared for what I saw.
I’d been overseas, fighting in some grizzly shit, but seeing a woman lying on the floor of her own kitchen, covered in blood, made me want to puke. Her pants were around her ankles, and she was cradling an arm that was bent in the wrong spot.
I turned and looked at Mickey. “You sick fuck.”
He roared out his rage and made a beeline for me. He didn’t get far though because Flash and Evan pulled him back. Mickey went flying, landing on his back.
I took out my phone and called 911. Claire needed medical attention, and Mickey needed to get his ass arrested.
After giving the dispatcher the address, I hung up. She’d wanted me to stay on the line, but I didn’t have time for that.
I tucked my phone in my pocket and knelt next to Claire. I brushed my hands over her hair. “Hey, Claire?”
One eye blinked open because the other was swollen shut, and she looked scared for a moment.
“Hey. It’s me, Maddox.” I held up my hands, so she could see them. “I’m here to help.”
She tried to look around, which was hard with one eye black and blue and inflamed.
“Don’t worry. My two friends have Mickey under control in the other room. He’s not going to hurt you.”
“B-Ben.”
“Yeah, I’m going to go check on him. He’s the one who called me. I told him to hide in the bathroom and lock the door.”
Her eye closed. “Thank you.”
I stood and went in search of a blanket. I couldn’t let her just lie on the floor with her pants down. I couldn’t find one, so I took the comforter from her bed and brought it back to the kitchen to put over her.