Dead Right (Stillwater Trilogy #3)(80)
Author: Brenda Novak

She would’ve laughed, if not for the unease that had settled in the pit of her stomach. Calls that came in the middle of the night were rarely good news. “Probably not a smart idea,” she agreed. “I’ll get it.” She extricated herself from his body and the blankets that were wrapped around them both. “Hello?”

“Maddy? It’s Joe.”

She pushed her tousled hair out of her eyes. “Joe who?”

“Your cousin! Remember me?”

Oh. That Joe. She rubbed her face. “What is it? What do you want?”

“I’ve got a package that belongs to you.” His words were thick and slurred. He’d been drinking. But that wasn’t surprising. He drank every weekend.

She stiffened, and Hunter immediately understood that something was wrong. He sat up and leaned close, so they could both hear.

“What package?” she asked, confused.

“The one I found by the front door of the paper on my way home from Good Times.”

She didn’t want to wake up for this. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Joe. It’s late. Call me in the morning.”

“Whoa, wait a sec…” There was a long pause, followed by a guttural chuckle.

“What?” she said, now fully awake and so nervous she was jittery.

“I just opened it.”

She glanced at Hunter, felt his hand curl more tightly around hers on the phone. “What is it?” she asked.

“You’d better get over here,” he replied and hung up.

Chapter Twenty-One

Madeline’s hands shook from the adrenaline rushing through her body as she and Hunter dressed. It was nearly two in the morning. She didn’t want to see anyone. Especially her cousin, who was as unpredictable as he was uncouth. But something had happened. Joe would not have expected her to show up at his insistence, immediately and without question, unless what he had was good.

And good to him was probably not good to her.

Banging her hip on the corner of the dresser in her hurry to leave, she cursed at the pain but started for the stairs.

Hunter pulled her back, holding her by the shoulders as he gazed intently down at her. “Hey,” he said. “Calm down, okay?”

She couldn’t. No matter how much stuff she shoved in her basement, she was losing everything that counted in her life.

He lifted her chin. “You’re going to make it through this.”

She forced a smile and nodded briskly before pulling away.

He trailed her downstairs and grabbed her keys from the kitchen counter.

She almost snatched them back. Joe had something that would shock her or he wouldn’t be so happy. Was this when she learned whether or not Hunter was right about the Montgomerys? The moment she’d have to face irrefutable facts?

If that was the case, she wanted to brave the next few minutes on her own, wasn’t sure she could tolerate a witness like Hunter, who would understand so clearly the depth of her pain.

But it wasn’t safe to go out alone.

Ducking her head, she followed him to the door. Who said “ignorance is bliss”? If they’d lived her life, they would’ve said “ignorance is only slightly less painful than the probable truth.”

Probable truth…God, she was losing all confidence.

Joe wouldn’t answer. Madeline rang the bell, knocked and rang the bell again. Then she called him using her cell.

“Are you going to let me in or not?” she snapped, moving to the porch railing and staring out at the cold, misty night. She’d talked Hunter into letting her go to the door alone, just in case Joe wouldn’t deal with her otherwise. Moody and quick to anger, her cousin was not an easy guy to get along with. She never knew what to expect from him—except an undying jealousy of Clay and an undying hatred of Grace.

“Sorry, I was busy,” he said.

He still sounded happy. Too happy. “Doing what?”

He chuckled. “Describing what was in your package.”

What the heck did that mean?

A lone car passed on the highway fronting the property. Not many people in Stillwater were out this late. “Who were you talking to?” she asked.

“Cindy.”

His ex. “Why?”

“She likes it when I talk dirty to her.”

Madeline eyed her car, which was sitting in the drive, the engine ticking as it cooled. Hunter was there, in the driver’s seat, but she couldn’t see him. The light streaming through the windows of Joe’s house made it too bright where she was and too dark where he was. “What’re you talking about, Joe?”

Her cousin didn’t answer. He’d already hung up. But he opened the door almost immediately afterward. “You gotta see this to fully appreciate it,” he said beckoning her in.

Hunter had told her not to go inside. “Just turn on the porch light,” she said.

“It’s burned out.”

“That’s okay. You can give me the package here, especially since you had no right to take it in the first place.”

“We only need a minute,” he said with a scowl. “And it’s not like I’m going to hurt you. Jeez, Maddy. What’s up with you? We’re family.”

Considering her opinion of his character, she wasn’t pleased to be reminded of the connection. But she couldn’t think of one reason he’d want to hurt her. For the first time, they were on the same side. She was going after the truth about her father—his uncle—regardless of the risk it posed to the Montgomerys. He’d wanted her to force the issue for years.

“Are you coming in?” he asked.

She told herself to quit being silly and go inside. She was just skittish because of that note Clay had brought to the restaurant…

“Fine.” She turned in the direction of the car and shrugged, then stepped across the threshold. “Where’s my package?”

“Right here.” He kicked an open box sitting beside him.

“It’s empty.”

“I’ve got the contents in my office.” He waggled his eyebrows. “I wanted to show Cindy on my webcam.”

“I thought you and Cindy hated each other.” Madeline spoke mostly to distract herself from the smell of alcohol on his breath.

“She’s good for an occasional lay,” he said with an indifferent shrug.

“You disgust me,” was on the tip of Madeline’s tongue, but she held it back. “Just tell me what it is,” she said instead.