Chasing Forever (A Beachside Romance, Book 1), page 18
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Monday morning, Maddy breezed into work, cheerful and bearing coffee and bagels for her partner. She practically floated into the office area, still glowing from her weekend with Chase. She passed into the office area that was getting over-crowded with desks purchased from varying decades as the department expanded over the years.
For a small town, they had a pretty good-sized police department. Maddy passed her own scuffed wooden desk and sat on the corner of Ian's 1950's-era faded pea-green desk. Ian had eyed her suspiciously, "Maddy, you are awfully perky this morning. I thought you'd be upset about being chained to a partner until this bullshit with Dylan Mayberry blows over."
Maddy just smiled at Ian as she handed him the treats she had brought him. "Thanks for agreeing to be my partner. I am incredibly irritated that my routine is being altered due to an asshole I thought I'd been rid of years ago. But I appreciate you agreeing to partner up and wanted to show my thanks."
Ian accepted the treats appreciatively. He tore into the bagel with gusto. Cheeks full like an eager chipmunk, he began, “I checked in with Andrea already. We’re on foot patrol today. Let’s start with Beachside and circle outwards, sound ok? No calls or anything needing our attention, so I thought we’d go looking for trouble.”
Count on Ian to look for trouble if none was to be had. Not that he always found it, or wanted it. But he had a good attitude about it. “Sounds like a plan,” she grinned back at him, looking forward to the day.
The day started out pleasant, but that didn’t last long. Maddy and Ian strolled out the front door, nodding to Quinn, who was in charge of the front desk and phones today. “You two take care out there. Peaceful so far.” She smiled from under her coke-bottle glasses.
“Will do. Have a good one.” Maddy nodded to the receptionist.
They walked out the front door, a blast of hot air taking her breath away as they stepped outside. When had it gotten so hot out? She’d wheeled and dealed enough with Andrea when she’d first started to get pants and shoes that breathed better than the old starch and leather, but the dang uniform was still thicker than she’d like, especially on hot days like today. Sliding her shades on, she scanned the streets. “Peaceful, but not quiet.”
Pulling his shiny aviators on, Ian nodded in agreement. “Let’s stroll by Flotsam on the way by, shall we?” He grinned at his partner.
“Nice try, Romeo,” knowing Ian had a thing for Payson, but more for fun than anything. Ian was a few years younger and more than a few years less mature. “I already saw her this morning. I brought her a muffin before bringing you your bagel.” She took off heading north.
“Such a spoil sport. Someday she’ll come around and realize we’re meant to be,” he dramatically gripped his hand over his heart. Unconvincingly. “North, huh? Headed somewhere specific?”
“No, just wandering.”
“Not hoping we can check in on McAllister Fisheries and your new boyfriend?” He waggled his eyebrows at her.
“After the break-in, it would be wise to check on McAllister Fisheries and ensure they had a safe weekend. And what gossip mill have you been tapping into?” News couldn’t have traveled that fast, could it? Too damn small of a town to keep anything quiet for long.
“I happened to be driving by on my patrol when you got in from the beach party. With a Mr. Chase Anderson. Looking awfully cozy.”
Maddy blushed. Dammit. At least it wasn’t via grapevine. “Ok. It’s not a secret or anything, I just hate being the object of gossip. Why do you think I ran away for so long?”
With a sympathetic punch to the shoulder, Ian was at least remorseful for the tease, “Sorry Maddy. We do have a hell of a gossip mill around here. I have not spread any gossip, just sharing a first-hand report to a first-person party.”
Rolling her eyes at him, she kept strolling. When they finally got to McAllister Fisheries, and they saw Dylan and his goons coming out of the office, looking awfully pleased with themselves.
Shit. She quickly ducked back behind a nearby parked SUV. Hopefully, they were far enough away that they weren’t spotted. As much as she wanted this over, she wasn’t feeling it today. Talking to Dylan when she was too angry and ready to tear him apart… it wouldn’t be very professional.
Ian read her signal immediately. He stayed close but kept the trio in his sights. And was pleasantly ignored as they hopped into a generic black sedan and cautiously pulled out onto the road, driving the opposite direction. Maddy let go of the breath she’d held in. “It’s ok Maddy, he’s gone.”
“Thanks.” She nodded in appreciation and continued on the prior trajectory. They strolled past McAllister’s and veered east. About two blocks up, they stopped abruptly as they heard raised voices coming from the alley.
Not a dark, scary alley or anything, those didn’t exist in Seaview. Not many alleys in general. Just a space between the old, unoccupied candy shop and a tall vacation house.
The pair silently crept closer, staying out of sight. “Don’t you fucking tell me what’s my business and what isn’t. I saw you behind the restaurant with that local fuck. You’re mine for the week. No play for anyone else.”
Smack. Whoever was talking must have struck the other person. A woman’s voice, with a thick midwest accent growled back at him, “Then you’d better pay me better. I promised you one week. That’s it. One week. I never promised you monogamy or some shit like that.”
Okay. Not a normal Seaview domestic dispute, that was for sure. Maddy and Ian eyed each other, waiting for the conversation to progress.
The gruff male voice started back in, “Bitch, I’m paying you a thousand dollars. A thousand fucking dollars for your company for a week. Don’t you go blowing any other assholes just ‘cause you get restless. I’m stuck in this tiny-ass town until this job’s over. I’ve hired you to entertain me for the week, that means what I say, when I say, and who I say. If you want your cash and your ticket back home, you’d better behave yourself.”
The voice paused. Maddy knew this wasn’t heading anywhere good but went with her instincts and waited; it wasn’t time to pounce yet. They needed more to go on.
Patience paid off. Fantastic. Sick bastard just couldn’t stop. “Baby, you make up for it and give me the goods. Now.”
“Fine. Just, fine. Behind the dumpster or someone will see.”
Ears perked, Maddy waited until just the right moment. She inched closer, straining to hear. Yep, disgusting groans and… eww, sucking. “Yeah, baby, that’s it. Suck it.” Gross.
Maddy signaled to Ian that she was making her move. They confirmed the area was secure and moved in together. As expected, a bit of prostitution was going on right around the corner. The woman was on her knees delivering a nice early morning blow job for Mr. “In town on a job.”
Maddy was eager to find out what that job might be, as she suspected a quick blow wasn’t what he was in town for. “Good morning sir. I see you’ve found a lovely little spot to engage in a little business. However, you are, if you hadn’t noticed, right out in public. If you both will just come with us, we’ll get this little matter sorted out at the station.”
Expletives flew out of the man’s mouth, faster than the scantily clad woman spit out his dick. Without acknowledging his rapidly softening dick that was now flopping around, he paced back and forth before giving up for arrest.
Ian interjected, “Hey, pal. You’re already looking at a number of charges here. Try putting your little friend away before you rack up any other charges.” Like Maddy, Ian winced as he was subjected to the show.
Reading the pair their rights, Ian cuffed them while Maddy called for back up to drive the less-than classy folks back to the station for processing. “And you thought this was going to be a boring day,” Maddy teased Ian.
He chuckled. “And I was hesitant about having a partner. I’m so glad I didn’t have to witness that alone. Now, whenever you piss me off, I get to bring this special moment up and let your poor brain remember that… vivid image.”
Rolling her eyes, she directed the perps to the main road as help arrived in the form of two SUVs for transportation. Back at the station, the perps were processed, and the mountain of paperwork completed. Andrea called Maddy and Ian back to her office. “Nicely done. I’m looking forward to reading your report.”
Ian laughed, “I made sure to include every juicy detail for you.”
Andrea winced, “Thanks Ian, I can always count on you to brighten my day.”
She pointed to the matching guest chairs in front of the desk for Maddy and Ian to take a seat. “Maddy, do you mind running the interview? I’d like to know what he’s doing in town for so long that he felt obligated to import paid female companionship. Why he was found so close to McAllister Fisheries, and why he was there right after Mayberry and his crew had left the area.”
Maddy smiled, glad to have something meaningful to do. She’d done her share of interrogations for the Seattle PD. “You got it.”
Lacking similar experience, Ian jumped in, “Can I join? You can be good cop and I’ll be bad cop?”
Appreciating his eagerness to help, Maddy motioned him to follow. “How about you stay in the back and don’t talk? Wear your best poker face while I do all the talking?”
“Fine. But next time I get to be bad cop.” Ian practically hopped as he followed her to the back.
It was difficult to even look the sick bastard in the face after his little scene in the alley. Wearing her own best poker face, Maddy sat in the chair across the table. “Mr. Lang, I’d like to know what you’re doing in our little town of Seaview, all the way from Chicago?” She smiled innocently at the perp.
He sneered, staying quiet at first. “I’m not saying nothing without my attorney.”
“That’s just fine Mr. Lang. You can wait for an attorney,” she stood to walk out of the room but paused. “I ought to mention, your sweet lady friend didn’t want to wait for her attorney, she bartered a deal and has a lot of information to share about you. And your boss,” she went out on a limb, assuming he wasn’t here of his own volition. “I’m looking forward to speaking with her in more detail. If you’ll excuse me.” She put her hand on the door, knowing he would object.
“Ok, ok. Hang on. I’ll talk now. I’d sure like to avoid any… attention regarding my lady friend. Let’s just let her be our little secret.” He shuffled nervously.
“What are you doing in town Mr. Lang? What can you tell me about your boss?” Maddy got right to the point this time.
Avoiding eye contact, he started, “I… I’m doing a little work in town. My boss hires me to do little jobs for him here and there to lower the price on his business ventures.”
“What property?”
“Some old fish plant, docks. And some bar. Crazy if you ask me. A lot of other docks without all the fuss.”
“Why do you think he chose this spot?” Maddy already knew the answer but wanted to hear it from him. To confirm her fears.
“Some broad. Some bitch he’s after. Says she owes him bigtime. Paying double his normal fees as it’s so important to him. I been working for this joker for a few years. He pays decent, normally has a good head for business, but he’s way off on this one.
“I don’t mind giving him up if it means saving my ass, since he’s already fucking this whole deal up. Coulda made a shit-ton of money too, got this cruise ship company on the line, ready to buy him out once he lays the groundwork. Fucker is blowing it, all because of this bitch. Which is why I only hire temps.”
She knew she should wait, let Andrea take over, as she knew Andrea was listening in and chomping at the bit. She’d already skirted the line interrogating when her father’s company was likely in the mix, but when she was a major part of the plot, she ought to get out. The guy was so riled up, he wasn’t likely to stop now. And she didn’t want him to. “What did Mr. Mayberry ask you to do to the docks?”
“Mayberry’s talking through that Nielsen guy, never talks to me directly. I only seen him once in town, but I know he’s in charge. Has been since he and Nielsen served time together. The brainy one. Nielsen says we’re to be subtle, that they’re already on to us. Just get in, do just enough damage to slow them down. Drive down the price.”
Man, this guy was easy. She didn’t even imply that he was getting any sort of deal for spilling the beans. Not her fault that he assumed that all on his own. “Who’s the bitch Mayberry’s after?”
“He won’t say. Says we’ll ruin it for him.”
Before she could go further, Andrea pulled her out. As instructed, Ian had stayed silent in the corner, looking intimidating. He followed her out as well.
Maddy was immediately apologetic. “Sorry, I know I shouldn’t get too close to this. By the time I confirmed who he worked for, I was afraid to end the interview, or he’d stop talking.”
Andrea nodded. “I know, you did the right thing. We got enough to go on. I didn’t want this going further than it needed to. Needed to get you out of there before you got yourself in too deep and we lost our footing.”
“I know. I shouldn’t have pushed.”
“You’re right. You shouldn’t have. But I’m not sure I would have been able to resist either. You did good. We have a pretty stellar witness. Stupid, but stellar.”
Nodding in agreement, Ian chimed in, “We got lucky. Bigtime. We saw him with his goons in the black sedan shortly before I wrote down the plates, maybe it’ll get us somewhere.”
“You’re on. Run it, track them down. Maddy, I want to ask you some more questions about Mayberry. Come on into my office.” Andrea was all business now. They didn’t get many interesting cases around here. This one was a little too personal to be interesting, unfortunately.
Maddy filled Andrea in on what she knew about Dylan. Which turned out to be a lot. His obsessively high achievements in school: 4.0 GPA, membership in all the right clubs and sports. His father’s questionable business practices. His mother’s frequent travelling, was never around, no one knew what she was up to. Her relationship with him, how it ended. Andrea had already heard a lot of it but was drilling her on the minutiae now. Maddy was exhausted by the time she was done.
Maddy went into the locker room to change after her shift. Grateful to change out of her uniform on the hot day, she changed into ankle length skinny jeans and tucked in her breezy button up top.
She had agreed to not going anywhere alone. Ian had kindly agreed to escort her to Flotsam Antiques on his way home where she’d planned to meet up with Payson. Maybe his offer was self-serving, but she didn’t care. He was a good sport regardless.
On the way, he filled her in on the info from the plates he’d run. Which was nothing. No information. Registered to a fake name at a fake address. Unlikely they’d use those plates again after Lang’s arrest.
Payson was assisting a customer, so Maddy took a moment to relax and peruse the shop. She admired a few new pieces that had come in. There was a reclaimed wood side table that practically had her name written on it. She sat on the brown leather chair next to it and rested her eyes for a moment. Just a few moments of rest and she’d be good to go. Five minutes, that’s all she needed.
"Boo!" Maddy about jumped out of the chair when she discovered Payson had snuck up behind her and booed in her ear.
She glared at her friend. "You are a truly horrible human being! You scared me to death."
Payson laughed, "Looks like someone needs more sleep. Stay up too late all weekend?"
Maddy's vision went all soft when she thought about her amazing weekend, suddenly forgiving her friend for scaring her. "Yes, I sure did. Thanks for asking."
"Uh-huh. Can I say I-told-you-so? Nature knows what she’s doing." Payson nudged her friend playfully, then walked around the wagon wheel coffee table to sit on the floral settee across from her.
"In this case, yes, you can." Maddy didn't mind the occasional told-you-so, especially when it was meant affectionately.
"Yikes, I think you may be turning into a complete sap," Payson teased. " I have a date of my own tonight, so I’m ditching you. Chase agreed to keep you company as soon as he’s off work."
"Really? And who is the lucky guy? Meet him through another online dating service?" Maddy replied with an eye roll. Her friend had been on a quest to find Mr. Perfect since before Maddy had met her. She'd had a remarkably terrible string of blind dates and had resorted to online dating last winter, but she still refused to give up.
"Hey, I'll have you know this one shows promise. He's a banker. Thirty years old. 5'10", black hair, blue eyes. Enjoys walks on the beach and drinking wine by the fire in a snowy ski lodge." Payson nodded stubbornly and put her hands on her hips defensively.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have been sarcastic. I really hope this one is the one." Maddy felt for her friend. Their love lives had run in completely opposite directions since meeting each other. Payson had a regular, but terrible dating record. Maddy hadn't dated at all.
"I'm not optimistic, but worth a try. Who knows?” Payson sighed, resigned. "Let's get you home so we can both get ready for a hot night,” Payson teased.
Downright sweltering outside, they decided against walking. Payson drove her home. Maddy waved back to Payson when she made it safely inside the house. She turned the alarm to home-mode and headed into her bedroom.
The bed was a disaster after 48 hours of fairly constant inhabitance. She worked up a sweat pulling off the sheets and starting a load of laundry. Old cabin meant no air conditioner. She opened a few windows to catch the breeze off the ocean, adjusting the alarm accordingly.
According to Payson, Chase hadn’t hesitated when she had called him requesting that he babysit Maddy tonight so she could go on her hot date. Although Maddy was not thrilled about the term ‘babysitting,’ she was glad he wanted to come over. A night apart had been his idea. He’d been trying to give her space, which she hadn’t wanted, but hadn’t argued as she wasn’t ready to tell him yet that she didn’t want to give him up.
