72 St. Margaret’s Way Chapter 8
James drove back to headquarters about two hours later, his head spinning with exhaustion and fear. He hadn’t talked to Adele about his concerns, at least he was pretty sure he hadn’t. He’d walked in, gone straight to her booth, and then the next thing he remembered, he was sitting alone at the top of the bleachers, looking out over the fair.
She’d ignored him completely when he walked back over and he’d given up trying to talk to her after she finally turned her back on him. While James had wanted to drop to his knees and plead with her, he knew that might make her abandon him completely and that would be even worse.
So instead, he’d gone back to the bleachers, hardly thinking, not even scared or tired anymore. Just watching her. Adele was so beautiful and she handled her business with a grace he couldn’t even begin to imagine having as she saved lives and happiness. All he wanted to do was sit and watch her as she moved behind her table, even if she wouldn’t look at him.
James had realized as the fair was closing for the afternoon that he’d forgotten his money at headquarters when he’d stormed out. He’d come back tomorrow and give it to her, then maybe she’d talk to him again.
As he drove back to headquarters, his exhausted mind was racing as reality set back in. He had to prevent the others from getting to Adele or to the fair itself. James didn’t want to hurt anyone. But she’d asked him to protect her and he’d do whatever it took to keep that promise. He’d kill for her, he told her that.
But maybe he didn’t have to yet. He’d already taken the wellness fair off of the schedule and regardless of Amelia’s concerns, there wasn’t much she could do about it. Maybe he could add new things in, just flood the system. That wouldn’t be hard, there were plenty of other cases in the queue and he could access those easily enough. If he could distract them for long enough, they’d forget about Adele. That would keep her safe.
Then maybe she could forgive him for letting her down. She loved him in her own way. He knew that, even if she would never say it. But she ran those perfect fingers through his hair, treating him like he was precious, if just for a moment. Maybe he could remind her of that and she’d truly love him.
Things were going to be awkward at headquarters when he got back. The others would be angry. They wouldn’t like that James had yelled at Madelyn and he didn’t like it either. But they needed to know that some things were completely unacceptable. And this was one of them. So whatever it took to teach them this lesson, he’d do it.
As James pulled onto St. Margaret’s Way, he knew for a fact that distracting the team to keep them away from Adele would not be enough. It was too late with Amelia and Madelyn. They knew something was different and that it had to do with Adele. Bradley too, he’d been suspicious about the fair. He’d figure it out soon if James gave him the opportunity. And hadn’t they talked about it after leaving the fair that first day? James had mocked Adele’s merchandise, something that caused him so much shame he could barely stand to think about it.
He parked along the sidewalk a few houses down from headquarters and assessed the scene. Madelyn and Amelia’s cars were both still there and no one else was around yet. James could go pick up the gun in Ayer, but that might take too long. What if they decided to go to the fair and confront Adele themselves while he was gone? No, he could do it with what he had stored.
Before getting out of his car, he pulled out his phone and sent Bradley a quick message.
JAMES
Come to headquarters, it’s an emergency. I need you.
Gabriella and Graham could wait. Neither of them had threatened Adele. But the others had, so they needed to die.
The idea that he could beg Adele not to make him do this was slowly forming in James’s mind. He didn’t want to hurt anyone. But she’d be so angry with him if he even asked. He’d told her he’d do anything for her and she believed him. She was putting her trust in him.
And what if the team caught Adele, thinking she was hurting people, and made her stop helping them? The consequences would be nightmarish, she’d told him that herself.
Gabriella was due at work in a couple hours. If he had to kill them and she came in and saw…
He’d have to kill her as well. Graham also, if it came to that. It was the only way. Hell, he might need to kill the fucking cat too, just in case.
When he got inside, the building was oddly quiet. James had expected to see the other two at work in the living room since there weren’t any cases until later today and that was where they usually did their side work. But maybe they were at lunch or in the gym. Or he’d broken the computer they were using, so they had to work somewhere else. There it was, still lying shattered on the floor beside the desk.
That was fine, he’d clean it up and then maybe get ready for the afternoon cases until they got back. They still needed to address that demon house. Maybe Amelia could take that, if he didn’t have to kill her.
“Hey, guys?” James called as he moved up the stairs and toward his office. “Listen, you just can’t go after Adele like that. She’s perfect and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her that way, okay? She’s incredible, you’re going to love her. She’s saving the world. But we just have to leave her alone. And I have no choice, I’ll put a knife through your fucking throat if you go near her.”
The box. Had the box moved? Maybe he moved it and didn’t need to remember. He went behind his desk to take a closer look. It didn’t look like it had been messed with and he was so tired, so maybe he’d imagined it. But he had to get this done. James picked up one of the knives and walked out of the office.
“Hey, James?”
Amelia stepped out of the kitchen as he came into the living room. Their eyes met. He could wait a second. James truly, truly did not want to kill his best friend. But that might not matter now, because he had to. He blinked hard against the tears stinging his eyes, but he couldn’t stop a couple from escaping.
“Can you come with me?” Amelia asked.
“Why?”
Amelia’s eyes darted down to the knife in his hand, but her expression didn’t change. “Um, Adele called,” she said, locking her eyes on his. “She wants to see you. Adele wants you to come to her.”
The relief and excitement that poured through him was like nothing he’d ever felt before. He would worship this woman if she let him. James dropped the knife. “Really?” he asked, not bothering to contain his excitement as all concerns about having to kill the team instantly evaporated.
“Yeah,” Amelia replied. “But Adele wants you to come with me first.”
“Of course.”
Whatever Adele wanted him to do, he’d do. Even for just a chance to prove he was worthy of her. He followed Amelia down the hall and into the bathroom, where she handed him a glass full of pink liquid.
“Adele wants you to drink this.”
Normally he would be suspicious of this, but if Adele wanted him to do it, he didn’t want to risk not doing what she asked of him. So he took a cautious sip. It was sweet, with a cut of herbal taste that James didn’t recognize. He drank it quickly, then set the cup on the bathroom counter.
“Where is she?” he asked Amelia.
Adele had given him his instructions, so going against them might make her mad. But she’d talked to Amelia. Amelia understood, so the others would too. Adele had done that for him. Maybe she did love him like he loved her.
“She’ll be here soon,” Amelia replied. “But first, you need to take a bath.”
A bath? Was he that dirty? Was that why she didn’t even look at him when he was at the wellness fair? Maybe she just needed him to change.
That was no problem, James would change anything for her. But-
“Why do I…” he started, something not clicking here.
“Adele wants you to take a bath,” Amelia said quickly, locking her eyes on his again.
And then it made perfect sense. “Of course,” James said. “I’ll do it for her. Do I just, um…”
The bath was full, but Amelia was still in the room and it didn’t look like she was planning to go anywhere.
“Um, keep your jeans on, I guess,” she said.
That worked for him if it meant seeing Adele soon. James laughed. “Yeah, okay,” he said, almost giddy. “Amelia, you’re going to love her. Hey, I want you on the demon house this afternoon, okay?”
She nodded rapidly. “Of course.”
Amelia was shaking. That was strange, normally Amelia wasn’t afraid of anything when it came to work. “Hey, it’s okay,” James said, reaching for her arm. She flinched as he touched her. “It’s a standard demon house. I’ll help you with it.”
She nodded, not looking convinced. James let go of her and quickly stripped off his shirt. He got into the bath, sitting in the hot water. It was deep and smelled like that same herb he still tasted at the back of his throat. Was that Adele’s doing? Was this herb hers?
Wait, who was Adele again?
“Bradley, now!”
Once again, two things happened at once. First, the bathroom door closed and James heard the lock snap into place. Then Amelia gripped his shoulders and looked him in the eye.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
And then he was under the surface, the fragrant water flooding into his eyes and nose, the salt water burning at him as he choked on it. James clawed at the water, at her hands, desperately trying to escape. Finally, she let him back up. He tried to scream at her between gasps for air as he wiped the water from his eyes, but he couldn’t form the words. Amelia was crying and half of James’s brain wanted to comfort her while the other wanted to try to drown her and see how she liked it.
Then there was another cup of sweet liquid in front of him. He kept his mouth sealed shut until another hand reached over and pinched his nose closed. As he gasped for breath, the liquid was in his mouth and he swallowed it on reflex.
Where was Adele? She was supposed to save him from this. Why wasn’t she here? He’d do anything for her, so where was she?
“Again.”
It wasn’t Amelia holding him down this time, it was Bradley pushing his head under the water. Why was Bradley trying to murder him? Did he want Adele for himself? James would kill him first, he wouldn’t even be sorry about it.
Wait, what the hell?
This time he’d been able to get a breath before going under, so the water wasn’t flooding into his lungs as he scratched at Bradley’s hand and tried to get back up. But his eyes and throat burned from the salty water and he could feel himself starting to lose consciousness just before Bradley released him.
James tried to scramble out of the tub. Both of them grabbed an arm and forced him back in. “It’s okay,” Amelia said, her voice calm despite the tear tracks on her face. “We’re doing this to help you.”
“You’re not helping me!” James yelled as he fell back into the tub. “Where’s Adele?”
“Adele is hurting you,” Bradley snapped, moving to grab James’s head again. “She poisoned you.”
James’s hair was falling in his eyes and his head hit the faucet as he snapped it back, away from Bradley’s reach. Bright pain flared through him, but it didn’t matter, he needed to get out of here.
“ADELE!” he screamed.
And then he was under again, water burning in his lungs. Adele would save him, she’d be here, she’d…
She was the woman from the wellness fair. The one with the shitty lotions. Why was he…
Why…
And then he was up again, sitting and coughing up fragrant water as he looked up through the wet hair hanging in his eyes. The other two looked at him cautiously, but neither touched him as James took in his situation.
He was in a tub, half-naked, being drowned by two of his longest-running, most trusted teammates. And he’d spent the past several days dangerously obsessed with a woman he’d barely ever spoken to. A woman who was a suspect in a case.
No, she was…she was his…his…
“What’s happening to me?” James managed to choke out as he shook with terror.
Amelia splashed into the tub beside him, scooping him into her arms. She held his dripping body against hers without a single care for the fact that she was now soaked too.
“It’s a love potion,” she whispered as he sagged against her. “It’s okay. We’re here, we got you. It’s okay.”
“I’ll call,” Bradley said quietly.
James felt Amelia nod as he squeezed his eyes shut against the confusion and terror. He didn’t know how long they sat there, just that she stayed and waited for him to calm down, whispering those same words in soothing rhythm over and over. As he opened his eyes, the water was cold and Bradley was gone. It was just the two of them here.
“I’m sorry,” James whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“I didn’t eat anything,” he said. “She didn’t offer me anything. I don’t know how…”
“We’ll figure it out,” Amelia promised. “But we should get out of the water. Here, stand up.”
He stood up and carefully stepped out of the tub, still shaking. Amelia grabbed a towel and handed it to him. “We got you some dry clothes,” she said, motioning toward a pair of sweatpants he hadn’t noticed on the counter near the empty cup. “Dry off and get them on.”
“I need to talk to Madelyn.”
“Later,” Amelia said. “She’s not here. But she understands, trust me. You need to rest for a little while, that medication and the rest of the process is going to kick your ass. Listen, it’s not over, but we’ll be here with you the whole time.”
That was scarier than almost anything else she might have said. Normally he’d be mortified at the idea of more of this, but the idea of becoming this woman’s mindless slave again was even worse.
“Come on,” Amelia said, turning around and grabbing a towel for herself. “Get dressed.”
James pulled off his soaking jeans, drying quickly before pulling on the sweatpants she’d brought him. Head heavy from fatigue, fear, and probably that pink herbally drink, he followed her out of the bathroom and into the gray bedroom.
“You get some sleep,” she said as he climbed into the bed, still shaking. “I’m going to stay for a while.”
He nodded and pulled the covers up to his chin, falling asleep almost immediately.
