Page 187 of Maddox
I know the deaths of the women weigh heavily on Maddox and the others. I just hope something gives and soon. I can’t stand the thought of innocent women at risk while this psycho hunts them down.
“Princess?” Maddox says, breaking me from my reverie.
“Yeah?” My heart pulses with the warmth I’ve come to crave when he’s around and I take his hand when he holds it out to me.
After following him down the hall and into a storage room of sorts, I turn in a circle and ask, “What are we doing here?”
“Research,” he says with a mischievous smirk.
“For what?” I ask and he points to a corner.
“You start over there.”
“What am I looking for?”
“Old tapes.”
Huh?
The room is huge. It looks like the brothers never finished it, so the back two thirds is full of wood beams, tools and whatever else they planned to use to create their unrealized space.
All the holiday stuff though is neatly packed against the wall closest to the door.
Beyond that, I spy a stack of boxes and approach. Everything is so organized, I find it odd that three of the boxes in the corner are unlabeled.
I don’t know what we’re doing but I’m game to play along because this is a nice distraction from the thoughts that haunt me.
The first box contains a wedding dress, and I run my hands over the silk bodice adorned with tiny beads and gorgeous faux pearls.
Who wore this? When?
“That was my mom’s,” Maddox says over my shoulder.
“Oh,” I breathe, turning to him. I wish I could have met the woman who created my man but maybe we wouldn’t be here today if things hadn’t happened the way they did.
His eyes sparkle, and I’m relieved to see the darkness that usually lingers there gone.
When he nods to the boxes, I cover the dress back up and search through the second, finding some old tapes, movies, perhaps?
“Here,” Maddox says, and I glance at him sideways when he shoves an old VHS player into my hands before grabbing the box of old movies from the floor.
After that, he leads me to the media room and sets the box down before grabbing the player from my hands. While westruggle with setting it up, someone clears their throat from the door, and I muster a small smile when Joker raises a brow.
I’m still not sure how he feels about me, but he’s been nothing but kind. I’m hoping for the best.
“Here,” Joker says, and we step back to watch while he connects the wires to the T.V.
When he’s done, he steps back and stares at the old videos before shaking his head. A peculiar expression crosses his face before he leaves without a word, and I turn to Maddox with questions in my eyes.
He merely smiles and selects a tape before shoving it into the player. The colors are muted and dull, the sound glitchy but I see what I presume to be Joker and a redhead standing in front of a building.
“Mom?” I ask and Maddox nods, pushing a strand of hair back from my face.
Whipping around, I lean in closer as tears build behind my eyes. While it’s cool to see her, it’s the different version of the boy who would one day love my mom but ultimately bring me Maddox that warms my heart.
The next two videos show the progression of the duo and to my delight, I get to see Diablo. His dark hair, so like mine glints in the sunlight as he turns and laughs at the camera.
I try to identify any other traits that we share but it’s hard to process when I’m seeing the man for the first time. Luckily, the images are preserved, and I can view them at any time, especially since our time is running out before dinner.
