Once Upon A Half-Time 2(124)

That was why she changed the subject.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. My expression hadn’t shifted since Chelsea’s arrival, and I couldn’t soften my words. “Is everything okay?”

“No.” No sense lying. She’d find out soon enough. “I need you to tell me everything you remember about the night your shop burned down.”

That wasn’t a favorite topic, especially since she didn’t remember enough of it to piece together what’d happened. She refused, getting as tough as she could with me.

Wasn’t very tough.

But she never had to be with me.

“Maddox, no.” She shook her head. “You left here last night threatening to murder a man. I’m not telling you a damn thing that might endanger someone else or yourself. Even if it is Nolan’s life at risk.”

I couldn’t believe I was saying it. “Screw Nolan. Tell me what you remember.”

“Why?”

She deserved an answer, but I wasn’t giving it. Not yet. First, I had to know if I was right, and she was the only way I could prove my instincts wrong.

They had to be wrong.

Or we were both fucked.

“I pulled you from the shop,” I started for her. “I carried you outside. You’d fainted. I got burned. Who was the first person on the scene? Who else was there?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Are you sure?”

Josie bit her lip. “Everything is a blur. I just remember flashing lights. An ambulance. Waking up in the hospital.”

“The ambulance came later. After I got you out. Think, Sweets. Who was the first one on scene?”

Josie’s hands trembled. She blinked, struggling to talk through a painful memory. “Chief Craig was there. I think he was the one…”

“Yeah. He cuffed me, before the police or fire department arrived. What else?”

Her eyes widened. “I don’t remember, Maddox. Honestly.”

“Try. Who else was there? I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important, Sweets.”

I encroached on her. Hated to do it, but I loved the results. Josie was weak for me, and I could push her. If I could force a memory and make her face the fire, we’d have our answers.

Her chest rose in fierce breaths. So did mine.

“Bob Ragen,” she said. “He…he was there. He called the police, I think.”

Son of a bitch. “He was in a property dispute with you, wasn’t he? What the hell was that drunk doing in his store and not in the bar so late at night?

Josie gave up. She headed for the arm of the couch and sat, staring at me with a furrowed brow and pouting lips.

“What are you getting at, Maddox?”

“Nolan wanted to buy the store. You refused him.”

“Yes.”

“And Chief Craig was the first man to respond on the scene, before the other police officers.”

“Yes?”

“Because Bob Ragen called 911 first.”

“You’re scaring me. Why are you…what are you thinking?”

I hated what I was about to say. I needed a drink and a good fuck, neither of which I’d find in Josie’s apartment, but that was fine. At least I was inside.

At least I could keep her safe.

“I think we have to be very careful, Sweets.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not sure we’re right about Nolan.”

Josie frowned, her breath lost in a sharp exhale. “What are you talking about? Nolan burned down my shop.”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

I took off my jacket, tossing it over her couch. She stood, but I pointed her to the bedroom. “I’ll sleep here tonight. You take the bed.”

“Maddox—”

“Don’t argue. You aren’t safe anymore. Neither am I.”

“Why?”

“Because someone in the town burned down your store with you inside, and they framed me for the crime.” The words embittered in my mouth. “And now I don’t know which son of a bitch is guilty.”





9





Josie





“You think Chief Craig burned down my store because he wanted to frame you for arson?”

It didn’t sound any less crazy in the morning, and even less likely after a full night’s sleep.

“I said I didn’t know.” Maddox brushed the towel over his head. He wore his jeans after his shower but nothing else. Droplets of water rolled over his thick muscles. “Something isn’t right, Josie. I’m not going to let you get caught in the middle.”

“If I was any more in the middle, I’d be squished.”

“Can’t have that.”

“You know it was Nolan.”

“Maybe.” He pitched the towel onto the floor. He never did remember to hang them up after he was done. “Maybe not.”