Once Upon A Half-Time 2(167)
The thought struck me so suddenly it caused a wave of morning sickness. Or maybe it was just fear. Delta was a champ and held my hair back as she helped me through the sickness.
At least the baby was okay, even if my stomach was in knots.
I fought the nausea and removed my IV. “We have to go. I have an idea.”
Delta didn’t like it already. “Please, stay in bed.”
No. No more waiting. No more secrets.
“All my life, I’ve played by the rules,” I said. “This whole town tricks you into thinking it’s innocent, and I was fooled. I said Maddox was out of his mind for wanting revenge, and he thought I was naïve for seeking justice.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going vigilante.”
“No. Chief Craig and Nolan caused these lies and conspiracies. I won’t live in a world where manipulation is the only way to solve problems and vengeance is the only real punishment. It ends now.”
I couldn’t leave in a hospital gown. Delta offered me her windbreaker. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m ending the corruption. We’re going to find Chelsea, and we’ll make her confess to the affair. Then no one can hurt her or Maddox anymore.”
Delta said it was a stupid idea, but she covered me as I raced to the door. We ran to the stairwell and busted out of the hospital through the side exit into the parking lot. She led me to her car and rooted through her gym bag for a pair of pants and a shirt.
I dressed in the car on the way to the motel. Delta drove fast, peeling out of a red light with as much displeasure as her accelerator could squeal.
“I should find Chelsea,” she said. “You need to be in the hospital.”
“You used to make me cut school with you.”
“Yeah, running out on your IV isn’t like skipping gym.”
“Chelsea might only talk to me. She was never close to Maddox. Hell, she only came around when she needed help or money.”
“Sounds like a great sister,” Delta said.
“She was his only family, broken as it was. He tried so hard to take care of her. I’m sure she’ll help him too.”
“Now who’s naïve? What if she runs? Or goes to Chief Craig?”
Then Maddox would be killed. I couldn’t fail. It wasn’t an option.
Delta pulled into the motel. Grit still coated my lungs, and I coughed all the way to the room. A light shone through the corner window. I knocked hard enough for the entire town to hear.
Nothing.
“Chelsea!” I shouted for her. “It’s Josie Davis. I need to talk to you.”
Not a sound.
I banged harder.
“Chelsea, please!”
She was content to ignore me, and why not? The town didn’t give her a reason to show her face. We pretended her family never existed. The town avoided them until I shoved Maddox into their lives and forced them to confront the problems that no one talked about. Drug use. Domestic abuse. Their parents were born rotten, but Maddox and Chelsea only shared a common name with them. They deserved better.
“It’s about Maddox.” My words hissed over a gasped breath. “He’s in danger. You’re the only one who can help him.”
The door opened partway, still connected with the chain. Chelsea peeked out. She guarded herself with a scowl, but her voice wavered over her brother’s name.
“Maddox is in trouble again?”
“This wasn’t his fault,” I said.
“Find that hard to believe.”
“It’s Chief Craig, Chelsea.”
The door nearly closed. I forced it open again. “I know what’s been happening. I know Maddox was giving him money to keep you safe.”
Chelsea groaned. “Why doesn’t anyone understand? John loves me. He wants to run away with me.”
Delta shared my glance. The poor girl was completely taken with a man who would destroy her.
“Right now, Chief Craig is saying Maddox tried to hurt me. He didn’t. If I go down there and argue with him, he’ll murder Maddox. I can’t do anything to help him.”
She touched the bruise on her face. “But what can I do? I’m nothing.”
“You have to come forward about the affair.”
The door almost closed again. Delta and I both pushed it open. Chelsea teared up and hid her face.
“I can’t do that,” she said.
“It’s for Maddox.”
“John will hate me.”
“Do you really want to be with a man who would threaten your brother? After everything Maddox has done for you?”
She picked at the paint on the door. “Josie, I’m a junkie. I’m a whore. No one in this town would believe me. John is the only way I can escape this life and become something more.”