“Did Lyle get a name?” Spike asked.
Nodding, Keith sent Maddie a text. “You were right. It’s the actress I dated in the spring. And I think Lisa’s at Maddie’s now.”
Salty lowered the cookie he’d been about to bite into. “Back it up. The woman who’s been sending you porn is hanging out with Mad Dog?”
“Wait, what? Someone has been sending you porn, Keith?” Kenzie asked.
Come on, Maddie, answer me.
“The answer to both questions is yes. Salty can fill you in later.” It surprised Keith that Salty hadn’t already told his girlfriend about it.
Maddie’s plans today included shopping, cooking, and reading. She should be answering him.
Fuck, something isn’t right.
While the reason she wasn’t answering could be something as simple as she was in the bathroom and her phone was in the kitchen, his gut told him otherwise. “I’ve got to go.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Backup was always a good idea, so he wouldn’t turn down Spike’s offer.
Maddie, are you home?
He sent another message before pulling away from the curb.
Assuming one drove at the speed limit, Salty lived about ten minutes away. Now wasn’t the time for obeying the law. And a few minutes later, Keith parked across from Maddie’s neighbor. The metallic blue two-door parked in Maddie’s driveway answered his question about whether Maddie had company. And he knew who that company was because he’d been in that car.
“How do you want to handle this?”
He’d seen nothing to suggest Lisa had a violent side. But Maddie still hadn’t answered his two messages or the one Spike sent her on the drive over.
“Go around the left side of the house and into the backyard.”
The two most likely places for Maddie and Lisa to be were the kitchen and living room. Fortunately, neither of those rooms had windows on the left side of the house, so neither woman would see anyone approaching.
“There’s a key in the thermometer mounted on the shed. Text me when you’re in place.”
Not wanting to alert anyone to his presence yet, Keith closed the truck door enough so a passing vehicle wouldn’t take it off and switched his phone to vibrate.
Rather than walk down and cross in front of Maddie’s, they headed for her neighbor’s house. While Spike jumped the four-foot fence separating Maddie’s yard from Declan and Robert’s, Keith kept close to the house and crouched down low as he made his way toward the front steps.
Seven-inch windowpanes flanked the front door. While they looked nice and allowed in sunlight, he viewed them as security risks. If someone wanted inside, they could break them and easily reach inside to unlock the door.
Today they allowed him to look inside while avoiding the larger windows in the living room, and the house’s open floor plan meant he could see everything except the bedrooms and bathroom.
He’d envisioned a handful of scenarios since Lyle told him Lisa might be with Maddie. But none of them came close to the scene in the kitchen.
Although she’d cut and dyed her hair, there was no mistaking the woman Maddie held at gunpoint.
His cell phone vibrated, and Keith checked the screen.
?
Keith didn’t need help to interpret the message. Spike saw what he did and wanted to know how Keith wished to proceed.
Maddie would expect him to come through the front. If anyone opened the back door, it might distract her. Based on the blood flowing from Lisa’s nose, there had already been a struggle. He couldn’t tell if Maddie was injured, and he didn’t want her involved in another struggle, especially when there was at least one weapon involved.
Front only. Call 911.