Page 75 of Where Angels Fall

Her eyes shut as she lets out a shaky exhale. But I'm already turning, my anger making my entire body vibrate as I jump on my bike and let the deafening roar of the engine drown out my murderous thoughts.

Chapter 27

Maddison

Most of the lights have gone dark in the office, the glass walls around me reflecting empty desks and abandoned chairs, everyone headed home for the night.

My father is still here, however, my mind always conscious of his whereabouts.

My eyes are heavy, and my hands are sluggish as I type away on the computer, the work we've been left to tidy up after the event has been massive. Trying to paint Malcolm in a good light almost seems impossible, although the news reporters and detectives have not been able to figure out who, why or what caused Malcolm's death.

Or if they have, they’ve done an extraordinary job at covering it up.

I guess that’s what Ash pays them for.

I know deep in my heart he deserved it. Although that fact causes a heavy feeling in my chest, and now I, one of his victims is left trying to polish his dirty name. The irony is not lost on me as I work on yet another press release, photos of him and his vacant wife blasted to paint him out as the family man.

The poor man whose name has been wrongfully tarnished, now murdered at the generous event he funded.

But no one gets thrown off a building with their hands cut off, rope around their neck for good reasons. Whispers have begun to spread. Whispers that seem almost impossible to drown.

I startle as I hear a pair of footsteps.

I look up just in time to catch my father as he heads out of his office, phone held to his ear. He doesn’t slow, doesn’t say a word. At the threshold, he turns once, looking back at me over his shoulder. His expression is dismissive, as if I’m a speck of dust on his shoe, not his only child. I shrink back into my seat, feeling like I’m five years old again in his presence.

Then he’s gone.

I listen to his footsteps fade down the corridor, followed by the soft chime of the elevator arriving. The doors slide shut with a final, hollow sound. A second later, I know he is gone. The silence that follows is absolute.

I exhale without realising I’d been holding my breath. The office feels too big now, too empty, the glass walls closing in around me as I sit alone at my desk.

Utterly alone.

Alone with all the heavy thoughts that keep threatening to surface, although I won’t let them.

My phone sits like a ticking time bomb, all my notifications silenced. I know Ash has texted me, but I don’t have the stomach to read them. Maybe, I should have. Might have stopped him showing up out of nowhere and demanding that I go to the club tonight.

The thought of stepping into that club, has my heart ricocheting in my chest and my stomach roiling. That’s why I’m still sitting at work, staring at a screen at eight o’clock on a Monday night.

I can’t seem to convince myself to go. Can’t seem to get my legs to work. Just standing up and walking out of this office feels too big of a task. Too daunting.

I can’t run away from what I did, but I can put as much distance from the people who stir and evoke such feelings to get me to act such a way. It's not safe, I remind myself.

Instead of forcing myself to stand, I reach for my phone. I dial the one person who still sees something good in me, even though I don’t deserve it. Eventually she’ll see right through the polished exterior to all my disgusting secrets, but for now, I need her.

“Maddy babyyyy,” Roxy's raspy voice cuts through the speaker, and I swear just hearing her voice has my nerves calming.

I have to swallow past the lump in my throat before I can even get the words out.

“Roxy...”

“Maddy? What's wrong?” I hear the concern in her voice, and the backs of my eyes begin to burn.

Fingers gripping the phone in a white-knuckle grip, it takes me a moment to think of how I can word this. Trying to respect her wishes of not being involved in this world, while also trying to be honest.

“Everything,” the word slips out on a breath. “Everything's wrong.”

I hear her heavy sigh come through the speaker. “Oh, baby. Do you need me to come to you?”