Of Loss & Betrayal (Madison & Logan 2)

I didn’t know who else to call, so I sat on the couch, unable to concentrate on anything besides wondering where Logan was. Lola padded over and put her head on my lap, looking up at me with soulful eyes as if she knew something was wrong. Minutes passed, turning into hours, and Logan still wasn’t home. Worry turned into fear and I wondered if he had been in some kind of accident. What were the odds that he would be in yet another accident, but I didn’t know what else would detain him for so long. I called the non-emergency police line, but they had no reports of an accident involving someone of Logan’s description. I then began calling hospitals, but none of them had records of a Logan Delaney being admitted, or even a John Doe that fit his description.

It was almost two o’clock in the morning when my cell phone rang. It was from a blocked number, and I grabbed it and hit the button to accept the call.

“Hello?” I said, not bothering to hide the frantic tone in my voice. “Logan, is that you?”

There was silence on the other end but I could hear someone breathing. “Who is this?” I cried out frantically. Something was very wrong, but I didn’t know what. I just had a gut feeling that Logan was in trouble.

“Madison, calm down.”

I swallowed hard when I recognized the voice. “Mack, what’s happening? Do you know where Logan is?”

“He’s with me. We’re about five minutes from your apartment. We’ll buzz the front door when we get there. Just let us up.”

Something wasn’t right. Mack sounded calm, but why was he here in Chicago? Why hadn’t he said anything when I first answered the phone? Nothing was making sense.

“Can I speak to Logan?” I asked cautiously.

Mack paused before answering. “He’s almost passed out drunk. I doubt he can hold the phone up to his ear, let alone put together a coherent sentence. I’ll see you soon.”

Mack disconnected the call before I could say anything else. I paced the floor while I waited for them to arrive. Why would Logan be drunk? Where had he gone when he was supposed to come straight home? For a split second, my heart dropped and I thought of Kristina. But that was impossible. First of all, she was still in jail. Secondly, Logan would never have anything to do with someone who not only tried to murder me, but entertained the idea of murdering him. I couldn’t see him calmly having drinks with Kristina, even if she hadn’t been locked up.

I jumped when the buzzer sounded, and I pressed the button to unlock the apartment building entrance. I opened my front door, anxiously waiting for them to appear. I could hear footsteps as well as shuffling. When I finally saw them, I realized it was because Mack was practically dragging Logan up the stairs. I opened the doorway wide so that Mack could half-carry him in. He lugged him to the living room and dropped him unceremoniously on the couch. I rushed over and kneeled next to him.

“Logan,” I said worriedly. “What happened?”

Logan was stretched out on the couch, and he rolled his head towards me. His mouth was working but no sounds were coming out. He definitely seemed incapacitated, but drunk wasn’t the first thought that came to mind. I looked up at Mack.

“Where did you find him? And what are you doing back in Chicago?”

“I had to come into town suddenly to tie up some loose ends and I called Logan to see if he wanted to meet for a drink,” he explained. “Whereas I only had a couple, he kept throwing back drink after drink.” Mack shrugged. “He seemed a little stressed out. Maybe that’s why he drank so much.”

I frowned. “That doesn’t sound like Logan. Not only would he have called me to tell me he was meeting you for drinks after work, but he never drinks to the point of being out of control.” I glanced back down at Logan. “Plus he doesn’t look drunk to me. He looks more like he’s drugged.” I looked up at Mack. “We should take him to the hospital. What if someone slipped something into his drink?”

Mack sighed and dropped onto the armchair. He rubbed his forehead tiredly. “There’s really no need to continue this ruse.” He pulled his hand out of his jacket pocket and pointed a gun at me.

Shock wasn’t the right word to describe what I was feeling when I saw Mack pointing a gun at me. To say I was stunned was ludicrous. That word was too mild to describe the emotion that rushed through me. Was this some kind of joke?

“What are you doing?” I asked incredulously.

Mack gave me a grim smile. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m getting ready to kill you and Logan.”

Terror overwhelmed me as I stared down at the barrel of a gun, once again. This must be a nightmare. This couldn’t be happening.

“Why?” I managed to croak out. “Why would you want to kill us?”

Mack leaned back in his chair casually, as if he wasn’t pointing a gun at me and hadn’t just told me he was planning on killing both Logan and me.

“It’s a long story. I doubt you want to hear it all.”

As long as I could keep him talking, it meant that I had a few more minutes to figure out what the hell I was going to do to get us out of this situation.

“Why don’t you humor me,” I said, trying to pull my composure together. I didn’t want Mack to see how shattered I was.

Mack gave me a rueful smile. “I’m sure you’ll be upset to learn that Kristina is the cause of all this. I’m here to tie up loose ends for her.”

“Why?” I asked, unable to hide the edge of hysteria in my voice. “Why the hell would you do that?”

Mack was silent for a while before answering. When he did, there was pain in his voice. “I don’t know when it happened, exactly. Logan was dating Kristina, and I was dating whatever flavor of the month I was screwing at the time. I don’t even remember her name. But the four of us spent a lot of time together when Logan was living in L.A. One day I looked at Kristina and I knew. I knew that I loved her. I’ve been through so many countless women in my life, and I had finally found the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.” He gave me a humorless smile. “The only problem was that she was hopelessly in love with my good friend.”