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Chapter 23
"All I wanted was you," Jerry admitted.
He isn't seeing her, not the way she is now, Madison thought, he is seeing her as a teenager.
"I watched you, how you wouldn't go to those men who knocked on your door at night when they had finished with your mother and still wanted more." Jerry looked like he was seeing it all again.
Madison cringed, she had blocked out those nights.
"I watched you when you thought you were alone. You were so pretty," His voice faded and grew soft as he remembered her then. "That pretty, long blonde hair. I wanted to run my fingers through it. I did, too, when I could sneak in."
Matt felt his heart drop and something thick stick in his throat. His blood went cold from Jerry's words, and then started to boil as he listened to Jerry go on. The man was crazy, stalking his own sister. It was sick, and wrong. Matt had never felt such a sick feeling in his stomach as he did now.
They weren't dealing with just a killer. They were dealing with someone mentally unstable. Matt hated the fact that Jerry had done this to someone he cared about, more, he hated what Madison was going through. And poor Josh, he was too young to have to listen to any of this. Matt knew he would have to sit the boy down and explain quite a bit when this was over.
Feeling his fingers tingle from the tightness of his fist, Matt forced his hands to open and close to bring back the circulation. He needed to get them out safely and quickly.
Madison shuddered, it had been Jerry watching her, touching her this entire time. She was imagining it. She wasn't crazy. In a way it was a relief to know that she was completely sane and that everything she thought she imagined really did happen. But then there was a ball in her stomach that churned knowing it really happened.
"Your skin's so soft. I touched you a few times. It's as soft as it looks in the candlelight right after your bath. I wanted to touch you then, but I could never get in. You kept your window and door locked. I was always angry when you locked me out," Jerry looked up at her and glared with fierce anger he still held onto.
Madison pulled her knees up and curled into a ball against the cave wall. The nights she would soak in the tub and then race to her room, he was there, trying to get to her. She remembered locking herself in, not wanting any of the men her mother was entertaining coming to her, but instead it was Jerry getting to her.
"Oh Maddie, it was always you," Jerry smiled as if she had to know this. He lifted the gun and aimed it at her. "Always you."
Tyner was flustered by all of this. Stone is his father. Madison, his sister. Jerry was a complete psychopath admitting all of this to Madison Stone believing he would be completely forgiven. He won't be forgiven not now. The McKennan's would make sure of that.
Doesn't this change the whole dynamics of the case? Tyner wasn't the brightest or best cop. He knew he had the job because of the sheriff and his family. But this news changes everything.
Madison Stone is nothing more than a do-gooder, who happened to be the Sheriff and the town tramp's daughter. She had nothing, was nothing in this town. Hell, if anyone should be forgiving anyone around here, it should be him. After all, he is the rightful heir to the Stone fortune.
"They've got to be up ahead," Travis commented as he continued to listen on the phone. "It's the closest cave, we weren't that far behind them. They've got to be in there, it's gotta be close."
Matt, Daniel, and Michael agreed. They had taken only the little bit of time necessary to get to the house and regroup, an hour tops, they had been searching for at least three hours now and had to be getting close. The good news was, they knew Jerry wasn't moving around. He was stationary and holed up in a cave somewhere. They would find Jerry and his hostages soon.
"I'm sorry, Maddie, I really didn't want it to be this way," Jerry apologized, waving the gun as he spoke. "If you won't love me back, then I hope you'll forgive me."
Madison squeezed her eyes tightly shut and braced herself. She knew this was going to be bad. Matt and Travis were listening, she knew it. They had heard Jerry confess and now he would kill them and they couldn't do anything to stop it. As she began to wiggle her fingers, Madison slipping the rope off of her wrists. Somehow, some way, she was going to have to protect Josh. She had to at least save him.
Josh had similar thoughts as he picked up a large rock next to him. Jerry had been so intensely concentrated on Madison, he all but ignored Josh's movements next to him. It wasn't until the rock hit Jerry's arm and knocked the gun out of his grasp, did Josh have his attention.
The gun went off and rocks from the ceiling of the cave began to fall on them. The flash from the gun brought the McKennan's attention to the cave above them. They saw the bright flash in the cave, heard the sound of the gunshot on the phone coincide and the flash. They found them. Travis and Matt both felt a wave of panic, wondering who had been shot?
Cassie rolled to her side and started working on the ropes of her hands. She knew she could get them off with just another minute. Wriggling and squirming on the ground, she dropped the phone.
"Damn it!" She cursed softly, knowing Jerry had to know about the phone by now.
Jerry heard her curse and saw the glow from the phone's display immediately in the darkness. Cassie looked up and met his furious gaze. He knew. He knew that she had reached Travis and they knew everything.
"You little bitch!" Jerry yelled, reaching for the phone. Panic filled Cassie's heart. She knew if she hadn't been on his bad side before, she certainly was now.
Josh froze when the gun went off. He didn't know whether to dive for the gun or untie the women or run. His eyes wide as saucers looked from Cassie to Jerry to Madison and back again.
"RUN!" Madison screamed at Josh as she slid over and grabbed for the gun. "Get your Dad! Go!"
The order rang out and brought Josh to his senses. Turning, he stepped back to get out of the cave and tripped over something. He felt his foot hit the metal, then his body fell forward. The flashlight, he thought as he felt the earth slip beneath his feet. From there it all happened so fast.
The next thing Josh knew, he was hanging by a limb, his ankle wrapped around a tree branch dangling out of the mouth of the cave, a ten foot drop below him.
Matt saw the figure fall from the cave opening. "Dear God, no," he whispered a prayer and rushed ahead to where he saw the body go down. Small, the shadow of the person had been small. It could have been any of them that fell out. He hoped whatever the injury, it would be minor.
"I've got you. You're safe. He's here," Tyner announced as Matt approached.
Hearing Matt near the clearing, Tyner was right ahead of him and began to climb. Matt ran to where Tyner stood, just below the entrance of the cave. Searching the ground and the bushes, he could find no trace of the person that fell from the cave.
"Dad, up here." He heard the small voice of his son just above his head.
Looking up he saw Josh. A wave of relief swept through him. His son was safe, he was alive and okay. Although he was hanging upside down looking at him, it was the best sight he had ever seen. Matt and Tyner reached up and worked together to help Josh out of the tree.
"I'm okay, Dad. But Madison and Cassie, they need you," Josh urged.
He was fine, he would be anyway. It was the two women he had grown so fond of these past weeks that he feared for. Knowing his son was a monkey when it came to tree climbing, Matt felt better. Josh was at least away from the gun and Jerry.
"I've got him, go," Tyner assured him. Matt nodded, accepting his help. It hadn't occurred to him yet that he might have to arrest the deputy.
"I'll be right back," Matt assured his son, before joining his brothers as they started climbing the ledge into the cave. It was a steep climb. The rock slid beneath their feet, causing them to lose traction and slip as they worked frantically to get to the cave.
Cassie got her hands loose and reached out, the gun almost within reach. She felt Jerry's hand wrap around her ankle and pull her toward him. As he pulled she screamed and kicked. She wasn't going to die without a fight.
"Not so fast," Jerry growled and began to climb over her body toward the gun.
It was then Madison leaped. It was going to be either him or them, and she sure wasn't ready to die at the hand of some maniac who thought he was her brother. She wrapped her fingers around the base of the gun, the throb of pain in the back of her head exploded through her eyes, then the cave darkened and all went black. Her body fell limp to the ground.
Jerry kicked her once to see if Madison was going to keep fighting. He pushed her to one side with his booted foot and looked down at Cassie to assess what to do with her.
There was blood running down Madison's temple and more blood on the rock in his hand. No matter, he thought, he would have done whatever he had to, to escape. Even kill his love. He tossed the rock back into the cave. No one will be looking for it there. Cassie looked up with fear when she saw Madison lying deadly still just a few feet away.
Jerry looked down at her. "Guess it's just you and me, Cassie girl," he grinned and began to get to his feet thinking he was about to get away with murder once again.
Cassie realized then, Jerry wasn't just guilty of murder, he had lost his sanity and wouldn't spend one day in prison for his crimes because he would plead insanity and get away with everything.
It was in his stance. His demeanor told her everything. This was a cold-hearted man that didn't have a conscience. This was the man who could kill because of a simple disagreement, a shifted look in his direction could set him off. She couldn't see it in his eyes and she knew this was the killer.
The cold fingers of fear stroked her spine. She was the only one who could save them. Quickly, Cassie moved, rolling her body over the ground to grab the gun. Rolling to her back, she aimed at the first man who came into her sight and fired.
The shot sent fire through her arms and rocked her body as she heard the hard thud of a body dropping to the ground. When she opened her eyes she saw two bodies lying on the ground, Madison and Jerry's.
Matt and Travis rushed inside the cave at the same time. With Cassie spinning her shaky aim at them. Travis rushed to his wife's side as Matt ran to Madison and gently rolled her to her back. The cut on the side of her head was bleeding, but she was alive.
She would live, Matt repeated the thought to himself. Slowly he felt his heart begin to beat again. The thought of losing her and Josh had battered his heart. Knowing they were both safe, gave him peace.
"Babe? Cassie? It's me, baby. I'm right here," Travis dropped to his knees in front of Cassie and carefully removed the gun from her hands. "You're safe now. You did good, Cass. You did real good."
She was trembling as he wrapped his arms around her. She had known for years how to fire a gun. She had great aim, but never once had she had to use one on another human being, until now. Travis knew exactly how hard it was to shoot someone and mean it.
"Jerry," Cassie panted as she clutched onto Travis' shirt. "He's the killer."
"We know, Cassie. We heard it all," Matt told her.
When Tyner walked into the cave with Josh, Cassie jumped back scurrying away from Travis and against the rock wall of the cave. She stared up at Tyner as if she was looking at a stranger.
Fear had a cold sweat breaking out all over her. Her heart rammed against her chest as the panic attack began. She screamed again and grabbed at Travis to take the gun from him. Travis yanked it out of her hand and threw it to Matt before Cassie could get away from him.
"It's Tyner! Cassie! Look at him!" Travis yelled the order, getting her attention. "It's Tyner. Jerry's dead."
Cassie was out of breath as she tried to comprehend what was happening. Travis nodded and looked up as Michael and Daniel entered the cave. Jerry was dead. Cassie was in shock. It was over.
With a groan, Madison tried to sit up. Matt tucked the gun away and went back to help her. "Go slow. Easy, you hit your head but you're okay?"
"He hit me with a rock," Madison touched her temple and felt the warm sticky liquid from her wound. "Headache ."
"Yeah, we'll get you checked out," Matt took a closer look at the gash on her head and cringed. She got hit hard and probably needs stitches.
"We need to call this in. We need to find Brody, he needs to know about his son." Matt wrapped his arms around Madison and helped her to her feet.
"She's okay, right?" Josh asked his father, taking hold of Madison on her other side.
Josh saw the connection between Matt and Madison from the get go. He had his doubts about her at first but now ... Maybe she isn't so bad for his dad. She would never replace his mom, but it was possible she would make a decent step mom and wife to complete their family.
"Yeah. She will be," Matt answered softly. Madison put her arms around the two most important people in her world. Matt knew he needed a talk with both Josh and Madison for the same reason. He wants Madison to stay and needs Josh's approval to do it.
They still have to solve the murder of Pierce Stone. While his brothers are a bit distracted by the women, Michael is still thinking about the case. If Madison is innocent as they all agree, Jerry could be the murderer but there is another possibility. Michael turned and looked at Tyner. He was Stone's son, he had motive, and he had reason and opportunity.
What if Tyner was the killer? he asked himself.
Tyner glanced at Michael and saw the look on his face. Tyner shifted his weight from one side to the other. He knew immediately, this wasn't over. The McKennans weren't going to let this rest until they had the murderer in cuffs.
"I'll go radio this in," Tyner gave Michael a nod and backed out of the cave. He understood that he was no longer a cop on this case but a suspect.
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