Tell It Like It Is
David punched the stop button on the answering machine, a little harder than necessary… maybe he could make what he just heard disappear. Putting his hands back in his pockets, he watched Maddie run her hand over the top of her head in a primping fashion, as if she was suddenly reminded of her schoolgirl ponytail and her Bermuda shorts. She turned slowly, hesitated a bit and then went through the swing door and out of the kitchen.
"Greeaat!" he said with a dry raspy throat, before it dawned on him that she might be headed to the front door.
"Wait! Maddie!" he shouted as he ran though the den after her.
The doorbell rang again and the unexpected guest began to knock.
David raced in front of her, getting to the door before she did. He tried to think of the right thing to say. This could definitely become a deal breaker if he wasn't careful.
"Maddie!" the woman yelled, as she knocked louder. "It's me!" The knocking was close to annoying. "Maddie, please, are you there?"
"David, I should get the door."
"Maddie, just hang on a second," he insisted.
"What David? It's my cousin Annie and we need to let her in. It's rude to make her stand in the rain…for very long, anyway," she added under her breath. "Ever since we were kids…always demanding…and spoiled rotten."
The knocking was persistent and nerve wracking. They had to raise their voices to hear each other over the noise.
"Maddie! Come on! It's raining and I'm getting soaked!"
David barely caught what Maddie said, but by the look on her face, he knew she meant the words more seriously than they sounded. The obsessive knocking and yelling was giving him a headache.
"Look, Maddie… Before we open the door… I mean, I just want you to know something first."
"David, I'm not an idiot!" she annunciated in a fierce whisper. "I know we need to be careful opening the door for just anyone, but this isn't just anyone… It's Annie!"
The annoying knocker seemed to pick her own time to be silent, leaving her name to reverberate like chalk scraping across a blackboard. He wasn't even thinking about the dangers of Anselmo men lurking outside, though this situation could turn deadly any second.
Maddie started around him and to the door. Gently stopping her again, their eyes locked and David saw a mixture of trepidation, hurt…and something else …there it was…anger. He had been wondering when she would finally let him see it.
"She always had bad timing…" he quipped with a half grin. Maddie didn't respond, but for a look that was about to turn frigid. He thought it best to relent and let her to the door.
"Oh boy…" he said under his breath.
The War had begun…he just hoped he survived the wounds from the crossfire.
....................
The binoculars in the back of the sedan across the street focused on the woman who opened the front door.
"Yeah, this is Lewis. Yes sir, I have a definite ID on Charnock and her cousin, MAdolyn Hayes," he spoke into his radio. " It seems your hunch was right, sir. She led us right to them…No, I don't see either of the Addison men…the security isn't much…yeah, I could get inside…tonight? Sure boss…yes sir."
The back window rolled up and the binoculars disappeared behind the tinted window as the black sedan pulled away from the curb and drove away.
....................
"Oh Maddie! Thank God! It's raining cats and dogs! I thought you said it never rained in California. I was about to go around to the back and look for the hidden key you left last time." Annie continued to ramble non-stop, inviting herself in, giving Maddie a damp hug and then proceeded to whine about her new designer pantsuit that she had unfortunately chosen to wear on a rainy day. The pantsuit, which looked like it came right out of Vogue, was probably ruined, but her hair still looked almost perfect despite the rain.
Maddie felt as though she had been caught in her PJ's with bed head.
Annie froze when she saw a shirtless David behind her closing the door. "Oh…I'm sorry …I didn't know you had company," lowering her voice and giving David a slow, eye-wandering look. After all of the racket from Annie's hammering and hullabaloo, the silence was deafening.
Had she looked quickly, Maddie would have been fine, but to stare?
Maddie felt a little tweak of anger flush her cheeks. "No, it's okay. He was just going to put a shirt on… weren't you David?"
"Hello Annie," he said with a casual nod. He looked back at Maddie. " I'll be right back."
Annie continued to inspect David as he went upstairs and into the master bedroom. Maddie hoped it took him a while…like the rest of the day.
"So, where's Mark…your husband?" she articulated, interrupting Annie's look-see.
"Well…I know I haven't talked to you in a while, but Mark and I are divorced."
"Oh…Annie, I'm sorry," Maddie tried to sympathize. The news really didn't surprise her. She knew Annie had been unhappy in her marriage the last time she had visited, finding the remedy for her restlessness in David. The night the three of them went dancing flickered through Maddie's mind. The memory made her wish she could turn back the clock, to do things differently.
"It's okay. We had just grown apart, I guess. Mark wants other things, like hefty 401k's, super-sized insurance policies, nest eggs. His work never left time for us…or for making a family. Anyway…same-o, same-o." Annie looked back up the stairs as if to wait on the third party.
"Goodness, where are my manners?" Maddie said in a forced, courteous manner, hooking Annie's arm in hers and leading her to the kitchen. "Let's get you dried off. Did you bring anything else to wear? I'm sure I have something you could borrow."
The minute she had said it, she wished she could take it back. Now she'd want to go upstairs and wade through her closet.
Maddie grabbed a towel for Annie. "I'll be right back, Annie, with something dry for you to put on."
"I can come up with you."
"No, no, that's quite alright. Besides, my house is kind of a mess right now…I'm sort of embarrassed for you to see!" She had been so distracted by the events just prior to Annie's arrival that she didn't even make up her bed or pick up clothes off the floor.
"Really, Maddie, I don't mind. How messy can it be with just you here?" she said curiously, dabbing and blotting with the towel.
Maddie stopped at the swing door and looked at her cousin… her old roommate from when they shared an apartment in New York. She had heard the real question Annie had asked.
"Well, you'd be surprised how two people can make a mess, especially when they've been imprisoned for three whole days," Maddie countered as she went through the door.
There. She said it. Now maybe Annie would get a clue. About exactly what, she wasn't sure. All she knew was she felt angry…angry with both of them for what happened a year ago.
She was supposed to be her best friend.
....................
David stood on the window balcony of Maddie's bedroom. The rain was taking a break as the sun tried to peek behind a few dark clouds. He'd found his shirt…at the end of the bed all wrinkled and twisted up in the sheets. He grinned at the thought of what had gone on just a few hours before and threw the shirt back on the bed. At least Annie's timing hadn't interfered with that.
When Annie left over a year ago, Maddie never spoke of her again. He certainly didn't want to bring her name up after things had blown over. David knew he had done wrong by involving himself with her. Not in just the little fling, but in how he ended it, planting himself and Jamie, an office employee, in his shower for her to find. It was the only way he could see to stop what he had started.
And she was married for God sakes! Maybe if someone had told him that bit of information before things got too involved it would have been different. Or maybe, if he had paid heed to Maddie's concerns instead of being so goddamn stupid.
She was right about one thing though, even if he hadn't wanted to admit it or especially hear her say it. He had been trying to get Maddie back for all of her indecision about them. Jesus…one minute they were "pals" and the next thing he knew he was giving her pearls and she was laying one on him across her desk behind locked doors.
Yeah, he wanted to make her jealous, to pay her back. It was his biggest motivation. That and he had been sick of moping around about her.
Everything had become one big blur, as if he were living on the inside of a pinball machine, bouncing everywhere with no way to control what obstacle he would bump into next. His booze binging didn't help matters either. And by the time he worked his way out of the game, Blue Moon…and Maddie…were gone.
David's flashback was cut off by a hard slam of the bedroom door.
Maddie stepped in front of the mirror, looking for a quick way to even up her looks with Annie. She flipped her now loose hair over her head and brushed with quick rapid strokes, as if she were taking that little glimpse of anger he had seen earlier and compounding it with every part of her being. Quickly grabbing a tube of lipstick, she started working on the perfect application. What was it with women and the need to never be left with the short end of the lipstick, anyway? She couldn't get any more beautiful if she doused herself with a whole truckload of Covergirl.
"What are you doing?" he asked softly, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "You know you don't need half of that stuff you put on," he breathed, placing little kisses strategically down her neck.
"Unless you want lipstick all over both of us, I suggest you stop…" He started on the other side of her neck, brushing her hair aside.
"David!" she struggled, pushing away from him and going to her closet.
He watched her fumble through her clothes like a madwoman, grabbing a blouse and what looked like pants and then bending down, apparently to find some shoes. Finding what she needed she threw the pile on top of the dressing counter and started to change, quickly pulling her shirt over her head where it became momentarily stuck. With a final hard tug, her hair spilled out from underneath and fell across her face. Maddie let out an aggravated sigh and pushed her hair away from her eyes.
David bit his lip as he fought the temptation to laugh. "Maddie, are you upset about something? Did she say something to you?"
"Do you mind? I need to change and then get some dry clothes for Annie." She looked at him like he was a total invasion of her privacy. It seemed her anger had begun to forge a wall around her and no one told him to jump over on her side. She took her things and went into the bathroom to finish changing.
She was angry all right.
David stood outside the bathroom door. "What's going on Maddie?"
"Nothing! I just need to change David."
"Okay…Change away. But changing your outfit is not going to change what you're mad about…." He waited for a response, but none came. "Why don't you come out—"
Maddie opened the door and exited abruptly, catching him off guard just enough for her to make an escape past him. She started the whole closet routine over again, only this time clothes were flying across the room to the bed.
"You certainly picked an odd time to clean out your closet…" he squinted a little nervously.
She struggled with tangled belts and hangers and threw them on the dressing counter, almost whacking David across the face.
"Whoa!" he retreated, dodging a flying belt buckle. "Maddie, will you just hang on a second?"
Shoes began flying across the room and with one last burst of exasperation she breathlessly heaved a pair of her favorite pumps for a strike, toppling over a lamp with a loud crash.
Cy Young couldn't have done it any better.
"Damn, Maddie! Just give it a rest!"
"Give it a rest?!" she fumed. "You think I should give-it-a-rest?" punctuating with clenched teeth and backing David up to the middle of the bedroom. "You know what? I think I've given it plenty of rest! That's the whole problem here!" She started to advance on him some more, backing him up until he became wedged against her chest of drawers. "Everyone's been sitting on his or her backsides, giving it a damned rest! Well, I'm tired of it David!"
He folded his arms across his chest as Maddie went back to the pile of clothes strewn across the unmade bed.
"I'm sick of tiptoeing around everyone and everything. And I'm fed up with you tiptoeing around here like you've come to save poor Maddie from herself." She grabbed a blouse and started to haphazardly fold it. " 'Are you happy Maddie? Can you get past it Maddie? It's not your fault Maddie!'" she scoffed, throwing the blouse back on the bed.
Tiptoeing around? Tiptoeing around! How could she think that after the last three days? He'd done nothing but try to have open and frank discussions with her. Okay…maybe he'd been trying to push a few buttons to get her to open up. But he didn't think he was tiptoeing around. Sneaking might be a better word.
"Oh really? So now you have it all figured out, do ya'?" he said irritably, walking over to her, trying his best to be patient. "No one asked you to do any tiptoeing around anywhere, Maddie, so don't do it!"
He could see through the façade of Maddie making nicety-nice with her cousin and Annie's little game. His skin prickled with the frustration of knowing that there were reasons for her to be angry. The best reason was downstairs and it could probably hear Maddie rearranging her closet. He still had a lot of work to do and the week was getting shorter.
David reached out for her, thankful she didn't pull away again. "Maddie, I know we have things to figure out and unfortunately, now that we have company, we'll have to do our figuring later. But just promise me something," he said, tucking a little flyaway strand of hair behind her ear.
"And what is that?" she answered cautiously, her anger cooling.
He wanted her to promise him that after the whole Anselmo, Richie, Annie situation was over that he would still be allowed in her bedroom whenever she fussed over clothes and lipstick and that they'd figure out later what side of the bed he got to sleep on.
David took a deep breath and took all of her eyes in his. God, he could just drink the blue ocean up. "Promise me you'll put your ponytail back on for me again?"
"Oh, excuse me…I was just coming up…I mean… I thought I would save you some trouble and just come up and change… if it's okay?" Annie stood in the doorway trying really hard to look embarrassed.
"And Maddie, we really need to talk."
To beat the game, timing was everything.
....................
Detective Pete Barber sat across from Annie as he eyed David. He asked her again to explain who had come to her house four days ago.
"His last name was Lewis, that was it! I remember now because he took a call while at my house. He showed me a business card claiming he was with a car dealership in Connecticut and said they were trying to track down some missing cars that were supposed to have been delivered on the east coast. He seemed to think that I knew Richard, David's brother, that he was the delivery driver for the missing cars. When I told him I didn't know Richard Addison he said he knew for a fact that I had known Richard's brother a year ago in LA. That's when I realized that this guy had way too much information about me."
"What did you tell him?" Detective Barber asked.
"Oh, well I told him that I had known David Addison, but I had never met Richard. He acted like he thought I was lying or trying to cover something up."
Maddie bristled and shifted uncomfortably on the sofa next to Annie. Her cousin definitely was covering up something…just not very well.
"He didn't stay long after that because he got a call from someone and sort of left abruptly. But, before he left he started asking questions about Maddie and Blue Moon Investigations, wanting to know where they had moved their offices. He even asked about that short little scruffy guy in your office, Maddie, what was his name?"
"Herbert Viola?" Maddie and David answered together, sounding worried.
"Yes, him. I've been trying to get in touch with you, Maddie, and when I couldn't well, my divorce was final…so I thought I should come check on you," Annie added, looking at David with her last words.
"And this Viola, he was an employee at Blue Moon, Dave?" Pete asked.
"Yeah, he now works for Lou LaSalle's agency. He uh…he came by here yesterday, actually, ranting about how the Anselmo clan was still looking for Richie. I told him to come to you with his information."
"David, I hope Bert is okay. Agnes would've called, don't you think, if he were in some kind of trouble?" Maddie speculated.
"Was this before I spoke with you about the all clear given by the Feds?"
"All clear? What all clear?" Maddie questioned.
David looked at Pete as if to will him to say no more. He always thought men could give each other the sign of silence much better than women…until now.
"I spoke with Dave yesterday about things being cleared up, Ms. Hayes."
"You did, did you?" she drawled, catching David's gaze, leaning back on the sofa and folding her arms.
The look didn't go unnoticed by Annie, as David's eyes swept the room.
"It was after I spoke with you—"
"And after the all clear. All clear meaning we could have actually left the premises of our own free will?" Maddie replied.
"Dave, I never heard from your former employee. And Ms. Hayes, it's looking like Dave might have done the right thing, keeping you here, I mean."
Pete seemed to understand the predicament he had placed him in now.
"If what Mrs. Charnock—"
"Ms." Annie interrupted, looking at David.
"Okay…Ms. Charnock…if what she's telling me is what I think it is, it sounds as if Anselmo has the two of you and your brother on his list of things to take care of, and that can't be good. He must be holding a grudge for Blue Moon turning in information about his car thefts. So, I am recommending you three stay put and I'll get one of my men to come by."
Annie looked frightened.
Maddie was simmering…
"Uh, just as a precaution, of course. Once I get back to the station we'll put out an APB on this Lewis fellow, do a little research, see what we can come up with," Pete said, standing to leave.
David walked Detective Barber to the door.
"I'll send Detective Donegan over within the next hour. Do you remember him?" Pete asked.
David felt a twinge of old jealousy remembering the nice looking, well-mannered detective that became infatuated with Maddie when he was staking out her house the last time.
"Yeah, yeah, I remember him. You sure he's tough enough for Anselmo men, should they show up?"
"He's one of our best. Trust me, he can handle himself." Pete looked back at Annie. "Dave…is that the woman you told me about through our many drunken, late night talks?"
"That's her," David shuddered.
"Maddie's cousin David? You should have had your head examined!" Pete exclaimed softly, going out the door.
David turned from the door and found Mount St. Hayes ready to blow.
"Now Maddie, I know what this may look like to you, but I had my reasons to—"
"To be untruthful?…to be dishonest?… to lie?" Her voice rose like the steam he could almost see coming off her forehead.
"It wasn't lying, not like you think. And you heard Pete, we ended up doing the right thing."
"We? I don't recall having any say in the matter! Why is it you always think you have to make these kinds of decisions for me, David? Why couldn't you just be honest? Nothing has changed!"
She hesitated a moment before going and was embarrassed to see Annie, watching and listening to her bellow.
"I don't know why I ever thought it had!"
Maddie stormed upstairs and slammed the double doors of her bedroom to Kingdom Hell and back again.
David let her go; blowing off steam was what she needed. He just hoped he could talk her out of this one later…when she was calm.
He went back to the den and found Annie sitting on the edge of the sofa.
"So much for tiptoeing around," she said with a smile.
.
