Chapter Twenty: Trapped

Helen Mitchell waited for her daughter's reply. It was not forthcoming.

"You can't deny it Madison; you were the one sat at the desk. I'm asking you again, who did you send those files to? Who is Dark Star?"

Maddie still did not reply.

"Have you done this before?"

Silence.

"Are you going to tell me anything at all?" Helen's impatience was growing.

"You shouldn't be involved with the Solace Foundation."

"Why?"

Maddie did not reply.

"I'm asking you Madison, why should I not be involved with Solace?"

"There's something evil behind it."

"Do you really think I would be involved with something evil? That's a strange word to use, it sounds straight out of a bad 1970s horror movie. The only evil I can see is you going through my email account and forwarding files onto someone else. Why are you doing that?"

"To protect people."

"From what?"

"The Solace Foundation."

"Why?"

"It'll be like Nazi Germany all over again."

Helen scoffed. "What? Are you out of your mind? Should I call Dr Simpson?"

"Yes. Please. Call him. Call him right now."

"OK. I think you need to get out of my sight before I lose it with you."

Maddie crossed the hall and started up the stairs.

"And you can forget going anywhere other than school for the rest of the month. You're going absolutely nowhere, not even across the street and I will be getting Margaret to keep a check on you at all times."

"Fine!" Maddie spat. "Just don't say I didn't warn you when it all comes down on your head." She added in a mutter, stomping upstairs and into her room. She closed her bedroom door behind her and leant against it. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuckity fuck!" She riled and took big breaths to try and calm herself. She pulled out her phone and selected Jory's number. She cancelled that. She went for Edward's and cancelled that too. Should she call Jasper? Ben? Her Dad? No, definitely not her Dad, everything was much too close to the surface from seeing Noah for her to hide that, as well as this latest fuck-up. Edward was also a no. If he came here and Veronica did too, she'd instantly make the connection with everything. Oh my God what if her Mom called Veronica and told her that Maddie was the spy? Would she do that? Maddie crept back to her bedroom door and opened it a crack. From her room she could see right down into the living room; her Mom was sat on the sofa nursing her glass of wine. Correction, her Mom wasn't sat, she was hunched over. Maddie knew that posture. Her Mom was worried.

Keeping the door open a crack Maddie sank to her haunches and watched. Her Mom rolled the stem of the wine glass between her fingers. She turned her head to where Maddie was watching.

"I know you're there. I can see that your door's open."

Maddie stood up and opened it wider, there was no point adding to the crap. She walked out onto the landing and leant on the banister.

"Are you going to tell Veronica?" She asked.

"No." Her Mom said softly, got up, walked out of the living room and up the stairs. She stopped a few feet from Maddie and mirrored the same posture, leaning on the banister. "Thing is…These last few weeks have been… weird. I thought I knew everything, but more and more I'm getting a sense of unease and I'm not used to that. At first I thought it was because I was working with someone else - I've always been my own boss after all – but now I'm not so sure…" Helen scoffed. "I wouldn't say that there is evil behind this, but I'm not convinced that Veronica is being entirely honest with me."

"She's not. Please get out of there."

"Why?"

"Solace don't want to help people, they make them… disappear."

"Disappear? As in what; die?"

"Yes. These places are modern day extermination facilities. It'll be another holocaust, but by stealth."

"And who are you sending this information to?"

"People who are preparing a case to shut them down, that's why you need to get out; you don't want to get taken down in the process. Cut your ties with them and go back to Elba. Please Mom," Maddie implored. "Walk away while you still can. The people who are bankrolling Veronica are not people you want to do business with."

"They're just a bunch of Italians. Uh oh… this isn't the Mafia is it?"

Maddie seized the opportunity of an out. "Yes! They're a splinter group and they're in business of cleaning up society through discreet social cleansing. You need to get the hell out of there. Please!"

"And these people are trying to shut Solace down?"

"Yes and imminently."

"I can't get out before the Gala; I have too much personally riding on that. But by Christmas?"

Maddie nodded. "Just as soon as you can." Maddie clung to something she didn't know to be true. "I'm sure they can hide you."

"Hide me? What? You mean they'll come looking for me?"

"If you know too much, they might."

"Do you think I know too much? You clearly know more than me."

"I'm not putting the case together; I'm just sending them the information. But I'm sure they'd protect you if I asked them to." It was her Mom after all and her Dad's ex-wife, surely the Cullens would do that?

"OK. The morning after the Gala I'll tell Veronica she needs to find someone else. She could even do it herself, I've introduced her to almost everyone I know." Helen took a large slug of wine. "How about you and I go away for Christmas and New Year? We could head north, go to the Arctic, see the aurora borealis."

"I'd love that. I've always wanted to see them."

"OK, well, let's do that. Give us something to look forward to whilst I try and extricate myself from this. I don't suppose your friends would want to talk to me? Perhaps there's something I know or can get hold of for them?"

"I'll ask."

"Thanks." Helen sighed. "I've been driving myself nuts wondering about all this. I feel so tired just lately. I never used to second guess myself and I'm doing that more and more. And there's this thing with your father. From nowhere it's like he's… haunting me. Everywhere I turn there's a mention of him or another blond-haired guy who looks like him. Why? After all this time, why? It's been ten years."

"Eleven." Maddie corrected her.

Helen drained her glass of wine and stared at the cut glass facets as they caught the light. "He really was the man that got away." She said sadly.

Maddie suddenly felt her Mom's loneliness and went to her, putting her arm around her.

"So what's this Peter Chambers like? Do you think he's worth eight million dollars?" Helen asked.

"He's nice. Just a regular guy, got a wife and two kids. But if Michael says he's good then that's enough for me. Michael isn't prone to exaggeration. He was the one who said the Grand Canyon was neat, remember?"

"Oh yeah. No, he doesn't exaggerate; I should trust him on this. I couldn't have gotten Elba to where it is today without trusting him." Her Mom sighed again. "I should go finish those contracts."

Maddie noticed that her Mom looked weary. "I said I'd do them, that's if you trust me? You go get a bath."

"Thanks. Mafia huh? Oh if my father could hear that one he wouldn't shut up for months."

Helen stared to walk to her room. She turned back. "You can go to your friends, I was just lashing out. I'm sorry."

"Thanks."

Maddie made her way downstairs to finish off the contracts. She gasped, as in her Mom's study was Edward.

"How did you get in?" She hissed.

"It's called the back door. You really shouldn't leave it unlocked. An interesting few minutes there?" Edward's tone was sardonic.

Maddie slumped into the chair. "Tell me about it. You heard all of it?"

"Yes."

"Can you protect her?"

"Yes."

Maddie's tension eased. "So she'll know about you guys too?"

"No. We can do this without involving anyone who would arouse suspicion. Knowing what you do about us is not information we give out easily. You are Daniel's daughter and that is in a different league to someone being his ex wife."

"She doesn't want to leave until after the Gala."

"That's fine. We'll take her straight from there."

"Is it really happening at the Gala?"

"Hopefully it'll be ready for then. Jane is starting to brief the legal team tomorrow. Once she's done that she'll make her way down here."

"Legal team? You have lawyers?"

"Yes."

"Human lawyers?"

"Yes."

"They know?"

"They know not to ask questions and they are handsomely rewarded for that."

"Michael Williams wants my Dad."

"I know. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that it isn't going to happen."

"I guess not."

"Although eight million dollars is a very generous offer."

"It is."

"He's worth ten though." Edward smiled.

"He's priceless – to me, anyway. So what's the next move?"

"For you, a few days of keeping a low profile. For us, we need to factor your mother into our plans and make sure that certain people aren't trying to get to you."

"Have you seen the contract?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"Alice will be looking after you for the next few days."

"Oh. OK." Maddie noticed that he'd completely failed to answer her question. "Is it that bad?"

"It's not good. But please don't worry, Alice can see any decision that affects you and can have you safe in no time."

"What about … the house across the street?"

"It's hard for Stephanie to keep things from Daniel, but she knows she has to. Right now, the absolute worst thing would be for your father to hunt down Diego, and if he knew about this, he would have no option but to do so."

"Why?"

"As I said, vampires are protective of their children."

"Even me?"

"What do you mean even you? What do you think he's been trying to do for the last eleven years, other than find some way of getting back to you? You are his eldest daughter; there is nothing he wouldn't do for you. I just don't want him doing it right now. As for Kate, she won't come near you."

"Not even at school? "

"No."

"How are you going to manage that?"

Edward came over and sat on the desk next to Maddie. From his pocket he produced a small metal box out of which he took a hypodermic and a set of blood sample vials. "I'm sorry to have to ask you this, but I need you to do something pretty unpleasant to keep Kate away from you."

Faking a period with your own blood was a new one, but Maddie could see that it had done the trick. Kate came running down the hallway to her the next morning, but stopped a few yards away as if she'd run into a wall. Maddie saw her hand fly to her mouth and the expression of alarm register on her sister's face. She smiled sadly and Kate nodded the unspoken agreement that they'd have to spend the next few days apart. In class too Jory sat elsewhere, having come up to her earlier, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, it's too strong for me." He whispered. "Please don't be upset if I have to duck out the room."

Maddie couldn't quite understand the logic, in making the likely target of a vampire attack even more attractive, by doing this. Maddie felt desperately alone, cut off from the people she most wanted to be with right now. But Edward said they needed to keep away from her. They absolutely couldn't have Kate and Jory near her if Diego tried anything. The impact on Daniel of all three of his children falling victim to Diego was not something Edward thought his adoptive son would recover from. In Alice, Maddie was putting her trust in a vampire she'd never remembered meeting and couldn't see. Maddie looked everywhere for a tell-tale pale face with gold eyes; but there was no one of that description. She was depressingly surrounded by a sea of pink skin and multi-coloured irises.