The Formidable

43

The apartment door was busted, the lock half taken off, but Madison took no notice of that.
The voices of Jase and her dad faded to a distant echo, bouncing off the walls in her head, backtracked by a distinct ringing. Madison couldn't think, could barely move, as her worst fears climbed to a crescendo.

Her heart sat in her constricted throat, pounding against her jugular. With each inhale getting tighter, each exhale was shorter. Madison tugged out of Jase's hands, pushing the door open and stumbling over the threshold. Her movements felt sluggish and off-balance like wading through syrup.

The limp legs half exposed behind the breakfast bar go unnoticed, as does the smeared blood on otherwise pristine white surfaces, as Madison forced her weak legs to carry her down the hallway, making a beeline to Mia's room. Her knees wobbled as she reached the bedroom door and Madison knew before entering that she wasn't going to find her sweet baby asleep in her bed.

The bloodcurdling scream that followed was numbing. The bed was empty, her blanket lonely amongst her teddies on a cold mattress. What happened after that, she couldn't be sure. The last thing Madison remembered was a pair of large hands lifting her off the floor.

*

Cigarette butts spilled out of the ashtray in the middle of the kitchen table, back at the house. Jase's throat was hoarse from chain-smoking. One minute he was standing, pacing, the next he was sitting, jogging his knee up and down. Sam and Janine sat at the table, both of them avoiding accidental eye contact with Jase.

He was trying to keep his temper under control, having already destroyed the kitchen once Madison was taken upstairs. Two cupboard doors hung off their hinges, shattered glass glittered on the kitchen counter and a dining room chair leaned to one side in the corner, its detached leg on the floor where it had splintered off.

"-I want to know where he is, who he's with, you see him, you smell him, you hear him, I want to know about it immediately, understood?" Mickey hung up before the person on the other end of the phone had a chance to respond. Jase would be ringing round himself, but he didn't want to run the risk of trusting the wrong person, again. He left the eyes and ears to Mickey who now turned to face him, looking every bit as helpless as Jase felt.

"Where do you think he's taken her?" Janine asked meekly. Sam watched her from the corner of his eyes, wishing she would keep herself out of Jase's way when he was this raging.

Jase grit his teeth and glared in her direction, forcing her to look down at her lap. Rather than ripping her head off, he left the room, heading upstairs.

"I don't like the silence," Janine whispered apologetically, knowing it was a stupid question to ask the second it came out. She looked at Sam, tears glossing her eyes. "I don't think we should have kids," she croaked.

Her words broke his heart. Not because he was eager to bring a child of his own into the world anytime soon, but because Janine had been. Now the reality of their business was seeping into what was originally her most impenetrable vision. He saw her future plans devoured in a matter of moments. Sam pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head.

"Wherever they've taken her, you know Jase and Madison will find her. She isn't in any danger, they've taken her for leverage," he assured. Tommy was an idiot, but he wasn't vicious. He'd never done any lasting damage with his own two hands before and he wouldn't start with a toddler. Benny, on the other hand, was a different kettle of fish. With how deranged he had to be to take on Madison, Jase and Mickey Kimber, there was no telling what he'd do. Sam caught the look on Mickey's face over Janine's shoulder, he didn't look convinced that Mia was totally safe either.