His Revenge

Chapter 24 - Maddox

Maddox P.O.V

Chance and I enter Dr. Earhart's hospital room, drawing the attention of its two occupants, a man I presume to be Dr. Earhart and a younger man who shares a familial resemblance. But whatever his relationship is with the patient, he doesn't appear happy to see us. His clenched jaw and the cold, hard stare he levels on us while crossing the room more than hinted at it.

He stops us before we can reach the bed, and with his shoulders squared, he meets Chance's gaze head-on. "Detective Collins, have you caught the bastard that did this to my brother?!" He demands.

"Donny!" Dr. Earhart chides, slowly sitting up.

"What?! For weeks, I've had to sit by your bedside, hoping and praying you'll wake up. All the while he's told me nothing! Not one single thing! So what have you got to say?! Huh?!"

"Still," Dr. Earhart raises his voice, drawing his brother's attention back to him. "There's no need to speak that way."

Chance looks over the shorter man's shiny bald head to Dr. Earhart, and a soft sigh leaves his lips at the bandage on the back of his head and busted lip. "No, it's alright, Dr. Earhart. I deserve it. And I apologize for not keeping your brother more informed about the case even if there was no news." He says. "But that's why I'm here."

Donny stays quiet and waits for Chance to continue.

"As you know, there was no camera footage, and the parking attendant who discovered your brother didn't get a clear view of the attacker. So I wanted to ask him if he remembers anything from that night that can help."

"Yeah, uh..." He clears his throat. "I was getting out of my car when he attacked me from behind, and during the struggle, I pulled off the bandana covering his face. Then the next thing I know... I'm waking up here."

"Hold on, you saw him?"

He starts to nod but stops and grabs his head, and his brother immediately rushes to his side. "You alright? Should I get the doctor?"

"No, no. I'm fine," he assures, patting his brother's hand where it rests on his shoulder before turning back to Chance. "And, yes, I did. But only briefly before someone clocked me over the back of the head."

"So he had a partner." Chance says low under his breath before asking in his regular tone, "Did you get a good enough look at him so you can describe him to a forensic artist?"

"Yes, but there's no need to describe him to a forensic artist when I can just show you a picture."

Chance and I exchange glances with equally shocked expressions on our faces.

"What?! How did you get a picture? Did you take it with your phone or something?" His brother asks, just as if not more shocked than us.

"Not exactly." He reaches for the magazine on the bedside table and flips to an earmarked page. "Here he is."

Chance takes the magazine and looks closely at the photos of Sienna at some red-carpet event. She's dressed to the nines in a blush pink gown that perfectly compliments her pale skin with her ash blonde curls piled on top of her head in a messy updo. Beside her, Luciano Steele looks equally as sharp in his dark tux with a tie that matches her dress.

Chance's brow furrows in confusion as he looks back at Dr. Earhart. "Luciano Steele?"

"Yes."

The breath I hadn't been aware I'd been holding leaves me in a rush at his response. I hadn't expected this when Chance invited me to tag along. And honestly, I don't think he had either.

"Why on earth would he attack you?" Chance mutters, staring long and hard at the photo as if it would reveal some hidden truth.

"I don't know, detective. But when you figure it out. Please tell me."

"Have you had any prior interactions with him?"

"No, sir."

The furrows in Chance's brow deepen, and he's silent for a moment before he asks, "What about the woman beside him? Is she maybe a patient of yours?"

"No, I've never met either of them."

"Are you sure?"

"Very. Only brain damage could make me forget meeting a woman like that." He cracks a small smile, lightly touching his bandaged head.

"That son of a bitch! I knew something was off about him." I turn around and storm from the room.

"Whoa, whoa." Chance grabs my arm, bringing me to a stop in the middle of the hallway. "Where are you going?"

"To kick his ass. Then you can arrest him."

"Wait a minute, calm down. We don't even know why he did this."

"I don't care why he did it. I just want him away from Scarlett."

"I hear you, but that's not the way. You'll only end up in a jail cell right next to him. We need to think this through. Be smart. Cause what if I arrest him and he beats the charges, then what?"

"I don't know. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. All I'm thinking about is if he's capable of attacking someone, then what else has he done that we don't know about."

"And that's exactly why we need to look into him more."

Even though I know he is right, a small part of me still wants to go through with my original plan.

"Okay. Alright. Let's do things your way. But imma call Scarlett. She should know what's going on." I pull my phone from my pocket and go to call, but Chance covers the screen with his hand.

"That's not a good idea. We should wait." He says.

"Wait? Wait for what? She needs to know now! So she can stay clear of him."

"Yeah, but if she suddenly starts blowing him off, he could get suspicious, then we risk him running... or worse."

"Well, that's a chance we're gonna have to take. You might can pretend you don't know and let her keep on seeing him, but I can't and won't live with that on my conscience."

Chance sighs and lowers his hand. "Alright. Fine."

I go to call again this time without interference. The line rings twice before switching over to voicemail. Confused, I pull the phone from my ear, and I'm about to try again when a text comes through.

Scarlett: Can't talk now. Call you later.

Me: Everything okay??

Scarlett: Depends...

Me: On what?

Those three infuriating dots appear and then disappear before she finally sends.

Scarlett: On how my date goes ;)

Date? My hand clenches tightly around my phone, staring at that infernal winkie face.

"Shit."

"What's wrong?" Chance asks.

"Scarlett's on a date. And I'm betting it's with him."