Rescuing Madison (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty Two

Jackson's POV

It was almost too dark to see what I was doing, but I had thankfully just finished building the shed. Dominic had come by once to see how it was going, but he didn't help. He just stood there laughing as I did all the work. He's lucky my hands had been full. Otherwise, I would have tackled him or something.

After I cleaned up my tools & put everything away, I jumped in my car, & pulled out my phone. I didn't have any calls or texts from Madison. Weird. I thought she was going to text me when she got home. I guess she could still be driving home. I started my car, & my phone vibrated. I felt a little bit of relief, figuring it was Madison texting me. I went to my messages, & it wasn't Madison. It was an unknown number. I opened it.

Unknown: Have you checked on your girlfriend lately?

I felt my face pale. What the hell? I brought up Madison's number & pushed call. It rang a few times then went to her voicemail. I tried again & got the same thing. Why wasn't she answering? Kolt was still living with us for now, so I decided to call him to see if Madison was there yet.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey, Kolt. Is Madison there?"

"No."

"Are you lying?"

"Dude, why would I lie about that? I haven't seen her yet."

I felt my chest tighten. "She isn't answering her phone. & I just got a text from an unknown number asking if I've checked on my girlfriend lately."

He didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Shit. That's not good."

"I know. I'm going to stop by the book store, & see if she's still there."

"I'll meet you there. It'll probably take us about the same time to get there."

"Okay, see you there."

I hung up & started to drive a little faster. I was starting to freak out a little bit. I tried calling Madison a couple more times, but she still didn't answer. I knew I shouldn't have gone to work today. I should have never left her alone after that last text she had gotten. I couldn't think that she had been taken again. I'd end up pulling out all of my hair.

I pulled up to the book store, & saw Madison's car. I quickly parked & ran to the store. But, the lights were off & the door was locked. Damnit. I looked back at Madison's car, but she wasn't in it. Kolt pulled up then. He got out & made his way over to me.

"Is Madison here?" he asked.

"No. Her car is here, though. This isn't good, Kolt."

"Just try to calm down."

Right, like I could calm down right now. He walked over to her car & started looking all around it, like he was looking for clues. I watched him bend over, & he stood up holding something in his hand.

"It's Madison's phone." he said.

I walked over to him & grabbed it out of his hand. I turned it on, & went through it. But, there was nothing on it that would help us find out where she is. I tightened my hand around her phone. My head was starting to spin, so I had to brace myself against her car. I felt Kolt behind me, & he put his hand on my shoulder.

"We'll find her." he said.

"We have to."

My phone vibrated then. I put Madison's phone in my pocket, & pulled mine out. It was another message from 'Unknown.'

Unknown: Her skin is just as soft as I remember it being.

I cursed, & almost threw my phone to the ground. My body was shaking with anger, & I felt like I was going to throw up. Kolt took my phone from me. I knew he was reading the message. I need to find Madison. I can't let her get hurt again. She has to be okay.

"Jackson. I need you to calm down, so you can work with me. I know this is scary, but the only way you'll be able to help her is if you can keep calm." I took a few deep breaths. "Now, where do you think he'd take her?"

"Being the sick pervert he is, he probably would take her back to where he had her before."

"Do you know where that is?"

"It couldn't have been far from where I had first seen her. But, she never told me exactly where he kept her. She didn't like to talk about it. & I'm not sure she really knew, anyway."

"Can you get to the exact spot that you found her?"

Of course I could. It wasn't something I'd ever forget. "Yes."

"Let's go." he said.

We got into his car, & he started following my directions on where to go. Fifteen minutes later, I had him pull over. I stared at the empty alley, & couldn't stop help but think of when I found Madison. I couldn't think of that right now. I pointed at the alley.

"That's the place she ran out. I'm not sure how long she had been running for, though. I guess she hadn't been running for long. She wouldn't have lasted long in the condition she had been in."

"She just told you it had been an abandoned building?" I nodded my head. "That doesn't really help us in this area of town. & We can't go to every single one of them. That'd take too long, & some of them have multiple levels."

"She knew it was a basement."

Kolt nodded. I knew he was thinking the same thing as me. I couldn't stop picturing Madison tied up & being beaten. It was messing with my head. My phone vibrated, & when I looked at it, it was a notification for a video message from 'Unknown.' I looked at Kolt, & his eyes widened when he saw it.

"You have to open it." he said.

"I know. I'm just scared of what I'll see."

"I know, bro."

I took a couple deep breaths, then opened the message.