The Dark Places by R. Whitfield (novel24 TXT) 📕

“Is no place sacred, Madison?” Surin added, gesturing to the nearly empty restaurant. “This was my favourite place in town, and now that you’re here it feels, well, to be honest, it feels violated.” She shook her head again in disbelief. “Did you follow us here?” she asked quietly. Madison looked nervous and glanced at Parker; he held his hands up in mock surrender.

“My advice? Do not lie to her.” He picked up his beer and took a long pull.

Madison looked back at Surin. “No,” she answered. Surin waited. “I knew you would be here. You have been coming here for years.” Her cheeks flushed crimson. “I thought here was a better place to approach you rather than the station,” she added. Surin was looking at her with her mouth hanging open. Parker was waiting for a storm of abuse to erupt, but it never happened.

“Sit,” Surin said finally. Parker almost choked on his beer as Madison slid in the booth beside him. “Say what it is you have to say,” Surin added, putting her hands under the table, and sat back, not knowing what to expect.

“First,” Madison started, “I have not shared this information with anyone, and I am not planning on printing it until I get the go-ahead from you both, but I will be printing it.” She took a deep breath.

“And what is it exactly you think you have?” Surin asked, smiling sarcastically.

“Oh, Detective, persistence is what I have.” She smiled, and a flash of accomplishment danced across her face. “Persistence and proof that we have a genuine serial killer running around Maryland.”

***

Surin sat in complete silence, panic creeping up her spine. Parker was staring at her, the same thoughts running rampant through his mind. The press on cases like these often led to disaster.

“Why aren’t either of you talking?” Madison asked, sitting back and crossing her arms over her chest. Surin thought carefully before speaking.

“What do you have?” she asked.

Madison pulled out a notepad from her jacket pocket, “Names, dates and method.” She held up a hand and nodded. “I know, I am missing a few details but give me time.” She smiled. It quickly disappeared once she saw Surin’s face.

“Give me the names you have,” Surin asked calmly.

“OK,” Madison replied, accepting the challenge. “Starts with Emma, right?” She watched carefully for any response. “That’s as far back as I could find, then Eva and most recently Isabelle.”

Surin looked at Parker. She was missing a few, but she was right. The more she started digging, the more she would find. She gripped the table with her hands and sighed.

“What do you want?” she asked, defeated. Parker immediately sat forward.

“We don’t owe her anything, Elliott, let her print the story. She will be discredited the minute it’s run,” he added, his voice rising a few decibels.

Madison jumped in. “You’re right, Rhodes, but we all know it won’t matter. Once I point it out to the city, it will spread like wildfire. No matter how much shit you say about me, the truth will always stay true.”

“She’s right, Parker,” Surin interrupted the two of them, “we need this to stay quiet as long as we can.” She nodded at him, and he shrugged.

“So, again, Madison, I ask you, what it is you want?” She smiled, shifting her focus back to her. “I have no illusions that you came to us out of the goodness of your heart.”

Madison squared off her shoulders and replied boldly, “I want to be kept in the loop.” Surin laughed out loud. “I’m serious!” Madison added tersely. “I get the scoop and an interview from you personally once this case is wrapped.” She sat back, waiting, ignoring her racing heart.

“Making a deal with the devil,” Surin mumbled. “OK,” she finally said.

“What? Really?” Madison said quickly, glancing at Parker. “That’s all?”

“No, that’s not all,” Surin said and placed her phone on the table quietly. “I have recorded our conversation, Madison. If you try, even for a second, to break our agreement, I will arrest you, and please understand that I will drag your name through the mud. Trust me when I tell you that you won’t ever work on any crime watch anywhere in this country again.” Parker was staring at her in amazement.

“Do you understand, Madison?” Surin asked calmly.

“I, yes, I understand,” she replied, her voice shaking.

Surin nodded and returned her attention to her plate; she put a corn chip into her mouth, chewed loudly and looked completely at ease.

“Well then, my question first,” she started, “how did you put the pieces together?”

Madison was still sitting in shock. She had expected Surin to shoot her, or at the very least escort her to the station at gunpoint for bribing a law enforcement officer. What she didn’t expect was for her to agree to her ridiculous terms.

“I, well, I knew you shouldn’t have been at the Breckham Towers murder.” She shuddered, remembering their unfriendly confrontation. “It got me thinking, why would they call you?” She sat forward. “Then, when Isabelle was found, I kind of fell into the information about Emma, I never expected to find it.” She tucked her long, shiny hair behind her ear.

Surin asked, “And the others?”

“OK, this you may not like,” Madison said, glancing at her nervously. “I had a source at the BPD who sent me all the cases you have pulled involving young women in the last five years and put it together from there.”

Surin smiled. “Smart,” she said, without a hint of sarcasm. “And this source, do we need to be worried about a leak?”

“No, absolutely not,” she replied, shaking her head. “It was a very reluctant source who didn’t know what it was I was working on.”

“How did you get them to co-operate?” Parker interrupted. Madison