DOUBLE TROUBLE WITH THE TWIN WOLVES 18

C H A P T E R E I G H T E E N - - - - M A D D I S O N

Since she left that door, Maddison's stomach had been in knots. Every shadow she noticed and every person who came too near to her signaled danger and violence to her, and she couldn't get rid of the sense that someone was watching her. But since that day on the train, that was something that had been following her. She felt it even more keenly now that her kids weren't around to ease her anxiety.

In a timely manner, she arrived at a bus stop and boarded a bus headed into the city. The process of getting on the appropriate L train that would take her to Ellia had been simple from there. Many times before, she had traveled there. The moment she stepped off the train and into the streets, it was already becoming dark. Despite this, she couldn't stop looking over her shoulder and scanning the crowd. She was terrified that anything, anything, would go wrong and her risky plan to aid Tom and Tim would fail. The sun wasn't up for very long longer, and as she made her way to the main building while tucking her access card into her pocket, she was both appalled by it and grateful for the cover. In the dark, anything may occur. She really liked to complete this task when the sun was shining brightly and there was ample lighting. Darkness for some reason made her concerns seem more... justified.

She gave a little smile as she passed the two security officers at the main entrance of the hospital's research wing, which is also renowned for its top-notch cancer wards. Nothing unusual happened when Madison presented her card to the reader and was given simple admission. The guards gave her hardly a glance. Though the working day was drawing to a close and the most of the individuals Maddison saw were leaving, they were used to disheveled-looking scientists entering and leaving at all hours of the day.

That it being the weekend and there wouldn't be many people in the offices to begin with didn't occur to her until she was on the elevator. Only true believers—like, say, her—are fans. Charlie, on the other hand, was worse than she was, so there was a strong chance he would be there.

Maddison inhaled deeply and reasoned, "If he isn't, I've made a pretty huge fool of myself."

Before getting in and showing her card to the reader to go further upstairs, she waited for two conversing middle-aged women to exit the elevator while still wearing their jackets. As the elevator moved up, Maddison eagerly counted the numbers as she pushed the button that would take her to the seventh floor. She believed she had aged significantly by the time the doors opened once more.

She didn't look up as she made her way through the vivid blue hallways toward Charlie's lab. Fortunately, no one recognized her since just a few individuals passed by. Since the kids were born, she hadn't gone to the workplace very much; instead, she opted to work from home. She approached Charlie's door and stopped before knocking, pleading with any higher power that would hear her for permission to let Charlie be at work.

A burden was removed from her shoulders as he responded in his gruff but upbeat voice. "You may come in," He called,

Maddison flipped back the hoodie as she walked inside, depressing the door handle. Charlie was staring at her like he'd just seen a ghost as the heavy, explosion-proof door slid shut behind her and she halted in the large, airy lab. His watery gray eyes and pale complexion were concealed by safety goggles, giving him the appearance of a wiry ghost in a lab coat as he grinned widely and stretched his arms.

“Kara! Why are you in this place? Long time no see! With that last task, though, there was no rush. Without a doubt not enough for you to see me over the weekend."

Charlie removed his goggles after meticulously sealing his experiment. He was blending materials in a test tube, and Maddison knew he needed to be still. It was delicate work, and if there was one thing she had learnt, it was not to frighten an explosives expert. Unless, of course, that man was Tom and he was shirtless.

She instantly knew she missed the two men, urgently, and the heaviness in her stomach was increased by the revelation.

I have to come back soon!

"Hello, Charlie." No, it has nothing to do with work. I apologize for interrupting you in this manner. "I hope I didn't disrupt anything crucial," Maddison said shyly as she unzipped her coat and smoothed her hair.

“Nonsense! I always like seeing my subordinates! Especially the ones who are still bold enough to step in here, if you know what I mean," he chuckled, pointing a thumb at one of the other walls, which was scarred by what appeared to be the scars of a chemical fire. "So, what can I do for you today that isn't related to work?"

Charlie was a tall, slender man whose figure was the result of spending the most of his life hunched over lab specimens. He kept his love of firearms a secret from Maddison, although she was aware of it. His first love was fireworks. Despite this, most of the research he conducted for Ellia concerned the stability of chemical compounds, and he was able to conduct his own small-scale private studies with a fair amount of independence while still sharing the findings with other teams.

Maddison took the phone out of her pocket and walked over to Charlie, saying, "I truly need your assistance figuring things out."

She was shocked to learn that neither of the twins had made an attempt to contact her. It may have indicated that they didn't realize she was gone yet, which was doubtful, or that they were unaware that she was in possession of Tim's phone. However, Maddison would have assumed that they would have already attempted to discover it. She frowned and forced herself to stop thinking about it before continuing down any more speculative paths. She needed to be careful about what she told Charlie because her plate was already full.

"Hit me! "Charlie remarked, huddling up next to her as she browsed the phone's contents. "This could just be what I needed to end the day as I was ready to wrap things up and go home anyhow. Stacy has a roast today. She's a good chef!" Charlie bragged while grinning.

Maddison smirks. She had to hold out hope that one day she, too, might experience marital and family pleasure in a similar warm, private moment. She was well aware that it wasn't a question of having someone anymore but rather two very particular males. She had to shake her head once more as she brushed the time-stealing distractions from her mind. Now, this; afterwards, fantasizing!

“Okay. So, one of my friends used to be a Navy SEAL. specialist in explosives. Don't ask me how I acquired this paper, but they're distributing it around to highlight the study they conducted on one specific explosion a few years ago. They claim it originated from a Navy-approved bomb, but when I read it, a few things didn't add up."

She reached the page that detailed the specific chemical breakdown of the substances found at the site, many samples, and several locations. A little quantity of SEH-985 was found in each of them. It was exceedingly odd that it would appear at all, especially with the munitions employed by the SEALs, even in light of how little of it there was. She had gleaned from Charlie's little speech on it that it was very experimental, unregulated, and extremely risky.

Charlie's jovial manner was abruptly erased as he responded, "Let me see that."

He silently turned the pages, carefully studying each readout as he went. She could see him entering "work-mode," putting the outside world on hold, as the scowl that blurred his face deepened with each passing second. He raised his head, blinked a few times, and rubbed the bridge of his nose after what felt like an age, if not longer.

"Well, I believe you're correct. Though I'd need to examine the samples for myself, SEH-985 isn't something you simply happen to stumble into. Only terrorists and lunatics use this garbage. Finding SEV-548 in military-grade materials is the best case scenario, but even that is less plausible than discovering a fog in hell during the summer. Someone is either fabricating this information because they are unaware of what information should appear on these reports, they are being tricked, or they are confusing one payload for another. I fail to understand how this is connected to the specifics mentioned in the complaints.

Maddison's heart skipped a beat. She smiled broadly and wrapped her arms around Charlie, hugging his slender body hard against her.

"Many thanks!  You have no idea how much that means to me! " she said, virtually leaping with delight.

“Whoa! Anytime," he joked. "If you forward it to me, I can provide you with a more formal statement. Put my name and everything under it. There are some who find that amazing, you know."

"Charlie, that's very great of you to do!"  Maddison grabbed the phone and said, "I'll send it right away. I'll send the reports to your work email.  But I shouldn't keep you any longer, I realize now. Stacy must be waiting, Maddison said after straightening her head.

Charlie continued to engage her in light conversation while he cleaned up his desk and went to get his coat even though she was a bit nervous but otherwise happy. When Charlie was about to close the door, Maddison hardly registered that she was talking and was scarcely conscious of what she was saying. For a moment, it was difficult for her to think clearly due to the overpowering sense of relief she was experiencing.

"You may proceed. I’ll catch up. " Maddison waved to Charlie and went down the long corridor toward the elevators, saying, "I need to make a call."

So that Tim and Tom wouldn't be concerned and so that she could share the good news with them, she wanted to let them know where she was right now. She moved over to the windows and took a glimpse outside at the huge courtyard connecting many of the structures on the property, feeling somewhat proud of herself. It featured broad walking paths and a small, well-kept garden that wasn't looking very nice due to the season.

Maddison propped her shoulder up against a windowpane and phoned Tom's number while she waited for Charlie to enter the elevator after giving her one more wave and grin. She held the phone to her ear and waited for the call to connect when something in the courtyard grabbed her eye. Two black vehicles drove into the courtyard via the little opening that Maddison would have assumed was too small for them to get through. These vans looked remarkably like the ones that had been pursuing them when they had originally fled to the Bear Den.

Men in masks and camo began to gather outside the cars as soon as they came to a stop, brandishing weapons and scurrying into the different structures like cockroaches. When she saw Tom answer his phone, she could see many of them heading towards the room she was in and felt the cold fingers of horror seize her.

Every gruesome memory of her day on the train started flooding back to her, having left her dizzy, and her throat began to dry up. Her thoughts briefly went blank, but she quickly recovered when she heard Tom's voice in her ear.

"Madison, leave the area now! ", he declared firmly.

She started to add, "Tom, I—," but before she could finish, the phone was yanked out of her hand from behind, and the conversation was cut off.

She stopped in position, her palm still raised as if she were still holding the phone, and her breath seized in her lungs. She turned back and gazed up painfully slowly, encountering the tall, towering body of a guy whose lethal and icy smile was all too familiar to her.

"We meet once more, Madison," he remarked.

But this time, she didn't lose consciousness. Before she could scream, he put his hand over her mouth and violently yanked her backward with an iron grasp around her ribcage. Maddison tried to get away by scrabbling at his hands around her waist and around her mouth, but he only grinned.

"This time," he promised, "I won't let you go."

She didn't believe she deserved the kindness of being unconscious.

What did I do? Maddison reflected apathetically on his ferocious resistance to him while receiving nothing in return. There was no getting away this time.