#pixel rust chapter 12

Glancing up from the pile of paperwork in front of her, Madeleine’s lawyer sighs and drops her pen on the table. “Once again, Mrs. Pridemore, let me assure you. This is by far your best option. I cannot remember the last time I saw the DA offer such a lenient plea deal to a repeat offender in a case like this.”

The detective nods brusquely. “Indeed. You’re doing your community a huge service here by getting that criminal off the streets and back behind bars.”

“Not to mention that you need to consider what’s best for your baby,” Rebecca, Maddie’s stepmother, urges her. “I know you think this Westley character is innocent, but the man is a professional con artist and you are not the first vulnerable young woman that he’s targeted. Please, Madeleine,” she pleads. “It’s what your family- you father- would want you to do.”

“Rebecca!” Madeleine cries, flinging herself into her stepmother’s waiting arms. “What are you doing here? Where is my dad?”

“What the hell?!” the detective sputters furiously. “You can’t just come barging in here, lady! We are in the middle of an interrogation!”

“I called your lawyer, Maddie. Do not say another word until she arrives, do you understand me?” Rebecca commands, glaring at the investigator over her stepdaughter’s trembling shoulders.

“Y-Yes,” Madeleine nods. “I-I-I want to speak to m-my attorney.”

The woman gasps, her eyes widening with outrage. “You have NO right-”

“Actually, she has every right, and if you’re not careful we will file a formal complaint about you with the Bridgeport Police Department AND take our case to the press. Ripping a healthy two-day-old infant out of her beleaguered mother’s arms, that kind of publicity doesn’t sound so good, now does it?”

“Fine,” the detective hisses. “But I’ll have you know, Mrs. Pridemore, I’m looking forward to putting both you and your slimy boyfriend behind bars for a long, long time to come.” And with that, the woman storms away, slamming the door behind her.

“Where is my dad?” Madeleine asks again, her voice hoarse with exhaustion.

“Don’t worry about him, dear. I'm here now, okay?”

“He’s not coming, is he?” she whispers as her eyes well up with tears.

Rebecca sighs and shakes her head. “You know how your dad can get, Maddie. He’s a difficult, stubborn, headstrong man, and this is not the first time you’ve wounded his pride with all this nonsense. However, I am a firm believer in innocent until proven guilty, but even more than that I know you, love. I know what you went through the last time you decided to get clean, and I saw the determination in your eyes when you vowed to stay that way. Your father just needs time, and he will come around. Until then, I will be right here beside you, helping you straighten this whole mess out.”

Rebecca pauses and hands Madeleine a tissue, a frown suddenly creasing the corners of her mouth. “What did she mean you and your boyfriend?”

“Please, Mrs. Pridemore,” the detective sighs impatiently. “You must try to understand. We don’t usually offer such generous plea deals to repeat offenders, but we’ve been tracking Mr. Monahan’s movements for quite some time now and our DA is more than a little anxious to get him back behind bars.”

“Generous?!” Madeleine cries. “You’re asking me to choose between my baby daughter and the man I love!”

“He is a career criminal! You may love him, doll face, but I guarantee that he does not feel the same way about you. After all, you are not the first rich, naïve young woman that he has conned like this, and unless you accept our offer and agree to testify against him on this drug dealing charge you will not be the last.”

“But I’m innocent! He’s innocent. We’re both innocent,” she sobs.

The detective shrugs, fighting the overwhelming urge to roll her eyes. “I don’t have all day here, Mrs. Pridemore. What do you say? Are you going to do yourself, your family, your community a favor and agree to our bargain, or are you going to be the scapegoat for a man who’s been lying to you and deceiving you for months on end?”

“You named her Claudia?!”

Christopher nods, a gloating, self satisfied smirk in his haughty blue eyes. “Claudia Jane. After you, of course. You may not have given birth to her, but you are her mother now and I never want you or little Claudia to doubt that.”

“Oh, Kit,” the redhead smiles as she scoops the drowsy newborn up into her arms. “Heaven knows why, but I love you, babe. And as much as I hate to admit it, she is a cute little thing, isn’t she? Do you think your grandmother will buy that she’s yours?”

“I have no doubt about it! Not only does her birth certificate confirm it, but even if my family suspects something there’s not a chance in hell that Madeleine would admit to lying. As far as I’m concerned, we’re as good as gold. We just need to pay a quick visit to my nana, and the inheritance will be ours.”

“Kit!” Madeleine gasps, startled to see her husband at the hospital during the middle of a workday. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!” she scolds, frowning at him over her shoulder. “What are you doing here?”

“I think you know exactly what I’m doing here,” he hisses in a loud, exaggerated tone of voice.

Maddie shrugs. “You said you weren’t coming by until later, but I’m glad to see you. There’s something we need to talk about.”

“Indeed there is,” Christopher pauses, tapping his foot impatiently as Maddie straps Jane into her car seat. “How could you?!” he exclaims once he has his wife’s full and undivided attention. “You promised me, Madeleine!”

“What?”

“What? WHAT?! You know what!” he spits. “Drugs, Maddie! That’s what! And while pregnant with our baby?! MY baby?! I am so ashamed of you!”

“What the hell are you talking about?” she cries. “I’m not-”

“Don’t you DARE lie to me! The doctors found traces of cocaine in Jane’s blood, and one of the nurses said that you had an unannounced, after hours visit from a suspicious looking man last night. Who was he, Maddie? Your drug dealer, I suppose?”

“What?! No! Kit, I’m clean! I swear! I haven’t done anything in years. I-”

“Clean, hm?” he snaps at her furiously. “So you won’t mind if I check your belongings then?”

“Do you think I’m some kind of idiot?!” Madeleine shrieks as she shoves her bags at him and motions for Kit to take a look. “I mean, seriously! Who brings that kind of shit to a hospital?! There must have been a mistake with Jane’s tests. A mix up of some kind. You know I wouldn’t do that to her! To me! I’m-”

“Officers!” Christopher calls out, a small white pouch dangling between his fingers.

“No!” she screams. “That’s not mine! Kit, come on! You know me better than this! I wouldn’t hurt my daughter!”

“Your daughter?” Christopher whispers as he marches past Madeleine and snatches Jane away from her. “Oh, Maddie. Poor, sweet, delusional Maddie. I have been awarded temporary sole custody of Jane, and as soon as I get the divorce proceedings under way I intend to make that a permanent arrangement. She’s not your daughter any longer.”

Maddie hums as she tucks some diapers into her overnight bag, a drowsy smile plastered on her sleep deprived face. She just received a text message from Westley a few moments ago informing her that he was leaving work early and would be at the hospital in less than an hour to take her and Jane home.

Home, he’d said. Their home, Madeleine sighs. Not for the first time she finds her mind wandering to the trivial, minute details of what it might mean to be Mrs. Westley Monahan. She imagines how pretty their “WM” initials would be monogrammed on a set of Egyptian cotton towels, how melodic her daughter’s name would sound ending in Monahan instead of Pridemore, how attractive she and West would look posing together on the front of a holiday card.

Lost in her daydreams, Maddie doesn’t hear a word of the heated argument echoing in the hallway outside her door, nor does she notice as Kit silently slithers into her hospital room, triumph oozing from his gaze like molten lava from the mouth of a volcano.

Westley stops by a flower shop on his way to work the next morning to pick out a present for Madeleine. Enchanted by the red roses, he almost forgets that her favorite color is pink. Almost.