out of the hospital through the side exit into the parking lot. She led me to her car and rooted through her gym bag for a pair of pants and a shirt.
I dressed in the car on the way to the motel. Delta drove fast, peeling out of a red light with as much displeasure as her accelerator could squeal.
“I should find Chelsea,” she said. “You need to be in the hospital.”
“You used to make me cut school with you.”
“Yeah, running out on your IV isn’t like skipping gym.”
“Chelsea might only talk to me. She was never close to Maddox. Hell, she only came around when she needed help or money.”
“Sounds like a great sister,” Delta said.
“She was his only family, broken as it was. He tried so hard to take care of her. I’m sure she’ll help him too.”
“Now who’s naïve? What if she runs? Or goes to Chief Craig?”
Then Maddox would be killed. I couldn’t fail. It wasn’t an option.
Delta pulled into the motel. Grit still coated my lungs, and I coughed all the way to the room. A light shone through the corner window. I knocked hard enough for the entire town to hear.
Nothing.
“Chelsea!” I shouted for her. “It’s Josie Davis. I need to talk to you.”
Not a sound.
I banged harder.
“Chelsea, please!”
She was content to ignore me, and why not? The town didn’t give her a reason to show her face. We pretended her family never existed. The town avoided them until I shoved Maddox into their lives and forced them to confront the problems that no one talked about. Drug use. Domestic abuse. Their parents were born rotten, but Maddox and Chelsea only shared a common name with them. They deserved better.
“It’s about Maddox.” My words hissed over a gasped breath. “He’s in danger. You’re the only one who can help him.”
The door opened partway, still connected with the chain. Chelsea peeked out. She guarded herself with a scowl, but her voice wavered over her brother’s name.
“Maddox is in trouble again?”
“This wasn’t his fault,” I said.
“Find that hard to believe.”
“It’s Chief Craig, Chelsea.”
The door nearly closed. I forced it open again. “I know what’s been happening. I know Maddox was giving him money to keep you safe.”
Chelsea groaned. “Why doesn’t anyone understand? John loves me. He wants to run away with me.”
Delta shared my glance. The poor girl was completely taken with a man who would destroy her.
“Right now, Chief Craig is saying Maddox tried to hurt me. He didn’t. If I go down there and argue with him, he’ll murder Maddox. I can’t do anything to help him.”
She touched the bruise on her face. “But what can I do? I’m nothing.”
“You have to come forward about the affair.”
The door almost closed again. Delta and I both pushed it open. Chelsea teared up and hid her face.
“I can’t do that,” she said.
“It’s for Maddox.”
“John will hate me.”
“Do you really want to be with a man who would threaten your brother? After everything Maddox has done for you?”
She picked at the paint on the door. “Josie, I’m a junkie. I’m a whore. No one in this town would believe me. John is the only way I can escape this life and become something more.”
“Will he actually help you?” I asked.
“I…he said he would.”
I didn’t believe her, and I knew she didn’t believe him. “Maddox and I will help you. But you’re the only one who can save him now. Please, Chelsea. I can’t do this without you.”
She shook her head, blonde hair falling over her eyes. The door slowly closed. Latched.
“No!” I pounded the frame. Delta pulled me back. “Chelsea, please. I’m begging you. I love Maddox. I’m trying to protect him. I won’t let anything happen to you, but you have to help me.”
“Josie…” Delta tugged on my arm. “Come on. We gotta get you back to the hospital.”
“Chelsea!”
“We can try again tomorrow. The doctors are going to freak out if you aren’t in your bed.”
I broke down. I couldn’t leave. I fought away from Delta’s arms.
“He won’t survive the night.” I coughed too hard, and the words tumbled from me in a blitz of fear. “The chief will kill him tonight. No one would know it wasn’t a suicide. No one would care!”
Delta took my hand. I batted her away. “We’ll figure something out.”
“No! It has to be now! It has to be this. God only knows what will happen to him—and if Nolan…” I didn’t want to imagine it. I’d be sick thinking about