Near You by Mary Burton

Author:Mary Burton [Burton, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Montlake
Published: 2021-04-12T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Deer Lodge, Montana

Monday, August 23

7:15 a.m.

By Monday morning, Ann was on the road headed toward Deer Lodge to see Megan Madison, a Firefly on the list of thirteen women Bryce had sent her. Deer Lodge was less than an hour away, and she believed she could see Megan and then be back in Missoula to meet Bryce at the Classy Cat at ten.

When she pulled up in front of Megan Madison’s middle-class home in Deer Lodge, she was surprised it all looked so normal. The yard was freshly cut, the flower beds mulched and dotted with the heart-shaped daisylike yellow leopard’s-bane floating in a sea of green ground cover. The front door was painted a bright red, and a swirling M dangled from a hook on the front door. A green minivan was parked in the two-car driveway.

She had always pictured Elijah’s Fireflies as women who lived on the outskirts of society. In her mind they were disaffected, lost souls who were so consumed by their devotion for him that they did not have the capacity to manage a normal life.

Her own confirmation bias had blinded her to the idea that these women could be, or at least could appear to be, highly functioning and productive. She parked at the neatly edged curb and walked toward the front door.

Everyone had a core identity that they rarely fully revealed to anyone, including family, friends, and lovers. People, once they stepped outside, put on masks designed to attract mates, cajole parents, raise children, or climb the corporate ladder. In everyday life, most people were chameleons and liked altering dress, speech, opinions, and preferences based on the audience.

Given that, Ann should not have been surprised by Sarah Cameron’s success in business or Megan Madison’s seemingly average life. Both blended in like the grasshopper did on a leaf, all the while hiding their secret obsessions with Elijah.

She had not called ahead to make an appointment, fearing if Megan recognized her from last year’s news accounts, she would not speak to her. Adjusting her purse on her shoulder, she climbed the neatly swept stairs and rang the doorbell equipped with a camera. She stood to the side. Footsteps thudded in the house and paused by the front door before it opened slowly.

The woman staring back at her through the crack between the doorway and jamb was in her midforties. She was in good shape, kept her long blond hair loose around her shoulders, and wore knee-skimming shorts, a button-down shirt, and sneakers.

“Ms. Madison?” Ann asked as she met her gaze.

“That’s right.”

“I’m Ann Bailey.”

A flicker of recognition turned leery, and the woman shifted her body to block the view into her home. “Ann,” she said carefully.

“You’ve heard my name before?”

“You were in the news some last year.”

Ann shook her head slowly. “Elijah told you about me, didn’t he?”

Megan’s face paled, and she dropped her voice. “I haven’t written to Elijah in a long time. I told that to the reporter when he came by.”

“Paul Thompson?”

“That’s right.

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