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“Yeah, man. She’s a really happening teacher.”
“Too bad your grades aren’t just as happening,” Maddie grumbled, digging into her popcorn bag again.
“Do any of you think it’s really possible Dr. Morgan has been kidnapped by aliens?” the pushy reporter inquired.
As luck would have it, a student known as “Reefer” for a very good reason jumped forward to answer that question. “Wow, man. I’m totally psyched over the possibility Dr. Morgan really has been abducted by aliens,” Reefer said in his usual far-out way of speaking. “Of all the people in the world, the aliens chose one of our very own faculty members right here at McCray-Hadley to represent our entire planet. It’s totally awesome, man. Totally awesome.”
“And do you have any speculation about why Dr. Morgan would have been chosen, if, in fact, she has been abducted by aliens?” the reporter said with a sinister smile that could have easily been caused by the overwhelming aroma that was usually reeking from Reefer’s wrinkled clothing.
“You bet I do,” Reefer said with a completely serious expression. “Butterflies, man. Dr. Morgan knows all there is to know about butterflies. Ask anyone on campus. That’s how she earned her nickname. Madam Butterfly.”
Maddie felt like she’d been slapped. Nickname? Reefer was the one with the nickname! Not her. Surely not her!
“Well, you’ve heard it here folks,” the reporter said with a lopsided grin as he practically shoved Reefer back into the crowd. “Students at McCray-Hadley are certainly wishing the best for Dr. Madeline Morgan, who is known around campus as Madam Butterfly.”
Maddie switched off the TV, smashed the popcorn bag with her fist and threw the remote control across the room. It landed on the love seat with such force it bounced several times, then toppled to the floor.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Maddie kept saying as she paced around the room. “This morning I was a respected entomologist, on the verge of the biggest discovery of my career, and in the blink of an eye a snide reporter on national news has the audacity to refer to me as Madam Butterfly!”
Maddie did a little more pacing, tossed the bag into the trash, then tentatively looked around the room for something to destroy. Her intentions must have been reflected in her frown, because her bodyguard suddenly cleared his throat to get her attention.
“I wouldn’t let that reporter bother me if I were you, Dr. Morgan. This will all blow over soon enough,” Baker said calmly from his post at the door.
Maddie whirled around to face him, hoping he couldn’t detect the wheels that had also started whirling around inside her head. She hesitated for a second, and then she said, “You know, Sergeant Baker, you’re absolutely right. Thanks for helping me put things into perspective.” Maddie sent him her most brilliant smile.
He seemed surprised, but he smiled back. Then he shrugged. Then he did a little shuffle from one foot to the other, more than a little embarrassed under her praise. “Hey, don’t mention it.”
Gotcha! Maddie thought. And though she certainly wasn’t proud of herself for turning on a big dose of feminine charm, Maddie knew she had to get back to Roswell before her career was so badly ruined she’d never recover.
“You poor, poor, man,” Maddie said, forcing herself to even bat her eyelashes a few times. “I’ve been so focused on my own problems, I never stopped to think how tired you must be standing at the door hour after hour.”
Baker stood up a little straighter and puffed his massive chest out a bit further, if that were possible. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”
“Don’t be so modest.” Maddie walked across the room toward the table. “The least I can do is bring you a sandwich. I’m sure Captain Hawkins doesn’t care if you eat something, as long as you guard the door.”
Baker licked his lips, watching as Maddie rifled through the contents on the tray. “That’s okay.” But there was a lot of uncertainty in his voice when he added, “I’ll get something later.”
Maddie waved a tasty-looking ham and cheese sub in his direction. “This is what I had earlier. And believe me, it was scrumptious.”
“Well, I am kinda hungry,” Baker admitted, just as Maddie hoped he would.
“And what about a soda to go with your sandwich?” Maddie asked in the sweetest voice she could muster.
“Yeah, that would be great,” Baker said, grinning back in appreciation.
Maddie withdrew a can of soda from the small fridge, popped open the top, then walked toward Baker with what she hoped was a pleasant smile on her face. “Here you go,” she said when she handed over the sandwich, but she purposely let go of the can before he could take it.
The contents splashed all over him.
Baker automatically bent down, grabbing for the can, and when he did, Maddie gave him a push with everything she had. Caught completely off guard, Goliath hit the floor with a thud.
Maddie never looked back.
She yanked the door open and headed down the hallway at a breakneck speed that would have put any Olympic sprinter to shame. Which way? Maddie kept asking herself frantically. The long hallway stopped at an intersection up ahead. Baker had brought her in from the left, through an exit door that would only lead her back outside to the helicopter pad. But if she went right, where would she be? Deciding her only choice was to take that chance, she turned right at the last second.
Colliding head-on with Hawk gave Maddie a glimpse of how her insect friends felt when they didn’t see the windshield until it was too late.
The impact bounced her backward like a rubber ball and landed her flat on her back. By the time she pushed herself up on her elbows and stole back her breath, both Hawk and Baker were standing above her.
Neither seemed amused.
“Dammit, Hawk, she tricked me,” Baker explained.
Hawk didn’t answer. Instead both men reached down simultaneously, hooked Maddie under each arm, and literally carried her back down the hallway. Once back inside her prison, Maddie was plopped down in the recliner before Hawk uttered a word.
“Give me your shoes,” Captain Hawk ordered.
“I most certainly will not!”
He bent down and had Maddie’s hiking boots off faster than if she’d been wearing a pair of slippers.
“Take these with you. I’m in for the night,” he told Baker who wasted no time grabbing her boots and making a hasty exit out the door.
Bracing herself for the lecture she knew was coming, Captain Hawkins didn’t disappoint her. Coming to a stop directly in front of her chair, he glared down at her with his hands at his waist. “You think this is some kind of a game, don’t you?”
“Game?” Maddie jumped up to face him in her stocking feet. “My entire life is being ruined, you’re holding me against my will, and you have the nerve to ask me if I think this is a game?”
They glared at each other for several seconds as if the brief intimacy they’d shared earlier never happened. Maddie was too worried about her career to even think about the kiss that almost transpired between them, and judging from his serious expression, Captain Hawk wasn’t in a playful little mood, either.
He surprised her when he said, “You’re right. You are the one who has the most to lose in this situation. That’s why I decided a call to your sister might not be such a bad idea.”
Maddie couldn’t believe her eyes when he pulled a cell phone from the pocket of the jacket he was now wearing.
“Get your sister to call off the search,” he instructed. “Tell her you’re okay, but nothing else. Understood?”
When Maddie nodded, he asked, “Where is she staying?”
“The Hampton Inn. Room 402,” Maddie told him, then held her breath when he called information for the number.
He checked his watch before he dialed the hotel. “It’s almost midnight, so it should be safe to make the call. Make sure she’s alone. If she isn’t, hang up.”
Maddie nodded in agreement again.
“Room 402,” he said when the hotel operator answered, and Maddie eagerly took the phone when he handed it over. He was standing so close, Maddie decided she’d be wise to follow his instructions to the letter. The second Mary Beth answered, Maddie said, “Are you alone?”
“Maddie? Is that you?” came the startled cry on the other end of the line.
“Answer me, Mary Beth. Are you alone?”
“Well, of course, I’m alone. My God, Maddie, are you okay? How much trouble are you in?”
“Not nearly as much trouble as you’re going to be in when I get my hands on you,” Maddie seethed.
“Now wait just a minute,” Mary Beth protested. “I’ve been worried to death about you. Where are you, anyway? Tell me! I’ll come and get you this minute.”
“Come and get me?” Maddie shouted. “I’ve been carried off by aliens, remember?”
“Okay, okay. I admit things have gotten out of hand. But you weren’t the one being chased across the desert by jeep full of soldiers with bazookas on their shoulders.”
“God, Mary Beth, how could you do this to me?” Maddie broke in, no more impressed than she usually was with her sister’s outrageous dramatics.
“I swear, it wasn’t my fault, Maddie. I was petrified when I saw that soldier grab you. And then when I realized I was being chased myself, I headed for Roswell so fast I had to be doing a hundred miles an hour.”
“And?”
“Well, that was the problem. After I hit the main road, I was pulled over by the local police for speeding. The second the officer walked up to the Jeep, I blurted out that my sister had been abducted.”
“Dear God,” Maddie groaned.
“I know. Saying the word abduction in Roswell is like saying you saw something strange swimming around in Loch Ness.”
“But why didn’t you explain what you meant, Mary Beth?”
“I tried to explain,” Mary Beth insisted. “But think about the answers I had to give them. A weird-looking aircraft? Out near the old Air Force base? Everyone got so excited, I decided if I just went along with the hysteria, those goons who grabbed you would forget all about your trespassing and send you straight back to Roswell to clear things up.”
Wishful thinking, Maddie thought. “And what about Mom and Pop, Mary Beth? Have you at least had the decency to call and tell them the truth?”
“They’re up at the cabin for the next two weeks. Didn’t they tell you? And you know Pop’s rules when they go up there. No radio. No TV. No phone. No outside communication, period.”
Maddie breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, at least that’s one thing in our favor. Hopefully this will all be over once you make a statement to the press in the morning.”
“Statement?”
“Yes, Mary Beth, you have to tell them you were mistaken,” Maddie stuttered. “Tell them you’ve heard from me and that I’m okay.”
“And are you okay? You still haven’t told me exactly where you are. Why haven’t they let you go, Maddie? Tell me what’s really going on.”
Maddie hesitated. “It doesn’t matter, Mary Beth. Just call off the media.”
“What do you mean, it doesn’t matter?” Mary Beth yelled so loudly Maddie held the phone out from her ear.
“Of course, it matters. Tell me where you are and I’ll come and get you. Then we can both talk to the press. Don’t you realize we’re celebrities now, Maddie? There’s no telling where we could go with this. Think about it. Identical twin sisters? The media will love us. You could get a book deal. Maybe I could even get a picture out of this.”
“Have you gone crazy?” Maddie said through clenched teeth. “You have to call off the media, Mary Beth! Do it first thing tomorrow.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Just do it, Mary Beth.”
“Why? What’s really going on, Maddie? Tell me.”
“I can’t,” Maddie admitted, sending an anxious look in Hawk’s direction.
“What do you mean, you can’t tell me? You mean you’re being held against your will? By our own damn government?”
Maddie took a deep breath. “Something like that,” she said, but a warning look from Hawk told her she was already skating on thin ice.
“Then you can tell those camouflage-wearing morons for me that I’ll call off the media when I get my sister back!”
Maddie saw red. “Dammit, Mary Beth. My entire career is on the line here!”
“It’s always about your precious career, isn’t it?” Mary Beth accused.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“What about my career? Have you stopped to consider the exposure I’m getting right now?”
“Exposure?”
“Yes, exposure. This is finally the big time for me. I’ve had calls from Larry King. From Letter-man. Even Oprah’s people have been ringing my agent’s phone off the hook.”
Maddie didn’t answer.
“Don’t you see what this can mean to me? When all of this is over, you’ll still be Dr. Madeline Morgan and you’ll still have that impressive Ph.D. flowing behind your name. But what about me? If I don’t make the most of this opportunity right now, I’ll slip back into obscurity and spend the rest of my life scrambling around for occasional two-bit commercials.”
When Maddie still didn’t answer, Mary Beth said softly, “Don’t hate me for putting my career first, just this once. I’ve never hated you for always doing the same thing.”
“You know I could never hate you, Mary Beth.” Maddie let out a long sigh. “No matter what you did.”
“Then tell me the truth, Maddie. Are you really safe? Are you really going to be okay?”
Maddie took another look at the man who made her pulse race every time he looked in her direction. “I’ll be fine,” she lied. “I should be back at the hotel by the end of the week. Wait for me there. I’ll explain everything then.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be here. My agent wants me here in Roswell where I’ll draw the most attention. He’s even working out details for satellite interviews he plans to sell to the highest bidder. Can you believe this, Maddie? Me? Being interviewed by…”
Mary Beth was still rambling when Brad reached out and took the phone, then disconnected the call. He then promptly removed the battery and slipped it into his pants pocket before he placed the now useless cell phone on top of the bookcase. Maddie watched every move he made, but she never said a word.
He leveled a look in her direction. “What about your parents?”
Maddie shrugged a shoulder. “They’re up at our family cabin in the mountains. My father insists on total solitude when they’re up there. But since Mary Beth won’t call off the search, it’s only a matter of time until someone from Morgan City heads up to the cabin to find them.”
“Any connection between the name of your hometown and your family?”
“Afraid so,” Maddie said with a sigh. “My ancestors founded Morgan City. My father’s the mayor. Of course, in a town the size of Morgan City, being mayor is more of an honorary title than anything else.”
His look was sympathetic. “And this sister of yours? She would really jeopardize your career and never give it a second thought?”
Maddie walked back to the love seat and flopped down with her head in her hands, the events of the day finally catching up with her. “I’m too exhausted to even think about that right now,” she told him truthfully. “But thanks for letting me at least try to talk some sense into her.”
