8 Incoming Trouble and Mysteries

"I need a latte from the coffee shop down the block."

Madison squinted at him over the screen of her computer, "Excuse me?"

Martin Montgomery rolled his eyes at her, "I need coffee before I go into the Anthony Finance meeting, it's a tough case."

"You still have thirty minutes to go," she sarcastically looked at the watch on her wrist before smiling at him making his eyes narrow, "I'm sure you can make a coffee run."

He opened his mouth and closed it, his anger rolling off in waves making Madison stifle the urge to make another sarcastic quip. Going back to compiling the report of a hearing that Susan had been a part of, she began typing away at her keyboard, the sound of the keys drowning out any complaints from Martin who gave up and walked away from her.

That was the third time that week that the paralegal working under Susan Burke had tried to get Madison to bring coffee for him. Susan was Michael Walter's attorney and handled most of the lawsuits of his company and any other personal legal conflict but she was retiring next year which made her position highly sought after by Martin. Since Madison had been shadowing Susan throughout her daily proceedings, he began to see her as a threat and was constantly trying to exert power over her and failing at each attempt.

It was petty office drama but nothing too extreme and Madison felt more than equipped to handle it and even found some entertainment in dealing with the strange insecure man. Hiding a laugh at his retreating back, she shook her head before picking up her phone that was ringing. She looked at the screen and her mood visibly lifted at her aunt's contact that flashed at her. Smiling, she accepted the call and put the phone to her ear.

"How's my favorite niece?"

"Heidi won't be happy with that."

Her aunt scoffed, "Please she needs to accept the cold hard truth. She's now, what, 16?"

"Yeah," Madison sighed, turning her computer off, "Just enjoying her life before it all goes to shit."

"With the parents you have, she's lucky she even gets to enjoy sixteen. Wasn't your sweet sixteen party a charity ball?"

She cringed internally; memories of an uptight formal ball thrown on her birthday coming to mind. Cheryl had been so happy to make all the arrangements and had somehow managed to make it seem like Madison's idea.

"That's the Pierce way, any excuse is a good excuse to show off."

"Tell me about it- such shitheads. What are you doing right now?"

"Working at Michael Walter's office, I'm his apprentice."

"Oh, right, your father's college lover," her aunt said, her tone suggestive.

"Kate!"

"I'm just stating the facts kid, there was something fishy going on in the halls of UC Davis."

"Okay, stop!" Madison laughed, "What's the special occasion?"

"Do I need a reason for calling my niece?"

She rolled her eyes, "The last time we talked was three months ago after which you said you needed a technology cleanse and went to Bora Bora."

"Yeah, that was fun," Madison heard her aunt sigh, "We need to discuss my Mediterranean adventures at some point, lovebug."

"I hate that name," she stifled another eye roll, bringing her water bottle to her lips.

"You'll get used to it. How about we meet up tomorrow and I'll tell you all about this scuba instructor named Gael."

Madison paused mid-sip, "You're in Parlis Bay?"

"I'm on my way. I was gonna catch a flight but then I thought why not bring old Betty Boop out of the garage? Poor thing is gathering dust."

It took a moment for the name to register in her head and she placed the bottle back on the tabletop. Betty Boop was the name that Kate had insisted on calling the 1994 car that Madison's grandmother, and Kate and Cheryl's mother, Sheila had handed down to them before she had moved states with her grandfather, William. Since Cheryl thought that driving that old car was beneath her and Kate was barely in her own country, the car was kept out of use and was breaking down which made it quite dangerous to drive. Yet Kate insisted on using it whenever she could and Madison had had numerous experiences on almost crashing in the vehicle.

"That car is an environmental hazard and could cause an accident," Her dark eyes widened and she quickly asked, "Are you driving right now?"

"I would never give you a heart attack so close to losing your virginity," Madison opened her mouth to retort but quickly shut it, her cheeks tinged pink as her aunt added, "I'm at a motel."

She rubbed her face before ignoring the comment, "When will you get here?"

"Tonight. But don't tell Cheryl yet," Kate quickly added, "I want a day with my favorite niece before I have to deal with the devil."

"She's your sister," Madison reminded her making her scoff over the phone.

"She's a menace and I marvel at your ability to put up with her. I'll see you tomorrow, lovebug. Wear something sexy."

Madison laughed again, "Don't die on that falling apart car of yours."

Kate was Cheryl's little sister who was a bit of a wild card in the family. Cheryl just seemed to ignore her presence as it didn't cater to her standards and Madison's grandparents just stayed out of her way as long as she didn't do anything to the public image of their family. Kate liked to do things her way and she ran her own art gallery, a job that let her travel to her heart's content. She loved Madison for some reason so she often came to Parlis Bay to hang out with her and Heidi, even if she had to put up with Cheryl's taunts about her not leading a fulfilled life.

Kate was what Madison aspired to be, her idol since she was a teenager. Once she had graduated high school, she had decided that she didn't want to deal with her toxic family and wanted to spend her life the way she wanted to. She had the job she wanted, if there was someone that made her life harder rather than easier, she just cut them off and she never let anyone, especially not Cheryl, walk all over her. She was constantly telling Madison to not let her mother control and manipulate her into having power over her life but she couldn't help it. She wondered if the reason why Kate liked spending so much time with Madison was that she saw a past version of herself in her. Or maybe she thought she could help her finally grow a backbone. Whatever it was, Kate was a blessing for her and she couldn't wait to see her again.

One thing that she loved about Parlis Bay was how much she got to be around water. The marshes, the beaches, and the boats; were all her favorite parts of the island. Although the docks weren't very high up on that list, they still gave her a clear view of the ocean so it was good enough for her. Even if she was tired from working all day and the all-nighter that she had to pull to finish up all her work wasn't helping. She couldn't afford to be behind on any of it. Not if she didn't want Thomas to find out that she wasn't exactly Michael's apprentice. Michael had noticed that she was tired and had been the one to bring her out to the docks so she could see that month's cargo get shipped off to the mainland.

After giving her a tour of the ship, he had left her in the cargo hold to watch over the loading up while he went to the bridge to have a word with the captain. And she had to admit, watching the containers get stacked, one on top of the other wasn't the most boring thing in the world.

She could feel the floor sway a little underneath her feet, no doubt due to the strong current underneath the ship and she was glad that she didn't get seasick. Although being in an enclosed space was making her feel a bit nauseous. Fanning herself with a file that she was carrying, she made eye contact with one of the workers who had been staring at her with a glare fixated on his face. Raising an eyebrow at him, she made a gesture asking him what his problem was making him quickly avert his gaze and walk away. Her brow furrowed in confusion at the man's antics and she waited for Michael to make his appearance so she could get out of the claustrophobic place. A few seconds later, another worker walked up to her with a smile that was clearly forced.

"Ma'am, I'm gonna need you to leave."

Madison's frown deepened, "Why?"

"It's just that we're dealing with a lot of heavy things here," he said slowly, "Wouldn't want you to get hurt."

She looked at all of the workers around her, standing around as if they were listening to the conversation, and shrugged, "You're all standing here, I don't see any reason why I can't."

The man clenched his jaw, before the smile reappeared, "I understand that. But it would be really helpful for us if you could just stay out of our way."

"Excuse me?"

Michael's voice came from behind her as he came to stand next to her, "Madison, hey. Sorry for the wait. What's the problem here, Rick?"

Before the worker named Rick could reply, Madison turned to look at Michael, "Why does he not want me looking?"

Rick's eyes widened as he lifted his hands in mock surrender, "Whoa, hey. I didn't say that at all."

"I can read between the lines," she narrowed her eyes at him.

"It's all right, Rick," Michael waved him off, "I'll take it from here."

"What's going on?" Madison turned to him questioningly.

"Rick is just trying to be careful. He's been working for me for ages and from what I've seen he's just a serious guy, very committed to his work," he assured her, making her somewhat relaxed but she still wasn't satisfied.

"The way he was telling me to leave, it felt like he was hiding something."

Michael chuckled, "No. He's just making sure that you're not in danger. Those containers are pretty heavy, Madison. And you're not exactly used to being here."

She bit back a retort and smiled, "Of course."

"Glad you understand. Now Samantha's cooked up a delicious lunch, how would you like to join the family at home?"

Seeing that she was not going to get anything out of Michael, she just nodded. Maybe she was just assuming things. "I'd love to."

"That's what I like to hear," Michael said, before leading her out of the hold.

But before she stepped through the door, she looked back one last time. Her eyes met Rick as he directed the crane to drop another container inside. His face was blank but his eyes were filled with victory and Madison looked at the container before looking back at him. She couldn't decide if something really was up or she was just hallucinating things from being sleep-deprived.