1 Hot Scheming Mess by Lucy Carol

inside. A big clump of folded up papers that were fastened together with large old rusty metal paper clips sat on top of what appeared to be a wad of folded up, light colored fabric, as if the fabric had been padding for the box. The papers seemed to be yellowed newspaper pages or clippings. With a delicate hand, Madison lifted out the papers, careful not to touch the rusty edges of the paper clips, and briefly wondered how long ago paper clips started being made with plastic. There were also folded pieces of cardboard tucked along the walls within the box. For extra padding maybe? Everything appeared to be dirty or stained.
    Okay, she thought, so nothing here is obvious. No money, blueprints, or diamonds. Not even one body part. So far, so good. Perhaps the dreaded secret was something in the newspaper stories. She decided she would spread all the papers out on the floor, and one by one, inspect…
    She heard steps outside in the hallway. Her heart rate sped up a tiny bit as she got up and looked out the peephole. She saw the backs of people walking past her door at a casual speed, their voices a low murmur with the occasional chuckle echoing in the hall as they continued walking. Sounded like a man and a woman. Just other residents. Everything was okay. Except for her nerves.
    She returned to the box and the papers on the floor. Looking down at the seemingly harmless contents, she had to remind herself that her grandfather had fought like a man possessed, and it was somehow related to the contents of this box. He had said “These people are still very dangerous.” But to whom was he was referring? And who the hell was Ned? It hadn’t sounded like her grandfather’s voice which meant it had to be the stranger who’d been yelling it. But why would he be calling her grandfather Ned? His name was Vincent. Vincent Cruz.
    And there was another thing that was really bugging her. Grandpa had said they hacked in and found him. But who would have the sophistication to hack into the UW archives? And why bother? Her grandfather lived an open life. He wouldn’t be hard to find.
    A more disturbing memory strong-armed its way to the front of her mind. He had actually been putting duct tape on that man’s mouth! She had never seen that in real life. He probably wanted to keep him quiet so the neighbors didn’t alert the police. So if Grandpa needed time to go get help, and he said it would take days, then someone would have to feed and water the duct taped stranger while Grandpa was gone. That must be who he was referring to on the voicemail. But who would that be? Who would Grandpa trust?
    Tears flooded her eyes. She was feeling that scared-little-girl moment again. Damn it, Madison, not now. Fight it. She roughly wiped away the tears and inhaled through her nose as hard as she could. My job is to hide the box, but they must know now that I brought it into my apartment. She had to go somewhere where it would be safe to look over those papers and try to figure out what was happening. And that meant getting dressed because fleeing in your bra and panties was never a good idea.
    She hurried into her bedroom and threw on some jeans, a tank top, and athletic shoes. She didn’t know when she’d be back. She took a quick look around the room. ExBoy was right. The neglect in her bedroom, hell, in her whole apartment, would be turning into mutiny status soon. She had a hard time remembering what was dirty laundry and what was clean. Laundry. Good thought. Maybe she could hang out at Spenser’s house and get a load done there. Madison was quite skilled as a seamstress, having learned from her grandmother. The usual deal was Madison would fix hems, tears, buttons; anything Spenser might need in exchange for the use of Spenser’s washer, dryer, and laundry soap.
    She pulled her pillowcase off of her pillow and stuffed it full of dirty laundry and some probably-dirty laundry. She kicked through some of the clothes on the floor. Good thing