Cynthia Hamilton - Madeline Dawkins 02 - A High Price to Pay Read Online Free PDF Page B

him.”
    Mike watched the detective leave. “Thank you,” he said, but it was too late. He heard Slovitch’s footfalls as they passed down the corridor.
    “Son of a bitch!” Mike swore, spinning around, fighting a powerful urge to upend his desk. For a split second, he missed the good old days, when giving vent to his feelings felt as good as knocking back a bottle of tequila.
    He took a deep breath, executed a karate combination and cleared the anger from his mind. Slovitch was right: Madeline was in an advantageous position, more so than the average victim of violent attacks. She had three years of investigative training to her credit and was close to achieving a black belt in karate. She could think and act on her feet, and she had a very organized, analytical mind. And he’d be with her every step of the way. Together they could present a solid defense.
    Mike sighed. Who was he kidding? Sending the two of them out to find Usherwood would be like sending a Girl Scout troop out to apprehend a band of Hell’ s Angels.

FOUR
    Mike wheeled out of his office, heading for Madeline’s.
    “She’s not here,” Lauren said, her eyes not leaving her computer screen.
    “Where’d she go?”
    “I don’t know.” Lauren flipped open the file in front of her and kept working. Mike stared at her, willing her to look up and help him out. “You could try her cell phone,” Lauren suggested, grabbing another file from the stack, giving him a casual glance in the process.
    Mike whipped out his phone and walked back to his side of the office and kicked the door closed as he speed-dialed his partner. The call went straight to voicemail.
    “Damn!” He reopened the door with such fury, he had no trouble catching Lauren’s attention this time.
    “Try texting her.” Mike did as she suggested. The two of them stared at each other while they waited for a response.
    “What’s going on?” Lauren finally asked.
    “Nothing.”
    “Oh. Right. It sure feels like nothing,” she said, miffed, returning to her work. Mike fought to control his tongue.
    “One of the men who abducted Madeline was just found dead at Lake Cachuma.”
    “What? How can that be? I thought they all got life imprisonment. Except for that head dude, Usher-whatever. Is that who it was?”
    “Usherwood. No, it wasn’t him. It was Rick Yeoman, who apparently just cut a deal with the Feds. He was released last week and Usherwood or one of his associates executed him.” Lauren’s mouth dropped open.
    “Oh…no…” Her eyes widened as her mind skipped to the implications. “I bet Madeline is none too happy.”
    Mike barked out a hard laugh. “I don’t suppose anyone is. But I’m worried about her. I think the only way she could cope with what happened was to believe they’d never get to her again. Thanks to the FBI, she’s got to face the possibility that Usherwood will now be gunning for her.”
    Lauren slumped against the back of her chair. “No wonder she took off out of here. God, this couldn’t have come at a worse time. Can she get some kind of protection?”
    “The police aren’t offering any, and the Feds haven’t yet. Nobody even knows if Usherwood is back in the country or if he put a hit on Yeoman. Either way, it’s got her unnerved.”
    “Is there anything I can do?”
    “Find your boss for me. ASAP.”

    Madeline regarded the dresses she had grabbed as an excuse to occupy a dressing room. A weak chortle escaped her as the irony of taking refuge in her favorite hideout hit home. This was where she fled to when Steven unleashed his vile plan to blackmail her into a divorce, though she was hardly in the same financial bracket now as she was back then. But it just so happened that Saks was located in the building next to where her late private investigator, Burt Latham, had his office, the same office where she had built her event coordinating business.
    It seemed a strange coincidence that in the very week she and Mike launched their own