Endangered: A Delecoeur Mystery #1 Read Online Free PDF

with her.
It just seemed rude not to. I wanted to strangle Springer. He didn’t feel he
could call off the investigation of me without looking like I was getting
favors.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    He nodded. “As long as you're okay,
that’s all that matters.” He pushed an auburn curl off her forehead.  “I should
have been here with you. I’m sorry-"
    “No, Max. You had work you needed to do.
There’s probably nothing you could have done anyway.”
    “If this wasn't an accident, that means
someone tried to kill you.”
    “It was no accident. He was gunning for
me. I just don’t know who’d want to kill me.”
    “Alan?”
    Madeleine looked at him with surprise.
“I still can’t believe he’d be stealing from the foundation much less trying to
kill me.”
    “I thought that too. Maybe it was
Julia?”
    “I don’t think so.”
    “She came on pretty strong at lunch.”
    “Are you trying to make me jealous?”
Madeleine teased.
    He smiled sheepishly. “No, but the Julia
I knew had a way of getting something in her head and doing whatever it took to
make it happen.”
    Madeleine thought for a moment. “I have
no doubt that she’d enjoy having an affair with you. Especially if it meant
stealing you from your wife. But, someone like Julia doesn’t want to be in
second place. If I were dead, I’d still be with you, first in your heart. She
knows that and would never settle to live in my shadow.”
    Max nodded. “You may be right.”
    “So, who does that leave us with?”
    “Actually, your heckler is at the top of
my list. You didn't mention that he cornered you.”
    Madeleine could hear the accusation
behind his statement. “I didn’t think it was important. He was intent on making
me out to be a bad person for starving families, but I thought he was just
caught up in the moment.”
    “Who was he?”
    Madeleine shrugged. “I don’t know. He
didn’t seem to fit in.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Most people there are supporters of
conservation and environmental efforts particularly the ones his age. He
couldn’t have been more than 25. And he was in a business suit.”
    “Twenty something corporate type?”
    “Yes.”
    “Springer is trying to hunt him down.”
    “You think he wanted to kill me because
of my views?”
    “I don't know. But don't worry about it.
Right now you need to focus on getting better.”
    "You look tired. You should get
some rest." She ran her finger along the dark shadows below his eyes.
    "I'm not leaving you here
alone."
    "Well, then," she said lifting
the edge of the bed sheet. "Why don't you join me?"
    One dark brow lifted, then he grinned.
He removed his shoes and climbed into the bed with her. "What a scandal
we'll cause."
    "I like a good scandal." He
pulled her close and Madeleine sunk into his warmth, drew from his strength.
Her heart went out to him. It was bad enough that she'd been missing, but to
have people think he was involved in her disappearance would have made him
crazy.
    She leaned in, kissed his cheek. It was
still amazing to her that they'd found each other. She'd always thought she'd
never get married. Not that she had anything against marriage. She knew love
and lasting happiness existed because she saw it in her own parents. But
Madeleine had always longed for adventure. Her dream was to become a journalist
and travel the world. A modern day Martha Gellhorn. And that kind of life
didn't include marriage and family. Martha had married once and it ended badly.
Of course, she was married to the mercurial Earnest Hemmingway, which may have
been part of the problem.
    When Madeleine met Max, she was
instantly drawn to him and as it turned out, he was to her as well. But she resisted.
Why fall in love only to leave that love in tatters because he couldn't handle
how much she traveled? But Max was persistent and helped her realized that she
didn't need to pick between love and her career. With Max, she could have both.
    Of course she had to compromise.