Madison's Quest Read Online Free PDF Page B

done in here, I’ll follow-up and
find out if the police have anything.”
    Reluctantly he released her hand, not sure what contact,
exactly, his grandfather would view as appropriate, given the chance this was
more than just a case. Speaking of which… “So someone was going to clue me in?”
    Madison met Bulldog’s gaze, not that she could read anything
in his expression. “Why am I here if you don’t know who my biological father
is?”
    He opened his top drawer and pulled out a business envelope,
placing it on the desk. Her first name was typed on its front.
    “A friend of mine called in a debt. In the event you came to
San Francisco, I was to give you this.”
    She picked up the envelope and opened it. Extracted the
sheet of paper and unfolded it.
    Shane scooted closer, his shoulder touched to hers. His knee
touched to hers.
    Was he even aware of doing it?
    It didn’t matter. She liked having the contact, liked the
feeling they were in this together as she read:
    From low to high, four steps beneath oak trees meant to
broaden, narrow instead. Dreams and desire are obliterated with rigid focus and
a tenacious, dog-like climb toward a fifth step that heads toward an unwanted
destination. Heart’s passion and blue-sky promise become lost in a clouded view
as Days progress by the dozens, counting down like a shuffled dance 5-3-1.
    “Shit,” Shane muttered. “My brain already hurts.”
    It made her smile when she should have felt like crying.
When she should have felt angry at being forced to continue dancing to some
stranger’s tune.
    She offered the letter to Bulldog.
    He shook his head. “My part in this is done. I can’t give
any further assistance, though I am supposed to tell you that your biological
father wants you to get to know him. But in the event you’d prefer to go home,
I’ll purchase the ticket right now.”
    There was no mention of a financial incentive, but maybe
there didn’t need to be in this moment. She was here. She was unwillingly
intrigued by the clue and beyond that, turning around and going back to
Richmond would make her parents think she’d experienced yet another failure.
    And then there was Shane. She’d regret not getting to know
him better.
    “I’ll stick,” she said.
    Bulldog lifted his phone. “I’ll let Tyler know to expect
you.”
    Shane stood. “Might as well spend some time on the clue
before we head to Tyler’s.”
    She followed him into the reception area.
    “The cops give you a card with the case number on it?” he
asked.
    “Yes.” She tugged it out of her back pocket and passed it
off, their hands brushing, eyes connecting before he dropped onto the couch.
    She sat next to him, putting the clue between them and then
tipping the envelope.
    A cardkey fell onto her thigh.
    “Damn. That’s going to take the fun out of it,” he said.
    She laughed. “I bet you attract trouble without any effort.”
    He grinned. “Can’t take that bet.”
    “So you’d prefer to break-in to wherever Bio-dad’s clue
leads us?”
    He wiggled his fingers. “These are golden.”
    Her body flushed. Her gaze traveled upward, to sensuous lips,
to eyes transmitting heat.
    “Yeah, I bet.”
    “That’s one I’ll take.” He glanced behind her, at Bulldog’s
office. “But not here. Not now anyway.”
    She shivered, not sure which was more likely when it came to
Shane—resisting, or giving in to temptation.
    He scrolled through a contact list on his phone, tapped.
    She lifted the keycard, looked at both sides. The newness
and the lack of identifying lettering made her think it’d been created
specifically to hand off to her.
    She tucked it back into the envelope, stilled when she heard
Shane say, “That’s what, less than a mile from where she was hit?”
    He hung up a minute later, lips tight and eyes hard, outlaw biker
now instead of laid-back surfer.
    “They found the car,” she guessed, pulse skipping then
settling into a hard throbbing.
    “Yeah. The owner