Page 109 of A Dangerous Proposal

Alex

Sleeping. Still has a fever, but he seems comfortable.

Wife

This interview is running a little long.

Alex

Everything is under control.

The dots next to her name appeared and disappeared a few times.

Wife

Thank you for taking care of him.

He stared at her message for a moment before typing his response.

Alex

Always.

Chapter Thirty-Three

The windshield wipers swiped lazily across the glass, brushing away the light drizzle that had started while she was inside the pharmacy. Madison drummed her fingers against the steering wheel and willed the long line of traffic in front of her to move. When she’d called the pediatrician, she’d expected to set up an appointment, but the doctor had suggested she start the nebulizer treatments right away.

Jax had been fussy this morning, a little extra clingy. She should have recognized that as a sign something was wrong. A car slammed on their brakes, and she cursed.

On top of her worries for Jax, Madison couldn’t stop thinking about the phone interview she and Cami had conducted earlier.

Cary Weaver. The victim’s ex-girlfriend.

The woman had been understandably defensive. Her voice had wavered with barely contained frustration as she spoke about her brother, Clint.

“He told me it was an accident.”

The line wouldn’t leave Madison’s head.

“He told me.” Not just the declarative, “It was an accident.”

Did that mean part of Cary’s subconscious didn’t believe her brother?

Cary insisted that Clint wasn’t a violent monster,“…the way Jesse’s family is making my brother out to be. It’s awful, the way everyone is talking about Clint, just because he was the first one there. All he’s ever done is try to be a supportive brother.”

Madison clenched the steering wheel as more of the woman’s words came back to her.

“Jesse was making up stuff about me, saying I threatened to take our baby away. That was never true. Jesse didn’t care about our daughter, he only cared about hurting me. He was always smoking those disgusting unfiltered cigarettes in the house with her, even though I told him the doctor said it was bad.”

Then Cary swung back to defend her brother again.

“As protective as Clint is, he wouldn’t have killed him. Besides, it had to be an accident, right? The police investigated. This is only a big deal because Jesse’s sister wants to be famous on social media.”

Red flags were shooting up in Madison’s mind.

“I know there are questions,”Cary had admitted, her voice growing quieter.“The autopsy showed he had a head wound. But we’ll never know, right? Maybe he was drunk and fell. Elijah said it could have been a lit cigarette that started the fire with all the gas buildup. Maybe the smoke got to him. Unless you were there, you’d never really know.”

The words clung to Madison, burrowing deep beneath her skin.

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