Page 150 of A Dangerous Proposal

Cami waved a hand. “It wasn’t bad.” She frowned. “I was thinking about what Cary said. She told us her brother had suggested Jesse might have been smoking while drunk, lit the fire, tried to escape, and then fell.”

Madison nodded, brow furrowed.

“But according to the fire marshal, the fire ignited in the kitchen.”

“So, why was Jesse in his bedroom?” Madison said. “Why wouldn’t he have tried to put out the fire or escape?”

Excitement lit Cami’s face. “Exactly. Why run back to the bedroom?”

“He could have been trying to save something?” Madison was dubious. Nothing they’d learned about Jesse indicated he was a sentimental man.

“I’m going to look at the pictures again. I feel like I’m missing something.”

“I can do it. You have enough going on.”

“Like you don’t? Besides, all I do is lie around. It will at least make me feel useful.” She looked down to where Jax was still chewing on the purse. “Jax, sweetie,” Cami cooed, reaching for the bag. “Are you teething on fashion accessories now?”

Madison rolled her eyes. “He’s obsessed with that purse.”

“It smells good.” Cami sniffed the interior of the purse again. “When did you start wearing Chanel No. 5?”

Madison snorted. “I don’t. That was Opal’s purse, and shedefinitelydidn’t wear it. Way too expensive. Your hormones are messing with your nose.”

“No, it’s definitely—shit!”

“What?”

But Cami was already prying Jax’s mouth open and pulling out something small and black. “He was trying to swallow it.”

“What is that?”

“Looks like a flash drive.”

Madison frowned. “Where did it come from?”

Cami ran her fingers through the purse. “Looks like there’s a little pocket here. You must have missed it when you cleaned it out. I wonder what’s on it?” Cami asked, curiosity piqued.

Madison turned it slowly in her fingers, a mixture of dread and excitement filling her. Was this what they’d been looking for? “There’s only one way to find out.”

She inserted the drive into a USB port on her laptop. The computer pinged as it recognized the device, and a folder popped up on the screen.

Insurance

Inside were dozens of files—PDFs, spreadsheets, audio recordings, and video clips. Madison scrolled through them, her pulse quickening.

Cami leaned over her shoulder. “Open that one.” She pointed to an audio file.

Madison clicked on it, and at first, all they could hear was rustling, and then the audio cleared. They listened to the conversation for several minutes before Madison clicked to stop it, heart racing.

“Holy shit!” Cami’s eyes were huge. “Were they talking about a bribe?” She looked at Madison. “Why would Opal have that?”

“It’s Felix’s father-in-law, Senator Armstrong.” Madison’s mouth was dry. She knew who the other voice was too, but she didn’t tell Cami.

Stomach churning, she clicked on a second file, angling the screen away from Cami. The video file labeledClub,July 2began with grainy footage of someone’s lap and then the angle changed, showing Mikhail sitting behind a desk. As soon as Alex’s brother came on screen, Madison slammed the computer shut.

“What are you doing?”

Madison met her friend’s eyes. “I need you to trust me on this. You don’t want to be involved.”

---