Cynthia Hamilton - Madeline Dawkins 01 - Spouse Trap by Cynthia Hamilton Page B

for sure. But he’s involved in several real estate partnerships.”
    Burt took a wad of keys from his pocket and unlocked a drawer on his left. He took out a phone and checked the battery life. He then handed it to Madeline, along with a charger.
    “This phone will not be traceable back to you.” Madeline studied the phone for a moment before depositing it and the charger in her tote. “And that will be the way I contact you.”
    “What is our next step?” she asked.
    “Well, we’ve got to discuss my fee. I charge $100 an hour, plus $500 up front for expenses. I can’t give you an estimate at this point because it all depends on the amount of hours I put in. I refund anything left over from the expense funds, but given the complexity of your case, unless we get really lucky, I can see myself spending several days on this assignment. Can you manage that?”
    “Yes. I have a separate bank account in my maiden name that my husband is unaware of.”
    “Can I make a copy?” Burt asked as he reached for the photographs. Madeline nodded hesitantly. He picked one that wasn’t showing just the man’s back, though Burt doubted he’d have any luck learning his identity with so little to go on. “Don’t worry, I’ll cut you out,” he said, as he put the photo on the copier. “Did you have a professional photographer at the ball?”
    “Yes,” Madeline said, instantly realizing the significance of this. “And a videographer. I haven’t had a chance to look through all the photos yet. Damn, I wished I’d thought of that sooner.”
    “It’s okay. You really haven’t had much time to react yet.”
    “The videographer said we’d have the final cut in a few days. You don’t suppose either of them would be involved in this…”
    “You never know until you start digging around. In any event, tell both of them you want to see every frame they took of the event. You’re going to need to go through everything thoroughly, see if you can get a good picture of this guy. That would make it a lot easier to find him. Even if no one else at the fundraiser can identify him, I can have it run through face-recognition databases. If he’s got any kind of record, we’ve got him. Once we have him, we can find out if and how he’s linked up with your husband.” The thought of actually coming face to face with the man in the photos—the man who’d drugged her, undressed her and raped her chilled her to the core.
    “In the meantime, I’ll need a physical description of him,” Burt said, pen poised to take notes.
    “Oh…okay…I wish I’d paid more attention to him when we were dancing. The truth is I was too preoccupied by Steven’s odd behavior.”
    “Just tell me anything you can remember. About how tall would you say he was?”
    “We were about the same height, but I was wearing four-inch heels. So, that would make him around 5’11” or six feet.” Burt scrutinized the photo.
    “Seems fit,” he surmised. Madeline’s breathing became fast and shallow again. Burt put the photos back in the envelope and slid them across the desk. “Can you think of any other characteristics? The color of his eyes? Any scars?” Madeline tried to focus her mind on that night. She had been only inches from his face, yet she could barely recall anything at all about his features. “Did he remind you of anyone—a friend, a movie star…?”
    “Oh gosh… He had dark hair, combed back, I think. He seemed attractive, but it was more about the way he carried himself than his actual features.”
    “So, not the kind of guy who attracts stares from the ladies?”
    “No…I’d say he was average good-looking.” Burt laid the pen down.
    “What should I do now?” she asked after she digested the possibility of nailing Steven and his accomplices.
    “I think you need to pretend everything is just hunky dory in the Ridley household. Do everything you would normally do until Steven gets back.” Madeline let out a strained