Cynthia Hamilton - Madeline Dawkins 02 - A High Price to Pay by Cynthia Hamilton Page A

instructor before turning toward the stairs.
    “See you next week. Have a good weekend,” Teri called out. Mike nodded his goodbye and started out after his partner. Teri stopped him in his tracks.
    “What’s going on?” she asked, cocking her head to take in all six-feet-four of him. Mike readied himself with a handy excuse, but his karate master would know he was lying before the words left his mouth.
    “One of the men who left her to die in the cellar was released from prison last week,” Mike conceded. Master Coffee’s expression slowly shifted from curious to wary.
    “Does anyone know where he is?”
    “He’s in the morgue.” Teri took this in and mentally sifted through the possible explanations.
    “I don’t suppose he killed himself out of remorse,” she said tersely.
    “No, he didn’t shoot a hole through the back of his head and throw himself into Lake Cachuma, unfortunately. The most likely suspect is Madeline’s ex-husband’s former head of ‘security,’ a misnomer if there ever was one.”
    “Does this mean Madeline is in danger?”
    Mike’s gaze floated to the ceiling, as if to escape Master Coffee’s penetrating stare. “That’s the big question, and no one seems to know the answer. But if you were in her position, what would you believe?”
    “I believe that you are more fearful than Madeline is at this point, probably because you see yourself as her protector.”
    The air escaped Mike’s lungs in one long wheeze. He knew better than to test Teri on any level, especially when it came to the art of self-protection. He sucked air in between his teeth and humbly bowed to Teri’s astute observation.
    “You have to try to be supportive of her without wanting to control her actions. You want her to be safe from the bad guys. We all want that for each other. But we can’t assign ourselves as guardians, not unless someone asks us to. Madeline is a strong woman, strong in many ways. When she needs your help—or mine—she’ll be strong enough to ask for it.”
    “So you’re saying I have to back off and wait until she realizes how much danger she’ s in?”
    “I’m saying you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. I think you know that pretty well from your own experiences,” Teri said, a smile turning up the corners of her mouth. Mike grunted out a begrudging laugh.
    “Touché. How did you get to be so enlightened?” he asked as he held the door open for her.”
    “Years of experience,” she replied. “Many years.”

SEVEN
    Madeline sat in her office, staring into space while her computer loaded. Despite the news that Rick Yeoman had been found dead, thus putting her in possible jeopardy, she considered the day a net winner. She had her first investigation, which thrilled her to no end. That it came from the same household where she was currently employed as an event coordinator made things a little tricky. But she was far more interested in solving the case of the missing jewels than she was in catering to the whims of a spoiled, insecure film director’ s wife.
    She clicked on the icon for the credit reporting agency favored by her mentor, the dubious Russell Barnett, who had aided and abetted in her video-recorded rape at the Edgecliff Hotel. By all rights, she should loathe the man, but he had stuck to his part of the bargain and trained her and Mike for the required three-year apprenticeship, which led to this new career. Besides, she had finally come to understand that one should never harbor hate, if for no other reason than it will destroy you from within. Her own instincts for survival kept her from reliving what she had been through at the behest of her husband; if she dwelled on that period of her life, she’d surely lose her sanity.
    She read over the notes she’d made throughout the day. Most pertained to the Alexander party and the Campbell wedding. She felt comfortably up to speed on both those fronts. She even had two new dresses to augment