Page 100 of Deception

He checked out the surrounding buildings. There were several groups of people walking in the deepening darkness. They should have made the dinner for an earlier time. He hurried her inside the building, and immediately the aroma coming from the wood-fired oven caught his attention. King’s Tavern had the best flatbread and pizzas around. Clayton scanned the room. Not too busy for a Friday night.

Beside him, Madison tensed, and he followed her gaze to where her father sat at one of the wooden picnic tables. The woman beside him was the same woman in the photos. While Hargrove’s file said she was forty-two, she looked older ... maybe it was the too-blond hair that aged her and gave her a hard look. Gregory surprised him by standing when they approached.

“Glad you could make it.” He offered Clayton his hand. Then it looked as though he was going to hug Madison, but before he could, she sat on the bench that served as a chair and slid over to give Clayton room.

“Margo Ellington, my daughter, Madison, and her friend Clayton Bradshaw.”

“Nice to meet you.” Madison nodded, her lips tight with a plastic smile.

This was not going to go well. Clayton felt it in his bones.

54

I’ve been so looking forward to this,” Margo gushed. “Your dad brags on you all the time.”

“Really?” Madison clamped her jaw tight to keep it from dropping to the floor, then realized Margo had probably made the remark to break the ice. She couldn’t help asking, “What does he say?”

“Oh, how proud he is of you. How successful you are, and that you’re so busy you never have time to come and visit, that sort of thing.”

Madison could believe her father’s compliment since it explained why she never came home. She studied the slim woman. She had pale skin that her platinum hair washed out even more. Either she didn’t listen to her hairdresser—because no stylist would willingly dye their customer’s hair the color Margo’s was—or she colored it herself. Madison opted for the former because the simple, just-below-the-chin hairstyle was salon perfect, and while the color didn’t suit her face, the style did.

Margo was nothing like Madison’s dark-haired and olive-skinned mother. “Do you plan to drive back to Jackson tonight?”

Margo’s smile faltered slightly, and she shifted her gaze to Madison’s father.

“No,” her dad said. “Margo wanted to stay at one of the antebellum bed-and-breakfasts, and we chose the Burn.”

An awkward silence fell on the table, until Clayton cleared his throat. “The Burn is my favorite,” he said. “Be sure to pick up the book one of the original owners wrote. It’s a fascinating read.”

The Burn was only a mile or so from her grandfather’s house. They could’ve walked there. Madison turned to Margo. “So, when did you get into Natchez?”

“This afternoon.”

If that could be believed. Maybe Clayton knew the owners well enough to ask when they arrived. She still wasn’t convinced her dad hadn’t trashed the judge’s study looking for Hargrove’s file on him. And maybe Margo was the woman who locked Nadine in the closet. “Have you had a chance to tour Melrose?”

“We’ll probably do that tomorrow. We took this afternoon to settle in and explore the bed-and-breakfast and a little of the downtown area.”

Just then, the waitress appeared with a tray loaded with food. Her father cleared his throat. “I went ahead and ordered an assortment of flatbreads while we were waiting for you and unsweetened tea for both of you.”

“Sounds good—it’s what we planned to order, anyway,” Clayton said.

“We got here early,” Margo said quickly, her voice conciliatory.

Madison knew her father felt like she’d kept them waiting even though his words didn’t actually say it. Nothing more was said while they sampled the food. The girlfriend’s personality was not at all what Madison expected. Could she have been the woman who kept apologizing to Nadine for putting her in a closet, maybe so her dad could search the house for Hargrove’s file? They certainly had opportunity.

Margo wasn’t quite the shrew Nadine had painted her to be. Or was the platinum blond on her best behavior tonight to impress Madison ... or her dad? She tilted her head toward the other woman. “How long have you two known each other?”

“Years,” Margo answered for both of them. “When I was a paralegal, my office was just down the hall from his, so ever since I’ve been with the company.”

Madison sipped her tea. “You’re no longer a paralegal?”

A broad grin spread across the other woman’s face. “I just passed the bar and will start work as a lawyer the first of the month. This trip is sort of a celebration, but of course, I never expect to be in the same league as your father—I’ll continue my work in real estate.”

Her dad leaned toward Margo. “You’ll be very good at it too.”

Color flushed her face and she beamed. “Thank you.”

Madison had to get as much information from her as she could. “So, what do you do when you’re not working?”

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