Page 101 of Deception

“Oh, a little of this and that.”

“Nothing you’re passionate about?”

Margo shifted her gaze briefly to Madison’s father. “Your father hates it, but I dabble in skeet shooting, and I’m on a rifle team. We compete all over the state.”

Clayton snapped his fingers. “I’ve been trying to remember where I’ve seen you and that’s it. We’ve competed against each other.”

“Clayton Bradshaw.” Margo said the name slowly. “Yes, I do believe I remember you.”

“You’re an excellent shot,” Clayton said. “And don’t you compete in the bull’s-eye category at some of the meets?”

“You have a good memory,” her dad said.

“I just remember the people who beat me,” he said with a smile.

Margo Ellington was a crack shot, but was she in Natchez the night her grandfather and Dani were shot? Or at the hospital the next day? Could she probe a little without making them suspicious? “Is this your first time to Natchez, Margo?”

Margo shifted her attention from Clayton to Madison and shook her head. “I’ve been here a few times. How about you? How long will you be in Natchez?”

“Good question. I’ll have Grandfather’s estate to settle, and there’s still the case that brought me here.”

Conversation shifted to her father’s next trip to the West Coast. Exhaustion washed over Madison as she tried to pay attention. Putting up a false front was wearing on a day that had already been grueling. She placed her napkin on her plate and flashed them both a smile that she was sure didn’t reach her eyes.

“This has been nice.” She glanced at Clayton, and he nodded. “But I have a full day tomorrow, so if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be going.”

“So soon?” her dad asked, his voice polite but not warm. “Maybe we can do this again sometime.”

Not in this lifetime. “Perhaps.”

She stood and Clayton followed, extending his hand to her dad. “Thank you for dinner.”

“My pleasure,” her dad murmured. “I think we’ll stay and have dessert.”

At the door, Madison glanced back at the couple. Her father was more relaxed than she’d ever seen him. Had he ever looked at her mother the way he was looking at Margo? Not that Madison remembered. But then, with her mental and emotional problems, her mother wasn’t the easiest person to get along with.

That still didn’t excuse him from having an affair.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Clayton said as they walked out of the restaurant.

“If you say so.” The night air was comfortable and warmer than it’d been for the last few days ... probably a storm brewing.

He opened her door and she slid across the seat, then he walked around to his side and climbed in. “Want to take a ride? Or go to your grandfather’s?”

“I should go home and see if I have access to my cases...”

“But...?”

Madison sighed. “I don’t know if I can focus. Tonight ... this was hard. I actually might have liked Margo in differentcircumstances, and that makes me feel guilty since she was having an affair with my dad before my mother died.”

“Let’s take a drive,” he said and pulled away from the curb. “I know a spot where you can relax. It’s a place I found after I stopped gambling, and it’s not far—about ten miles up the Trace.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Once they were on the Trace, Clayton asked, “Your parents’ marriage. What was it like?”

Madison leaned her head against the seat with her eyes closed and let the memories wash over her. “Like all marriages, there were highs and lows. They yelled a lot ... no, that’s not true. Mom yelled a lot when she was in her manic phase. Then there was Dad—he was like this immoveable rock, especially as her bipolar disorder progressed.”

“Your mom was bipolar?”

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