Page 80 of Deception

“True,” she said. Madison was relieved, but eliminating her dad put her back at square one. “Once I have the funeral arrangements finalized, I plan to stop by James Hargrove’s office. Any chance you could meet me there?”

He nodded. “Unless an emergency comes up. Just give me a call.”

“Shooting for eleven-ish.”

He gave her a thumbs-up as his cell phone rang. “I need to take this.”

“Why don’t I run to the restroom while you talk.”

“Thanks.”

Clayton was answering as she strode to the entrance. While she was inside, Madison took care of the check and answered a call from her grandfather’s attorney. The judge had made her executor of his will, and the attorney wanted to meet with her Monday at nine to go over the details. She was not looking forward to that.

When she returned and reclaimed her chair, he’d finished his call and the server had cleared their table. “I guess I better not keep you any longer,” Madison said.

He leaned forward and put his elbows on the table. “I want to run something by you.”

She tilted her head and waited.

“What if someone mistook Dani for you here in Natchez like I did, right here in this restaurant? And they followed her to Coles Creek and shot her, thinking it was you.”

The sensation of falling made Madison grip the table even though she was sitting. Once she was steady, she let Clayton’s words roll around in her brain. Thoughts that had been hovering in the back of her mind crystalized. Thoughts she’d kept at bay until now. But first she wanted to know why he brought it up. “Why do you say that?”

“Couple of reasons. First, I believe you were the target at the hospital. If it was Bri, the shooter could have taken her out earlier, when she left Dani’s car to get something to eat.”

Madison stared down at her hands and let his words sink in.

“Another thing,” Clayton said. “I had a confidential informant check the dark web for a contract on Bri or Dani. There wasn’t one under her current name or the Lindsey Tremont identity, and there’s no chatter about either of them. That leaves you. My next question is, who in your past would want you dead?”

Madison raised her head and found strength in his blue eyes. The thoughts she’d kept silent about spilled out. “Maybe someone wants both of us dead.”

He leaned back. “I haven’t considered that possibility. Any thoughts who might want you both out of the way?”

“Hardly. I’m still dealing with the knowledge that I have a twin sister.”

“Well, now that you’ve put it out there, we need to explore the possibility and the threat you might pose to someone.”

Any number of reasons came to her mind. “Maybe someone stands to lose a great deal if we connected with our birth parents.”

He chewed his bottom lip. “Or if your birth parents kept your birth a secret all these years, there could be all sorts of reasons they might not want you to find them.”

She palmed her hands up. “Neither of them has anything to worry about from me—I have no desire to meet the people who never wanted me.”

43

Clayton rubbed his jaw with his thumb. He was tempted to tell Madison what Dani had found out about their mother—that she’d taken the DNA test and how young she’d been when they were born. It might help Madison understand why she’d given the twins up. But he hesitated. Even though Dani hadn’t sworn him to secrecy, he didn’t feel comfortable sharing the information.

“There’s another possibility,” he said. “What if there’s another sibling who stands to inherit a great deal of money and doesn’t want to share it?”

“Has Dani indicated we have more brothers and sisters?”

“No,” he said truthfully. “But I think it’s time you two sat down and discussed what she’s learned.”

“I agree ... it’s just that the timing is all wrong.” Her gaze dropped to the table, and when she lifted her head, her eyes were wet. “I have so many things to do, I don’t even know where to begin.”

“You know how to eat the hippopotamus, right?”

“Hippopotamus?” She burst out laughing. “Don’t you mean elephant?”

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