Page 114 of Deception

There were several sets of papers clipped together, and Madison picked up the top set. It appeared to be an agreement of some sort. The last page was her original birth certificate, and she found the space with the birth mother and father names. Teresa Winslow. The name she’d wondered about for so many years. Teresa had a nice ring to it. Did Madison have any other siblings?

She showed Clayton the line with their birth mother’s age. “Dani was right when she said she was only fifteen.”

“Does it give your father’s name?”

“Jimmy Cassidy, but beside his name, it says deceased.” Their birth mother had found herself pregnant and alone. No wonder she’d given them up for adoption.

“Wonder what happened to him?” Clayton said.

“Maybe we’ll find out once we find our birth mother. Why is her name so familiar?”

“Last name’s the same as Judith Winslow’s.”

Madison flipped the sheets back to the beginning and scanned through them, her breath catching at the mention of fifty thousand dollars to cover the cost of the pregnancy. By the time she reached the last page where William Samuel Anderson and Judith Winslow had signed the document, Madison was glad she was sitting—if she’d been standing, her legs would’ve given way. No matter how they framed the wording, her birth grandmother had sold Madison to her grandfather.

She raised her gaze to Clayton’s. “Was this even legal?”

“I don’t know. I do know this has to be a terrible blow.”

A terrible blow didn’t even begin to describe how Madison felt. The one man she thought she could depend on had bought her like she was a piece of property. She pressed her fingers to her temples.

The alarm she’d set for eleven forty-five buzzed. Madison stared at her watch. And now she had to attend a funeral that would honor his exemplary career as a judge and human being. And not just attend but eulogize him.

“I’ll be praying for you this afternoon,” Clayton said.

“Don’t bother. I doubt God’s listening.” Madison stood and stuffed the papers in the bag with the others. When it came down to it, she only had herself to depend on.

“You’ve been mostly happy, haven’t you? I mean, with your parents, growing up in Memphis...”Was this what her grandfather wanted totalk to her about Wednesday night? If it was, no wonder he’d been relieved when she was called out.

Madison closed the now-empty box and shoved it back in the vault before removing her key. “Do you think my parents knew about this?”

“You could ask your dad.”

“I’m sure he’d deny it.”

“Then you have no way of knowing, unless there’s something in the files we missed, or in the handwritten note.”

Ah yes. The note. Well, she wasn’t ready to read it. Didn’t know if she ever would be. Like a robot, Madison grabbed the bag she’d put the papers in and handed it to Clayton to store in his gun safe until after the funeral. She didn’t even want to touch it. With her back ramrod straight, she walked out of the vault.Don’t think. Don’t feel.It was the only way she could get through the funeral.

For the next two hours, Madison accepted condolences from the stream of people coming to pay their respects, most she didn’t know from Adam. She had no idea what she said to any of them. Hopefully she thanked them for coming.

Once she saw Judith Winslow but then lost sight of her. Madison had a few questions for the woman. At times her father stood nearby, giving her support, and that surprised her. Even more surprising—he’d left Margo at the Burn.

But most of all, she drew strength from the way Clayton rarely left her side, his hand often resting on the small of her back, telling her she could do this. When her voice cracked, he brought her a bottle of water, and when she thought her legs wouldn’t hold her up another moment, he appeared with a stool for her to sit on.

If circumstances had been different ... if she didn’t have so much baggage ... But she did. After the way her grandfather had betrayed her, Madison didn’t think she could ever trust another living soul.

Just before the service was to start, she escaped to the restroom to freshen up a bit. She wet a paper towel and blotted her face, then freshened up her lipstick. Another hour and a half to put on an act. She wished she hadn’t gone to the bank before the funeral.

The door opened and Madison froze as Judith Winslow walked into the small room.

“Hello, dear. I’m glad I caught you—the line has been so long that I simply avoided it, hoping I might see you later.”

“How could you sell your own grandchildren?” The words were out of Madison’s mouth before she could stop them.

The color fled from the older woman’s face. “Excuse me? I don’t think I understood you.”

Judith Winslow didn’t even have the decency to admit what she’d done. “You understood me all right. I found my adoption papers.”

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