Death's Door (7 page)

“No telling where he came from. Some labs are very careful while others take any dogs they can get.”

They paused and waited while Aspen did his business on the greenbelt. An elderly woman dressed to the nines was walking a small white poodle with a Burberry collar nearby.

“What did you tell the police about Aspen?” Rob asked in a low voice.

“Nothing. I took the bill of sale off the counter and stuffed it in my purse before the police arrived. I planned to explain when I went down to the station for the interview, but when Dr. Wallace told me someone had deliberately sprayed stuff in Aspen’s eyes, I didn’t mention him.” She reached down and patted Aspen’s sleek head. “I was afraid they would give him back to those terrible people.”

“You’re absolutely right. They would have.”

“Did you tell them Erin called you about Aspen shortly before she was killed?”

Rob shook his head. “No. I can’t imagine the break-in had anything to do with her death. Those people are fanatics about animals. They don’t go around killing each other.”

“But won’t the police find your number in Erin’s phone records and know she called you shortly before she was murdered?”

“No. She told me she used a pay phone. Animal rights activists are really careful not to leave a trail to others. They won’t find anything on her computer or her phones that will link her to the group.”

Madison turned, hearing someone calling her name. A paunchy man with gray hair and eyebrows like steel wool was heading their way. She didn’t recognize him, and she was fairly certain he hadn’t been at the chapel. She’d given instructions to the guards to admit anyone to the island for the reception.

“Ridley Johnson,” he told them in a breathless voice. “I’m Erin Wycoff’s attorney. Sorry I couldn’t get to the funeral. I had a deposition.”

Madison stared at the man, not quite believing what she was hearing. Why would Erin need an attorney? She’d never
mentioned one. But then, there had been a lot of things her friend had neglected to tell her.

“I have to fly to New York tomorrow morning.” He shrugged. “That’s the price of being a one-man operation. You’re on the go all the time.”

Madison tried for a sympathetic smile, but her mind was still on Erin. What else hadn’t Erin told her? Maybe if she’d been more open with her, Madison might be able to help the police find her killer.

The lawyer looked at Rob, but spoke to Madison. “Could we talk in private? It’s about Miss Wycoff’s estate.”

Madison almost laughed at the word
estate.
Other than a few pieces of gold jewelry, Erin didn’t have much. “This is my friend Robert Matthews. He was also a close friend of Erin’s. You can talk in front of him.”

The lawyer arched one eyebrow skeptically, then said, “Miss Wycoff had me draw up a will for her about six months ago. She left you everything.”

For a gut-cramping second the world froze. “She did? I’m surprised Erin bothered with a will. She didn’t have much.”

He gazed at her for a long moment in a way that struck her as odd. “Like I explained to the police, the exact worth of her estate won’t be clear until the sale of the property is finalized and some back taxes paid. But it’s in the neighborhood of eleven million dollars.”

Eleven million? The magnitude of this news poleaxed her brain. She managed to whisper, “Are you sure?”

“What property?” asked Rob.

“It’s six acres outside Tallahassee. She inherited it from her parents. It was in the sticks when they bought it. The town’s spread out and a new shopping center is going in. She agreed to sell the land to the developer. It’s in escrow right now.”

“Oh my God,” Madison whispered. The police were already suspicious of Madison. Now they would have a motive for murder.

What does
forensic
mean?

M
ADISON BROUGHT
Aspen to work with her the morning following the funeral. The dog must have spent most of his life in a cage. She refused to lock him up inside the house all day long. There wasn’t any yard where she was staying. When she bought her own place, it would need to have an outdoor area for Aspen.

She wasn’t exactly sure when she’d decided to keep the retriever, but it had been in the back of her mind since she’d seen her closest friend’s dead body. The dog meant a lot to Erin or she wouldn’t have taken him home. There was nothing she could do for Erin now. It was too late for that, but she could help the dog. She was positive that’s what Erin would have wanted.

“You, like, got a dog,” Jade said the second Madison walked through the door. The receptionist’s black hair was now a suspicious shade of red and gelled heavenward. “How cool is that?”

“His name is Aspen.” She looked around but didn’t see Aiden or Chloe in their cubicles. “He’ll be coming to work with me until I find a place with a yard.”

“I’m sorry about your friend,” Jade said as she gave Aspen a pat. “Like, what a terrible thing to happen.”

“The worst, believe me. The worst.” She let her eyes roam over the small cube farm for a moment. It had been days since she’d been in the office. “What did I miss?”

Jade didn’t have an official title. No one but Aiden and Madison were called anything but associates. This had been the cornerstone of their “anticorporate” philosophy, but as part of the divorce settlement, Aiden and Madison became copresidents. Since Jade’s desk was up front, she was the receptionist by default to the few visitors. Her main function was to assist Aiden and Madison. Jade’s Goth appearance might be off-putting, but she was sharp. Madison knew Jade had been on top of everything while Madison was away.

“Not much happened,” Jade replied. “I put all the messages on your desk. Aiden may have, like, checked your e-mail for you.”

“Why would he do that?”

Jade shrugged and her expression curdled. “I guess he was trying to help. How cool is that?”

“Help with what?” she asked, trying to conceal her anger but hearing its undertone in her voice anyway. Once, they’d flitted in and out of each other’s cubicles, checked each other’s e-mails and written responses for each other. Those days were over. They no longer visited each other’s cubes unless it was absolutely necessary.

“Aiden must have thought you were, like, so busy with the funeral.”

But he couldn’t be bothered to come to the funeral. Madison doubted Aiden was trying to help. What had he been up to? She realized this was Jade’s way of letting her know without being a snitch. She smiled at Jade while silently applauding her own sixth sense. Something had told her Jade would be an asset to the company despite her questionable fashion sense.

“Where is Aiden?” Madison asked.

“He’s at the hospital with Chloe.”

From Jade’s matter-of-fact tone, Madison could tell Chloe wasn’t seriously ill. “What happened?”

Jade rolled eyes lined with a paintbrush. “Chloe got headlights. How cool is that?”

“A car accident?” Madison immediately thought of the Porsche Boxster that Aiden had bought for Chloe right after he walked out on Madison.

“No. Like, you know,
headlights
.”

“Oh.” The light dawned. Headlights were the rage in SoBe, where the babes paraded around with surgically enlarged breasts showcased by skimpy, tight tops. Erect nipples—a total turn-on for guys—crowned perfect chests. To keep them permanently erect, a surprising number of women had their nipples injected with cosmetic fillers that were also used to erase lines and plump up lips.

The whole thing sounded so painful, so ridiculous, that Madison couldn’t imagine suffering through the procedure just to attract men. But Chloe was different. Madison had sensed it when she’d interviewed her for a position at Total Trivia. There was something about Chloe that she hadn’t liked, but Madison had been so impressed by her credentials that she’d ignored her instincts.

As time had gone on and Madison had the opportunity to watch Chloe, she began to understand how insecure the woman was. Chloe had a brilliant mind, but she relied on sex to get her what she wanted. How did Aiden feel about this? she wondered. Did he like having a wife who turned heads? Was that what had been wrong with their marriage? Madison was attractive, but men didn’t drool when she walked into a room.

“Chloe was so sick the day after her surgery that Aiden canceled his lunch with Luis Estevez.”

Luis Estevez! A frisson of alarm skittered down her spine. They’d discussed adding gambling to Total Trivia and the possibility of using Allied Miami Bank, but they’d put off a decision. Rumors of mob connections and drug money surrounded the bank president who’d left Cuba as a child and had made a fortune in Little Havana, then moved into Miami’s financial district.

Madison and Aiden had agreed to wait and think about gambling. No, she mentally corrected herself, she’d told Aiden that she wanted to look into it more. Evidently, he’d gone ahead.

“I’d say you could call him to check in, but Aiden’s cell phone has to be off in the hospital.”

Her ex was never out of touch; he lived with his cell phone and BlackBerry. Chloe’s condition must be serious after all. “She’ll be okay. It’s not life-threatening. Is it?”

Jade shook her head. “Aiden called earlier. She has a staph infection but they’re getting it under control.”

“He’ll be in later?”

“He doesn’t want to leave Chloe if she needs him. How cool is that?”

Touching. Positively touching. Madison reached down and stroked Aspen’s silky head. She couldn’t help thinking this might be Chloe’s just deserts. The woman had been blessed with a brilliant scientific mind, yet she relied on her body to get what she wanted. Chloe had gone after Aiden with the determination of a shark after a fish.

After Aiden had left her for Chloe, Madison had run into an old friend from MIT. Pamela Nolan had gone on to grad school at Stanford, where she’d known Chloe. Pamela had described her as “pathologically sexual” and told tales of the havoc Chloe had wrought upon the grad program while she’d been at Stanford. Pamela didn’t know what had happened, but Chloe had left before receiving her master’s degree. No one knew why she’d headed to Miami.

Madison had considered telling Aiden, then thought it would sound like sour grapes. What was the gossip worth, anyway? Not much. People always talked about each other. Nothing she could have said would have changed Aiden’s mind. He was head over heels in love with Chloe.

A pang, a yearning as familiar as Madison’s own reflection in a mirror, hit her. Was there
nothing
Aiden wouldn’t do for
Chloe? He’d never once treated Madison with such adoration. Too often her longing to understand his betrayal had a rough edge that morphed into anger or self-pity.
Don’t go there,
she warned herself.
Keep your mind on business.

“I’ll be at my desk.” Madison jiggled Aspen’s leash. He’d settled himself on the floor while they’d been talking. As he jumped to his feet, she remembered the food. Even though it was barely midmorning, heat had purled up from the asphalt parking lot when she stepped out of her car and with it came a suffocating wave of humidity. It would be an oven in less than half an hour. “There’s food in my car from the reception. I want to put it out in the break room for everyone to share. Will you help me—”

“I’ll get it.” Jade popped out of her chair and Madison handed her the car keys. “You have work to do.”

“Okay, boy, here we are,” she told Aspen when they reached her office. “Find a spot and make yourself comfortable. We’ll be here for a while.”

Aspen cocked his head and gazed up at her as if he truly understood. He was an amazing animal. She knew from experience that he would nudge her with his nose when he had to go out. He was so well trained that it amazed her he could have wound up in a testing facility. Had he been stolen from someone who’d lovingly trained him?

Madison sat in her swivel chair, wondering as she had many times about the dog. She was tempted to search for his owners, but she was afraid to call attention to Aspen. Rob had warned this could result in the lab being able to prove it legally owned Aspen. She’d already decided that this dog would never be returned to a lab if she could help it. The retriever settled under her desk at her feet.

She sifted through the pile of messages that Jade had placed in her phone message box. Paul Tanner had called several times; he’d also left messages she’d ignored on her cell phone. Would the man ever give up and go away?

Madison was positive she hadn’t been conceived through some anonymous sperm donor. She was her father’s daughter. Zach Connelly had shared many secrets with her during the final days before cancer claimed him. He would have told her if she hadn’t been his biological daughter.

Not that it made any difference. Titles like father and sister were merely words. Erin’s death had sent Madison into an emotional tailspin. It was like losing her sister. She wouldn’t have loved a real sister any more than she had Erin. That’s why Erin’s secrets hurt so much. Why hadn’t she mentioned that the property her parents had left her had suddenly become so valuable?

Madison tamped down another emotional response and turned her thoughts back to her father. He’d raised her with so much love that she doubted any father and daughter could have been closer. When she spoke to her mother about Paul Tanner’s outrageous claim, they’d share a real hoot.

There were stacks of printouts on her desk. She knew most of them were trivia questions programmers wanted to post on the site but worried that players might have problems with. Trivia players were classic nitpickers. If an answer wasn’t exactly correct, the site would be inundated with e-mail complaints.

The first question she scanned asked about the tallest mountain on earth. The obvious answer was Mount Everest, but there was another mountain in Africa that was nearly half a mile taller. This was because the earth wasn’t round like a basketball, but elliptical, meaning it was wider at the equator. This width translated to additional height, making some obscure African mountain taller than Everest. This was exactly the type of question Total Trivia gamers adored, but it would have to be phrased properly to add the key element of the shape of the earth.

Madison was usually good at rewriting confusing questions,
but her mind was still muzzy from lack of sleep. She scooted the stack aside and turned on her computer, wondering why Aiden had been in her office. It certainly wasn’t to rework questions. Though Aiden was great with the computer and finances, he was terrible at rewrites. He left those to Madison.

Still suspicious about Aiden’s motives, she opened her e-mail folder and found hundreds had come in while she’d been away. She could have checked them from home, but she hadn’t bothered. Squinting at the screen, she scrolled through the list to see if any of them were really important.

Madison was still answering e-mails when she heard Jade walk into the cubicle. A quick glance at the time on her computer told Madison that nearly two hours had passed.

“There’s, like, someone to see you from the police,” Jade informed her. “How cool is that?”

Right behind Jade was one of the homicide detectives who’d questioned her at the station the day Erin’s body had been discovered. Suddenly there was a weight in the center of her stomach. She ventured a sideways glance under the desk where Aspen was sleeping. The dog couldn’t be seen from the opposite side of her desk where the detective stood watching her.

Madison rose, extended her hand and forced a smile. “Detective…”

“Lincoln Burgess.” The stout man with sparse gray hair and a walrus mustache shook her hand. A trace of stale cigarette smoke rose from his lightweight sport coat as he moved. “Mind if I sit?”

“Please.” Madison slowly sank into her own chair. She’d mentally prepared herself for this moment but now that it had arrived she couldn’t help being edgy.

“I just had a few follow-up questions.” His tone was conversational but it did nothing to ease her nerves. “It’s about the dog.”

Dread rolled over her like a silent, all-encompassing fog. She waited with what she hoped was a neutral expression on her face.

“The dog you had with you at the crime scene. Had it been in the house?”

Madison had prepared herself for this interrogation with Rob’s help. No sense in lying more than necessary. Forensic experts would know Aspen had been in the house.
Work around this—don’t fight it
.

“Yes. Erin told me she had a golden retriever for me. When I came to pick up my cell phone, he was in the kitchen with his bill of sale and everything.”

The detective’s pale blue eyes narrowed. “When did she tell you this?”

“On Friday night when we went clubbing. Erin said a woman she’d met had a dog she couldn’t keep. Erin knew I was looking for a pet and bought him for me.”

Two beats of silence. “You never mentioned the dog in your interview.”

She ladled on the charm with a vapid smile. There were some advantages to being blond. Men automatically thought you were stupid. “No one asked about Aspen. Why is he important? Aren’t you looking for Erin’s killer?”

“Her death could be linked to the dog.” Detective Burgess’s eyes had no depth or light to them. Madison couldn’t tell if he’d bought her naive act.

“Really?”

“Do you have the bill of sale?”

“Yes. It’s at home. I mean, it’s at the home on Fisher Island where I’m house-sitting. Why?”

“We’re going to need to see it.”

Madison nodded, noticing he hadn’t answered her question. She had the sickening sensation that he was going to take Aspen away from her. She cursed herself for not following up on Rob’s suggestion that she try to contact the Everglades Animal
Defense League and arrange to shuttle Aspen out of the state to protect him the way Erin would have had she lived.