Chapter 46
Chapter Forty-Six
“ T hanks for coming over," Madison said to Cami as she settled into the glider in the corner of Jax’s playroom.”
“No problem,” Cami turned an elaborate puzzle toy over in her hands and lifted an eyebrow. “Does Alex think Jax is ready for this?”
Madison laughed, lifting her chin to where the toddler was ignoring all the toys around them, choosing instead to teethe on the strap of her white leather purse. “Alex won’t hear anything other than Jax is the smartest child in the universe.”
Her computer was propped open on her lap, and they were sifting through their research, trying to decide on the direction the next episode would take.
Fortunately, the internet hadn’t been as concerned about Madison’s possible involvement with a criminal as the production company had feared. If anything, it had garnered them more positive attention, and the two women were under pressure to get the next episode done.
“I was looking at the crime scene photos again last night,” Cami said.
“With the state of your stomach, right now?” Madison lifted an eyebrow. The crime scene photos had been gruesome.
Cami waved a hand. “It wasn’t bad.” She frowned. “I was thinking about what Cary said. She told us her brother had suggested Jesse might have been smoking while drunk, lit the fire, tried to escape, and then fell.”
Madison nodded, brow furrowed.
“But according to the fire marshal, the fire ignited in the kitchen.”
“So, why was Jesse in his bedroom?” Madison said. “Why wouldn’t he have tried to put out the fire or escape?”
Excitement lit Cami’s face. “Exactly. Why run back to the bedroom?”
“He could have been trying to save something?” Madison was dubious. Nothing they’d learned about Jesse indicated he was a sentimental man.
“I’m going to look at the pictures again. I feel like I’m missing something.”
“I can do it. You have enough going on.”
“Like you don’t? Besides, all I do is lie around. It will at least make me feel useful.” She looked down to where Jax was still chewing on the purse. “Jax, sweetie,” Cami cooed, reaching for the bag. “Are you teething on fashion accessories now?”
Madison rolled her eyes. “He’s obsessed with that purse.”
“It smells good.” Cami sniffed the interior of the purse again. “When did you start wearing Chanel No. 5?”
Madison snorted. “I don’t. That was Opal’s purse, and she definitely didn’t wear it. Way too expensive. Your hormones are messing with your nose.”
“No, it’s definitely—shit!”
“What?”
But Cami was already prying Jax’s mouth open and pulling out something small and black. “He was trying to swallow it.”
“What is that?”
“Looks like a flash drive.”
Madison frowned. “Where did it come from?”
Cami ran her fingers through the purse. “Looks like there’s a little pocket here. You must have missed it when you cleaned it out. I wonder what’s on it?” Cami asked, curiosity piqued.
Madison turned it slowly in her fingers, a mixture of dread and excitement filling her. Was this what they’d been looking for? “There’s only one way to find out.”
She inserted the drive into a USB port on her laptop. The computer pinged as it recognized the device, and a folder popped up on the screen.
Insurance
Inside were dozens of files—PDFs, spreadsheets, audio recordings, and video clips. Madison scrolled through them, her pulse quickening.
Cami leaned over her shoulder. “Open that one.” She pointed to an audio file.
Madison clicked on it, and at first, all they could hear was rustling, and then the audio cleared. They listened to the conversation for several minutes before Madison clicked to stop it, heart racing.
“Holy shit!” Cami’s eyes were huge. “Were they talking about a bribe?” She looked at Madison. “Why would Opal have that?”
“It’s Felix’s father-in-law, Senator Armstrong.” Madison’s mouth was dry. She knew who the other voice was too, but she didn’t tell Cami.
Stomach churning, she clicked on a second file, angling the screen away from Cami. The video file labeled Club, July 2 began with grainy footage of someone’s lap and then the angle changed, showing Mikhail sitting behind a desk. As soon as Alex’s brother came on screen, Madison slammed the computer shut.
“What are you doing?”
Madison met her friend’s eyes. “I need you to trust me on this. You don’t want to be involved.”
Concern flashed across her friend’s face. “You recognized the man?”
Madison nodded. “But you never saw any of this. Okay?”
Cami blinked at her, then her cautious gaze went to the door. “Got it.”
“I hate to cut this short, but I need to talk to Alex.”
Cami stopped at the front door to give her a hug and tickle Jax’s bare feet where they hung off Madison’s hip. “You’re going to be careful, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I really hate being left out.” Cami scowled as she walked toward her car.
“That’s only because you’re nosy. Now, go grow those babies and don’t worry.”
Setting Jax on his feet, Madison lifted the computer from where she had left it on the console table by the door. “Come on, buddy. Let’s go find Daddy.”
Jax immediately toddled toward Alex’s office, and it didn’t hit Madison until a minute later that the sound he was saying over and over was “Dada.”
Her heart turned over with a heavy flop.
She always called Alex ‘Daddy’ when narrating things to Jax, hoping to boost his vocabulary. It felt natural, but for the first time, Madison realized she’d never actually asked Alex if he was okay with it.
Alex was at his desk working when they came in, his face lit up at the sight of Jax. With a giggle, the toddler ran faster until Alex scooped him into his lap.
“What did you call your father?” Madison asked, momentarily distracted from her discovery.
“Sir, usually. Why?”
“I just wondered.” She hesitated, not sure how to broach it.
Alex referred to Jax as their son… He had from the beginning. She bit her lip. “I’ve been calling you daddy to Jax, and now he’s saying it, and I don’t know if that’s okay with you or if there was a Russian term you’d prefer… I don’t even know what Felix refers to himself as but…” The words burst from her.
“Angel.” Alex’s eyes burned into hers, and then he turned to Jax. “Did you come see daddy? Can you say daddy?”
“Okay, before you get carried away.” She swiped away the tears flooding her eyes at the adorable sight. “I actually came in here for a reason.”
Alex stopped trying to prompt Jax for a moment and looked up at her serious tone.
“I think I found what Armstrong is looking for. It was in an old purse of Opal’s. I found it in the storage unit months ago. I didn’t think to check it again. Felix and Mary saw me with it. So, they knew I had Opal’s things. They must have been looking for the drive, too. That explains the break-ins at my house, the fire at the storage unit.”
Madison ignored the murderous expression settling over Alex’s face and placed her laptop on the desk. Opening the external drive, she reached for Jax, but Alex only tucked him closer into his side as his fingers clicked on the keyboard.
Mikhail’s voice filled the room.
Alex leaned back in his chair, a slow smile stretching across his face. He clicked through the files, his eyes narrowing as he skimmed over the material, and watched several of the grainy video recordings. His fingers tapped rhythmically on the desk, his silence more unsettling than any outburst could have been.
Finally, a quiet laugh escaped his lips. Cold and devoid of humor. “The suicidal idiot,” he muttered. “Did he really think he could use this to extort more money from Mikhail?”
Madison swallowed, her throat dry. “I don’t know what he planned to do with it, but this has to be what Opal found.”
“It doesn’t matter what his plan was. That Armstrong collected this kind of evidence means only one thing.”
“What?”
“Mikhail will handle Armstrong for us. He won’t care about any excuse or reason Armstrong gives. The Senator collected evidence against the bratva. He’s a dead man walking.”
Madison shivered but couldn’t drum up a single ounce of pity for the man. He’d been happy to endanger her child by helping a violent man gain custody, and she didn’t doubt that Armstrong was behind all the attacks. Felix wasn’t smart enough to do it on his own.
Alex caught her hand, pulling her down so that he could kiss her hard on the lips, and then gave Jax a smacking one on his cheek.
“This is almost over.”