Death's Door

by Meryl Sawyer

  Could being the operative word. If proper precautions were taken, no one would know. Madison wasn’t the type to commit suicide, she didn’t have a history of drug use and her death would put Paul Tanner on the case.

  An accident might be best for Madison. Happened all the time. People would be sorry, sad, upset, but they would accept it and move on.

  What type of accident would generate the fewest questions? There must be a way to throw everyone off track.

  “COME IN,” Madison called when she heard Paul ring the bell. She’d left the front door open while she changed clothes. The peach-colored shorts and matching tank top were comfortable, she told herself. Truth to tell, she wanted to change clothes and put on a little makeup. She ducked out of the bedroom and into the hall, Aspen at her heels. Ahead she saw Paul standing just inside the door, a large pizza box in his hand. The aroma of pepperoni pizza drifted through the air.

  “Let’s go into the kitchen,” she said.

  “Hey, where’s the wine?”

  She didn’t want to admit she’d spent the time primping. “I’ll get it.” She opened a small wine cooler built into the cabinetry and pulled out a bottle of Pinot Grigio. She handed it to him along with a corkscrew and let him pop the cork while she set the table.

  “Aspen’s chip claimed he belonged to the head of research for Dicon Labs.” She put two glasses on the table.

  Paul poured the pale amber wine. “How’d you get the chip changed? I thought only the owner or a vet or animal shelter was allowed to alter ID information.”

  “Rob did it for me,” she told him as she sat down and helped herself to a slice of pizza. Her stomach growled at the aroma of pepperoni, anchovies and cheese. When was the last time she’d eaten? “He thinks she stole the dog along with some others from the lab. He wants to help me keep Aspen.”

  At the sound of his name, the retriever looked up from where he was sitting beside her and wagged his tail.

  “I’m surprised he’d do something illegal,” Paul said after he finished a bite of pizza.

  “It’s no big deal, is it? I wouldn’t want to get him in trouble.” Sometimes Rob was just a little too friendly, too helpful. For a second Madison wondered if Rob had been coming on to her, then quickly dismissed the thought. He was merely trying to help her while they both were grieving over Erin.

  “It’s a misdemeanor. I doubt anyone would prosecute unless it was being done on a large scale or if it involved a more serious crime like murder. But still, he told investigators he left Erin because of her activities with the EADL. Sounds like a straight arrow who wouldn’t falsify chip info.”

  Madison put down the rimmed crust of her pizza. She never ate the crusts. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aspen. She handed him the crust. He gently took it from her, his tail wagging. “I don’t think anyone will find out. Dicon Labs hasn’t admitted they were testing cosmetics on dogs. I doubt they’ll change their story now.”

  “You’re right.” He took a sip of wine and studied her over the rim of the glass.

  “Did you ask your ex about using your passwords to access your accounts?” he asked.

  Madison nodded. “He didn’t do it. I know him well enough to know when he’s lying. Actually, he hadn’t changed his passwords, either. I could have gotten into his accounts as easily as he could have accessed mine.”

  Paul shook his head. “I’m not surprised. Happens all the time. Know where most people keep their passwords?”

  “No. Where?”

  “Taped to the bottom of their keyboards. That’s the first place we look when there’s a homicide and we want to access a computer.”

  “What did you want to tell me?” she asked, suddenly recalling what he’d said on the phone.

  “Kirk, my father’s computer security expert, says there’s something called a keystroke logger that could be put on your computer. It records all your keystrokes. That might be the way your password was obtained—and your account numbers, since you do online banking.”

  “I’ve never heard of a keystroke logger.”

  “Apparently, it’s a small device that takes just a few minutes to install. You wouldn’t be likely to notice it unless you were looking under your keyboard. Tomorrow check your keyboard and let me know. A keystroke logger can enter your computer Trojan-horse-style in an e-mail. Open it, the thing starts recording all your keystrokes and sending them back to a main computer.”

  “Who would go to all the trouble…” Luis Estevez’s face appeared on the screen in her mind. She told Paul about the Cuban’s visit and his offer to buy her half of Total Trivia.

  Paul leaned toward her, intensity firing his eyes. He dropped his second slice of pizza back onto the plate. “Jesus H. Christ. That’s…weird. Damn weird. I don’t know much about Estevez except his reputation. He hasn’t been involved in a homicide case that I know about. I could check with the guys in fraud and see what they say.”

  “I was under the impression his bank financed larger companies. Total Trivia doesn’t seem to be a good fit.”

  “No, it really doesn’t. It seems as if we’re missing some pieces of the puzzle.”

  Madison took a few bites of her second piece of pizza, decided she was no longer hungry and handed it to Aspen. The dog downed it in one bite. She sipped her wine while Paul silently finished another slice. What was he thinking? He was gazing across the room, seemingly lost in thought.

  Aspen cocked his head as if to say, Aw, shucks, as Paul closed the pizza box and put it in the refrigerator. She silently promised the dog that she would give it to him later. She didn’t care for cold pizza.

  “Let’s go sit in the other room,” he said. “I want to talk to you.”

  She followed him to the sofa facing the swimming pool. Daylight was slowly fading, creating long, dark shadows that melded into each other. The ceiling fan circulated the fragrant aroma of the night-blooming jasmine that grew on the high walls encircling Corona del Mar.

  She sat down first and he sat right next to her. Please, she thought, don’t let him know how wildly my heart is thumping.

  “I know you’re one for facts and statistics,” he began, “so what I’m going to say might not seem plausible to you.”

  Madison nodded and reached down to pet Aspen, who’d settled at her feet. She listened as he explained the strange death of Keith Brooks Smith.

  “That’s bizarre,” she said, “but what does it have to do with me?”

  “Maybe nothing, but two of Wyatt’s children in the Boston area plus this Smith guy died. Now we have three children who could possibly help Wyatt Holbrook dead.”

  “How many children do you suppose there are?”

  “You’re trying to calculate the odds, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. The other deaths weren’t murders. Just this one, right?”

  “I wouldn’t bet on it. One was a car accident in a relatively new car. Another was a heroin overdose in a young woman who wasn’t thought to be a user. Conveniently, drugs and needles were found at the scene.”

  Suddenly, Madison got the picture. “You think I’m in danger, don’t you?”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  What is the largest living organism on Earth?

  “IT’S POSSIBLE your life is in danger.” Paul took one of her hands in both of his and gazed earnestly at her.

  She didn’t believe it, but the intensity in Paul’s eyes told her that he was dead serious. For an instant her mind snapped back to this morning and the way Aiden had been so protective of Chloe. Madison liked to think she could take care of herself, and she could, but something cracked inside her. Knowing Paul cared appealed to her softer feminine side, the side she liked to deny having.

  “I don’t think this adds up to my being in any kind of danger,” she told him. “The deaths in Boston don’t seem to be murder. So what you have is one of Wyatt’s offspring being killed. That’s all.”

  “It’s just a hunch. I admit it, but I can’t tell you how strongly I f
eel I’m right. ID theft, Erin’s murder, Luis Estevez’s sudden appearance and discovering you’re one of Wyatt’s—”

  “I’m not! I’m just trying to help.”

  His expression darkened with an unreadable emotion. “So much is going on, a perfect storm of events and you’re at the center. We don’t have the big picture or we’d know what was happening.”

  Madison liked to deal in facts. Well, actually, she’d carved out a career from arcane facts. But so much weird stuff was going on around her that she couldn’t help wonder. “How can we figure it out?”

  “I’ll see what the guys in the fraud department have to say about Luis Estevez.” He ran his hand through his hair, then added, “I’ll also contact an agent I know with the FBI field office here in Miami.”

  “Good idea.” She wouldn’t have thought to contact the FBI, but banking crimes did come under federal jurisdiction.

  “I’m also going to phone the detectives in the Boston cases and see if there was anything…off about them.”

  “Off?”

  “That just means the lead detective has a hunch something isn’t right but can’t prove it. They may go with the flow and close the case.” He shrugged. “A closed case is a plus for the department. You add it to the ‘solved’ statistics. Detectives are under a lot of pressure to close cases. It makes it appear as if crime is going down, not up.”

  “Makes sense,” she said.

  “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  His look was so galvanizing it sent a tremor through her. She believed he was genuinely concerned. Why? He hardly knew her. Don’t kid yourself, an inner voice cautioned her. This man had already gone out on a limb for her by not revealing Aspen belonged to Dicon Labs. He was interested in her.

  And she was interested in him.

  It marked the first time since Aiden had walked out that she’d felt anything for another man. She’d tried to date—at Erin’s insistence—but her heart hadn’t been in it. Paul projected an energy and power that undeniably attracted her. Each time she was with him the pull became stronger.

  He scooted closer and slipped his arm around her waist. A delightful shiver of anticipation ran through her. She forced herself to keep her mind on Luis Estevez’s offer. “You know, I’ve been thinking.”

  He pressed his lips to hers, caressing her mouth more than kissing it. “Can we talk about it later?” he asked with a smile that would test a nun’s vows.

  “No. Is sex all you think about?”

  He considered the question for a moment. “Sometimes I think about food.”

  She couldn’t help laughing…and enjoying being in his arms. He was going to make love to her unless she stopped him, which she knew she didn’t have the willpower to do. But she needed to tell him what was on her mind.

  “Please help me,” she said.

  “Name it.”

  “Really look closely at Luis Estevez. If he wants my half of Total Trivia for legitimate purposes, I’m inclined to sell it to him.” She stared out the French doors at the pool area, a little surprised at herself. She’d been thinking about this, but she hadn’t realized she’d actually made up her mind. “Being around the Holbrooks makes me want to do something more with my life than run a trivia game site.”

  “What have they done other than produce a drug for diabetes?” Paul asked.

  “Not a lot,” Madison conceded, “but at least they’re trying. Wyatt wants to have something that will contribute to society after he’s gone. That’s commendable. Right?”

  “Yes, I guess. I still think they stand to make a fortune.”

  “While helping people.” Madison shook her head. “I’m not helping anyone except to give them a good time. I want to do more.”

  “You want to make more money.”

  “It’s not about money. When my father was dying, I would have traded anything I had or hoped to have to save him. I’d like to do something to help people. I left MIT before I finished my degree because my father was ill. I’d like to go back—maybe not there—but I would like to complete my degree.”

  “If that’s what you want to do, I think you should.”

  “There’s something else.” She didn’t know how to explain it exactly. “Chloe took Aiden away from me, and he adores her. I mean adores her. Aiden makes no attempt to hide his feelings, yet when I went there to ask about the bank accounts, Chloe went ballistic, like I was a threat or something. Her hatred seemed all out of proportion. It’s as if there’s a time bomb of jealousy—or something—inside her threatening to explode. It’s probably best that I leave the company.”

  “I never met the woman, but if that’s how she behaves and you really want to finish your education, I agree. Sell your half of the business.”

  “Thanks,” she said in a low voice. He had no idea how much she’d needed to talk to him about this. She had no one, no one at all in her life to discuss her hopes, her dreams with. “Check out Luis Estevez. I don’t want to sell to a crook.”

  The concern reflected in his eyes became smoldering desire. She was gathered against a warm, rock-solid body and he covered her mouth with his. He kissed her urgently, hungrily, as if he couldn’t get enough of her. She eased her arms around his shoulders and returned the kiss.

  Her brain reeled as his tongue slipped into her mouth and mated with hers. In a heartbeat her blood thickened to warm honey. Oh, my, kissing him was even better than she’d imagined.

  His hands skimmed the planes of her back and waist. She drew closer to him, using her own hands to test the firm contours of his shoulders. Heavens, his shoulders were wide and powerful. They took their time, kissing, exploring with their hands, but the urgency, the need began to build. She heard herself moaning softly, from deep in her throat, as he adjusted their positions until they were stretched out on the sofa side by side. Instinctively, her body arched into his and he grabbed her bottom with both hands and brought her against his erection.

  The turgid proof of his virility pressed against her, his heat searing through her skimpy shorts. His hand glided along her body until it found the swell of her breast and cupped the soft fullness in the palm of his hand. Her fingernails dug into his skin as she fought back a cry of pure pleasure.

  His mouth lifted from hers and she opened her eyes, set to protest. The irises of his blue eyes were huge and black and gleaming with desire. His raw masculinity struck a responsive chord in her. “Oh, yes,” she whispered.

  Yes—what? her brain had the common sense to ask. Yes, this is the man for me, came the answer. All the heartache that had gone before had led her here to this man. Now, she was ready to lose herself in him, in this moment, and forget what tomorrow might bring.

  She quivered, inhaling sharply as the hand that found her breast eased under the tank top and thumbed the taut nubbin of a nipple through the sheer lace bra. Her body responded instinctively, a shaft of moist heat invading the apex of her thighs.

  Passion flared in his heavy-lidded eyes as if he reveled in the reaction he was causing. Then his mouth touched her damp lips again, softly, barely there. She wound her arm around his neck and pulled him as close as possible. The woodsy scent of his aftershave lotion filled her lungs. Madison’s sex-starved body kicked into overdrive.

  She twined her legs between his, thrusting herself upward, silently offering everything she had to give. It had been so long since she’d had sex, so long since she’d wanted a man that she burned to have Paul make love to her.

  His lips left hers to trace a path of moist, lingering kisses down her throat to the sensitive curve where her neck met her shoulder. Somehow he’d unhooked her bra and was now caressing her bare breast while he continued to kiss her. He paused for a moment, breathing like a racehorse.

  “Don’t stop,” she cried.

  He rose and swept her wordlessly into his arms. In a few quick strides, they were in her bedroom. The next second they were stretched out on the comforter. He angled himself across her, letting her abs
orb some of his weight but leaving enough of her exposed for him to touch.

  “You know,” he said, his voice low and husky, “I had the feeling the first time I set eyes on you that we’d end up in bed.”

  She grabbed a toss pillow and bopped him with it. “You’re conceited.”

  “Thanks,” he said in a tone that would have convinced the toughest jury that he’d just received a supreme compliment.

  His mouth captured hers in a fierce, hot kiss and she could feel the rising passion thrumming through his body, flowing like an electric current into hers. The sheer intensity of his kiss took what little breath she had away until she was forced to jerk her head to one side and gasp for air.

  “You okay?”

  “Never better,” she managed to whisper. “Don’t stop now.”

  “Believe me, I had no intention—”

  She smothered his words with an openmouthed kiss and arched upward so her bare breasts were thrust against the crisp hair on his chest. What had happened to their clothes? When had he undressed them? Oh, boy. He was just too good at this. A pro really.

  Who had he practiced on? asked some distant part of her brain. Did it really matter? came the groggy reply. She tried not to dwell on tomorrow. Live in the present, she admonished herself. Still, some little voice in her head reminded her of the heartbreak that could devastate her at a time when she was already oh, so vulnerable.

  His slow, erotic kiss robbed her brain of any will to object. Slowly, taking all the time in the world, Paul trailed a series of kisses downward from her lips to her neck to her sensitive breasts. He was tasting her, savoring her as much as kissing her. All the while, his hand petted and stroked her inner thighs, igniting heat with each caress until she was purring like a kitten and arching upward into the palm of his hand.

  Nothing in her life had quite prepared her for this…this pure ecstasy. True, she believed she’d reached the pinnacle of desire on more than one occasion. She’d been wrong. Nothing had felt quite like this.