02 Madoc by Paige Tyler Read Free Book Online Page B

myself.”
    “And they were sure he’d been murdered?” Madoc asked when she finished.
    She shrugged. “They seemed convinced of it,” she said. “They found blood at his house, as well as my fingerprints were all over the place. I tried to tell them that I didn’t know anything about the blood, and that my fingerprints were there because I’d been to his house dozens of times. But they weren’t really interested in hearing my explanations.”
    “Didn’t your lawyer ever suggest that maybe this Evan Mercer had actually stolen the money and set you up?”
    Madoc said.
    “He brought it up,” Shayna admitted. “But with all the physical evidence against me, the cops weren’t going to even look into the possibility that I’d been framed. It would just make their case weaker.”
    Madoc was silent a moment. “So, what do you think?” he finally asked. “Could Evan Mercer have set you up?”
    Shayna thought a moment. “I don’t know, but I hope not,” she said honestly. Of course, if her boss wasn’t behind it, then that probably meant he actually had been murdered, she thought grimly. “Evan and I have been friends since I started working at the company. He’d always been like a father-figure to me. I can’t imagine him framing me for embezzlement and murder.”
    Beside her, Madoc shrugged his broad shoulders. “If not him, then who?”
    Shayna didn’t answer because she really didn’t have an answer to give him. In her heart, she really didn’t think that her boss was the one behind this, but she had no other suspect to offer. She wished she could think of something else to say, something that might sway the Marshal into believing her, but unfortunately, she had already told him the whole story.
    Shayna chewed on her lower lip. At least the Marshal had been willing to listen to her this time, which had surprised her. Not that it meant much, she supposed. But it was the best she could hope for at this point. Maybe if she had a chance to keep working him, he might actually start to believe her.
    She would have to take it slowly, though. If she pushed too hard, he might get suspicious and realize that she was trying to play him. That would only get her turned over to the cops that much faster. Or get her put over his knee again. She blushed at the thought.
    She had been lucky that the Marshal had taken pity on her when he had found her at the cabin. As furious as he had been, her bottom might not have been able to take it. What was it with him and spanking, anyway? she thought. Didn’t he know he was in the twenty-first century? She didn’t even think people still did that.
    The first time he’d spanked her she had been so shocked by it that she hadn’t really realized what was going on.
    But that second time - when she had tried to hit him with the clock - she had definitely felt every smack. Even now, she could almost feel the sting of his hand coming down on her bottom. Oh God, was her bottom actually tingling? she wondered.
    She shook her head, trying to clear it. Get those thought out of your head right now, she told herself. Focus on the important stuff, like figuring out what you’re going to say to the Marshal tomorrow. She needed to continue to try to get him on her side. But she would have to be subtle, she warned herself.
    At the sound of his deep breathing, she realized the Marshal had fallen asleep. Turning her head, she studied him again. Wow, he was really gorgeous, she thought. And not nearly as tough-looking when he was asleep.
    Shayna rolled over and tried to fall asleep, too, but she found herself looking back over her shoulder at Madoc again and again. It was just her luck, she thought. Here she was in bed with probably the best looking guy she’d ever seen and he was bound and determined to put her in prison. How unfair was that?
    Madoc slowly awoke the next morning to the sleepy realization that the stove had apparently gone out sometime in the night. Not in any rush to face