Cynthia Hamilton - Madeline Dawkins 01 - Spouse Trap by Cynthia Hamilton Read Free Book Online Page B

retaliate or anything. I was just co-chairing an event, like I’ve done dozens of times. I wouldn’t pick up some guy and have sex with him, right there in the same hotel where everyone who works there would see me. It wouldn’t ever enter my mind to do something like that…” she sputtered. Burt held up his hands to stem the flow of words.
    “I wasn’t trying to insinuate anything like that,” he said soothingly. “I was trying to get a better sense of what your mindset was the morning you found yourself in that hotel room.” Madeline took in shallow breaths as she tried to get her emotions under control.
    “I’m sorry…” she said, taking another sip of water with a trembling hand.
    “It’s okay. You have nothing to be sorry about. I’m trying to get you to paint as clear a picture as possible so I’ll know where I should concentrate my efforts. Are you alright?” Madeline nodded. “Okay, let me ask you this—why do you think someone would do this to you?”
    “When I first saw the photos, I suspected someone was trying to get at Steven, discredit or blackmail him. Actually, it was something he said while railing at me, how if the existence of those pictures ever got out, it would irreparably damage his reputation.”
    “That’s what he was most concerned about?” Burt asked skeptically.
    “Not at first. No, Steven’s greatest fear has always been infidelity. His first wife cheated on him and he never got over the pain of it. When we first started getting serious, it was very hard for him to put his trust in someone that way again. He was so wary about having the same thing happen to him again, he made me sign a prenup with an infidelity clause.” Burt stiffened at hearing this.
    “Yeah, I know,” Madeline said with a humorless laugh. “It’s taken me a little while to put the pieces together, but after Steven left the house yesterday morning, all I could think about was his emotional anguish and trying to find a way to convince him that I hadn’t knowingly been unfaithful to him. I was totally blindsided by seeing the photos, even though I knew something awful had happened to me at The Edgecliff. I really couldn’t believe I’d had sex with another man…I just couldn’t bear to let my mind go there. But after going over everything in my head, all I could think about was trying to save my marriage.
    “Around one o’clock, I drove to Steven’s office downtown. I wanted a chance to talk to him, to tell him about what had happened after he left the fundraiser. But before I could get out of the car, I saw him on the sidewalk outside his building, handing an envelope to a man I didn’t recognize. The exchange was brief, and as I watched the man head up the street, I got this sudden impulse to follow him. He led me straight to his office in the 1300 block of Anacapa. The name on the window read ‘Russell Barnett, Private Investigator.’” Before Madeline could disclose the identity of the man she had followed, Burt’s countenance hardened with recognition.
    “I take it you know this person,” Madeline said, watching his reaction carefully.
    “It’s a small town, especially in my line of work.” Burt got up and went to stare out the window that gave view to the parking lot behind the building. Madeline took this opportunity to rack her brain for any detail she might’ve overlooked.
    “Did you go speak to your husband after following Barnett?”
    “No. I was too shaken. I couldn’t think of any innocent reason for Steven to be paying off a private investigator. He’s got an in-house security team, and the only explanation I could think of for needing outside help was if Steven were trying to do something on the sly. That, coupled with the photos, made me very suspicious of his motives.”
    “Do you think Barnett saw you?”
    “No,” Madeline said emphatically. “I stayed well behind him and hid once he entered his office. Besides, he’s been tailing me all morning, so he