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Southern nodded. “Just for a few minutes. Off and on.”
“Okay, then you know more than we do. What did she tell you?”
“From what I could understand, she went there to have it out with her father over some business issues. She didn’t tell me what they were.”
“That’s right, you don’t know,” said Jamison.
“Don’t know what?”
“Hugh Dawson sold out to Stuart McClellan.”
Southern gaped. “ ‘Sold out’? What does that mean?”
“He sold his business, all his properties, to McClellan.”
“Everything, including Maddie’s?” Southern looked even more stunned.
“Yes,” said Jamison. “Including Maddie’s.”
Southern shook her head. “So I guess that explains why she was going out there. That would have been devastating for her.” She paused. “So Stuart kills himself and then Hugh does, too?”
“McClellan may not have been a suicide,” said Jamison.
“You mean someone murdered him?”
Decker interjected, “What else did Caroline tell you?”
“She wasn’t making a whole lot of sense, but she did tell me that Hugh had betrayed her trust, only I didn’t know what she meant until now.”
“What else?” asked Jamison.
Southern’s features turned grim. “She told me she walked into his office ready to have it out with him and then she saw him . . . dead. She started to become hysterical at that point. I went and got a nurse, and she gave her the medication.”
At that moment Shane hurried up to them, looking wildly around.
“What the hell is going on? I just got back to town. Joe texted and said Caroline was in the hospital but didn’t say why.”
Jamison said, “She’s going to be fine, Shane. But she’s had a shock. Her father’s dead.”
Shane whirled around to look at Jamison. “Dead! What are you talking about?”
“He was found dead in his home last night. It looks like he killed himself.”
“Where’s Caroline? I need to see her.”
“She’s asleep.”
“I still need to see her.”
They went back into the room. Shane hurried over to the bed and looked down at Caroline. “You’re . . . you’re sure she’s going to be okay?”
“Yes,” said Southern. “She had a concussion and just needs to rest.”
He backed away from the bed as Caroline stirred in her sleep and said in a lower voice, “Why would my dad kill himself?”
Decker glanced at Jamison before asking Shane, “Did you know your father and Hugh Dawson were doing a deal together?”
Shane glanced at Southern before plopping down in a chair. “Yeah, I knew they were doing some deal, but no details. He probably didn’t trust me with the information. And I knew they had been meeting on the sly. But I didn’t know it was for the whole business.”
