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Franklin met him at the front door. By his expression, he knew that Grant was angry and upset.
“Let’s go to my office,” he said and led the way down the hall. Dark double doors opened to a spacious library with high bookshelves, a rolling ladder, and three sets of double French doors leading out to an exquisite garden.
Franklin had always liked histhings. He’d come from money, made money—too much of it from borderline illegal activity. Borderline? Maybe he’d always been rotten.
Just confront him. You don’t have to have the evidence, just tell him what you think and ask him for the truth.
“Why did you have Madeline killed?” Grant demanded.
Franklin stared at him blankly. “What?”
“Don’t.Donotlie to me,” he said. Swallowed. Dammit, he shouldn’t be here. But he couldn’t help himself. All his emotions that had been pent-up since Tom Granger came to him three weeks ago and said:You were the target, not Chase. Adam Hannigan was hired by Brock Marsh to killyou. So the question is, Grant—who hired Brock Marsh to take you out?
Neither Tom nor Grant knew who or why, which was the reason Tom wanted files from Archer Warwick. Files from every active client Grant and Franklin had worked during that window of time before Chase was murdered, and all Archer Warwick accounting records for the last two years.
“Grant, what on earth are you talking about?”
“I know you hired someone to kill us, it had to be you. And now she’s dead.”
“Maddie is dead?”
“Yes! Someone killed her!”
“How?”
Grant ran his hands through his hair. He really shouldn’t be here, but he couldn’t just walk away. What was he supposed to do? The guilt had been building, building, building until he was about to burst.
“You know how! She was stabbed, Franklin.”
“You sound completely unhinged, Grant.” Franklin walked behind his desk, keeping distance between them.
“If not you, who? Who did it, Franklin? Was it Senator Burgess? Was it BioRise? Why was James in the office this morning? No one else has the money to pull something like this off—no one else has as much to lose. Exceptyou.”
“You’re wrong, Grant. Get a grip. I didn’t have Madeline killed. That’s—just insane. She called me last night worried about you.”
Grant froze. He didn’t want to believe it.
Why would Maddie callFranklinwhen she knew that Grant was becoming suspicious of Franklin’s part in Chase’s murder? Had she been working with Franklin all along? Had she hidden important information from him...information that would have implicated Franklin from the beginning?
Maddie loved him. She couldn’t have been working against him, too!
He rubbed his eyes. His head pounded and he felt a scream building up in his throat. It didn’t come out. He swallowed it.
“Your accusations are ludicrous,” said Franklin. “I would never think of havinganyonekilled—much less our dear Maddie.”
“How about me?” whispered Grant. “Would youthinkof having me killed?”
“Grant, there are things going on here that are above both of us. You wouldn’t understand, and I can’t explain. Just relax.”
“Relax? Maddie was stabbed in the back!”
Franklin paled. His eyes were...concerned. Scared? Did he really not know?
“Who did it, Franklin? Who killed her? You started this chain of events, I know you did.”
“Madeline was stabbed?”
“You wanted both of us dead. I see it now.”
