Being careful, she looked through the peephole before turning the first bolt. She thought maybe her father had returned, but it wasn’t her dad, it was Kyle’s.

“Roger!” Madison said, opening the door. She began to wonder if she wasn’t going to see every member of their extended family that day, one by one.

“Congratulations, Madison. I can’t tell you how pleased I am.” He enveloped her in a big bear hug.

She accepted the embrace, hugging him back. “Thanks, come on in.”

He followed her into the living room. “What can I get you? The coffee is fresh.”

“Coffee sounds great. Where’s that son of mine?”

“Working.”

“Humph! So much for a honeymoon, huh?”

Madison tried to keep her smile in place as she watched Roger. She decided that both their families were insane. She and Kyle had run off and gotten married less than two weeks after seeing one another again for the first time in years, and both their fathers seemed to think it was the greatest thing in the world.

“He was sent down here on an important case,” Madison reminded him.

Roger frowned. “But Harry Nore came after you, Madison. Honey, he tried to kill you! He’s dead, you know, and good riddance to him!”

Madison hesitated. “Maybe it’s for the best. I think he was a tortured soul. And he probably did scare a few years off my life! But, Roger, honest to God, I don’t think that he killed my mother. And Kyle doesn’t think he can possibly be the same man who killed these other poor women.”

Roger narrowed his eyes, frowning thoughtfully. He’d always been a handsome man, and age had done nothing to change that fact. Character was etched into the fine lines around his eyes and mouth, and his smile remained as charismatic as ever.

Kyle was going to look like Roger in another twenty-five years.

“It frightens me to think there’s any way what’s happening now could be related to your mother’s death,” Roger said.

“It does seem impossible,” Madison murmured.

The phone rang, and she excused herself. It was Joey, reminding her that she was supposed to be working in the studio with the Storm Fronts later on in the week.

“I talked to Kyle. He said the two of you got married,” Joey said. “Any truth to it?”

“Did you think he lied to you?”

“So you really did it, huh?”

“We really did it.”

“That was fast.”

“I know.”

“Well, congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

“Sheila is going to be disappointed.”

“Oh?”

“She really wanted to get to know him better.”

“Well, tell her he’s off-limits now.”

“Yeah, she’ll get over it. Frankly, I think she was just hoping for one night with him. Sheila and an FBI agent? Can’t see it.”

“What about me and an FBI agent?”

“You’ll be fine.”

“So what exactly are you saying about Sheila—and me?” she queried.

He laughed. “You’re going to do fine, kid. See ya later.” He hung up, and Madison guiltily remember Roger. She hurried back to the living room, apologizing.

Roger waved a hand in the air. “It’s all right. I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

He hesitated, looking at her. “Your mother.”

“Oh?”

He shrugged. “You know I loved her.”

“I know.”

“But, Madison, she was hell on all of us. If she had lived, the marriage would never have lasted.” He hesitated. “You know we had a huge fight the day she was killed.”

Madison wondered if this was what it felt like to be a priest, with everyone coming to you with a confession to make. “Everyone fought with Lainie, Roger.”

He lifted his hands. “That day, it was a bad one. She changed her schedule, and she thought I could do the same with a snap of my fingers. I told her no, and she completely lost her temper. She told me other men would go out of their way to be with her. She cried, told me I didn’t care…. I told her she was a bitch, and she slapped me…and I walked out. And the next thing I knew, I was holding her after she’d bled to death in our bedroom.”

Madison was quiet for a moment. “Roger, it’s all right. I loved Lainie very much, she was my mother, but I’m an adult, and I know she hurt people. I don’t hold you or my dad responsible for any of the pain in the past.”

“I’m glad,” he told her, rising. “Because I think you and Kyle are going to be something special together.”

“Thanks. I hope so,” Madison said, rising as well.

“It was good to have you as a stepdaughter. It’s better to have you for a daughter-in-law.”

“You’re pretty great, too, Roger.”

He gave her a kiss on the forehead. She walked him to the door, and was startled to see that Trent had just parked his Karmann Ghia at an odd angle on her lawn and was hurrying toward her.

“Hey, Roger.”

“Hello, Trent. Coming with congratulations, as well?”

“What?” Trent said, frowning. “Oh…no, yes, yes, of course! Hey, sis, congratulations.”

“Well, I’ve got to get going,” Roger said. “You take care. Madison, since you and Kyle kind of ran away to get married, we’ll have to plan some kind of family reception later, huh?”

“Sounds good, Roger, thanks,” she said.

Roger walked to his car. Madison turned to Trent. “I know, you want to wish me well, then you’re going to tell me that you had a big fight with my mother on the day she died.”

Trent looked confused for a moment, then frowned. “I didn’t fight with her. I stayed away from her.”

“Oh,” Madison murmured. “And you didn’t come to congratulate me?”

A guilty flush spread over his cheeks. “Sorry. I am happy for you, I’m just not shocked. I mean, I thought you two would wind up together a long time ago, but then Kyle married Fallon, and you…Well, you know. But, honest, I am happy for you.”

“Then…?”

“Madison!” he said, gripping her arms.

“What?” She gripped his arms in return.

“I sold my first novel. Without Dad’s help. I didn’t even use my own name when I sent in the manuscript. Madison, I got a six-figure offer for this book and its sequel! Oh, God, Madison, I can write. I can actually write!” He started hopping up and down with her on her front walk, and she started to laugh.

“Trent, I’m so glad! What’s the name of it?”

“Right now, it’s The Color of Death. It’s a slasher book.”

“A…a slasher book.”

He flushed again. “It’s not like Roger’s books. Mine is…grittier. Hey, I hang around with a pathologist, and now there’s an FBI agent in the family….”

“Yeah, there’s an FBI agent in the family,” Madison murmured.

He smiled. “Will you read it for me and tell me what you think? I’ve got the manuscript in the car.”

“Of course. I’ll be delighted. But you said it’s already sold.”

“I still want your opinion.”

“Sure.”

He grinned and went to the car. He returned with his manuscript, handing it her. “Now, I know it’s not what you’d usually choose to read—I’m not such a rotten brother that I’m not attuned to the fact that you have enough bad things going through your own mind half the time. But I need your opinion. Madison, I’ve wanted to write so badly, but being Dad’s son, actually getting a novel out was hard. I didn’t want to use his influence with an agent or a publisher. You understand, right?”

She nodded. “I understand.”

Trent took hold of her arms, pulling her close, smacking her on the forehead with a kiss. “Like I said, I’m really happy for you, it’s just not a shock. I mean, you’ve been sleeping together since he rode back into town, huh? God, I’m crude. Sorry. Well, we’ll be having a party soon, I guess. Love you, and thanks a lot. I’ll get out of here now!”

He turned and hurried back to his car. Madison followed after him. “Hey! Don’t go getting into an accident now!”

He shook his head. “I’ll calm down. I’m just on cloud nine.” He saluted her. “Honest. I can’t wait to tell Dad.”

“He’s headed back to Key West.”

“I know. I’m going to catch him. I know his favorite lunch spot, the Rusty Rumhouse in Key Largo. I’ll catch him there.”