Madison Adams feels like her life is pretty perfect, but everything comes crashing down when her biological father passes away suddenly and leaves his legacy in her hands. She ultimately regrets that she hadn't taken the opportunity to get to know h...
When Madison came downstairs the next morning, she didn't find Keith in his usual spot, standing in front of the stove. Madison had been here a full five days, and in that time, she'd come to enjoy having breakfast with Keith, and not because he knew how to fry an egg or made a mean stack of pancakes.
Keith made for good company, she enjoyed their interesting conversations. Madison talked about home a lot, and he gave her little insights into his youth as well. His father had been a doctor, like his father before him, while his mother owned an alterations shop. And he had a younger brother named James, who he said passed away much before his time.
It seemed lonely this morning without him.
She found a stack of file folders on the counter waiting for her, and a note, as well as a bag from Dunkin' Donuts. Keith wrote that all the receipts and papers she requested should be in the files and that he would let her deal with the police while he kept everyone else busy and out of the way.
She wondered if she'd upset him in some way last night. It didn't seem like Keith to avoid her. Or perhaps it was, hell, what did she know? Except for that little voice inside that told her otherwise.
Shaking off that sinking feeling, Madison enjoyed her muffin, gathered all her things and headed for the clinic.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Damien got there at exactly 10:00 am and didn't seem at all surprised to be met at the gate by Madison rather than Keith, after all, she'd been the one to orchestrate the whole thing. After politely handing him a rather large box filled with file folders and explaining that they held copies of any and all purchases made by the ranch or any of its staff members over the last six months, as well as the financial records for herself, Walker, and her father, Madison gave him a list of the chemicals and medications on hand, and began instructing them on how the search would go.
She seemed like quite the bossy little thing. And he almost admired her for it.
If not for the fact that she undoubtedly covered for Keith in some way, Damien might have actually respected Madison for her ability to take charge and the thoroughness with which she saw the job through.
Madison then informed him that while she'd given him her permission to enter every building on the property, they shouldn't disturb or destroy anything or anyone. And due to the nature of the ranch's operations, Madison would accompany them everywhere. Counting his blessings for being there at all, Damien didn't balk at any of her demands.
For good measure, in addition to a team of five crime scene technicians, Damien brought along a friend of his in computer crimes, and a couple of canine teams, one from the narcotics unit and the other a cadaver dog, presumably, to search for dead bodies.
In order to respect the privacy of the staff members, Damien and his techs kept it to a simple walk-through in their quarters while allowing the dog handlers a sweep through as well. Other than a couple of joints and a bowl tucked away in the dresser of one of the younger staff members, they found nothing out of the ordinary and wanting to be charitable, Damien gave the young man a warning and left it at that.
