Looking For Trouble by Trice Hickman Page B

dispatcher in the evenings. During what little time she could scrounge after working around the clock, she took in laundry in order to piece together a living for her and her only sister’s child. She worked tirelessly in her effort to provide a life for her niece—a life that she knew would make Gloria proud.
    But despite Betty’s hard work and sacrifices, Madeline had no use for the woman. Betty was a strict, Bible-toting disciplinarian whom Madeline couldn’t stand. She resented the fact that Betty wouldn’t let her listen to the popular tunes on the radio that everyone danced to, or hang on the stoop outside their building after school, like the other kids in the neighborhood. She saw life outside their cramped four walls as much more interesting than the Gospel-laced existence her aunt provided.
    But even though she detested her unfortunate lot in life, Madeline quickly learned how to pretend to enjoy going to church, reciting Bible verses, and volunteering with the elderly. These were all things her Aunt Betty required her to do. As long as her aunt was willing to work three jobs to send her to the private school where she was bused—and where she pretended to be just as well-to-do as the privileged kids around her—and buy her all the clothes, shoes, and treats she wanted, she figured faking it was a small price to pay.
    As Madeline grew older, she found that not only could she get what she wanted from her aunt and a select few friends she’d made at the ritzy school she attended, she could do the same with men. By the time she was in high school, she’d perfected the art of seduction, and had studied the Kama Sutra from cover to cover. She wrapped men in her web, commanding them to do whatever she wanted.
    Once she graduated from college and reached adulthood, she had corralled a string of men who gladly followed behind her like puppy dogs, obeying her command. But there was one troubling problem. The great majority of them lacked the ambition, drive, and, most important, the level of financial means she desired. She didn’t simply want someone who had money; she wanted someone who was wealthy beyond ordinary standards. She wanted a mogul, and that was why she’d set her sights on John Small and his family’s wealth.

    Madeline knew she’d done a superb job of making up an entire life from whole cloth that John had fully believed, right down to the wayward con artist she’d paid to pretend he was her brother so she could show proof of family who would back up all her lies. But the masterful job she’d pulled off today paled in comparison to any of her past stunts. She let out a hearty laugh when she thought about how surprised she’d managed to act when she saw John’s parents’ home, as if she didn’t already know they lived in a mini-mansion, secluded from the common folks in town.
    â€œI could’ve won an award for that performance.” Madeline chuckled loudly. She wanted to pat herself on the back for the way she’d fooled them all into thinking she had no idea how Isaiah had acquired his wealth. “Those country bumpkins didn’t have a clue.”
    She smiled, carefully inspecting her sparkling eyes in the mirror as she applied another layer of frosted shadow to her lids, which the humidity had swept away. “I didn’t scrape and claw my way out of a two-room apartment to settle for just anything,” she said as she looked at herself, thinking about how she’d stripped to earn money for college so she could have the opportunity to rub elbows with people of means, who could lead her to riches. “I’ve gone through a lot to get to this point, and there’s no turning back now.”
    A month after she’d met John, Madeline had spent hours and hours researching him, his family, and his background. She even knew about the town he was from, having read articles about the local goings-on,