Madison Knight isn’t sure if she’s walked into a nightmare or a dream. The man who killed her grandfather has met with a violent end. And while she has a hard time conjuring up sympathy, she’s still driven to solve the case. Just instead of her normal hunger to find justice, she’s after the killer for another reason. She thinks that the Russian Mafia hit man who almost killed her ten months ago, and who did succeed in killing a woman named Lillian Norton is involved. She solves this case, she thinks it will lead her straight to him. Still, she must exercise due diligence, and she and Terry cart in Yasmine, the woman who found the dead man, for questioning.

Enjoy an excerpt from Chapter 3 of Power Struggle (Detective Madison Knight series):

Yasmine was set up in interrogation room one. There was something about questioning a potential murder suspect in this formal setting that gave law enforcement the edge. Even an innocent person could find themselves unraveling under the pressure, and the mind is good at playing games. It can make one feel guilty when they’re not, and that’s why it was crucial to ask the right questions and be able to read people accurately.

Madison and Terry were about to go in. She had one hand on the doorknob and she was carrying a water bottle for Yasmine in the other when Sergeant Winston called out to her.

“Knight, wait!” Winston sounded winded, and when she turned around, his face was red and his brow was sweaty, and he was panting. “Is it too much to ask for you to come to me? No, I have to go chasing you around the station. What is the update on the Deer Glen homicide?”

“There’s not a lot to say yet.” Madison slid a sideways glance to Terry.

Winston glanced at Terry, too, then back at Madison. He drew a pointed finger between them. “I saw that look. What aren’t you telling me?”

“The victim was Jimmy Bates,” Madison said nonchalantly.

Winston screwed up his brow. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

“He’s the man who served twenty-five years for killing my grandfather.” There, she’d delivered the facts with cool detachment.

Winston’s eyes snapped into alignment with Madison’s. “You should probably be taken off the case.”

“No.” She stood firm, peacocking her stance. “There’s no reason for that.”

He squared his shoulders. “Last I knew, I was the one to call the shots, Detective.”

“Listen, there’s no reason to take me off this case. I didn’t even know my grandfather.”

“He was still your grandfather,” the sarge said. “That makes this case personal.”

She wanted to counter with the fact that her grandfather had died nine years before she was born, but the defense fell flat even in her head. Instead, she locked her jaw and tilted up her chin. It was probably best that she remain quiet, but the sergeant seemed to be expecting her to say something.

“The man served his time,” she said.

Winston turned to Terry. “What are your thoughts on the matter?”

“If Madison says she has things under control, then she does.”

“But she didn’t say she has things under control.” Winston studied Madison. “Do you?”

She flashed him a cocky grin. “I like to think so.”

“I’m sure you do,” Winston stated sourly and pointed to the closed door. “Who’s in there? A suspect?”

“It’s Yasmine Stone, a woman who Bates was sleeping with,” Madison began. “She’s the one who found his body.”

Winston nodded. “Does she look good for the murder?”

Madison’s heart pounded. The similarities between Lillian Norton’s and Jimmy Bates’s murders crashed together in her mind. Her legs began to buckle thinking about Constantine being back in town, but she managed to muster her strength without warranting the men’s attention. “It’s too early to say.”