Simon Says Die

him.”
    â€œBut I wasn’t trying to kill Damon.”
    â€œHamilton wouldn’t believe that.”
    She chewed her bottom lip again. “I didn’t think about that.”
    â€œNo kidding.”
    She narrowed her eyes.
    He continued, before she had a chance to argue. “You think Damon wants to confront you, hold that over you. Why, as blackmail? To get money?”
    â€œProbably. But there’s no proof, so he doesn’t really have anything to hold over me.”
    â€œDon’t underestimate him. From what I’ve seen, he’s very resourceful. Hell, he probably saved the bullet. I don’t suppose you were thoughtful enough to keep the gun, so Hamilton could run ballistics against it and prove where the bullet came from?”
    Her wide-eyed look answered that question.
    He shook his head and tapped his hands on his thighs, deep in thought. He studied the problem from every angle, and he kept coming back to the same thing. He needed to know what game Damon was playing.
    And there was only one way he could figure out how to get that information.
    â€œYou’re going to have to give Damon what he wants,” he said.
    â€œWhat do you mean? Money?”
    â€œNo. I want you to talk to him. Alone.”
    D AMON SAT IN his wheelchair in the middle of the courtyard behind the police station, while Madison sat on a wrought-iron bench across from him. Damon had refused to speak to her inside the police station, because he didn’t want anyone to overhear their conversation. This courtyard was the only place all parties would agree to.
    And he’d insisted on having Madison open her blouse to prove she wasn’t wearing a wire, something Pierce had violently objected to. In spite of his protests, she’d whipped her blouse open, turning around in front of Damon to prove she wasn’t wired, before buttoning it back up and sitting down on the bench.
    Pierce, Lieutenant Hamilton, and half a dozen police officers stood guard thirty feet away. Damon held up his handcuffed hands, which had a length of chain running from them to his wheelchair.
    â€œYour boyfriend is a bit paranoid, don’t you think?”
    Pierce was definitely paranoid. He’d left nothing to chance. In addition to cuffing both Damon’s hands and legs to the wheelchair, Pierce had cuffed Madison’s hands to her bench.
    As she stared at the man who had taken so much from her, she had to agree that Pierce had been wise to cuff her. Because right now all she wanted to do was leap across the clearing and strangle her former husband.
    The sunlight glinted off the ring on Damon’s left hand, making Madison start in surprise. It was a wedding ring—the ring she’d given him.
    He noted her interest, and held up his hand, a sardonic smile on his lips.
    â€œWhy?” she asked.
    â€œI take my vows seriously.” He leaned slightly forward. “Until death do us part. Neither of us is dead. Yet.”
    She glanced sharply at Pierce, positioned well behind Damon. He nodded reassuringly. She drew a deep breath. “Why did you kill my father?”
    Damon raised a brow. “Now, why would I kill my esteemed father-in-law? Shame on you for even thinking that.”
    She yanked her fist, but the chain kept her from moving more than a few inches.
    He laughed. “You still haven’t learned to control your temper. That’s going to get you killed someday.”
    â€œIs that a threat?”
    â€œWith all these guns trained on me? Of course not. I have far more self-control than that.”
    â€œYou wanted to talk. So talk.”
    His grin faded as he leaned forward as far as the chains would allow. “You want me to get right to the point? Fine. I left you with a million dollars of my money. Honestly, at the time, I had other resources and thought you might need the money, at least until your father’s money came through. But things have changed. I want it back.” He spoke in a low voice, so low that she almost couldn’t hear him.
    She leaned forward too. “You aren’t getting a single penny. I’m not paying my father’s murderer.”
    He glanced at the policemen watching them. “I suggest you lower your voice, my dear, and be very careful what you say. I didn’t roll in here without making sure I held all the cards. What did you think all those photographs meant when I held you in that room?”
    She curled her hands