Simon Says Die

gun hand and her eyes widened. She frantically patted down the couch.
    Madison hid her smile and peeked out through her lashes, enjoying the other woman’s frenzied panic. When she spotted the gun on the counter, she let out a string of curses and hurried into the kitchen, tucking the gun away just as Pierce stepped into the kitchen from the garage.
    The sound of his deep voice as he spoke in muted tones to Tessa soothed Madison’s worry. Her relief turned to annoyance as they continued to whisper to each other. She wished she could hear what they were saying. Then again, maybe it was a good thing she couldn’t.
    She tried to tune them out so she could catch a few minutes of sleep. She’d give Pierce hell later for leaving her with his snoring fiancée all night. And then, somehow, she’d convince him that she didn’t really need his help.

 
    Chapter Four
    M ADISON COVERED HER yawn and looked out Pierce’s car window at the FBI office building on East Bryan Street.
    After nodding off in the recliner this morning, she’d been shaken awake an obscenely short time later. Pierce, looking impossibly refreshed, as if he hadn’t been awake most of the night himself, had driven her to the cemetery to retrieve her car. Then he’d followed her home and had waited while she showered and changed.
    In spite of her brilliant arguments about not needing his help, he’d bullied her into going with him to give his boss a statement about the shooting.
    He opened her car door and offered her his hand.
    She swatted his hand away and covered another yawn as she climbed out of the car. She’d wipe that grin off his face later, once she got enough caffeine into her system. One cup of coffee was not enough to wake up her “nice” gene.
    The lettering on the glass door of the building declared that it was a technology center, rather than a field office like the sprawling complex in Jacksonville, where Pierce used to work. Its stark, plain facade had none of the Southern charm Madison associated with the rest of Savannah’s historic district, which was probably why the FBI had tucked it away, a block off Reynolds Square—so no one would notice it and complain.
    â€œAfter you, Sleepy, or should I call you Grumpy?” He held open the front door.
    â€œHow about I call you Dopey and we call it even?”
    He laughed as she trudged past him into the tiny entryway that didn’t even boast a receptionist.
    She couldn’t help it if she wasn’t cheerful Snow White today. Being handcuffed, kidnapped, held prisoner by a cover model, and then hauled to the FBI building on just a few hours sleep did not make her want to burst into song and play with bluebirds.
    â€œYou can’t ignore me forever.” He slid an ID card into an electronic reader on a metal gate. It beeped and clicked open.
    â€œI’m not ignoring you.” She stepped through the gate. “I just don’t have anything to say.”
    He looked suspiciously close to grinning again as he led her down the hallway to an elevator. She crossed her arms after they stepped inside, daring him to smile at her.
    â€œAre you never going to forgive me?” He punched the button for the second floor.
    â€œYou left me with your fiancée and told her to shoot me if I tried anything.”
    His lips twitched. “She told you I said that?”
    â€œThat’s the way I took it.”
    He laughed. “I’m sure she was only teasing.” His grin faded and his face turned serious. “As for her being my fiancée, I’ve been trying to tell you—”
    She held up her hand to stop him. “And I already told you this morning that I don’t want to discuss her. Your personal life is no longer my business. You don’t owe me any explanations.”
    He gave her an odd look, but before she could figure out what that look meant, the elevator door slid open. A man in a dark gray business suit was leaning against the far wall, apparently waiting for them. He straightened and held out his hand. “Mrs. McKinley, I’m Special Agent Casey Matthews. Thank you for coming.”
    She shook his hand without enthusiasm. “I’m only here because Pierce would have ruined my brother’s honeymoon if I didn’t agree to talk to you. This is a total waste of time.”
    His eyes widened, and he glanced at Pierce.
    â€œShe’s actually a marshmallow inside