Simon Says Die

of her father’s beloved face the last time she’d seen him suddenly swam through her mind.
    Forgive me, Daddy.

 
    Chapter Five
    â€œD ON’T WORRY,” C ASEY reassured Pierce. “Agent Williams followed Mrs. McKinley out of the building. And he’ll keep an eye on her until you catch up.”
    Pierce nodded and sat down in front of Casey’s desk. He wasn’t happy about letting Madison out of his sight, but with another agent shadowing her, she couldn’t get into too much trouble. At least, until she figured out she was being followed and shook her pursuer, which he wouldn’t put past her.
    â€œWilliams had better stay alert,” Pierce said. “If Madison realizes she’s being followed, she’ll give him the slip just to be ornery.”
    Casey laughed and reached for his keyboard. “What was her husband’s name?”
    â€œDamon McKinley. He died in a car accident about eighteen months ago.” Pierce stood and circled around behind the desk.
    â€œLocation?”
    â€œMadison and Damon lived in Manhattan, but the accident was outside of the city.” The idea of Madison being married to another man didn’t sit any better with Pierce today than it had when he’d first met her. Not that it should matter. Any future he might have planned with her was destroyed when she left him. That part of his life was over, and he needed to focus on what was important, keeping her safe until her brother could take over that job.
    Casey’s fingers flew across the keyboard. A moment later the screen displayed a newspaper article with a picture of a mangled, burned-out car.
    â€œSingle-car accident,” Casey said. “Rain-slicked road, high-speed turn. He lost control going around a corner, wrapped the car around a tree.”
    â€œIt’s unusual for a car to catch on fire like that. The body was burned beyond recognition.”
    â€œRare, but it does happen—if there are enough fumes in the gas tank and it ruptures. What kind of finances are we talking about?”
    â€œDamon had money before he married Madison. He wasn’t outrageously wealthy, but they were comfortable. Madison’s father had several life insurance polices that paid out millions to his wife and kids when he died. Her brother, Logan, invested their money and grew it into a fortune in a fairly short amount of time, mainly in real estate and dot-coms. He has a knack for buying low and selling high, and getting out of markets before they crash.”
    â€œRemind me to ask him for investment advice. Did Damon die before, or after, Mrs. McKinley’s father?”
    â€œA week or two after.”
    Casey frowned. “Why would a man fake his death, when his wife just inherited millions of dollars?” He clicked an icon on his desktop and performed another search.
    â€œI agree it doesn’t make sense.”
    A few searches later, another document filled Casey’s screen. “We can rule out insurance fraud. He didn’t have insurance, none that I can find anyway, unless it was an amount too small to show up on federal radar. Kind of unusual not to have life insurance. Self-employed?”
    â€œFrom what little Madison would tell me on the way here, I gather he was an entrepreneur. He invested in small businesses up and down the East Coast. But he was very private about his work, and Madison wasn’t all that interested in it. She focused on her own work as an assistant curator in one of the museums in New York.”
    Casey relaxed in his chair. Pierce leaned back against the desk.
    â€œDid she tell you anything about the marriage? Why she thinks her husband would want to kill her?”
    â€œShe isn’t exactly confiding in me right now. The only reason she agreed to come here is because she feels guilty about me getting shot, and she’s worried I’ll tell her brother about it. She says she doesn’t want to ruin his honeymoon, but I don’t buy that. She’s hiding something. Damned if I know what it is.”
    Casey tapped his fingers on the desktop. “When you went to the station to talk to Hamilton, did you discuss whether this could be related to the ‘Simon says’ case? I haven’t heard anything about that killer stalking his victims before he kills them, but it’s possible.”
    â€œHe didn’t think the two were related. He still hasn’t invited the FBI in on that