Simon Says Die

significance of those four numbers. But then he simply nodded, and looked back at the screen.
    She let out a relieved breath, feeling as if she’d just been given a reprieve. “If there’s nothing else, I’m going to bed. It’s been a long day.”
    â€œNot yet. I want to know about the note and the phone call.”

 
    Chapter Thirteen
    M ADISON SHOULD HAVE known Pierce wouldn’t let her escape without another inquisition. She sighed and scooted back on the couch. “The note was taped to my front door when I got home, a couple of days after the first time I saw . . . someone . . . watching my house.”
    â€œTyped out, not handwritten.”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œDo I really have to ask you to tell me what it said?” He stared at her, waiting.
    â€œIt said, ‘You’ve been a very bad girl.’ ”
    His brow furrowed. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
    She felt her face heating with embarrassment. “Damon said that to me, once, after an argument. He was upset that I’d been on his computer.”
    He sat silently for a moment. “Does anyone else know he said that to you?”
    â€œProbably. I was pretty ticked the first time he said that. I called my mom and vented with her. She’s not the best at keeping secrets. For all I know, she blasted it all over the Internet on those social media sites she’s so fond of.”
    â€œThe first time?”
    She wrapped her arms around her middle. “He said it one other time. His voice was . . . cold, angry. I’ll never forget the tone of his voice that day.”
    He stared at her intently. “What did Hamilton say about the note?”
    â€œThat it was probably some neighborhood kid, playing a joke on the new lady who’d just moved in. In all fairness, he wasn’t sarcastic and didn’t dismiss it, not at first anyway. He looked into it. He sent his officers to ask my neighbors if they saw anything.”
    She laughed harshly. “Not that anyone on my street would see anything. Most of the homes around me are vacant for the better part of the year, vacation homes. Right now, with it getting cold, most of the owners are in South Florida.”
    â€œSo, no one saw who left the note.”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œTell me about the phone call.”
    She kicked her shoes off and tucked her legs beneath her on the couch. “It was after I saw the man in my backyard, by the storage shed. I was eating breakfast. The phone rang. When I answered, a voice on the line said the same thing the note said. And before you ask, no, I didn’t recognize the voice. It sounded . . . odd . . . distorted, like the person speaking was purposely changing his voice.”
    â€œBut you could tell the caller was male?”
    â€œDefinitely. That much I was sure of.”
    â€œYou think it was Damon.”
    â€œWouldn’t you? Knowing what he’d said in the past?”
    He didn’t answer. He typed a few notes on his laptop. “You mentioned you had files from Damon’s computer. You still have those files?”
    â€œYes, on my laptop, back at my house.”
    â€œWe can go get your computer in the morning. What about the pictures you think are missing? Are you certain you saw them before you moved, that you didn’t throw them away when you were packing?”
    She blew out a breath. “We’re back to that? Seriously?”
    He studied her for a moment. Then he closed the laptop and turned toward her, resting his forearms on his knees. “I’m re-looking at all the evidence, trying to figure this out. Casey texted me earlier, saying he wants a sample of Damon’s handwriting to compare to those bogus contracts you gave me. Do you have a sample?”
    She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “Of course not. That would be too easy, wouldn’t it?” She rested her head against the back of the couch. “I had no reason to keep anything personal of his after he died. The only reason I kept those contracts was because they had to do with finances. At the time, I thought they were valid investments. But other than those, I don’t have anything with his signature.”
    â€œYou’re not giving me much to go on here.”
    She rolled her head back and forth against the couch, so frustrated she wanted to scream. It was either that, or shoot someone. And