Simon Says Die

grabbed his arm. “Wait, you need to hear all of this.”
    His stomach clenched. He was already dreading what she was going to say. “Go ahead.”
    â€œThe car isn’t there anymore, but the motel manager saw it, and he verified the tag number when the woman driving rented a room.”
    â€œWoman?” Pierce asked.
    â€œA petite woman with shoulder length, dark hair.” Tessa pulled a photograph out of her purse. “I personally checked the motel manager’s story, and got this picture from the still camera at the check-out desk.” She handed it to him.
    He stared at the grainy black and white photo, then held it closer for a better look. “It looks like Madison. I’ll admit that. But the woman in the picture is wearing sunglasses, inside. Seems suspicious.”
    â€œAgreed. Which is why I triple-checked the credit card information. The woman in that photo was driving Madison’s car, and paid with Madison’s credit card. What was Madison wearing when you last saw her?”
    He was holding the picture so hard that it started to crinkle in his hands. He forced himself to relax his grip. “Jeans and a white blouse, with little pink flowers on it. Just like the outfit this woman is wearing.”
    â€œThis is looking less and less like an abduction,” Tessa said.
    Matt crossed his arms. “That’s just stupid.”
    She gave him the kind of look someone would give a fly buzzing around their head. “It’s a reasonable deduction, based on evidence.”
    â€œNone of this makes sense,” Pierce said. “Why would Madison sneak out of the house and run off to a motel? She’s an adult. If she wanted to meet some man . . .” he swallowed and cleared his throat. “If she wanted to do that, she’d do it. She wouldn’t sneak around.”
    â€œI agree,” Tessa said. “Which is why I’m going back to the motel. I’ll dig deeper, see if I can find other witnesses. I need a picture of Madison for when I question people. I saw some photographs in her home office. I’ll go grab one of those.” She started toward the door, but Pierce stopped her.
    â€œThat won’t be necessary.” He pulled his wallet out of his pants pocket. He took out a picture of Madison he’d taken when they were dating, a picture he’d been unable to throw away. Without a word, he handed it to Tessa.
    She gave him a sympathetic look, making him grit his teeth.
    â€œI’ll make sure you get this back.” She headed out the door.
    Matt frowned after her. “I’m going to call Braedon and update my map to show where he’s searched already.” He paused with his hand on the doorknob. “You coming?”
    Pierce pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I have to make a call first, something I’ve been putting off. Be there in a minute.”
    Matt nodded and headed into the kitchen.
    Pierce moved to the window overlooking the backyard, and punched up a number on his phone. The same number he’d been threatening to call since the morning of the shooting.
    â€œHey, Pierce,” the voice on the phone said. “This had better be good. I’m a bit . . . busy at the moment.”
    Pierce leaned his forehead against the cool glass and closed his eyes. “Logan, Madison’s in trouble.”
    M ADISON DREW IN another breath to scream just as the trunk popped open.
    A patch of bright blue sky had her blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light. A dark figure moved into her range of vision, and suddenly a rough cloth was held over her nose and mouth.
    She thrashed and tried to turn her head away from the sweet-smelling cloth, the same smell she remembered from back in her kitchen. She tried to hold her breath as she struggled against his hold. Her lungs started burning. Spots flashed before her eyes, and she finally had to draw a breath.
    Her world went dark.
    P IERCE REFUSED TO leave Madison’s house in case someone called demanding ransom.
    Hamilton refused to leave in case Madison magically appeared on her own. He still wasn’t convinced she’d been abducted. Neither was Tessa.
    But Pierce no longer had any doubts.
    Madison had been gone for over six hours now. She wouldn’t be gone that long without contacting him. She’d know he would worry, and she wasn’t the kind of person who would want him to worry, no matter what kind of problems