Simon Says Die

was saying made sense. Why would someone abduct her and not hurt her, not make any demands, and not make a ransom request, then just let her go?
    â€œYou didn’t want to go to the hospital,” Logan said, matter-of-factly. “And we have to be sure you don’t have any drugs still in your system to worry about.”
    The EMT capped the blood vial and handed it to Lieutenant Hamilton, who in turn put it into a plastic bag and handed it to a uniformed police officer.
    â€œThe cloth he used smelled sweet,” Madison said.
    The EMT glanced at her. “Chloroform probably. It has a sweet smell. Do you need me for anything else, Lieutenant?”
    â€œNo, thanks for coming.”
    The EMT nodded and headed toward the front door with the policeman who had the vial of blood.
    â€œYou said he shoved a note under your door.” Hamilton said.
    â€œYes.” She shivered and rubbed her arms. “It said, ‘Your punishment is about to begin.’ ”
    â€œBut you don’t have the note. Or any of the pictures you said you saw.”
    Her face reddened slightly. “I wasn’t exactly in a position to grab them and take them with me since I was drugged and knocked out again.”
    He didn’t respond to her sarcasm. “You’re sure you can’t describe anything about your abductor? Hair color, eye color, height?”
    â€œI only saw him once, when he opened the trunk of the car. But it was only for a split second, before he put the cloth over my face again. The sun was behind him. I didn’t see any details. But . . .”
    â€œGo on,” Logan encouraged. “What else?”
    â€œMy gut tells me it was Damon. Maybe that famous gut of yours runs in the family.”
    Pierce heard the smile in her voice.
    â€œAm I missing something here?” Hamilton asked. He turned to Pierce. “Do you know what they’re talking about?”
    He shrugged. He knew what Madison was talking about. Logan’s gut was famous, among the men he worked with anyway. Following his instincts had solved many cases others had given up on, and had saved lives, including his wife Amanda’s.
    â€œWhy won’t you look at me, Pierce?” Madison’s voice was soft and shaky. “Why won’t you say anything?”
    He lifted his gaze to hers, then quickly looked away. Logan glared at him and pulled Madison close to his side.
    â€œDon’t worry about him,” Logan said, anger clear in his voice. “What else do you remember?”
    â€œNot much. Just . . . the pictures. That horrible room.”
    While Madison talked about the photos again, Pierce listened intently, alert to the inflections in each word. She didn’t sound like she was hiding anything, but she’d been supposedly held against her will for more than thirty hours. And there wasn’t a mark on her. Not a bruise, not a scratch. Nothing to suggest she’d just been through a harrowing experience.
    She’d said her hands and feet were bound with cloth, thus no ligature marks.
    Convenient.
    He didn’t want to doubt her, but from the moment she’d walked through the door, as if nothing had happened, the doubts had slammed into him so hard they’d stolen his breath.
    â€œHow sure are you that the man who took you was your former husband?” Hamilton asked, from the chair on the other side of Logan.
    Pierce raised his gaze to watch her when she answered. She was staring directly at him as she spoke. “If I had to swear to it, I couldn’t. But I feel very strongly that it was Damon McKinley who drugged me and locked me in that room.”
    â€œDid he take you to a motel outside of town?” Pierce asked, unable to keep silent anymore with his doubts.
    She seemed relieved that he was talking to her now, but then her blue eyes clouded with confusion. “Motel? You think the room I was in was in a motel? What kind of motel has bars on the window, and no furniture?”
    â€œBefore that,” he said. “When you first left the house. You went to a motel.”
    She shook her head, her brow wrinkling. “What are you talking about? I was in my kitchen. Someone grabbed me from behind, held a cloth over my face. When I woke up, I was in the trunk of a car, tied up. He put the cloth on my face again, and the next time I woke up in that room.”
    â€œAnd then you woke up in your car. Right. During all of that, you never