Simon Says Die

about you.” He headed up the stairs, then slammed the door behind him.
    Pierce laughed, a harsh, hollow sound in the now empty basement. Right. Madison needed him. That’s why she’d dumped him. That’s why she’d lied to him more times than he could count.
    He shook his head. Logan was wrong. But, unfortunately, the reverse was true. He needed Madison, or at least, he needed to make sure she was safe. It had nearly destroyed him when she went missing.
    He’d survived the twenty-nine hours and thirty-two minutes that she’d been gone by refusing to let himself dwell on the terrible things that could have happened to her, by clinging to the hope that maybe Tessa was right and Madison really had run off with someone. At least that way, she would have been unhurt.
    Even now, in spite of all the lies between them, all he could think about was going upstairs to reassure himself that she was really okay. Too bad his ribs hurt like hell; he could barely breathe.
    He drew in several shallow, quick breaths, and hauled himself to his feet.

 
    Chapter Nineteen
    â€œI DID NOT GO to a motel with Damon, or anyone else.” Madison crossed her arms and sat back against the couch, glowering at Lieutenant Hamilton sitting across from her. Everyone else had left on various assignments. Hamilton was pulling the typical cop routine of asking the same questions over and over, obviously trying to trip Madison up.
    The sound of footsteps had her glancing up to see Pierce coming down the stairs where he’d gone after his “meeting” with Logan in the basement. His face was paler than it had been since the day of the shooting.
    In spite of the cruel way he’d acted earlier, she couldn’t resist the urge to go to him. The memory of his face, twisted in pain in the photograph on the ceiling of her prison, the blood seeping through his shirt, had her desperate to see him, to touch him, to reassure herself he was okay.
    She jumped up and ran to meet him at the bottom of the stairs.
    â€œAre you okay?” Her voice was low so it wouldn’t carry to the lieutenant.
    â€œOf course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
    â€œOh, please. Logan had a bruise coming up on the side of his face, and he was grinning like a twelve-year-old who’d just caught his first fish when he came up from the basement. I know you two had a tussle.”
    The corner of Pierce’s mouth tilted up. “A tussle?”
    She waved her hand in the air. “A fight, whatever. Totally childish.” She stepped closer, tapping her finger against his stomach. “You shouldn’t have called him. You ruined his honeymoon.”
    He grabbed her hand and held it in his. “He’s your brother. He had a right to know you’d been abducted.”
    â€œSo . . . you believe me now?”
    His look turned tender, and his eyes filled with regret. “Yes, I’m sorry for being such a jerk. I believe you. I have no idea why, because your story has holes big enough to drive my GTO through it, but I believe you.” He reached out and pulled her to him, resting his cheek against the top of her head.
    She clung to him, reveling in the feel of his arms around her, the familiar smell of soap and cologne in the fabric of his shirt. She had no idea what had caused his change in attitude so quickly, or why he was hugging her without caring that Hamilton could see them, but she wasn’t going to question it. She was so relieved he was okay, and she’d needed this hug so desperately.
    When he pulled back, he pressed a soft kiss against her forehead, then hauled her against his uninjured side. He pulled her along with him, nodding to Hamilton as he stopped with her beside the empty couch.
    â€œWhere’s Logan?” He glanced around the room, then looked down at her expectantly.
    â€œHe’s gone. He left you a note, said he had to leave fast to catch a flight to New York. Tessa drove him. Logan wanted her to fill him in on everything she and Casey had researched. He’s trying to figure out what Damon is up to. For some reason he thinks going to New York will help him find out what he needs.”
    He nodded. “That’s where I’d start too, if I didn’t have to stay here to babysit you.”
    She pushed at him, trying to get him to let her go.
    â€œKnock it off. I was teasing, and you know it.” He hauled her up against him again, as if he was reluctant to