Read Online Simon Says Die by Lena Diaz - Free Book Online

left out of the discussion, but he didn’t argue. He closed the door with a solid click.
    Mr. MacGuffin leaned forward. “Well, now. Since I’m the sole owner of this establishment, I’d be very interested in knowing why you believe you have a stake in the place. I do hope someone hasn’t rooked you out of some money, young lady.”
    Madison was fairly certain how this would end, even before it began. But after being such a bad judge of character with Damon, she no longer trusted her instincts. So even though this man’s kind face and gentle way of speaking reminded her of her father, and she sensed he was telling the truth, she plunged ahead with her questions.
    â€œMy husband, Damon, bought half of this restaurant for two hundred thousand dollars. I’ve got the paperwork right here.” She took a sheaf of papers out of her purse and placed it on the desk.
    MacGuffin studied the contract, pushing his thick glasses up on his nose before turning the top page. He scratched his balding head, his lips moving as he read. When he looked up at her again, he was no longer smiling. He grabbed a piece of paper from one of the piles on his desk and set it down in front of her. “This is my signature here.” He pointed to the bottom of the paper, then flipped to the signature page on the contract she’d brought. “And this is supposedly my signature on your paper.” He looked at her over the top of his glasses. “I’m no handwriting expert, but—”
    â€œThey aren’t the same.”
    He smoothed his fingers across one of the pages. “What did you say your husband’s name was?”
    â€œDamon McKinley.”
    â€œCan’t say I’ve ever met him. Name doesn’t sound familiar. But I’m sure my lawyer will be interested in meeting him.”
    Madison pulled the sheaf of papers toward her. “Damon died in a car accident.”
    Sympathy immediately flooded Mr. MacGuffin’s eyes. “My sympathies, Mrs. McKinley. I hope you have some other means of income besides that alleged investment.”
    She shoved the papers into her purse. “I didn’t have any plans to liquidate his holdings in this restaurant in any case. But I can’t understand why he’d go to such lengths to pretend that he’d invested in your restaurant, why he’d create a fake contract.”
    â€œTwo hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money. Perhaps he needed a way to explain away some kind of loss. A gambling debt, something like that.”
    â€œHe never showed me this contract. I found it on my own. So it’s not like he tried to use it to explain any losses to me .” She didn’t tell him she’d found it by snooping through her husband’s things. Instead, she let her statement hang in the air so that Mr. MacGuffin would assume she’d found it after her husband died.
    â€œForgive me, but did your husband engage in . . . illegal activities?”
    She clutched her purse in her lap. “Not that I can prove. Although, I do admit that I suspected as much.”
    He nodded. “Then it’s entirely possible he planned to use that fake contract to try to take my restaurant from me. Perhaps he was going to approach my heirs someday, to place a lien against my estate. There are all kinds of schemes con artists use. Unfortunately, I’ve seen quite a few of them. This one, however, is new to me.”
    He stared at her curiously. “You said you didn’t plan to liquidate. If that’s the case, may I ask why you’re here?”
    She considered lying, but she’d done far too much of that lately, and it was leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. “I have reason to believe my husband may have faked his death, and that he’s in Savannah. I’m trying to track him down.”
    â€œOh dear.”
    â€œI forgot to bring a picture of him with me.” She’d been in too much of