Page 19 of Charmed Forces

Daniel’s head shot up and he almost fell off the stool. “No. Yes. I don’t know. There was shooting and then I was running and then I was here. I need to get back there. You don’t understand. These are important witnesses. They can’t be left alone.”

“Who was shooting?” I asked.

Daniel shook his head. “I... don’t remember.”

“What do you remember?”

“It’s patchy. I ate dinner with Maddox and then... the usual stuff. Said goodbye to Alice and the kids. Got into my car. Went to MPD to get the address for the pickup... some stuff is hazy. My partner came with me. The other guy went to set up the safe house. Everyone got there. There was a shooting. I taste coffee in my mouth. I guess I must’ve had a coffee at some point.”

“You had dinner with Maddox last night,” I reminded him. “Did you go directly to the safe house from there?”

“No. I went home first. I don’t remember much but no. My partner and I weren’t due to pick them up until ten AM that morning.”

“That’sthismorning. What do you remember since then?” I asked, trying not to grow frustrated with Daniel’s struggle to recall the details.

“Not much. It’s patchy. We picked them up. Desmond and McGinney were already at the safe house. She brought donuts. Oh! We came in through the side door so we must have parked in the garage. Then we settled in for the wait.”

“Anyone else come or go?” I asked.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“No one went out for coffee? Or food?” asked Solomon.

“I don’t know. Maybe I went out for pizza. That feels... I think I went to Monty’s?” Daniel said, frowning. He unscrewed the water bottle and brought it unsteadily to his mouth. “I feel like crap. My head is pounding. I need to call this in.” He set down the water and patted his pockets for his phone. “I must have dropped my phone. Lexi, give me yours. I need to call this in, and I need to call my partner and tell him where I am. I must have given chase? Did I?”

“Are you sure?” I asked, deflecting.

Daniel frowned harder. “I must have,” he said, his hand pausing mid-air as he waited for my phone. “But why did I come here? Did something else happen? Why is there blood on my clothes?” He set the water bottle down and plucked at his sleeve.

“You came here for help,” I said.

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s right. The safe house isn’t far away.”

“On Sun Street.”

“Yeah. How did you know that? Did I tell you already?”

“You did.”

“And you called the police?”

I hesitated but Daniel was staring at the blood on his sleeve so he didn’t notice. “I did,” I said, which wasn’t exactly a lie. I did call them just not when Daniel now assumed I did.

“Okay. Okay, that’s good.”

“We think you might have been drugged. That’s why your memory is so hazy,” Solomon told him.

“That’s not possible,” said Daniel, shaking his head. “Nothing comes in or out of the house without our checks to avoid contamination and that includes any food.”

“Can you remember anything else beyond the pizza? Did you pick anything else up?” I asked, thinking about the takeout coffees in the room. If someone had drugged them, wouldn’t it have been easier to drug the pizza and make them all unconscious? Everyone could have eaten the pizza, rendering them unconscious but compliant, but there were only two coffee cups. Yet how would the pizza restaurant know who’d eat the pizzas?

Daniel shook his head again, then stopped and rested his forehead in his palm. “I don’t think so.”

Behind Daniel’s back. Solomon lifted his phone again and motioned for me to follow.

“We’ll be right back,” I said. “Keep trying to remember. Any little detail helps.” Even as I said it, I knew it would be terrible for Daniel the moment he did remember what happened. If he remembered at all.

“This was quick,” he said to me, showing me Delgado’s name flashing on the screen, before answering. “What happened?”