Page 30 of Charmed Forces
“Yeah.”
“Three murders. Notfour. Captain Brandt said that too. The other guy is still okay. He could be the witness Daniel needs,” I added, growing excited at the prospect. It didn’t fail to occur to me that I’d made that call just in time. What if I’d waited? He might never have survived.
“So long as he survives,” said Solomon, bringing my volatile spirit crashing down again. His phone rang. “Delgado,” he said, answering it. He listened for a moment, then disconnected. “Delgado said Garrett already left the Sun Street scene but he’s remaining there to observe. He said there’re a lot of police, and the crime scene investigators just rolled in. A news van turned up too. He’s going to call Serena and let her know he’ll be a while.”
“You got all that by just saying his name in a questioning manner?”
“You know how efficient Delgado is.”
“The news van isn’t good. They’ll get wind that there’s a suspect soon and then Daniel’s photo will be all over the media, not just the police radio channel.”
“We should hope MPD want to keep it under wraps. It doesn’t make the police force look good to be hunting down one of their own.”
I grimaced. “I was more concerned about Daniel’s face being plastered all over the news, accused of something he didn’t do.”
“Neither are good.”
I paused, thinking. “Lily hasn’t called me yet. She must still be at the bar. I wonder if Jord is at home with the baby?”
“She’s not with your mom?”
“Mom would have told me if she were looking after Poppy.”
My phone beeped with a message. I read it aloud. “Mom says everyone is to come over if they want to.”
“Do you want to?”
“I want to but as much for information purposes as to reassure my mom her son isn’t a killer. We should all get together. Maybe Daniel said something to someone about the case that might give us an angle to work with?”
“Good plan. I’ll drive,” agreed Solomon.
I picked up the ice cream melting on the island and stuck my spoon in, eating it on the way to the freezer.
“Are you okay?” asked Solomon softly.
“Panic eating,” I slurred, my mouth full. I shoved the tub into the freezer. “I’m going to grab a sweater and then I want to make a plan. We need to work out what to do next.”
Solomon moved in front of me, blocking my path to toss the spoon in the sink, and pulled me into a hug. He was warm, his chest hard and his arms comforting. Not that I could even think about being comforted, not yet; not when Daniel’s whole life had been turned upside-down. “Everything will be okay,” he said, his breath against my hair.
“We don’t know that,” I mumbled against his chest. I squeezed him and stepped back, making him reluctantly let me go. “But we will do everything in our power to find out what’s going on and get him exonerated. It’s the only thing we can do.”
I grabbed my sweater and we both piled into Solomon’s SUV. Halfway to my mom’s house, my phone rang.
“Hi, Lily.”
“You’re not going to believe what happened!” yelled Lily as I moved the phone away from my ear. “I’m driving home right now!”
“I thought you were working until closing?”
“Yeah, well, we’re closed, all right. MPD ruined the night.”
“Were they looking for Daniel?” I asked.
“Yeah. How’d you know? Jord says they came to our house too. And do you know who it was? Detective Hertford! Remember him?” I was about to confirm I did when Lily continued, “They even woke up the baby! If she stops sleeping through the night, I’ll make them pay. I’ll go nuclear!”
“I hear you. The police came to our house too, and Mom and Dad’s, and Serena’s. Why did they come to your bar? What did Maddox say?”
“He’d already left by then, something to do with a case and me not even paying him to be my emergency bartender. Not that he minded. My female customers love him. He got two phone numbers, a bra, and seven resumes for the newly opened bartender role.”