Page 35 of Charmed Forces
“I don’t see how I could know that,” Alice said without any trace of hostility. “The house was sold below market price, which is common knowledge and since they’re doing it up piecemeal, I guess they’re being sensible with their money. Their cars aren’t new. They drove to Disneyworld for their vacation this year. That’s about all I know. Suki doesn’t carry fancy purses or wear loads of jewelry, but apart from that, I don’t know what they earn or spend.”
“What about you?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” Alice asked indignantly. Her forehead furrowed but she looked more tired than angry.
“It’s a question that you’ll probably be asked by the police,” said Solomon. “You should be prepared for it.”
“Well, I am now. I guess it doesn’t matter telling you anyway. You can guess what we earn between Daniel’s detective salary and my nursing salary, and we pay our bills just fine. We put money in the kids’ college funds even though it won’t be nearly enough. Our cars are fully paid off. We’ve got a decent amount of money in our savings too.”
“Any debt?”
“Beyond our mortgage? Just our credit cards and we pay them off every month. We don’t spend on anything crazy either. Just regular stuff so we can earn the airmiles. We want to take the kids to Mexico for vacation next year.”
“Is there any way Daniel might have another debt you don’t know about?” asked Solomon.
Alice shifted her attention to him. “I know why you’re asking. You want to know if he could be compromised in any way? I can’t say absolutely outright that no, he doesn’t have debt I don’t know about. One of my colleagues, Celeste, found out last year that her husband ran up a tab for thirty grand without her knowing and she divorced him and had to sell the house to pay it off. So, yeah, I know people do shitty things even though they might seem totally honorable. But not Daniel! Daniel is a good man. If you think he would let himself get compromised over something shady, you’re so wrong.”
“Can you say the same about his partner?” I asked.
“No, not definitively, but Pete always seemed a decent sort to me.” Alice paused and hugged her arms around her a little tighter. “Why would you think Daniel could have been compromised? What happened on his case? I know three people are dead but no one will tell me anything else and I checked the news and there’s nothing there either.”
I hesitated, uncertain of what to say. If I told her everything, would that throw her into a spiral of worry? Yet, if I were Alice, I’d definitely want to know. When Solomon didn’t say anything, I decided honesty was the best policy. “From what we currently know, it appears Daniel and his partner, plus another officer, were guarding two people. Three are dead. Shot at close range. One of the officers was wounded but survived. We’re not sure if it’s Detective Wayne yet but I think he could be.”
Alice’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, my God,” she whispered. “They think Daniel did that? Killed them all?”
“Daniel was absent from the scene.”
“So maybe he wasn’t even there? Maybe he left to get food or stepped out to take a call?”
“Our information is that Daniel’s badge and phone were found at the scene.”
“Then maybe he’s been kidnapped?”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Solomon. “Our intel suggests his team were guarding one or two people who were due to testify. They would have been the targets, not him.”
“But he’s missing! Daniel wouldn’t just up and walk out!”
“He hasn’t been kidnapped,” I said.
“And how do you know that?” She turned her full attention to me. “You’ve seen him?” she said after a long pause.
“Do you remember when I said I wouldn’t tell you a thing, even if I knew something?”
“Right,” she said, nodding, and clearly thinking. I knew what was going through her head. If I’d seen him, I knew he was okay. I would say so if he weren’t, which meant, she could take that as a good sign, even if everything else surrounding him seemed chaotic. “You better keep my husband safe,” she said finally.
“Haven’t seen him,” said Solomon and Alice tried not to smile. “If there’s nothing else you can tell us, we need to get back to the agency. We have a case to solve.”
Alice tugged on the bedroom door, opened it and paused in the doorway. “I trust you guys,” she said before walking away. “If your mom hadn’t hired you, I would have.”
“I hope that trust lasts,” I said, after I closed the door behind her.
“I think we should head home and get ready for an early start. There isn’t much we can do at this time.”
“We can go to the pizza shop and find out who picked up the pizza or if it was delivered.”
“Let’s do that on the way home. In the morning, I want to get to the courthouse first thing and work out who the witness or witnesses are and whom they’re testifying against. That has to be the key to the whole business.”
“I agree but I can’t help thinking that means a hitman took them all out. Why take the extra effort to pin it on Daniel?”