Page 54 of Charmed Forces

Crucially, none of them had deposited large payments. Of course that still didn’t rule out cash or some kind of other payoff. What I couldn’t imagine was committing a crime like that without a big payoff. I had no idea how much I would sell my soul for but I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be for chump change.

Of course, there was another theory, what if they’d been forced to turn on their colleagues and wards? What if someone had told them their life, or those of their families, were on the line? I would do just about anything to save my family; even Serena... but only on a generous day. Was it possible someone on the squad got so scared as to be persuaded into assisting the real killer?

Of course it was!

Another thought occurred to me. What if one of the Denneys had a change of heart and reached out to their former boss for extraction, only to be betrayed? That seemed about as likely as finding a traitor in MPD. Surely the Victors would be suspicious of them, and if the Denneys knew what they were capable of? Well, how could they hope to be treated with any sense of fairness?

Whichever way I looked at it, a common denominator appeared: the person that stood to profit most from the deaths was the Victors’ cartel. They had to be the person or persons responsible and they wouldn’t stop trying to accomplish their mission until the court case was dropped. The Denneys might have been the big witnesses but without them, could the case still go ahead?

They sent an assassin after Detective Wayne to finish the job... would they send one after Daniel too? Either he was being set up to take the fall or they would have to kill him now that he was the only witness remaining.

That reminded me of something else.I’dbeen inside that safe house too! Did that make me a target? I shook my head, discounting the thought. No one saw me enter or exit and I wasn’t named on any record pertaining to the case. The killer or killers were long gone before I arrived and it didn’t seem like anyone would linger once the job was done just to see the fallout. I should, I hoped, be in the clear from that angle.

When my phone rang, I jumped a mile out of my seat, my heart racing. Being in the clear, unfortunately, didn’t mean my mind was not still stuck in overdrive.

“Yes?” I said.

“Did you find anything?” asked Alice.

“I didn’t,” I confirmed.

She breathed out and I realized she’d been worried, not entirely convinced Daniel hadn’t lied despite her protestations otherwise. “That’s good,” she said.

“It is...”

“I sense a ‘but’.”

“I did a deep dive on Daniel’s colleagues and they also came back clean. No dire financial difficulties and no deposits that could possibly be a payoff.”

“So maybe they got cash?”

“If so, it went badly wrong since two out of three are dead. That doesn’t usually come into the deal.”

“I guess not. Wait… is Pete?” Alice’s voice trailed off.

I winced, appalled at my mistake. “I’m sorry, he died earlier today.”

“Oh, poor Suki,” she said softly.

“Did you know Frank Desmond or Anne McGinney?”

“No. I’ve heard Daniel mention their names, of course, but never in a negative way. He liked them both. I was so sorry to hear about Frank, and I’m relieved for Anne. Have you spoken to her?”

“Not yet, but there wasn’t any reported evidence of her at the scene,” I said, picking my words carefully. “She hasn’t been reported missing either. If she wasn’t there then the chances of her knowing anything are slim.”

“I suppose that’s a good thing.”

“Is there a possibility you and the kids could have been threatened in any way?”

“No one’s threatened us. The kids haven’t said anything.” Alice sounded confused.

“Can you check if anyone gave them anything to pass on to Daniel?”

“Like what?”

“An envelope maybe. Something that they wouldn’t question,” I suggested, thinking about how I would scare a man into doing my bidding. Approaching his kids with evidence I could get to them any time would certainly shake up any loving father. Yet, I was sure enough about Daniel that he would find a way to get help and not resort to committing a crime out of fear.

“You’re still looking for evidence that he might have done it,” said Alice, her voice not wholly accusing me but not dismissing the thought either.