Page 85 of Charmed Forces

The problem was: Tom Victor didn’t get to his lofty position by being a stupid man.

The odds of me finding anything were low but I had to give it a shot.

Daniel deserved everything I could do to acquit him. Not just because he was my brother, but because he was my friend too. He was a good man who didn’t deserve any of this.

Neither did Detective Desmond or Detective Wayne. Even the Denneys were ultimately trying to do the right thing. Or, at least, I thought they were. They might have just been doing it to save their own hides from Tom Victor, from the police, and from everyone.

They still deserved justice. All of them did.

Before I packed up my stuff and headed home, I called my parents. Mom was too upset to talk, but Dad came on the line for a few minutes.

“Are you getting anywhere with this, dear?” he asked.

“We have a lot of leads to follow,” I told him.

“Your mom is worried he’s dead in a dumpster somewhere and we’ll never find his body. I have to be honest, I’m afraid of that too.”

“Someone would have reported it if that were the case,” I replied, hating that I couldn’t say anything more to allay their fears.

“We checked in on Alice and the kids and they seem okay. She was sensible to get them out of town. I saw their house on the news. That cash spill... Lexi, I was on the force for decades. Where’s the trust? Where’s the respect? Is our family owed nothing?”

“I’m so sorry, Dad,” I said, “but please don’t think they’ve all turned against us. They haven’t.”

“I guess we’ll find out in the coming days.”

I wanted to offer him more reassurance, but I knew anything I said would be hollow so instead I told him to tell Mom I was working hard and would update them soon.

I headed home, my heart heavy, half expecting to find reporters on our street too but there was no one. A couple of times, I thought I glimpsed Detectives Hertford and Crump in an unmarked car, just a flash of red hair and a blonde man next to him. Yet despite my curtain twitching, neither seemed to be watching over my house and by the time Solomon returned home, I was ready to eat and go to bed.

The next morning, I attempted to visit Suki Wayne again but her house was shut up tight. I left my card in the mail slot, asking her to call me, although I wasn’t sure she would since my last visit ended with her husband’s death. Next up was Detective McGinney’s house but there was no sign of her either. I left another card but I had a feeling I wouldn’t hear from her.

By lunchtime, Lucas had sent over everything he could find on Tom Victor’s construction business, including a long list of completed projects and accounts. It seemed he ran the business from his home address rather than leasing offices, and his business was in good standing with large cash reserves and very few debts. Several developments were in progress and he’d recently acquired land for luxury homes. If he wanted to be well off, Tom Victor could survive comfortably with this business alone, yet something kept him in the family business. Was it the money, or the family? None of our research could answer that.

By mid-afternoon, Solomon had acquired plans to Victor’s house so I had a good idea of the layout. Angelica texted a few times and although it was sweet to see her excitement for the party, I knew where the money came from to throw it. Did she have an inkling of the true nature of her boyfriend’s dealings? And would she care if she did? As I closed my laptop, I had to leave the question dangling in the air. It was time to get ready.

It felt weird to stand by my closet, looking for a pretty party dress that would be appropriate for an evening with a mobster, his glamour-puss mistress and her more sedate cousin, but here I was.

“What do you think works?” I asked Lily. My phone was propped up on a shelf in the closet, and her face was on the screen. “The green or the blue?”

“What look are we going for here? Grandma’s tea party?”

“So, neither?”

“Absolutely, neither. Little black dress?”

“I didn’t get the impression it was a cocktail party. Angelica seems more like theSlip ’n’ Slide while holding a cocktail with a flashing ice cube in ittype.”

“She sounds like me five years ago. Shame we can’t befriend her. Do you think she knows what her boyfriend does for a living?”

“I’ve been thinking about that all day. Maybe. Or maybe he fed her a line about his shipping and construction companies. That would be easy enough to believe. Both lines can make the kind of big money that attracts trophy girlfriends.”

“What about his wife?”

“I can’t see how she wouldn’t know. He does appear legitimately separated though, and I guess having a wife in the background spares him from getting pressured for marriage. It’s a good setup for him. All the fun without the responsibility.”

“What about pink?”

“Huh?”