Page 48 of Rules of Engagement

"I'm trying to find out who shot Solomon," I said, coming as quickly to the point as I could. Matt Miller wasn't a verbose man, and I didn't have the time to make polite talk before I got straight to the point. Every minute I was away from Solomon bothered me. Not only that, but the trail was getting colder the longer it took me to make the connections.

"I was sorry to hear about that. Maddox filled me in on what he knows."

"You might not know that we now have a lead on the shooter but I don't believe he’s the person behind it. I think someone else might be calling the shots —" I winced at my poor choice of words " —and I need to know if it's someone from Solomon's past. Since you worked with him in an official capacity, I thought you might be able to offer some ideas."

"I only worked with Solomon a small number of times when he was on loan to the FBI, and I'm struggling to think of anyone who might have borne a grudge. His work with my task force was always discreet. Although we worked on that case for four months, he was always behind the scenes, while the operatives like Maddox were undercover. It's unlikely anyone on the cases we worked would ever have even known Solomon's name."

"Who was he on loan from?" I asked.

Miller shrugged. "A defense contractor, I think, set up by an ex-agent who was connected to someone higher than my pay grade. We needed someone with his expertise and he was thus provided."

"Were all the cases you worked on similar to the Green Hand Insurance case?"

"It's classified information, but I can tell you that they all had financial crimes in common."

"What about Solomon's personal life?"

Matt laughed and the lines around his eyes crinkled. "I wasn't aware Solomon had one."

"You don't know anyone whom he socialized with? He never mentioned anyone from his past?"

"If he did socialize with anyone, or date somebody, he never said. He didn't talk about his past either, and to be fair, I never asked. We were doing a job, you see, not dating."

"Did you know where he lived?"

"He was living in a hotel during that time. He mentioned buying a place, a house. I was surprised, actually."

"Why was that?" I pressed.

"I guess I never figured him as someone who would settle down. I read his background file so I knew he was never in any one location long enough to even consider settling during most of his adult life. After that last op, I requested him for another job but found he sought a change of career. That would be the private investigation agency he set up. It was a smart move."

"Any particular reason you thought that?" I asked.

Matt nodded slowly. "This job has a habit of taking over your life. At some point, you either have to commit to sacrifice in order to be good at your job, or you have to leave the job and stop making all the sacrifices everywhere else. I've seen marriages fail, kids who barely know their parents, and important events get dropped for a work call. A lot of regrets in that line of work."

"You spoke to Solomon and me about that one night," said Maddox. "A couple weeks into the Green Hand Insurance sting."

"I believe I did. Maybe Solomon took that to heart. You don't think about it, Maddox?"

"I do," said Maddox.

"Don't leave it too late," said Matt. "Lexi, I'm afraid I might have wasted your time. I'm not sure how anything I said could help you."

"I appreciate your meeting me. Is there anything you can think of that might help us find the person or persons responsible?"

"Not really but, now that I think about it… there was someone Solomon mentioned. He had a friend at an Army base not too far from here. Fort Charles, I think. I don't recall the exact name but if you find him, he might be able to tell you more about his background than I can."

We shook hands and Matt expressed his best wishes to Solomon and me, then he patted Maddox on the arm and took off, quickly disappearing behind the foliage that covered his exit from the park.

"I thought he would be more helpful," said Maddox. We took the path by the lake, walking slowly back to the car while I digested Matt's comments.

"Me too, but at least he didn't add anymore names on the list. Maddox, was Solomon really always that alone? I mean, did he really not have anyone around him when you worked together?"

"I can't answer that. Like Miller said, we didn't talk much about that stuff. We were focused strictly on the job. Obviously, Solomon must have known people here because he had the agency up and running very quickly."

"He lived here for a little while when he was a kid," I said. He told me about that period of his life a few times, and how much he liked living here. "He already knew everyone he hired to work at the agency."

"Makes sense that he picked somewhere familiar to settle down. For a long while, I wondered if he picked Montgomery only because of you."

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