Page 94 of In the Line of Ire

"We needto leave this for the police to investigate. They might want totake photos," he said.

"Whatfor?"

"Hiscourt case."

"I justmade a deal with him to drop the charges."

"Ididn't hear that," said Solomon. "I heard him agree to pay cash foreverything you asked for. You didn't actually offer him anything.All you said was 'maybe'."

Igrinned. "Oh, yeah. Go, me."

"Let'ssecure the property and get out of here. I'd like to see whatDelgado has waiting for us."

"Anothercrime solved, one to go. We're quite the team tonight."

"We're alwaystheteam," said Solomon, smiling.

Back inthe car, Delgado told us over the phone that the photos wereduplicated to my tablet. He was at the agency with Lucas, honingthe details to make an identification. Since they had nothing toshow us yet, I insisted on heading to Natalie's temporaryresidence. I couldn’t wait to tell her the good and the bad news.By the time we got there, the Morgans and Hugo had returned fromthe movie theater and were in good spirits.

"Whathappened to you?" she asked when we stepped into theguesthouse.

"Badknock to the head. It's nothing, really," I lied.

"Didsomething happen at my house?" she wanted to know.

"Yes,but not this. It happened earlier. I have some good news for you.We caught the person responsible for breaking into yourhome!"

"That'sgreat!" said Hugo. "Did you find out the reason why?"

Inodded. "It was your landlord, Larry. I suspected it was him when Iread in the newspaper that your neighborhood was being bought up bya developer. Larry claimed he wasn't trying to be weird, althoughit definitely came off that way. He hoped you would break the leaseif he frightened you badly enough."

Nataliefrowned. "But I couldn't break the lease. The lease clearlystipulated that I would owe him the full year’s rent if I broke itand I couldn’t afford to give him ten months of rent!"

"I don'tthink that ever occurred to him," I said, shaking my head. "You'llbe pleased to know he's in custody down at the police stationnow."

"Andwhat happens next? What happens when he gets out?" askedHugo.

"Leximade a deal so you don't have to go back to the house. He won'tharass you anymore," said Solomon.

"Whatabout the lease?" asked Natalie. "I can't break it."

I gaveher a reassuring smile. "You don't have to worry about that either.Larry has agreed to forfeit the lease. You're not liable foranything."

"That'sgreat, I guess," said Natalie but her face didn't reflect herwords.

"Surelyyou don't want to go back there?" said Hugo.

"No. No,I don't want to do that. That house just gives me the creeps now. Idon't know where we’ll go. I have a little money put away foranother deposit and..." She trailed off. "That was just a reallyconvenient house. Big enough, and the rent wasn't unreasonable, andthe girls and I could easily go to school and work. I wonder ifwe'll be able to find somewhere else that covers all thoseboxes."

"You canstay here as long as you need to," said Hugo

Shereached for his hand and squeezed it. "I appreciate that. I reallydo. But I don't want to wear out our welcome and you've alreadybeen so generous."

"It'snothing really. The guesthouse won't have anyone else in it if yougo. Really, you're doing me a favor by using the facilities, likethe pool."

Beforethey tried to out-nice each other, I leaned forwards. "Like Solomonsaid, I made a deal with Larry. He agreed to pay your deposit andthe first three months’ rent on a new property, along with all ofyour moving expenses. He's also going to pay you the money in cashas an act of goodwill tomorrow. You'll have the money readywhenever you need it."

Natalieblinked. "Seriously? Are you for real?"

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