Page 101 of Charmed Forces

“I remember pretty much everything from when I arrived at your house,” said Daniel, glancing at me and Solomon, who stood behind me. “I know I was groggy but I remember entering the house and trying to make sense of what happened, but you already know that. After Maddox and Farid finished processing me and I arrived at the safe house with these guys, I slept for almost twelve hours, and even then, I didn’t feel fresh when I woke up. But what you want to know is everything I remember from the house and the case.”

Solomon indicated Daniel should take a seat and he sank onto one of the couches. I sat kitty-corner from him, Solomon perched on the side, and everyone else filled up the rest of the seating.

“I assume you know who everyone is by now?” Daniel asked.

“We do,” I said.

“Pete Wayne and I transferred the Denneys into our custody and took them over to the safe house. Like most of our safe houses, it hadn’t been used before and was entirely unconnected to MPD, the Denneys, or us. The four of us were supposed to keep them there until it was time for them to testify. Once we took them to the courthouse and Jeff Denney testified, we were to hand them over to the US Marshals so they could enter witness protection. None of us were told the names of the marshals and we didn’t need to know them either. As soon as Denney testified, our team was done.

“As you know, we didn’t make it anywhere near the court house.”

“Tell us about your team,” I said.

“We were working as a rotating team of four. Me and Pete Wayne, and Detectives Frank Desmond and Anne McGinney. We worked in twelve-hour shifts, which sounds like a lot but we were mostly just sitting around, making sure no one was coming onto the property who shouldn’t be there. There was a problem with our cameras and we were due a new set to fit but they didn’t arrive in time.”

“Where did your food and beverages come from?” asked Solomon.

“We brought some groceries with us; cereal, milk, coffee, snacks, that kind of thing, and then we took turns picking something up for daily meals.”

“So… no deliveries?”

“No.”

“Who else knew about the safe house?”

“Just our captain and Captain Brandt. No one else was supposed to know but it’s possible a couple others in the office might’ve caught wind of it, I guess. The US Marshals knew we had the Denneys, but they didn’t know where. No one in the prosecutor’s office, to my knowledge, knew the location either. We didn’t speak to any of the neighbors and we didn’t allow the Denneys outside, not even into the yard. We couldn’t tell our families either. I told Alice I was in town but I never told her where.”

“Would the other detectives have revealed their location?” asked Solomon.

“They knew not to, but I can’t say definitively that they didn’t, or that a family member didn’t find out independently. That’s all in the statement I gave Maddox already.”

“Tell us about that day, everything leading up to the event,” I said, seeing Daniel was getting antsy. He was brushing his hands against his jeans, just like he used to do as a teen.

He shrugged. “It was a usual day. Wayne and I were staying in the upstairs bedrooms since Desmond and McGinney were on night shift. Given how dangerous the defendant was, we agreed all four of us should stay on site as much as possible. We all ate together, then Desmond and McGinney hit the hay. The Denneys didn’t say much but they were pleasant. Mrs. Denney asked if we could get some baking supplies so she would have something to do but we vetoed that and she said never mind, she’d read her book instead. The morning was the same routine. She read, Mr. Denney watched TV.”

“Lunch?” asked Solomon.

“Made from the groceries we brought with us. Sandwiches, chips, brownies.”

“Anything special about the afternoon?”

“Nothing. Couldn’t have been more boring. TV, Mr. Denney joined us for a few games of cards. Mrs. Denney asked us again about groceries and could we get her another book too. I said I could pick baked goods up for her when I went to get dinner.”

“The pizzas?”

“Yeah, Desmond and McGinney got up around five and we all voted for pizzas, so I headed over to Monty’s to pick them up. Some new lady filled our order and I came back by a different route. I forgot the baking goods but I figured it didn’t matter since the Denneys were going to court soon anyway and would soon be out of our hands.”

“Where’d the coffee come from?”

“Coffee?”

“The takeout coffee?” I prompted.

“Right. That. When I got back to the house, Wayne told me Detective Crump had called and asked them what we wanted so he asked for one and told them how I liked mine. The other two were planning to leave as soon as I got back.”

“Why’s that?”

“They were supposed to be relieved by Detectives Crump and Hertford. Something about Desmond getting too much overtime for the month and they couldn’t approve anymore.”

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