Page 105 of Charmed Forces

It was close to midnight when we were certain we’d set up everything we needed. We nixed a few locations — Daniel’s house would invite even more neighborhood gossip, anywhere too public might result in bystander intervention — and settled on a warehouse at the edge of town. The owners had vacated the place a month before and Solomon was in charge of on-site security for the real estate firm that brokered its sale.

The building was mid-sized and secure, having previously housed furniture for an online retailer. It had been entirely cleared out with the exception of a forklift truck and a pile of pallets and boxes. Besides the warehouse, there was a mezzanine and an upstairs office with glass windows overlooking the warehouse floor. The office was accessed by a metal staircase. Solomon gave us the tour and we all agreed it was an ideal space for a criminal on the run. It was dry, with electricity and running water, and there was a small washroom and kitchenette. Someone could camp out here for days, maybe even weeks if they had enough groceries to sustain them.

With only two entrances, the smaller front door beside a padlocked, six-foot, roll-up garage door, and a rear door, it was easy to corral anyone who snooped around investigating. And we planned to be infiltrated very soon. The only sticking point washow.I voted for calling MPD with an anonymous tip, Solomon thought we should call the murder squad directly and offer to give up Daniel.

We’d been debating the two approaches for half an hour, just us and Maddox, who arrived alone.

I thought the anonymous tip would bring out the detectives quickly, duping them into thinking they’d been handed a golden ticket to get rid of Daniel quickly and quietly before being hailed as heroes for removing a violent fugitive from the streets. Solomon thought they might ignore an anonymous tip and a targeted approach would ensure their swift arrival. Delgado said we should have thought more about this and previously made contact with someone in Victor’s organization. Maddox just wanted us to get on with it.

It wasn’t until Garrett arrived, dressed in jeans and a hoody, his badge on a chain around his neck, that we came to a decision.

“I’ve set up reinforcements all around the perimeter,” he said after we welcomed him into the warehouse.

“How many?” asked Solomon.

“A dozen. Everyone’s off duty. All family.”

“If this goes bad, they could lose their jobs,” I said, although I was sure they all knew that and agreed Daniel mattered more. My family were generational police: aunts, uncles, cousins, and countless in-laws. They crossed all levels of the force, from rookies to Garrett’s lieutenant rank. Most of all, they were upstanding people and fiercely loyal. Seeing that they were all invested in Daniel’s triumphant acquittal warmed my heart.

Garrett shrugged. “Everyone knows the risks. Plus, if it really goes south, I’ve told everyone to melt away without any fuss. They’ve taken their own precautions. No one will know they were ever here.”

“Saves getting arrested,” I said.

“Saves having Mom and Dad mad at them for eternity too,” said Garrett. “Where’s Daniel?”

“He’s with Farid and the agency guys,” said Maddox. “We didn’t think it sensible to actually have him here. I’m a similar height and build so I’ll be upstairs when our guests enter. With a hoody on, I hope to pass for him.”

“A decoy?” asked Garrett. “Are you wearing body armor?”

“A vest. I thought a tactical helmet was a step too far,” said Maddox with a shadow of a grin.

“I’ve been wondering,” I said, “I think we should go with Solomon’s plan. We need to make sure they turn up. We should call them directly and tell them Daniel is willing to turn himself in but he doesn’t have any transportation so someone needs to come get him.”

“What about when they ask why?” asked Garrett.

“We’ll say he’s tired of running and wants to clear his name. We’ll say he doesn’t want to put his family through any more stress. They must know Alice took the kids to her parents and that you got benched.”

“And if they ask to speak to him?”

“We’ll tell them he’ll talk when they have him in custody and not until then. It makes sense that he’ll want it to be completely official.” I glanced around, seeing the nods of agreement. “I’ll make the call. They’ll be suspicious if it’s any of you. Me? They’ll think they intimidated me enough earlier that I got scared and tracked Daniel down and talked him into it. Or they might think I got scared enough to go behind his back. At the very least, they’ll believe he’s had enough.”

“We should be on alert for any other actors,” said Solomon. He didn’t need to say whom he meant. Lucas instantly lost Jacinta Victor shortly after finding her. Knowing she was in town was bad enough news, not knowing where she was made it much worse. There was no need to say why: we knew Jacinta was here to clean up the mess that Daniel created when he escaped from Sun Street. The question was would she turn up tonight too, or did she have something else in store? I doubted she had any intention of letting Daniel speak. Yet when we showed Daniel her photo, he could only shake his head. He didn’t remember her at all. So whether she’d been at the safe house was still a mystery to us.

“There’s no way to alert everyone whom they should be looking out for,” said Garrett. “Not unless I start doing it on foot but I think I should be here.”

“Do they know who’s in here?” I asked.

“They do,” confirmed Garrett.

“Then that’s enough,” said Maddox. “Everyone else should be considered the enemy.”

“Make the call,” said Solomon.

I pulled out the card Detective Crump handed to me and switched on my phone. I input the number and hitcall.

“Detective Crump,” said Crump, sounding tired. A TV was playing in the background and I wondered if I’d interrupted him on his down time at home.

“This is Lexi Graves-Solomon,” I told him.

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