Page 108 of Charmed Forces

“Wired?” I looked down at my outfit, the loose sweater over my tight dress, and back up at Brandt. “Where would I hide one?”

Brandt stepped forward. “Lift up the sweater.”

I did as he asked, and he patted me down, apparently content I wasn’t concealing a recording device.

“You’re wearing a vest,” he said.

“Seemed prudent,” I said, “but no wire.” When I adjusted the sweater at my shoulders, I lifted the necklace with its pinhead camera and settled it squarely on my chest, then made a show of bunching up the sleeves so the cuffs didn’t dangle over my hands.

“See, I’m not sure you do have any evidence. You know why?”

“Why?”

“If you had any, you’d have broadcast it everywhere. You’d talk to every reporter willing to listen, and if that didn’t work, you’d publicly announce whatever you had and get the people on your side. A video. A taped conversation. Even a photo. But you have nothing. Isn’t that right, little Miss Private Investigator? You’ve gotnothing.”

“Coffee,” I said.

“Excuse me?”

“The coffee,” I repeated. “That was where it all went wrong. I got samples of the coffee cups before they were disposed of. They’re at a lab and the report will state there was a drug in the coffee. Not enough to kill, but enough to disable the officers. Their bloodwork will corroborate that. Even the footage from the coffee shop’s security camera will prove that,” I said with such authority I even believed myself.

Captain Brandt laughed and wagged his finger at me. “You nearly got me there, Miss PI. Daniel didn’t walk into a hospital and ask for a blood panel. He was too busy running away. No one’s running any tox screens, not when the victims were shot. Pretty obvious causes of death. Plus, there’s no evidence of me going in that coffee shop. Detective Crump went in and he paid cash. Didn’t think anything of it, of course. Why would he? He was just doing what he was told to do. There’s nothing to connect me to any of it. Now, you’re clutching at straws.”

I gulped. The air around me felt charged and I had to suppress a shiver at the cool calmness of his admission.

“Daniel remembers everything.”

“I don’t think so,” said Brandt with another laugh, like I was amusing him more than scaring him. “What were you before all this? A temp? You might want to go back to that, sweetheart.”

“When did you drug the coffee?” I asked, following a hunch. “Or did Crump do it? In the car? Before you took it inside and handed it to Detective Wayne and Daniel?”

“Obviously in the car,” he said, grinning again. “I was hardly going to do it in front of them. All they had to do was drink it and go to sleep. When they woke up, it’d all be over. Well, for them, anyway.”

“And Detectives Crump and Hertford?”

“Makes you wonder how anyone gets to be a detective, doesn’t it?” Captain Brandt shook his head. “They got my coffees. All I had to do was offer to pay for theirs. Then they went off and did their job while I did mine.”

“Killing innocent people isn’t supposed to be your job.”

Captain Brandt shrugged. “How innocent were the Denneys really? They were happy to work for the drug trade as long as it benefited them,” he mused. “Not that I care. It’s time for Daniel to come out,” he said, then louder. “Daniel!”

“You never had any intention of taking Daniel in, did you?” I asked.

“You catch on fast. I’m hardly going to let him tattle in an interview room. Speaking of which, I’ve had enough chatting.” Captain Brandt lifted his arm, pointing a gun directly at me. “Time to come out, Daniel!”

“So you’re going to shoot me? Both of us?” I squeaked, like I was afraid, which wasn’t hard because I was. The Kevlar might protect my chest but what about my head? Captain Brandt was close enough not to miss. “Let’s make a deal. Daniel disappears and you’ll never hear from him again. He remains a fugitive but you don’t look for him. He starts a new life somewhere else.”

“I’m definitely going to shoot you if Danny boy doesn’t come down here.” He glanced up as I shivered. “I see you up there, watching your sister try and make a deal for you. Come down.”

“How’re you going to explain this?” I asked. “Obviously, you’re not going to take Daniel in and you’re not going to let me go. So you must have some kind of an explanation to cover your ass.”

Captain Brandt lifted a shoulder nonchalantly. “You practically came up with it yourself. You called in. It didn’t sound credible, of course, but I spared my overworked men from coming out here in the dead of night so they could go home to their families. Yet, it turns out you really did want to turn Daniel in. Of course, Daniel didn’t want that and pulled a gun out and shot you. Then I shot him. Shame I couldn’t save you, but that’s hardly on me.”

I pulled a face. “You really think anyone would buy my brother killing me?”

“I think everyone would buy a desperate criminal wanting to do anything to get away from a life sentence, especially killing the sister who was ready to sell him out.”

“You’ve made so many mistakes,” I said. “It’s hard to believe you could make another one.”

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