Page 113 of Charmed Forces

Around the room, people were still standing, waiting for the meeting to be called to order. A coffee urn was set up in the corner of the room with a stack of mugs and neat little boxes of creamer and sweeteners. As I watched, Special Agent Farid passed a cup to Daniel before filling another and passing it to Detective Wayne, whose arm was still in a sling, then he poured his own.

“Want one?” asked Maddox.

“I’m good.”

“Want a margarita?” he asked next with a wink.

I couldn’t help but smile. “Now you’re talking my language.”

A woman in a dark skirt suit walked into the room, her presence causing the chatter to cease, and Maddox motioned to a seat. I shook my head, preferring to stand, as she made her way past everyone to the head of the table.

Solomon stood next to me, his presence both welcome and comforting. We were both pleased to be called to the debriefing and eager to learn what had unfolded after our involvement ended. Garrett, Detective Crump and Detective Hertford took seats near the head of the table, a trio of police officers I would have never seen out together before now. Yet it seemed the two detectives had thoroughly redeemed themselves since the time Garrett reamed them out after arresting me. Now I thought about it, I would have arrested me too. Perhaps we were too hard on them. I knew they were both still reeling from the idea that Brandt had not only tried to pull the wool over their eyes, but also intended to frame them as his patsies if it all went wrong: Crump with the coffees, Hertford with his fingerprints on the cash at Daniel’s house, both of them with the knowledge of the Sun Street safe house.

“I can smell the testosterone steaming in here,” I said.

“That’s just feet,” said Maddox, leaning in to whisper.

I bit my cheek to hold back a laugh.

“For those that don’t know me yet, I’m Special Agent in Charge Isobel McCreary,” said the woman. She commanded authority in a dark brown skirt suit and her black hair that was closely cropped to her head. Tall and elegant, she cut an imposing figure. “I’m head of the task force assigned to monitor the Victor brothers’ criminal activities here in Montgomery, alongside a wider case that covers their whole known network. I want to thank all of you for the roles you played in ensuring Tom Victor, as of an hour ago, was convicted on several counts of money laundering and drug trafficking, and he’s also been charged with ordering the murders of Jeff Denney, Amy Denney, and Detective Frank Desmond, plus several other attempted murders. We expect to add more charges to these in the coming weeks.”

She held up a hand to stop the comments from rising, saying, “Thankfully, Jeff Denney’s testimony in Victor’s operations had already been taped. Given that he could no longer testify after his murder, the judge ruled that the recorded testimony was admissible as evidence. It was crucial to Victor’s conviction. Furthermore, his brothers, Michael and Joseph, were arrested yesterday and also indicted.

“I know this has been a very difficult case for some of you and I can only thank you for your professionalism in seeing it through; and, of course, I want to express my condolences for the loss of your colleagues.”

“What about Captain Brandt?” asked Detective Wayne. He was sitting near the front, his untouched coffee on the table. He’d invited us to dinner with his wife to thank us and I was looking forward to it. I knew there would be a lot to discuss, not least the outcome of this meeting. I glanced at Maddox and caught his eye, wondering if he knew how much it meant to me to have him swoop in and ensure the chain of custody for Daniel’s evidence. Perhaps it was just fortuitous that he was working on the Victors’ case already, or perhaps he was just damn awesome. Maybe both. I smiled, and he returned it before reverting his gaze back to Special Agent McCreary.

“From the evidence provided to us by the Solomon Detective Agency, we are confident that Captain Brandt was the instrument used to kill the deceased, as well as drug the coffees given to Detective Graves and Wayne. We have established a link to the Victors’ organization. Brandt was the cousin of Tom Victor’s estranged wife and worked for the organization longer than a decade. He transferred here to aid in the Victors’ operation and be their man on the inside when Tom Victor established a presence here. We suspect he was involved in trying to find them.” McCreary sought me out in the crowd and added, “The private investigator report mentions hearing Tom Victor talk to a man named Tony. We believe Tony and Anthony Brandt are the same person. We also suspect he was the one who tampered with the evidence at the scene and caused all the confusion about drugging Detectives Graves and Wayne. A burner phone was found in his car after his death and we can surmise he intended to plant that on Detective Graves.”

I nodded along. I’d come to the same conclusion, realizing Brandt didn’t expect Desmond to hang around for pizza or still be upstairs in the Sun Street house when the drug took effect. It was the worst mistake. I wondered how McGinney felt, knowing her kid’s recital literally saved her life. I glanced over at her but didn’t try to catch her eye. I knew she wished she’d been able to help, but she simply didn’t know anything we couldn’t verify elsewhere. That Maddox had taken her into custody too was a smart precaution.

Solomon focused on me and I shrugged. “You must have met all my cousins by now,” I said softly.

“I’m not worried about them killing me. I’m just wondering how many there are.”

“Hard to say,” I said, then quieted as McCreary glanced over at us. When she looked away, I whispered, “Plus, Brandt was a cousin in-law. I can’t even tell how many in-laws we have in our extended family, and there have been divorces and remarriages too.”

Next to me, Maddox snorted softly.

So, I stood on his foot. Then I raised my hand. “What about Jacinta Victor?” I asked.

“There’s an international warrant out for her arrest. She’ll resurface one day,” replied McCreary. “We’re reasonably sure she was responsible for Captain Brandt’s death. From our research, we know she has long-range weapons proficiency. We were aware of a hitman in the Victor’s organization although his or her identity has never been clear. From her age, it seems she’s being trained to become the successor. We’ll be keeping an eye on the other Victor children in the future.

“Thank you again for your efforts and cooperation in this joint operation. As a reminder, if any members of the media contact you about this case, please direct them to my office.” McCreary nodded to the room before taking the most direct route out, stopping along the way to shake a hand here or pat a shoulder there and then she was gone.

“Guess you guys get all the glory,” I said to Maddox.

“No one else really wants their hands on it,” said Maddox, smiling as Detective Wayne circled the table to approach us. “How’re you doing, Detective?”

“Much better, thanks. No permanent damage from the bullet wound and I’m back to light duty next month. I wanted to thank you both, all of you, really, for everything you did. For stopping that woman from killing me, and for taking my wife and me into protective custody. I appreciate it more than you can imagine,” said Detective Wayne. He fixed me with a long look, then said, “You know there’s one thing that confuses me.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“I can’t work out how I got to the hospital. They told me a 911 call for an ambulance was made for me just in time at Sun Street. Only thing is, no one seems to know who made that call. I know for sure it wasn’t me. Dan says it wasn’t him. I do remember seeing a woman there, just a hazy blur. Yet everyone tells me there was no woman. Maybe my memory’s playing tricks on me.”

“An enduring mystery for our times,” I said. “I’m glad you’re still here to see the culprits pay for what they did.”

“Thank you,” said Detective Wayne. He held out his hand and retained my gaze for a long moment before I shook it. Of course he suspected me, but I was confident neither of us would say a thing. To do so, would put me at the crime scene and, officially anyway, no one wanted that. Plus, he’d already thanked me for saving him once. He didn’t need to do it twice.

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