“I’m not sure I can do it justice, but I’ll give it my best shot. Do you want half?” she asked her father.
He shook his head. “You were so long, the rest of us ate. I had a steak.”
She turned to Draco. “Will you eat half?” She fell back into their easy friendship from before he’d disappeared.
“Sure,” he said, patting his stomach. “After everything that’s happened this evening, I’m not terribly hungry.”
Once they’d ordered, Hammer raised a glass. “Before we get into our next case, I’d like to toast Dr. Marta Hale. If not for her, we might all have been in quarantine, facing a pandemic far worse than the one we saw with COVID.”
Everyone around the table raised a glass or a stein and shouted, “Hear! Hear!”
Marta’s cheeks flushed a pretty pink. “Thank you, but I couldn’t have done any of it without your support and rescue.”
The wait staff appeared, carrying platters of bread, a cheese board, glasses of wine, and steins of beer. Suddenly, Cate found the stomach that had deserted her during the wild ride into the crash. She ate, thankful Hammer didn’t hit her with more questions. He let her quench her thirst and satisfy her hunger while Hammer quizzed Phantom about his next assignment and Marta described the antiviral work she would do with another scientist named Priya.
Crusher’s gaze remained glued to Marta as if she were the oxygen he breathed.
The warmth of the restaurant and the camaraderie of those around her lulled her into a sense of security. She felt safe among her newfound friends and protectors. They threw themselves into whatever danger came their way for the people they cared about and for complete strangers. It was routine, something they encountered every day. Cate admired them for their dedication, selflessness, and commitment to righting wrongs. Her gaze slipped toward Draco more than once. Even he made her feel comfortable in the environment, surrounded by so many people she didn’t know.
When the wait staff came to clear the table, Cate decided it was time to come clean with her current job as a private investigator for a friend facing a life sentence behind bars.
“Mr. Hammer, if I could...” she said softly.
Hammer gave a single nod toward Cate and then tapped his knife to his beer stein until he had the attention of everyone at the table. “Ms. Marsh has something she’d like to say.”
All eyes turned toward Cate, making her cheeks heat and her palms grow moist. She’d promised to tell Draco everything, not an entire roomful of people. But looking into the kind eyes of Dr. Marta Hale, the woman who’d taken her under her wing in captivity, and into the equally patient, helpful gaze of Hammer, a man who’d dedicated his life to helping others, she had no qualms about sharing her case with them. Already, they’d offered Dmytro’s help, and Draco had insisted on accompanying her on her journey. “Please,” she said quietly, “be patient. I need to start at the beginning.”
Everyone waited in complete silence, with their gazes gently urging her to go on.
Her gaze met and held Draco’s for a long moment. “I promised I’d tell you everything. I keep my promises,” she said softly. She dragged her gaze from Draco and swept the room, her attention focusing on everyone individually, recognizing them as people who’d had her back and would have it again, should the need arise. Her gut told her they would.
“My best friend, Dana Calloway, was my roommate in college,” she began slowly, warming to the story. “While I followed in my father’s footsteps into the State Department and eventually into private investigation, she became a third-grade teacher whose students and staff adore her. She is the kind of person who would stop traffic and risk her life on a busy day to move a turtle out of the road.” A lump settled in Cate’s throat. She swallowed hard to dislodge it and continue. “Right now, she’s sitting in a cell at the adult detention center in Alexandria, Virginia. She’s been charged with the stabbing death of her husband, Marcus Calloway.”
A long silence greeted her declaration.
Draco broke the silence, his brow furrowing. “You don’t think she did it?”
Cate shook her head. “No, Dana doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.”
“Was her husband abusive?” Marta asked.
“No,” Cate responded. “At least she didn’t indicate so.”
“Witnesses?” Crusher asked.
“None,” Cate said. “As far as the murder goes, some neighbors testified to hearing loud arguments. Dana admitted to them, but she swears she wouldn’t have killed Marcus. She’d hoped they could salvage their marriage.”
Hammer’s eyes narrowed. “Murder weapon?”
Cate gave a brief nod in response to Hammer’s question. It was valid. “If there truly was a murder, the weapon they’re considering is a butcher knife.”
“Butcher knife?” Hammer’s brow dipped low.
“According to Dana, she was drinking wine and chopping vegetables one moment. The next thing she remembered was waking up on the kitchen floor with the butcher knife by her side. The knife and her clothes were splattered with blood. She doesn’t remember anything. She called 911 immediately.”
“Do you have the report from the medical examiner?” Draco asked.
Cate shook her head. “That’s just it. There was no body.”
