Page 30 of Bring Them Home

“They handcuffed you?” Amanda doubted that had been the case. By asking this she was stressing for Phillip things could have been a lot worse. They would get a lot worse if he murdered Paul and kidnapped his family.

“No, they— That doesn’t matter. What’s going on here? Why are you asking about Valerie? Did something happen to her? You mentioned murder. Did someone kill her?”

I also mentioned abduction… Clearly, Phillip needed a little time to catch up. But there wasn’t any to spare. “No. That would be this man who was killed.” She laid out Paul Archer’s license photo. “You know him?”

“Nope.”

“Let me clear it up for you. That is Paul Archer, or at least it was. Valerie’s husband.”

“Was?” Phillip seemed to choke on the single-word question.

“He was murdered, stabbed several times. His body was found this morning in a farmer’s field in Haymarket.” She laid this out matter-of-factly and watched as each word and the implication set in.

“Whoa, whoa, hold up here. You think that I…? That I did that? I’ve never killed anyone in my life. And I was at work. Your officers can tell you that.”

“Paul died days ago.” His alibi for that morning meant nothing. And it did nothing to excuse an accomplice.

Phillip licked his lips, and his eyes got this wild look to them. “Whenever it was, I can tell you where I was.”

Amanda glanced at Trent. “At least he’s prepared.”

“No, come on, it’s not like that. Besides, what reason would I have to kill that guy?”

“He stood between you and Valerie building a future together.” Trent showed no tact as he put that out there.

Phillip rubbed his forehead. “No, you don’t understand. Let’s back up here.” He took a few deep breaths. “Me and Valerie were never anything serious. She just needed to blow off some steam. I assume you know about her son. He’s quite sick, and it doesn’t look good for him.”

“We do.” Short and simple to entice Phillip to continue speaking.

“Well, she was just stressed out. Can you imagine having a kid who is dying and you can’t do anything about it?”

Amanda refused to let him steer her down that path. It was far too close to her life experience. Needing to let go of Lindsey without a say. Being powerless to save her. “So you were having an affair with Valerie. Did Valerie want to end it?”

“Not that I’m aware of, but it would have been fine if she wanted to stop seeing me. It was nothing serious, just sex. I swear, that’s all. Please believe me here.”

She wasn’t in the mood for charity. Rather, she’d base her opinion of the man on facts. “She received seven calls from a pay phone between Friday and Saturday. Was that you?”

“No. I have a cell phone.”

“That doesn’t mean you didn’t use a pay phone,” she volleyed back.

“Why would I have?”

“Were you and Valerie having a fight?” she asked.

“No.”

Amanda leaned forward, drawing the folder under her crossed arms. “Well, see I’m having a hard time believing you.”

“Me too,” Trent chimed in.

Amanda continued. “You see, Valerie’s husband was killed, and she and her daughter, Brooke, are missing.”

Phillip flinched. “Missing?”

“Did you take them to create an instant family for yourself? You are in your forties, no children. Maybe you were tired of being alone,” she said, presenting their theory.

“Listen, lady, you don’t know what you’re⁠—”