Page 31 of Bring Them Home

“It’s Detective,” Trent interjected.

Amanda glanced at her partner. He was quick to jump in with the correction. “Is that why you took them, Mr. Daily?”

“You have it all wrong. I didn’t do this.” As he spoke, he recovered his coloring. “Hey, your guys picked me up at work. I can’t have them.”

And we’re back around to him trying to establish an alibi… “Here’s the thing, we think more than one person was involved with the abduction. They could be holding them.”

“No, this isn’t happening.” He shook his head.

“Valerie and Brooke were taken on Saturday afternoon at Potomac Mills mall.” This would have been the ideal time to show him a photograph of the black van from the security video, but she hadn’t yet received that email from Danny, the security guard. “Where were you Saturday afternoon, say from three until five?” That would more than cover the abduction period. She would ask about Saturday morning when the cargo van was seen near the Archer home, but the time of the abduction mattered more.

“I was…” Phillip rubbed his forehead.

“Mr. Daily?” she prompted.

“Okay, so today is Wednesday…”

“Yes?”

“Please, just let me think.” He massaged his left temple. “I was with Noelle.”

“And who is Noelle?”

“Another one of my ladies.”

“It sounds like you’re a busy man,” Trent said.

“You have no idea.” A smirk teased Phillip’s lips, but a glower from Trent shut it down.

“Where were you and Noelle during that time?” Amanda asked.

“We had a room at the Motor Court, down near the highway.”

Amanda had a history with that motel, from a time in her life she’d rather forget. “Huh. So if we called Noelle, she’d confirm this?”

“Yes, but… You just need to be careful about contacting her.”

“Why’s that?”

“Her husband, I know, and he’s got a fiery temper. If he finds out I’ve been doing his wife, you’ll have another murder to investigate.”

“I guess you take that risk when you fool around with married women,” Trent said dryly.

“We can’t make any promises, but we will talk to her. Her surname and her number?” Amanda asked.

“Last name’s Fisher. Her number is… Can I look at my phone? I can’t remember it off the top of my head.”

“Unlock your phone and hand it to me.” Amanda held out her hand.

“Is that legal? Shouldn’t you be getting a warrant or something?”

Amanda remained silent while holding eye contact with him.

“Never mind. One minute…” He got into his phone and handed it over to her.

“She’s in your contacts under her name, I assume?” she asked him.

“Uh-huh. Under Noelle.”