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“Yes, we will. I was going to call Mason next to let him know the situation. Callum has also said he will help where he can because he doesn’t believe that Daniel is guilty, but he has to do his job given the evidence he has.”
I heard an approving grunt from the end of the phone.
“That’s good to hear. I will contact Mason myself once I have spoken to Daniel and Callum. I suspect we won’t be able to get him out on bail, considering the charge of murder, but hopefully, we can put something in place to keep him as comfortable as possible. If you don’t mind, Richard, I will also save your number to my phone just in case I need to get hold of you.”
“Of course.”
“Good. I will head over to the station now. Please let Mason know I will call him once I have an update. And don’t worry. I’m the best there is. Together, we will all prove that Daniel is innocent, and you will have him back in your home again.”
With that, we both quickly said our goodbyes and James ended the call to head off to see Daniel.
The conversation hadn’t eased my worries. I knew we were all good at our jobs, but as we knew, whoever was behind this was either just as good as us or had someone working for them who was. I just had to pray that we would get to the bottom of this before things went too far and Daniel ended up in jail. I pulled up my contacts list and dialled Mason’s number.
Mason answered before the phone had even rung. “Richard, I was just about to send a message to everyone. Callum texted me and told me what was going on. I’m going to call an emergency meeting. Can you head to the office and meet Jayden and Nathan there? They are already on their way. I’m not sure about Kye, as I haven’t had a reply, but I know he was working on the case, so may not be around.”
I stood there for a moment, dumbstruck. I hadn’t been able to say a word, and already everything was being put into place to help Daniel out.
“Richard, I need you to snap out of your thoughts. I know it’s difficult and you are upset, but we are all here to help you. I need you to at least say something.”
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. Finally, I managed to talk.
“I’m sorry, Mason. Everything is just happening so fast. Yes, I can head over to the office now. Also, Daniel’s solicitor, James Forsythe, said he would give you a call when he had any news.”
I heard a chuckle at the end of the phone line.
“Well, Richard has got a powerful ally there in Jamie. If he is Daniel’s solicitor, then I pity the prosecution, if it gets that far. Anyway, I will see you on our call in a little while. I have set it up for three o’clock, so you have a little while before you need to be at the office if you need some time.”
I thanked Mason for getting everything set up and for all his help and said goodbye. Looking at the clock on the wall, I saw it was just after quarter past two. The walk to the office would only take me fifteen minutes, so I still had plenty of time to get changed. I wasn’t sure either the team or the public of London would have appreciated me in my pyjamas. Heading into the bedroom, I grabbed some jeans and a t-shirt and started to get changed.
I was currently sitting in the meeting room at our office with Jayden and Nathan, waiting to start our emergency call with the team down in Kings View. This was the last place I wanted to be, but I knew it was for the best. I wanted to be curled up at home, wallowing in self-pity that I had lost the only man I had ever loved. But that wouldn’t help prove his innocence, and I knew to be able to do that, I would have to get help from the team. Hence, why I was sitting here.
Both of the guys were very supportive when I walked into the room. I guessed that having been through similar situations with their loved ones, they understood completely. All of them did. I had spent all that time with Tyler when Maddie disappeared and given him all the advice they were now giving me. However, it wasn’t easy to give advice when it was the one you loved that was in trouble. Any sense you would usually have had went out the window when the boot was on the other foot. We hadn’t been sitting here long when Mason dialled in from Kings View. I could see both Brandon and Tyler there, along with Mason, so the only person that was now missing was Kye, and we didn’t expect him to turn up, as he was off the radar right now.
It was Mason who got things underway. “Right. We all know why we are here, and I am not going to make matters worse for Richard by going all the way through it again. What we need to discuss is our plan of action to prove Daniel’s innocence. What do we know so far?”
I was just going to run through everything that we knew, even though I didn’t want to, when another caller came onto the line. It was Kye.
“Sorry I’m late, guys. I couldn’t get into the office, so I thought I would find a quiet place so I could update you on what I have found out.”
I was actually relieved to see Kye there, unhurt. I had been worried about him since he went off to speak to one of his contacts. I didn’t want to see him get hurt or dragged back into his previous life, but seeing him there now showed me that he was right and that he would be fine.
Mason continued the conversation. “Do you want to start, then, Kye?”
Kye agreed and went through everything we both knew and had been confirmed by his contact. Katherine and Kevin had been engaged, but then Katherine and Daniel were forced to get married to “save the family businesses.” He confirmed that their affair had continued, and that Katherine was indeed pregnant with Kevin’s baby, and she had told him she was getting an abortion ortheywould lose everything.
I sat there and listened to Kye. None of this was new information and didn’t lead to how we could prove that Daniel was innocent. The police already knew all of this and had still arrested Daniel. I could feel the anger building inside. We were wasting time listening to this. We should have been sitting here and going through what we were going to be doing to get Daniel out of a prison cell.
My hands that had been resting on the table in front of me were now tensed into fists as the anger continued to build. I could feel myself starting to sweat, and if I wasn’t mistaken, I was beginning to shake. Kye must have noticed this, because he addressed me personally.
“Richard, I know you think we are wasting time going over this, but we need to so I can set the scene for what I am about to say.”
He paused for a second, looking directly at me, waiting to see if I was going to fly at him in anger. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and looked over to see it was Jayden’s. He gave me a small smile, saying it was okay without saying any words.
I took a deep breath and nodded. “I know we do. I’m sorry, Kye. The last few hours have just been a little fraught. Please go on.”
Kye just gave a quick nod of the head before he continued. “Anyway, my contact said that the reason for the arranged marriage wasn’t actually to save any businesses. Both the Phillips’ and Coopers’ businesses were far from struggling. They just came up with that excuse to stop Katherine from marrying Kevin, and therefore giving the Phillips business to him.”
It made sense, but also, I couldn’t understand why it had to be Daniel. His younger brother was in charge of their father’s business, so why couldn’t he do it?
