Page 62 of Defender
She was about to lean in and kiss him again, but his phone rang, destroying the moment.
He looked at the screen. “That’s your brother. Better get you home.”
Her brother. Right.
And what would he think about her kissing his best friend?
Fourteen
Michael would find whoever had locked Dani in that cooler and—okay, what he really wanted to do wasn’t legal, so he’d arrest them and pray they were punished to the full extent of the law. He should’ve asked Kate what strings she could pull since she worked at the DA’s office. As he stared down dispatcher Van Hoyt in the SL Trucking office, he tried to ignore the weird look Finn was giving him and continued questioning the man.
“So you left at what time?” Michael leaned closer to the man sitting at his desk.
“A little after four thirty, I think.” Hoyt’s gaze shifted around. A sign of guilt?
“And what did you do after work?”
“I went home.”
“Can anyone verify that?”
“No, sir. I…I live alone.” He swallowed hard.
Was that sweat breaking out on his nose? What was he trying to hide?
“And after you arrived home? What did you do the rest of the night?”
“Uh, nothing. I ate dinner. I watched TV.”
“What show?” Michael poised with his pen over his notebook.
“Huh?”
“I said, what show? What specifically did you watch?”
The man stammered. “I don’t know. I mean, I scrolled through quite a few things, mostly documentaries.”
“Excuse me.” Finn cut in. “I need to speak to my partner for a moment.” He nudged Michael over to the wall by Dani’s office.
“What is it?” Michael asked. He had more people he needed to question, and he wanted to get to it.
“Mick, you’re coming down a little hard, dontcha think?”
“One of these men locked Dani in a refrigerated truck and left her there to die. I don’t think asking about what he watched on TV is coming down hard. And do you see how shifty his eye contact is? He’s acting guilty.”
“He’s acting scared because you came in here, waved your badge, and started treating everyone like they were guilty before we could get to the bottom of it. Besides, didn’t Dani say she saw all the office staff leave? We should focus on the guys in the shop and those working the loading bays.”
“Everyone will be questioned. You heard the owner. Silas wants to find the person responsible. I intend to do so.”
“As do I, but are you sure you’re not a little too close? I’ve never seen you interview someone quite like this. The poor man is about to faint. He has no record, he’s worked here since he was a teenager, and he was more worried about Dani than anyone. So maybe soften your touch a wee bit, eh?”
Was he too close? That’s what everyone kept saying about his mother’s case too, but everyone else seemed to have moved on and forgotten. He couldn’t let that happen on his watch.
Michael glanced into Dani’s office. He didn’t want—no, he couldn’t think about what would’ve happened if he hadn’t come back for his mom’s medal. A world without Dani Kim’s sunshine and smile was unfathomable.
He didn’t really know what this whole thing was with Dani.
She’d kissed him.
