Page 73 of Jacques

Swede gave a chin lift. “Hey, Danny, how are the scrapes and bruises?”

She shrugged. “I’ll live. Tell me you have good news.”

Swede nodded. “I got in touch with the contact your brother gave me. He was on the same flight as Jeffries on his way back from Germany, verifying he left the exercise early. I put him in contact with Ruiz. He’s giving her a sworn statement, and they’re gathering supporting travel records.”

“How early did he leave Germany?” Danny asked.

“He would’ve had time to get back to the Fort Benning area that night you were attacked.”

Danny stood still, her face set. “So, he could’ve been at the pub that night.”

Swede nodded. “Yes.”

“And he could’ve been at that hotel,” she said, her voice tight.

“Yes,” Swede said.

“And Beaumont?” she asked.

“He said he was working in the brigade operations office that night. I was able to check the duty roster. He was on duty that night. Two officers have confirmed they were with him most of the night. Ruiz is checking the gaps, but documentation supports his claim that he was on the post that night.”

“Why two rooms?” Danny asked. “Hale said he paid for two rooms.”

“Beaumont shared the email chain requesting room reservations. The second room was for another officer who was going to leave early with Jeffries but ended up staying. The second room reservation didn’t get canceled.”

“So, Beaumont is cleared,” Danny said.

Swede nodded. “He’s singing now. He told Ruiz he left the operations office to go to the barracks after Jeffries called him that morning.”

Danny snorted. “He’d said he was asking as a courtesy, that being the only female, he wanted to make sure I’d gotten back.”

Jacques’s fists clenched. “He was covering for Jeffries to protect him.”

“Now, he’s telling the truth to protect himself,” Remy said.

“It won’t protect the bastard from going to jail,” Caleb said.

“One other thing,” Swede said, “Ruiz was able to get in touch with Melanie Ellis, the other assault survivor. Melanie agreed to speak with Ruiz about the case.”

Danny pressed a hand to her chest. “What did she say?”

“Ruiz wanted to give you that information in person. She’s at the hotel and should be on her way up.”

“We’re not done yet,” Swede said, “but I think we’re getting close. I’m just sorry it took four years for all of this to come to light.”

“Thanks, Swede,” Danny said, “for everything.”

A knock sounded at the door to the suite.

Beau hurried to check who was there and opened the door to Elena Ruiz, the Army CID agent.

She entered carrying a folder, greeted the room in general and turned to Danny.

“Ms. French, I spoke with Melanie Ellis. She gave me permission to share what she told me with you.” Ruiz glanced around at the men. “Would you prefer we speak in private?”

Danny shook her head. “The people in this room know my story. They’ve had my back. They can hear whatever you have to say.”

“Melanie knew Jeffries. She worked in transportation at Fort Benning. When she was assaulted, she reported it, naming Jeffries. The case didn’t result in charges.”