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“My wife and I are swingers.”
My fingers tensed, squeezing tighter around my pen. I had a feeling I already knew where this was going.
“Swingers?”
Daniel nodded. “We’re members of this club called The Flirty Sanctum. We haven’t been there in a while thanks to our work schedules, but we got lucky and managed to get the night off together.”
I opened my mouth, then closed it, rethinking my next approach. He admitted he and his wife were members, but if they hadn’t been there for a while, then they likely weren’t aware there had been a recent assault. I also didn’t remember seeing Daniel Strickland on the list of suspects for Delilah’s case either.
“What is the last thing you do remember, Daniel?”
He blew out a furious breath and swiped under his swollen, bloodshot eyes. “I remember being at the bar. Amber and I were drinking. There’s a couple we’re used to seeing but they canceled on us at the last minute.”
“Did anyone approach you?”
“Yeah,” he said after a moment. “It was a guy. He came up to me and asked if I’d mind if he bought Amber and I a drink. I was going to say no at first, but Amber seemed flattered by the offer, so I let him buy us a round.”
“Okay, Daniel,” I nodded, feeling a burst of excitement dance through my veins. “I need you to really think here. Do you remember the mask he was wearing?”
“I don’t,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “I didn’t really pay much attention to the guy after that. I went to the bathroom and when I got back, Amber was still talking to him. I drank my double shot of whiskey and then everything after that is just…blank. Like I said, I don’t remember leaving the club, coming home, nothing.”
Shit.
If Daniel was telling the truth—which so far, he hadn’t given me any reason to believe otherwise—then I suspect I knew what happened to him.
“Tell me what happened when you woke up this morning.”
More tears rained down Daniel’s face. He sucked in another breath, his bottom lip trembling.
“I woke up with a gnarly headache. It was all I could do to get out of bed but when I did, I went to our master bathroom and popped two Tylenol from the medicine cabinet. After that, I came downstairs and found Amber on the couch, covered in blood and her clothes torn clean off her body. I ran to her, tried to wake her, then checked her pulse. She was still alive, but she just wouldn’t wake up for me.” He paused again, sniffling. “I didn’t know what else to do, so I called the police.”
“I’m sorry, Daniel, but I think it might be best for you to come down to the hospital and get checked out. Get some bloodwork done.”
“But why?” he asked, though I could tell by the horrified expression on his face that he already knew.
“There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it. I think you may have been drugged. If you’re willing to come down to the hospital, we can run a toxicology test to know for sure. I’m pretty sure Amber’s doctor has already administered one for her. We should have those results no later than this afternoon.”
Daniel staggered to his feet, grabbing ahold of the railing for support. “Whatever I can do to help Amber.”
I sighed in defeat. He was definitely still intoxicated, and there was no way in fucking hell I could permit him to drive to the hospital. I genuinely felt bad for the guy, so I offered to give him a ride. If I was right and Daniel really was drugged, then I had to race him to the hospital before any and all traces were completely depleted from his bloodstream.
But fuck, I rode in with Phoenix.
“Sit tight for a second, Daniel. We’ll get you to the hospital soon.”
He sank back down on the bottom step, looking lost and like he was light years away from mentally ascending into another universe. This was bad, so as I stepped off the bottom step and crossed over the crime scene tape displayed across the entrance to the living room, I approached Phoenix while he was still in deep conversation with the CSI.
“Daniel needs a ride to the hospital. I think he’s been drugged. I told him we’d take him.”
“That’s fine,” Phoenix said, keeping his attention locked on the blonde CSI standing beside us.
I took another look at her, then froze, my mouth dropping once I recognized her.
No fucking way…
Was that Kendall?
“I’m waiting on another unit to come in for the couch and rug,” she said to Phoenix. “Blood samples, fingerprints, and all that good shit should be on its way to the lab as we speak.”
