Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

say it.’
    ‘She has a record, Daphne. Felony theft. You cut her a deal.’
    Daphne gaped at him. ‘ What? ’
    ‘She stole a diamond ring from the woman whose house she cleaned. You cut her a deal for two years probation and five hundred hours community service. I assume Ford didn’t know. He’s not the kind to hang with criminals.’
    ‘No. He’s not.’ Cold fury started to bubble in her stomach. ‘Exactly when did you find this out?’
    ‘This afternoon. I ran a background on her.’
    ‘You mean you hadn’t before?’ Her voice had grown louder with each word. She consciously lowered it to a hiss. ‘Zacharias had been following Ford for two weeks and you hadn’t checked out the girl he was seeing?’
    ‘He said he had.’
    She tried to stay calm. She knew Clay wouldn’t and couldn’t check up on everything his employees told him. And maybe it doesn’t mean anything . ‘ So she had a record. I might not want to meet my boyfriend’s prosecutor mother, either.’
    ‘Her little sister went missing last night. Pamela is fourteen.’
    Daphne opened her mouth but no words came out. Breathe . ‘And?’
    Clay braced his shoulders. ‘Kimberly’s French teacher hadn’t assigned any movie.’
    Breathe . ‘ She . . .  she set up my son? ’
    ‘I think so, yes.’
    Oh God . Oh God . ‘ This changes everything,’ she said quietly.
    ‘I’m s—’
    ‘Don’t you dare tell me you’re sorry,’ she said, rage making her voice tremble. ‘This could have been avoided if your trusted employee had done his job . Your friend is responsible.’
    He turned, his dark eyes flashing. ‘No, whoever killed my friend is responsible.’
    Daphne took a step back. ‘I can’t talk to you right now.’
    ‘Guys?’ Paige asked from behind them.
    Daphne didn’t even acknowledge her. ‘Does Joseph know?’
    ‘I’ve sent him a text, an email, and left him a voice message,’ Clay said tersely. ‘If he’s picked up any of those things, he knows.’
    ‘All right. I want you to tell Detective Rivera about this. And then I want you to go.’
    ‘Daphne . . .’ Paige put her hand on Daphne’s shoulder.
    ‘Not now, Paige.’ Daphne turned away from them both. ‘Not now.’

Chapter Eight
    Tuesday, December 3, 3.15 P.M.
    C lay watched Daphne walk away, his heart in his throat. ‘That went well.’
    Paige stared at him, bewildered. ‘What just happened, Clay?’ He told her and her eyes slid shut. ‘Oh my God,’ she whispered. ‘What the hell was Tuzak thinking?’
    ‘I don’t know. I know he was tired. I should have found somebody else for the job. His report on Kimberly said her background check came in clean. I believed him. He’d never lied to me before.’ That I knew about .
    ‘Does Phyllis know?’
    ‘No. She gave me everything she found in his pants pocket when she did the wash yesterday. There was a to-do list. “Take Phyllis’s car in for service, pick up milk. Do background on KM.” Plus about ten other things. He’d crossed off everything but the background. I think he kept meaning to do it. And just didn’t.’
    Her eyes had narrowed. ‘Tell me you’re not about to make an excuse for him.’
    He shot her a cold look. ‘No. I’m not even trying to understand why he lied to me, because it doesn’t matter why. That he didn’t do the background check is bad enough. That he deliberately falsified his report . . . He made me believe that Kim was no threat to Ford. And now Tuzak’s dead and Ford is taken.’
    Paige sighed heavily. ‘God, what a nightmare. Let’s tell Rivera. He needs to know.’
    ‘I’ve already spoken to Carter, so I assume Rivera knows.’
    ‘You spoke to Carter? In person? Not just by text?’
    ‘In person on the phone. Turns out Carter knew already.’
    ‘So he didn’t tell Daphne either.’
    ‘No, but Tuzak wasn’t his responsibility. He was mine.’
    Paige ran her hand over his back, a gesture of comfort. ‘Let’s go fess up to the Feds. Just in case Joseph hasn’t had time to tell them yet.’
    ‘You don’t have to go with me.’
    ‘You’re my partner,’ she said simply.
    ‘What if Ford dies?’ he asked, barely able to say the words.
    ‘I’m not going there. Neither should you.’ She walked with him a few steps then looked up, brows knit. ‘You didn’t tell Daphne that Joseph already knew. Why?’
    ‘Because he’s . . . got it bad for her. I didn’t want to fuck it up for him.’
    ‘You’re a sentimental fool, Clay