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For the first time since she’d moved in with Jacques, Danny woke before him. She had time to smooth her hair and get dressed before he stirred. He didn’t emerge from the bedroom until she had coffee brewing and a second omelet in the skillet.

He crossed to where she stood and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Good morning, beautiful.”

Her cheeks heated with pleasure. “Good morning. I hope you like onions, ham and cheese in your omelet.”

“Sounds and smells perfect.”

While Danny slid the omelet onto a plate, Jacques poured two cups of coffee and set them on the table. He went back to the drawer for cutlery.

Danny set the plates on the table and took her seat.

They talked about the upcoming video interview with Hale and what other avenues they could pursue.

An hour later, they arrived at the boat factory. Remy was there with Deputy Cleyburn, and they had Swede up on a video monitor.

They went over the questions they’d ask.

“I’ll stay out of range of the video camera,” Danny said. “He doesn’t have to know I’m even in the room. It might make him speak more freely.”

“Good thinking,” Remy said. “If you want to ask a question, write it down and slip it to one of us.”

“Will do.” She was glad that they’d let her sit in on the interview at all, especially after the shootout the day before.

Danny stiffened as Swede placed the call.

Moments later, Curtis Hale’s face appeared on the monitor.

“Good morning, Mr. Hale,” Remy started. “As I mentioned in my request for this session, I’m investigating an incident for a client that happened four years ago near Fort Benning, Georgia. As I indicated, your face appeared in the background of a photograph taken at a pub off post by a group of soldiers celebrating their successful completion of Ranger Training. I supplied you with the date. Do you recall being there?”

Hale nodded. “I went over my records. I was at Fort Benning on that date, negotiating a contract for goods and services. What, in particular, are you looking for?”

“Right now, we’re just trying to establish a timeline. Were you there celebrating with the soldiers?”

“No.” Hale shook his head. “I was only there for dinner. I had my accountant pull the credit card records for that date. I can share the entries if you’d like to see them.”

“We’d appreciate that,” Remy said.

A minute later, a credit card statement appeared where Hale’s face had been.

“As you can see,” Hale said, “I paid my bill that date.”

“What time did you leave the pub?”

“I never stay late unless there’s a game on. I don’t believe there was one that night. I probably left around nine-thirty.”

Danny could see the credit card statement from where she sat. She noted a payment had been made for the meal at the pub. She skimmed past it to the next entries and froze.

Two more payments were made to a hotel. The same hotel where she’d reserved a room for that night.

Her heart skipped several beats. She grabbed the pen in front of her and scribbled a note, sliding it across the table to Remy.

He glanced down and frowned.

When Hale’s face reappeared, Remy asked, “I see you also made payments to a hotel for two rooms. Did you stay that night at the hotel? If so, why two rooms?”

“I paid for the rooms for my customer visiting associates as part of cultivating goodwill.”

Remy frowned. “You didn’t stay there?”