“He’s got something,” Margot said, poking her head out the patio door. Daniel returned inside.
“Thanks, Ronny. I sent you copies of the diplomas as well as a list of what they represent. I just need to know if Richard Peterson ever attended any of these schools?… I hate to ask, but the sooner the better. I’m heading home in a few days.” He listened some more. “You’re the best. I’ll talk to you soon.” James hung up and sighed. “Ronny is going to check into this for me and call us back.”
“How can he have information like this?” Margot asked.
“As I said, Ronny and I went to the academy together. Afterwards, Ronny went into cybercrime analysis. The man is a wizard at tracking people. You might have met him at my graduation, remember?” James bumped his sister’s shoulder. “He’s the guy you told Mom you wanted to have his babies.” Daniel snickered and wondered just what this guy looked like. Not that he could hold a candle to James—Daniel was pretty sure of that.
Margot snickered. “I did that to get Mom going, which was fun. But yeah, he was something.”
Daniel laughed. He could see Grace having a fit at that declaration. “What do we do now?”
James smiled at both of them. “What other leads do we have? Is there anything else in the pictures that raises questions?” Daniel looked closer at each one, and Margot did the same.
“There isn’t much visible,” Margot observed. “The desk and the shelves are all perfect.” She turned to James. “It’s like everything is there to be looked at. The room is for show and not for work.”
James nodded slowly.
“I don’t see anything more,” Margot said.
“Okay. Now we have to wait. It’s one of the hardest things an investigator has to do sometimes,” James declared, to Margot’s chagrin. Daniel remembered being her age when everything was “now, why not now?”
“Let’s have lunch?” Daniel offered. When things got tough, you ate. “We can go out.”
“Yes.” Margot grabbed her computer and was out of the room like a shot.
“You don’t mind, do you?” James asked. “I think she’s been kind of forgotten in all these preparations.” He shut down his computer and gathered their notes.
“That’s why I suggested it. Let me check my face and grab my bag, and we can go.” Daniel got his things and met the others in the living room, where Phillip and James were talking.
“I told you before, you need to hang on to that girl. She’s something else.” Daniel’s lips quirked and he stifled a chuckle, once again wondering what Phillip would think if he knew the truth. One thing was for sure: Daniel really wasn’t interested in being around when he found out.
By and large, Daniel didn’t want to disappoint James’s family. They were good people, and he was growing to like them. Daniel hadn’t really thought a great deal about them when he had agreed to do this. Holly was a solid person and she cared for her brother a great deal. Even at a time like this where she was under a lot of stress, she still looked out for him. Margot was a cool younger sister, and Phillip…well, he wouldn’t mind having Phillip as a father…or a father-in-law. Grace was a different matter, but she had her good qualities. She only wanted what she thought best for her family, even if she did take things to extremes. He thought James would be much better off if he came clean with them and just explained who he was, let them see the real person inside. But he also agreed with James that now wasn’t the time, so he would go along until it was time to go home and let James come out to them in his own time. After all, it wasn’t his secret to tell, and outing someone was bad form.
“Are you ready to go?” James asked, pulling Daniel out of his thoughts, and all he could do was nod.
* * *
“This entire wedding thing is just more than I thought it would be,” Margot said as they sat in a small pub downtown. “It’s been nonstop for days, and Mom is all worked up about Holly and the arrangements. I was in the house most of the day yesterday, and other than getting me for meals, she didn’t even know I was there.” She snagged a fry, and Daniel patted her hand. “I’m supposed to be a bridesmaid and I don’t want to do it at all. Except then I’d leave Holly high and dry.” She sat back. “It isn’t like anyone is going to be looking for me anyhow.”
“This is Holly’s day. It isn’t yours or mine. We’re here to support and help her…and not let Mom drive her out of her mind.” James smiled, and Daniel loved how he gentled her. “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a good time.”