Part 2: Daniel stepped inside and went completely still. I heard nothing for several seconds, and then his shoes crossed the kitchen toward the table instead of toward us.
He stopped beside my blue plate.
“That’s strange,” he murmured.
My stomach dropped.
Daniel lifted the plate.
I opened my eyes just as he turned toward the sink.
“Don’t touch that.”
He spun around. Noah pushed himself upright beside me, and for the first time Daniel’s calm expression disappeared.
“You’re awake.”
Before I could answer, flashing red and blue light washed across the kitchen wall.
Daniel set the plate down hard enough to make the silverware jump.
Someone pounded on the front door.
“Police!”
Daniel looked at me, then at Noah, as though trying to decide which explanation he could still make believable.
I stood carefully and kept my hands away from the plate.
When officers entered, I told them about the dinner, the phone call, and our missing cell phones. Then I pulled the sealed food bag from beneath my shirt.
One officer immediately told me not to open it.
Another went toward the garage.
Minutes later, he returned holding both of our phones.
“Sir,” he said to Daniel, “why were these hidden inside your toolbox?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
