Page 38 of Breaking Rules

Jo shook her head. “But we did get to question Marnie about the argument. She suddenly remembered what it was about. Said she caught Alex looking through her day planner.”

“So Marnie was lying,” Kevin said, leaning back in his chair.

“Yeah, but she used the excuse that she didn’t want to cast Alex in a bad light,” Jo said, her brow furrowed.

“What’s so bad about looking in her day planner?” Reese asked.

“She said it contained confidential information, like a contact list of her donors and supporters.”

Reese’s eyes widened. “Oh! That reminds me. Marnie faxed over something for you. I bet it’s that list.”

Wyatt nodded. “We should compare that to the outgoing calls. Alex changed that phone system for a reason.”

The station door squeaked, and Harry walked in. “What are you all sitting around for? We have a big patch of woods to search.”

Sam glanced out the window. “Has it warmed up?”

“Little bit.” Harry turned to look out the door. “Sun is out, so it should be good by the time we get there.”

“Okay, then. Let’s go.”

Lucy was the first to jump up. She trotted over to Reese and nuzzled her hand as if to say good-bye, then she looked back at Sam and trotted to the door.

“Guess someone is ready.” Sam followed Lucy.

Jo was the last one out, noticing that Major jumped down from his position on top of the filing cabinet and trotted behind her. As she walked out the door, she looked back to see Major had hopped up onto Reese’s desk, and both were watching them wistfully as if wishing they could go along.

Harry rode in the back seat of the Tahoe with Lucy. Jo rode shotgun and Sam drove, Wyatt and Kevin followed in the Crown Victoria police car. As they drove out to the Websters’ property, Harry regaled them with stories of the original search. “We scoured that place,” he said, his voice gruff with memory. “Never found a damn thing. But I always had a feeling we missed something.”

Jo glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “Like what?”

Harry shrugged. “Just a hunch. I mean, the bag was there, but there had to be more. How did it get there? Someone must have been on that helicopter and either pushed it or jumped out with it.”

“Maybe there was a fight on the helicopter, and it got pushed out,” Sam said.

“Or fell,” Jo added.

“Maybe. I bet Lucy finds something today.” Harry settled back in his seat, his eyes drifting closed. “Wake me when we get there,” he mumbled.

Lucy rested her head on his knee, her eyes watchful. Jo couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Despite his gruff exterior, Harry had a soft spot for the dog.

As they pulled up to the Websters’ property, Harry sat up, his eyes alert. “Let’s do this,” he said, reaching for the door handle.

After walking around a bit, Harry pointed to a crop of birch trees. “I think we found the bag over there. I remember those birches. They were just saplings back then.”

Lucy trotted over, sniffed around, and seemed to agree.

They spread out and crunched through the snow, searching.

“This isn’t the best time to search. Anything we might spot by eye is covered in snow,” Sam said.

Jo glanced over at the Webster property that they could barely see through the tree trunks. Digging was still going on.

“No word yet, huh?” Kevin looked at Jo sympathetically.

Jo shook her head. “No.”

Wyatt looked grim. “There’s a lot of bodies there.”

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