Page 28 of Preying Game

Jonah drew in a quick breath. Maybe the guy practiced on deer, but he’d made it clear they wasn’t his prey this time.

Hayward opened the cabinet, took out one of the weapons and examined it, testing the action. Then he put it back with a satisfied look on his face. Jonah wanted to smack him in the mouth, but thought it wouldn’t be a good idea now.

Instead, he dragged his eyes away from the sick bastard and looked toward the windows.

Unlike in the dining room, there was a view outside, and in the early morning light, Jonah saw a spacious green lawn and a formal garden with many paths and hedges. In one direction was a woods and in the other was a river. In the middle of the water was a rock formation that looked like an enormous upside down boot.

“Bingo,” he muttered as he stared at it. There couldn’t be another boulder like that in the area, could there?

He wanted to rush back downstairs and give Alice the good news that he thought he knew where to find her. But when he tried to move away from Hayward, he had the same problem as before. He was glued to the man.

“Shit.”

Alice. Alice, can you hear me? He tried to call to her, but there was no answer. He could only think that too much had happened for them to connect now. Again he cursed.

He wanted to stay here until he could reach her. Maybe Hayward would even go downstairs again, and Jonah could follow. But he knew that hanging around would be dangerous. The hunt could be only hours away. He had to get back to Decorah, make sure he knew where this place was, and plan the rescue mission.

Yet when he tried to send his mind back to where he lay in his bed, he couldn’t move.

Clenching his fists, he put more effort into tearing himself away. Nothing changed.

He wanted to scream in frustration. Instead he closed his eyes, blotting out the scene around him, imagining himself back in his bed. Every fiber of his being clenched as he tried to break away. Eons passed, and he knew he hadn’t moved.

“Come on, come on,” he railed, straining against the invisible bonds that held him here.

He might have given up and relaxed for a few minutes, but getting back was too important. Finally, finally it worked, and he felt like he’d been caught in a strong wind.

It swept him away, and he landed with a thump on his bed, gasping for breath.

Sweat poured off his body. When he tried to get up, his head spun. Although he wanted to rush to the laptop sitting on his desk, he knew he had to give himself a few minutes.

He pressed the back of his head into the pillow, struggling to control his breathing. When he couldn’t wait any longer, he pushed himself up and lurched across the room, grasping the back of the chair when he reached the desk.

Still shaky he lowered himself to the seat. He wanted to stagger to the bathroom and get a drink of water, but this was more important.

He got into Google and called up information on the Carver River. It had several unusual rock formations, and a famous one shaped like an upside down boot was at a bend of the river. The photographs were of the rock he’d seen. But the only Google Earth pictures were blurred satellite images. There were no “street scenes” along the river.

He glanced at his watch. Although it was only 6:30 in the morning, this could be the day of the hunt, judging from what Hayward had said. Well, more likely the night of the hunt, when the bastard would have the cover of darkness.

It would get dark around 6:30pm. That gave Jonah all day to organize a rescue operation and get down there.

Knowing he’d be waking Grant, he called the other Decorah agent.

“What’s up?” his friend asked, sounding remarkably alert.

“I think I’ve pinpointed Alice’s location.”

“Where is she?”

“Carvertown. At a big estate on the Carver River.”

“How do you know?”

“I managed to get to the place—like you did when you got to Jenny. Then I was able to follow the guy named Hayward upstairs. First I saw a calendar from the Carvertown Business Association in the kitchen. Then I looked out the window and saw the river and a distinctive rock. When I Googled that, I could see where the estate was on the river. I tried to get back to Alice and tell her, but I couldn’t do it. And after that, I had a hell of a time even getting back here.” He stopped and took a breath before starting again.

“I want to plan a rescue mission, but I also want to verify the location as soon as possible. Hayward, the guy who is holding her captive was pretty angry. I think he could be moving up his hunt to tonight.”

“Okay, got it.”

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