Page 69 of Preying Game

Daniels turned to the cop who had driven the second squad car. “I can handle this.”

The other guy looked doubtful, and Daniels said, “Go in and wait for me.”

When the fifth wheel had complied, Daniels said, “These men were trespassing on private property—in the middle of the night.”

Cortez stepped forward. “I understand that you were informed earlier that there might be remains of murder victims on the Hayward property.”

“Why should I have believed that?” Daniels shot back. “There are plenty of reasons these guys could have been trespassing.”

“And you chose to assume they were lying about the bodies,” the lawyer countered. “If you persist in holding these men for participating in a legitimate investigation, we will sue you and Kent County for twenty million dollars.”

Daniels’ jaw dropped. “That’s outrageous. They were on private property. Your nuisance suit will be dismissed.”

“And appealed. And the press will get an earful about how you wanted to block a murder investigation. I think we have a good case, and I think the county administration will not thank you for stopping these men from identifying murder victims.”

In the face of all the negative information, Jonah could see that the cop didn’t know what to do.

“If you let these men go now, Decorah Security will make a generous $50,000 contribution to the county police fund.”

From the corner of his eye Jonah saw a black SUV drive slowly into the parking lot and pull up several yards away. But his attention snapped back to the confrontation as Daniels said,

“Are you trying to bribe me?”

“Of course not. I’m giving you a way to make this a win-win situation. In the morning, the men will show you where to find the bodies. But right now we want to take the DNA samples back to Decorah Security so we can get started on the identification as soon as possible. And, of course, if we find out who the victims are, we will share the information with you.

Daniels sighed. “Okay, I’m willing to let them go tonight, provided they are available in the morning to show my department the graves.”

“Fair enough,” the lawyer answered. “Since it’s already rather late, why don’t you make it 11:00 am?”

“I’ve arranged accommodations for them at the Hilton Garden Inn,” Frank said.

“What about my dog?” Frampton asked.

“You can pick her up at Animal Control in the morning.”

“She’d better be all right.”

Before Daniels could turn away, Frank said, “Give us the bag with the DNA samples so we can get started.”

The cop gave Frank a narrow-eyed look but handed over the bag before turning and stomping into the building.

“Thanks,” Jonah said to Frank.

“No problem. And you got what you were looking for?”

“Yes. Did you really monitor their communications?”

“No. Alice called Decorah—and they got me.”

The passenger door of the SUV that had arrived late opened. Alice climbed out and ran to Jonah. He caught her and hugged her to him.

“Good going.”

“I was scared for you,” she whispered.

“But you did exactly the right thing.”

When the driver’s door opened, Grant’s wife Jen joined the group and was introduced to Frampton.

Frank looked at the two couples and the dog handler. “Good job. In the morning, you can take Doubting Thomas over and show him the graves.”

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