Page 29 of So Savage

Marcus pulled several more photos out of an envelope and laid them on the table.Faith felt a leap of triumph when she saw the darts and air guns in the images.

“That’s not what it looks like!”Daniel cried out.

All trace of bravado was gone from his face.He looked terrified, which was understandable considering how much trouble he now found himself in.

Marcus frowned.“It doesn’t look like hundreds of tranquilizer darts loaded with ketamine and xylazine to you?It sure looks like it to me.And being a bit of a gun enthusiast myself, I appreciate the attempt made to emulate the Heckler & Koch MR556 A4, but it’s fairly easy to tell that this weapon is designed to fire darts and not bullets.”

“That’s for the dogs!”Daniel insisted.“It’s not for people!”

“So this won’t knock a person out?”

“No!I mean, yes, it will, but that’s not what it’s supposed to be used for.”

"Yes, and heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine aren't supposed to be used to get people high," Faith pointed out."Nor are they supposed to be stored in a private residence.So I have a hard time believing that you're all that hung up on how things are supposed to be used."

“Yeah, but… Look, I didn’t kill anyone!”

Marcus sighed and leaned back in his chair."Here's the deal, Daniel.We have two dead victims and two K9 victims who are recovering from the effects of a powerful sedative.We have a guy who was convicted of animal cruelty, thanks to the testimony of our victims.Then we go to this guy's apartment and find millions of dollars worth of illegal drugs along with hundreds of darts that contain the very same compound used to knock out our victims along with long-range delivery systems in the form of air guns."

Daniel was shaking badly right now.He swallowed and said, “I didn’t kill anyone.”

“You can see how we have a hard time believing you, right?”Faith said.“I mean… this looks bad, Daniel.”

“I know,” he said, lifting a shaking hand to his head.“I know, but I didn’t do it.”

Marcus leaned forward and folded his hands.“I’m gonna level with you, Daniel.We have enough to convict you right now.We’ve got motive, we’ve got a history of harassment, we have the murder weapons, and the substance used to restrain your victims.”

That wasn’t exactly true.Marcus hadn’t mentioned the knife used to slice the victim’s throats.Remembering that caused a seed of doubt to germinate in Faith’s head.

“Minnesota doesn’t have the death penalty, but it does have life in prison,” Marcus continued.“I don’t like to speak ill of our prisons, but I’ve seen them, and believe me, it’s not a place you want to spend your life.I’m not going to lie to you.You’re going to go to prison.However, we can reduce that time considerably if you help us out.”

Faith’s lips thinned until they nearly disappeared, but she held her tongue.They had enough to convict him without a plea deal, but the presence of all of those drugs definitely threw a wrench into things.Daniel’s murder of the two K9 handlers was probably a personal vendetta, but if he was also involved in organized crime, then Marcus couldn’t think only of the two who had died already.An operation of this kind threatened many more lives.

“If you can give us the names of the people you work with and tell us where to find them, the prosecutor will look very kindly on that.We might even be able to shrink your felony drug conviction a little and start talking about ten to twenty instead of forty to life.”

Faith pressed her nails into her palm.That was far more of a plea deal than she expected.Then again, it was possible that Marcus was lying to Daniel to get him to talk.Contrary to popular belief, the police were allowed to lie to suspects.She did want to add one thing to the conversation, though.

“And you need to tell us what happened to Thomas Reeves and Kevin Walsh.You need to tell us the truth.”

Daniel swallowed.He looked between the three of them.Turk growled at him, and he whimpered.Faith felt a touch of satisfaction at hearing him whimper in front of a dog instead of the other way around.

Finally, Daniel slumped.“Okay.I can give you names.I need some assurance before I do, though.Legal assurances.”

“We can talk about that,” Marcus said.“I’ll pass along to the DA that you’re willing to help us out.They’ll be having a lot of long conversations with you.You’re doing the right thing, believe me.Not just morally but for yourself.”

“Reeves and Walsh, Daniel,” Faith reminded him.“We need the truth about what happened to them.”

Daniel released a hollow laugh.“Well, I really can’t help you with that.I didn’t kill them.”

Faith sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.“Not to be that girl, Daniel, but the little plea deal you’re making is contingent on your honesty about the murders.The FBI is involved in this investigation, and we want justice for the two dead men.”

“I know.I really didn’t kill them.”

The seed of doubt in Faith’s mind blossomed.“Can you confirm your whereabouts last night?”

“Last night?”His eyes widened with hope.“Yeah.I was at my girlfriend’s house!”

"What?"Marcus said.Apparently, he was just as surprised as Faith that this plankton had a girlfriend.

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