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“What do you think he was doing?” There was a note of insecurity in that question, because Ray already had an inkling or he wouldn’t have asked.
“Who knows, but a suspected killer toting a black garbage bag into the mountains in the middle of the night always makes me uncomfortable.”
“Since I’m sitting about twenty yards from his front door, that shit makes me uncomfortable, too,” he said with a nervous laugh.
Jonah pressed his palm to his forehead. “Where is he now?”
“He got home not long ago. All the lights are off. I assume he went to bed.”
“Did he see you?”
“No. I kept my distance. That’s why I don’t know what he did with that black bag. I only know it’s gone. I checked the truck.”
He’d tossed it out or buried it along the way. Jonah had no idea if they’d ever be able to recover it, but he planned to try. “Have you noticed anyone else who might be watching the place?”
“You mean I’m not the only one?”
That answered his question, and made Jonah damn glad he’d decided to spend a few extra bucks to keep Francesca safe. A fifteen-dollar-an-hour rent-a-cop had never been more worth the money. “I guess you are. What about Dean?”
“Who?”
“The slight man I told you about.”
“Haven’t seen him.”
“What time did you get to the salvage yard?”
“’Round ten, like you asked.”
“Perfect. Thanks.”
“You want me to stay until dawn?”
“I’d like you to stay until I get there, if you can. I’ll be on the first plane. Consider it time and a half.”
“You got it, man.”
They disconnected, but before Jonah could get showered for the day, his phone rang. “Hello?”
“Jonah?” It was Francesca. He was about to tell her what he’d learned but she didn’t give him the chance.
“It’s not Butch. It’s Dean,” she blurted out. “He broke into my house last night and tried to kill me. If—if not for that pepper spray…”
“What?” His free hand curled into a fist. “Are you injured?”
“No. Since the effects of the pepper spray have worn off, I’m just…rattled.”
Now that he knew she wasn’t hurt, he realized what she’d told him didn’t make sense. If Dean was their killer, why had Butch been driving that garbage bag into the woods? If the two brothers-in-law were partners in crime, they were the most unlikely duo ever, so unlikely that Jonah couldn’t bring himself to believe it.
Something else was at play. But what that “something” was, Jonah couldn’t begin to guess.
“Where are you now?” he asked Francesca.
“On the road to Prescott.”
“Finch and Hunsacker know you’re coming?”
“I called them right away. They’re trying to get a search warrant.”
