Page 2 of Wild Escape

I shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. The three of you just ripped off a rare artifact worth $30 million."

"Allegedly," she corrected.

"The dagger was never recovered.”

Daphne looked at me and said nothing.

I referenced the file again. "Your friends are pretty stupid.”

She huffed and agreed.

"Don't get too cocky, you're not so bright either."

Her emerald eyes glared at me.

"You wouldn't be in here if you had any sense."

"I've got plenty of sense.”

"You got mixed up with the wrong crowd. Show me your friends, and I'll show you your future."

She sneered at me. "That's what my dad used to say."

"You should have listened to him."

She considered it. "Maybe you're right.”

"It says here that Dane and Brock got busted trying to fence stolen goods to an FBI informant.” I couldn't help but laugh. "They cut a deal and flipped on you for the theft of the dagger.”

Her plump lips tightened.

"Real good friends,” I said. “The way I see it, you don't owe them anything. Something tells me they couldn't stand to see you on the outside living the good life while they were looking at 15 to 20 in a federal prison.”

Daphne didn't say anything. She didn't have to. The betrayal was written on her face. It stung.

"So where's the dagger? Something like that can't be easy to move. It’s a high-value item, a limited number of collectors, and a lot of heat on it at this point. There's probably only a handful of people in the world who would want to buy something like that.”

Daphne continued with the silent act. What was she going to say? I was right over the target.

"My guess is you’ve got it stashed somewhere,” I said. “With Dane and Brock looking at a long stretch, they started worrying about their share of the score. That's why they flipped on you. Am I right?”

Daphne said nothing.

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say your co-conspirators are out there right now, actively looking for that dagger.”

Her jaw tightened, and dread filled her eyes.

"It's in your best interest to help us find them.”

"That's a pretty imaginative story you’ve concocted,” she said.

"I think it's pretty close to the truth, don't you?"

"I think you're way off base. I've done nothing wrong. I'm innocent,” she said with a confident grin.

"That's fantastic," I said. "You’ll get a chance to prove that at trial. Have fun sitting in the housing pod until then. It doesn't seem like there's anybody on the outside willing to bail you out. Better get used to that 6x8 cell. You might be spending the next 30 years in one.”

She swallowed hard.