Preying Game (Decorah Security Series, Book #15): A Paranormal Romantic Suspense Novel

by Rebecca York

  “She’ll be taken to the pound.”

  Frampton looked like he wanted to lunge at the cop, but Jonah shook his head.

  “Don’t do it.”

  “Better listen to him,” Daniels growled.

  “Can we make a call to our boss?” Jonah asked.

  “In the morning.”

  Frustration pounded through Jonah, until he remembered he didn’t need a phone to make a call. He sent his thoughts outward.

  Alice. Are you there? Alice.

  She answered instantly, Yes, and he knew she had been anxiously waiting for him to give her some news.

  Did you find the other victims?

  Yes. But we’ve got a problem. The dickhead cop is back and wants to arrest us and take the cadaver dog to the pound.

  Dickhead?

  I’ll explain that later. Call Frank and let him know the situation.

  Okay. Right away.

  He felt the connection between them grow fuzzy because she was shifting her attention to the phone.

  A few moments later, she asked, Where are you?

  Jonah looked at the cop. “Where are you taking us?”

  “To the Kent County jail.”

  He conveyed the information to Alice.

  “You won’t at least look at the graves while we’re here?” Jonah asked.

  “No.”

  They had to wait for transportation and also for animal control to collect Daisy. Then they were finally searched, and Daniels took away the messenger bag in which Jonah had stowed the five samples they’d collected from the victims.

  Shoved into two separate patrol cars, they were driven to the Kent County government complex.

  By the time they arrived, a helicopter was sitting on the nearby landing pad.

  Frank Decorah, wearing a beautifully tailored suit, got out and strode toward the lead car. He was followed by a man in a similar business outfit. Jonah recognized him as the high-powered lawyer named Spencer Cortez, whom Decorah kept on retainer.

  Daniels jumped out of his black and white and faced the newcomers. “Who are you?”

  “Frank Decorah, the head of Decorah Security. I sent these men to investigate the murders Jonah Ranger told you about.”

  The cop stuck out his chin. “And how did you know to come here?”

  “We were afraid something like this might happen, and we were monitoring your communications,” Frank replied smoothly.

  Good answer, Jonah thought. Or maybe it was true.

  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.”

  Chapter 20

  Jen reset the GPS for the short drive to the hotel.

  “I can’t believe that thing tells you where to go,” Alice said.

  “Better than a map,” Jonah told her. “Unless it screws up. That does happen.”

  A sleepy-looking desk clerk checked them in, and they headed for their various rooms. Once Jonah had closed the door behind them, Alice reached for him and held tight.

  After a few moments, he murmured, “Let me take a shower before we go any further. We’ve been digging up graves.”

  “Oh—right.”

  He stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. When she heard the shower running, she took off her own clothes and followed him under the hot running water.

  He turned in surprise, then grinned when he saw her. “Well, this is a nice surprise.”

  “I think you deserve a little treat,” she answered. Reaching for the soap, she lathered her hands, then began working on his chest, paying particular attention to his nipples. By the time she reached his cock he was already rock hard. She clasped him tightly, using her soap-slick hand to slide up and down his length, stroking him the way he had showed her.

  “You’re going to make me come,” he gasped out.

  “Uh huh.”

  She kept pleasuring him, reveling in his shout of satisfaction when he climaxed. He leaned against the wall, catching his breath.

  “So you were going to tell me—what’s a dickhead?”

  “I think you can probably guess.”

  “Would it be like a cockhead?”

  He laughed. “You’re a quick learner.” His eyes roamed over her body “And now you.”

  “Well, maybe you can—you know—dry me off and fuck me.”

  “Fuck you? Where did you pick that up?”

  “A cable TV show. And yes, my mom would have washed my mouth out with soap if she’d heard me say it.”

  He turned off the water and reached for a big fluffy towel, which he used t
o dry her and turn both of them on at the same time.

  Neither of them could walk the few yards to the bed. Instead, he sat down on the toilet lid and pulled her down on his cock.

  She stayed there, unmoving, for several long seconds, looking down into his upturned face.

  But when he sucked one of her nipples into his mouth and began to play with it, she had to respond.

  She rode him like the magnificent man he was, pressing her clit against him, giving herself maximum stimulation, climbing higher on a spiral of pleasure. And when she came, she felt him follow her.

  They clung together, kissing and stroking each other. As the bathroom started to cool, he carried her to bed, and they snuggled together.

  She closed her eyes, clinging to him, praying that everything would work out so that they could be together forever.

  Forever, he echoed her thought. And she knew he had her.

  oOo

  The next morning, Frampton collected his dog, who was none the worse for her stay at the pound. The women dropped the search team back at their car and returned to Beltsville. The three men took Officer Daniels back to the estate and showed him the graves. After that, there was a lot of activity as the medical examiner was notified—which meant the remains would go to Baltimore where all Maryland autopsies were handled.

  By the time Jonah and Grant returned to the office, Frank had already submitted the samples for expedited DNA, and Teddy Granada was moving ahead with the public records.

  It took a few weeks to get a final list of victims.

  Frank and Jonah called in Alice when they had the names.

  Her stomach was churning as she joined them in one of the computer rooms.

  “Okay,” Teddy Granada said. “The whole thing has been a massive effort of detective work. But we’re 99 percent certain we’ve identified the five women Hayward took—using contemporary accounts and the DNA. We’ve got Lisa Sams, Karen Anderson, Beth Jorgenson, Paula Hammond, and Jean Shombert.”

  The names gave Alice a jolt. Before this, they had just been victims. Now they were real women

  “And what do you know about them?” she asked.

  “I don’t want to minimize them, but as far as we can tell, they were all pretty ordinary,” Teddy began. “Except for their athletic abilities. But none of them was training for an Olympic team.”

  Alice glared at him. “Put me in that category. I was ordinary.”

  “Of course not!” Jonah objected.

  “I was a farm girl who was into 4H and good at sports. Being ‘ordinary’ was probably part of his reason for taking me. But each of them was special if you go into the details of her life.”

  “Okay, yeah,” Teddy agreed.

  “And he’s not going to get them. We can stop him.” Alice reached for Jonah’s hand and clasped it tightly.

  The look in his eyes made her want to weep. She saw his pride in her, but also his panic at the thought of losing her. They were acting like this was going to be an easy fix. In reality, all their hopes and dreams for a life together could vaporize in an instant. Yet neither one of them could turn away from the road they had started down.

  “Where was the first abduction?” Alice asked.

  “Just across the Pennsylvania line in Garrison, Pennsylvania. There was a flood, and Lisa Sams was supposedly swept away. Her body was never recovered.”

  “He used a flood?” she asked, hardly able to believe it.

  “I guess he knew from the weather reports that it was coming, and he went up there and scooped her up.”

  Frank looked at Jonah. “And you think you can get there—in solid enough form to stop Hayward?”

  “I hope I can.”

  Her eyes shot daggers at him. “What do you mean—I? I assumed we were going together. We’re you just stringing me along?”

  “I’m hoping you see reason. This is too dangerous for you,” he snapped, letting her know how much he was on edge.

  Alice wasn’t going to give in. “We’re not really rescuing her from a flood. We’re rescuing her from Hayward.”

  They glared at each other, Alice determined to go, and Jonah determined to handle it alone.

  The stalemate was broken by Frank, who said, “She’s right. You’ll have a better chance if Alice is with you. One of you needs to grab the girl, and the other needs to take care of Hayward.”

  Alice knew Jonah would defer to Frank. “I guess I’m outnumbered.”

  “And there’s another reason she has to be with you,” Frank said. “We don’t know what will happen to her after you stop the first abduction and she’s no longer dead as far as the world is concerned. To be safe, the two of you will have to get to the scene of the rock slide pretty quickly.”

  oOo

  They spent the next two weeks doggedly practicing the time-travel techniques that they were going to need.

  Still, as they drove north in Alice’s old Chevy, Jonah couldn’t help thinking the mission was insane.

  But he did get a sense of calm from the vehicle. It had been the original bridge between himself and Alice

  He knew she sensed his thoughts when she reached over and laid her hand on his thigh.

  I love you, she whispered in his mind. You didn’t have to do this. But here you are.

  I love you too. That’s why I didn’t want you in danger again, he answered.

  I know. I wish I’d never thought of doing this.

  But as soon as you did, we both knew we had to save them.

  Before leaving, they had collected as much information as possible on Lisa Sams—including a smiling black and white photo that had been circulated when she’d gone missing in the flood. She was blond with light eyes—apparently the type Hayward liked. She’d been a nursing student at the University of Maryland and had gone on a camping trip with her family just after her junior year. Probably the killer had been keeping track of her for some time.

  Jonah and Alice had read newspaper accounts of the tragedy and formed a theory of what had happened that day. The family had been packing up their campsite to get away from the rising torrent in Sweet Water Creek when their dog had run off. The animal had come back, but nobody had ever seen Lisa again—except Arthur Hayward. The killer had probably lured the animal away with food, then maybe he made it squeal in pain—sending Lisa after it, so that Hayward could grab her and slip away. He could have been another camper fleeing from the flooding creek.

  As they drove into the small town of Timberton, they went over details of their plan. Jonah had worked out a strategy that he hoped would do the trick. He’d practiced the technique over and over. But he’d never used it to take down a killer.

  The bright sunshine was disconcerting when they knew they’d soon be heading into a thunderous rainstorm.

  Once they’d figured out the victim and the location, they’d done more research and found out Arthur Hayward had stayed in the Plum Tree Motel, which had long since been torn down and replaced by a strip shopping center. But large tracts of land in and around the town were still undeveloped including the site of the campground.

  Jonah pulled into a wooded area near the shopping center. The creek was still there, a small stream running between deeply eroded banks.

  Alice stared at the placidly flowing water. “It’s hard to believe that little creek got big enough to flood the area.”

  “Well, the newspapers said it came raging over its banks taking Lisa and several other people with it. And from there, anything in the water was swept into the Green River.”

  As Jonah cut the engine, he was thinking his mission was more complicated than it had been when Alice had called out to him. She’d drawn him to her. Now he had to arrive at the right time and place on his own. But he was almost certain he could do it. He’d practiced enough, picking specific times and out-of-the-way places.

  They got out of the car, opened the trunk and took out the rain gear they’d bought at an outfitter store, waterproof jackets and pants that were more modern
and lightweight than what had been available in the fifties.

  Luckily, there didn’t seem to be anyone else around as they headed into the woods.

  Moment of truth, Alice said silently as they moved between the trees, into a spot where they couldn’t easily be seen.

  Jonah nodded and reached for her. She came into his arms, clinging tightly, partly because the close contact was necessary for the process of taking her along and partly because they were both aware of the danger. They were going to confront a killer. And because they were taking him out long before he had abducted Alice, they were both thinking about what could happen to her.

  Jonah folded her close, his whole body tensing as he strove to get this right. Closing his eyes, he let the raging water of the creek flow into his mind as he pictured the long-ago scene.

  The newspaper article had included the time when Lisa had disappeared, which gave him another focus.

  Even though he knew where and when he was going, he struggled with resistance. The drag on his time travel ability was unfortunately Alice. It was easier to go back alone, but after considering Frank’s assessment, he knew he had to take her with him. If the killer wasn’t around to abduct her, then she was still alive in the future—which created a time paradox. Time paradoxes were the reason he hadn’t come here on his own to check out the location. He couldn’t take a chance of two of him being in the same place at the same time.

  Right, she said, and he could feel her trying to change the time-travel equation—adding power rather than taking it away.

  She hadn’t tried to do it in their practice sessions, but now he knew she was striving to add the force of her will to his mind.

  He felt a kind of mental warm glow, like hot fudge on a sundae, as he sensed that she was boosting his power. Her added mental energy pushed him over the top, and all at once they were at the location in the past—with water pounding down on the hood of his rain jacket.

  His eyes blinked open as he took in the deluge.

  He had been prepared for a downpour, but not like this. Water pouring out of the sky in sheets so thick and fast that he could barely see—or breathe. And the downpour was so heavy, it was almost impossible to make out Alice standing next to him. If he couldn’t see someone a foot away, how were they going to find Lisa or Hayward?