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Chapters (64)
  1. Cover
  2. PRAISE FOR JANICE CANTORE
  3. Map of Rogue’s Hollow
  4. Dedication
  5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  6. Epigraph
  7. PROLOGUE
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. 46
  54. 47
  55. 48
  56. 49
  57. 50
  58. 51
  59. 52
  60. 53
  61. EPILOGUE
  62. 1
  63. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  64. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Curious, Royal obeyed. Mouth full, Royal stopped midchew and stared at the set. The newscast was switching to a press conference. Royal recognized Agent Bass as he stepped up to a bank of microphones.

He started with a lot of legalese, something about a judge’s determination about some evidence, so Royal continued eating. As Ice finished the first half of his sandwich, Digger shocked him still.

“The ankle monitoring has hereby been revoked. Cyrus Beck has twenty-four hours to turn himself in, or he will be remanded to custody.”

Royal swallowed and turned to Digger, who grinned broadly. “That’s a bad thing, isn’t it?”

“It would be if Cyrus had hung around. The monitor is long gone; so is Cyrus. The Feds are behind us by twenty-four hours. We’ll clean up this mess and join him.”

“We?” Royal asked.

Digger stood and looked at Royal. “Yes. Cyrus gave me instructions for a big finale here. We will not fail, and that brat will not live to trouble Cyrus another day.”

39

The shock didn’t end when Tess stepped back out of the mobile home. Her phone rang, and she saw it was Agent Bass. What he had to tell her was beyond disturbing.

“Cyrus Beck is to be remanded to custody in the morning.”

“That’s good news, isn’t it?”

“It should be. His lawyers were trying to get everything thrown out, but the judge ruled on the possible Miranda violation, granting us a good faith exclusion. Then we broke the encryption on every file on the tablet. I called for an emergency hearing. The money and resources Beck has overseas make him a flight risk.”

“So why do you sound as if you lost? This is great news.”

“We’re on our way to Beck’s now. There are indications that he disabled the ankle monitor. Chief, I believe he already fled the coop—maybe a couple of days ago. If he did, it’s probably to a country with no extradition treaty.”

She couldn’t believe her tired ears. The body of Ken Blakely was a bad enough end to her day. This was like a bad horror movie where nothing would kill the ax murderer.

“What about Chevy?” Tess asked, conscious that Oliver was waiting to hear what was being said.

It took a few seconds for Bass to respond. “We’re going to have to move her,” he said. “I can’t think that she’s in any further danger because of this. But she has to be moved. I’m scrambling. Sergeant Logan called and filled me in on everything going on up there. I saw the fake ID. That was Charlie Gage who tried to take Chevy; he’s well-known to us. And known to associate with Beck.”