Page 32 of Outlaw Ridge: Hayes

One of the students doing the martial arts training called out to Zander, motioning for him to join them, and Zander muttered a goodbye and ran off toward them.

Jemma glanced around for anything out of the ordinary. And especially for anyone who might be lying in wait to start shooting. She didn’t see anything like that so Hayes and she began to walk past the hangers.

In addition to the office, most were training areas, but one of the buildings was set up as an open bay bunk area. Sleeping quarters which would give the students little to no privacy. Shethought it might make it harder for them to sneak out and help Duane commit murder.

But it’s possible that was exactly what’d happened.

“I can’t see all the students being in on a plan to murder an entire police force,” Jemma said.

Hayes was quick to agree. “Too hard to keep something like that a secret.” He huffed. “Plus, these are kids. It’s one thing to play and train as a soldier, but it’s another to actually kill.”

He glanced around at the half-dozen students they could see. One was chatting with Aiden now, but none of them were acting as if they had huge secrets to hide.

Hayes and she continued walking, stopping outside the building where Duane and the two students had entered. She knocked. Then, Jemma knocked again when there wasn’t an answer. Still nothing.

Since they had a search warrant, she opened the door and saw that the front portion of this area was set up more like an actual classroom, and the two students were now working at computer stations. Duane was at a desk at the front of the room, and he immediately got to his feet.

“I’m not answering any more of your questions unless my lawyer is with me,” the man snapped.

“For someone who claims he’s innocent, you sure are nervous around cops,” Hayes commented.

Duane hiked up his chin and tried to smirk. “I’m not nervous of a rent-a-cop and a rookie.”

“You should be,” Hayes fired right back, and his smirk was a lot better than the one Duane was attempting.

Hayes’ phone buzzed, and when he showed her Owen’s name on the screen, they excused themselves and stepped outside to take the call. Hayes put it on speaker for Jemma to hear.

“Are you at the school?” Owen asked the moment he was on the line.

“Yes,” Hayes verified. “Is there a problem?”

“There is,” Owen confirmed. “The forensic team just found a body.”

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Chapter Ten

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Hayes cursed. Another body.

Hell.

They already had too many of those, but apparently, another one had surfaced. At least this time it probably wasn’t a gunned-down cop.

Well, hopefully not.

Hayes whistled to get Aiden’s attention and then motioned for his brother to join Jemma and him in the cruiser. No need for them to get a briefing from Owen while standing out in the open where someone could attempt to kill them.

“What do we know so far about the body?” Hayes asked Owen as the three of them got into the cruiser. They didn’t drive away. Not yet. Because Hayes figured they might have a new round of questions for Duane once they had more info on this latest discovery.

“About a half hour ago, the drone detected it about thirty feet off one of the advanced hiking trails,” Owen explained. “The forensic team immediately went in with scanning equipment and confirmed that it’s a human skeleton. Intact,” he added. “They’re unearthing it now and are updating me minute to minute.”

Good. That meant they could have something soon.

“How far is the body from Duane’s school?” Hayes asked.

“About three-fourths of a mile. The gravesite is much closer to Cordelia’s former residence. Less than five hundred yards, in fact, barely inside the grounds of the park. And that could be important based on some info that Reed managed to uncover.” Owen paused a moment. “Cordelia and Brooks knew one of the missing hikes, Hailey Trainor.”

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