Free On Deadly Ground (Dan & Chloe Book 2) by Nathan L. Flamank Page A

morning.’
    Lawson rubbed his eyes with the knuckles of his left hand and cleared his throat. He was sat on one of the long sofas in the main living room. Dan and Chloe were sat together on another sofa facing him, an ornately carved coffee table was between them.
    Lawson reached forward and picked up his mug of coffee, coffee that Chloe had insisted on making for all of the emergency workers, a gesture greatly appreciated by the mass of tired deputies, EMTs and the man and woman from the coroner’s office.
    Chloe had put on two huge pots of coffee once it was clear that neither she nor Dan were going to be arrested for what had transpired earlier that morning. So far the Sheriff and his team had taken their version of events as fact.
    Dan’s subterfuge appeared to be paying off and the two man and one woman CSI team had so far not found any evidence to contradict Dan and Chloe’s story.
    ‘I said that I should have called you late last night when young Mister Berg was released. There was always the very slim chance that he’d come looking for trouble.’
    Dan sat forward on the sofa, ‘I don’t follow you Sheriff.’
    Lawson sipped his coffee and said, ‘Berg has a history.’
    ‘What, he’s done this sort of thing before?’
    ‘No, no, nothing like this, after we arrested him earlier we ran his ID through the system. I have his file in the car.’
    Lawson excused himself and headed out of the room. Chloe turned to Dan and squeezed his hand, ‘I think we’ve struck it lucky baby.’
    Dan wasn’t so sure but he didn’t want to tempt fate.
    ‘I hope so.’
    Another deputy came in to the room and explained that he needed to do a sweep of the house.
    ‘Why?’ Dan asked with some concern.
    ‘Just a precaution sir, its standard procedure, it should have been done the minute we arrived, but in all of the excitement it was overlooked. I need to do it otherwise the Sheriff will have my ass served up on a plate by lunchtime.’
    Chloe stood up.
    ‘Sure thing deputy,’ she said, ‘I can show you around if you like.’
    ‘That won’t be necessary ma’am, until I’ve signed off on the form we need you to stay here, for your own safety.’
    ‘Okay deputy, we understand but really there’s no need for you to be concerned, the house is safe.’
    Lawson came back in to the room, he’d overhead Chloe’s last statement.
    ‘I’m sure it is Chloe, but Charlie here is just doing his job,’ Lawson shot a look at the deputy. ‘A job that he should have done the minute he got here.’
    Charlie reddened and suitably chastised left the room. He called out for another deputy to assist him and Chloe and Dan watched the two deputies heading up the stairs.
    Chloe sat back down on the sofa next to Dan and when Lawson wasn’t looking directly at them Chloe mouthed one word: arsenal .
    Dan squeezed Chloe’s left hand reassuringly, he’d had exactly the same thought, if the deputies opened the fake door then there would be some uncomfortable questions to answer.
    Lawson sat back down and opened up a manila file and started to read from its contents.
    ‘Okay, Douglas Berg, twenty two years old, from Boston Massachusetts. Picked up three times for possession with intent to supply, the first two cases were dropped, insufficient evidence, never even saw the inside of a courtroom but he served six months in a state correctional facility on a fourteen month sentence for the third possession count. Model inmate by all accounts, early release, couple of traffic violations and he was currently under investigation by the Feebs, doesn’t say what that investigation relates to. I put a call in to our local Bureau office but so far no one has got back to me and what with Mister Berg now lying in two pieces out in your yard I figure the Feebs will want a word with you both.’
    ‘That still doesn’t explain why he’d come out here loaded for bear, shit Sheriff, how’d he even know where to come?’
    Lawson looked a little