Chapter 36
By the time Michael and Sloane were in the helicopter halfway to the five-hundred-acre spread that Clara Dolan owned, they
had far more information than they had when they left.
Sweetwater Cannery had flooded last September when Hurricane Helene swept through the coastal south. It had already been a
struggling business, and the owners abandoned it. The cannery bordered Dolan’s property, which had been partly flooded. The
owner was a seventy-year-old man who’d lost his wife the year before, and because of the damage, he sold it cheap and moved
in with his daughter in Atlanta.
Clara had bought the property in October, one month before Emily and Josh were killed.
The sheriff knew the area, and was heading there before the helicopter took off. He would arrive before them, but they wouldn’t
be far behind.
The cannery was nearly a three-hour drive from Clara’s house in Flagler County. Her house was twenty minutes north of the resort, and they knew she’d stopped home because she left her car there. That meant that she could already be at the cannery by now.
And when she found that Matt and Kara were gone, her next stop would be the farmhouse. Michael hoped the sheriff got there
first.
The pilot said into the headset, “Agent Harris, there’s a call coming in from the sheriff’s department on the ground.”
“Okay, thanks, please put him through.”
The pilot pressed a couple buttons, and said, “Deputy Aberdeen? You’re on with the FBI.”
“Agent Harris?”
“Yes, sir, have you found them?”
“We’re ten minutes out and just got a call about an explosion in that area. Fire and ambulance have been dispatched. I see
smoke in the distance.”
Michael’s fists clenched. He said to the pilot, “ETA?”
“Seventeen minutes, sir.”
“We’ll meet you there, Deputy,” Michael said, fearing they were too late.
Catherine had found Franklin in the bar sitting alone with a glass of water untouched in front of him. She told him that her
agent had found his wife and son and they were, for now, safe.
“Thank God. Thank you.” Tears leaked from his eyes.
“I’m going to talk to Reid with or without you, Mr. Graves.”
“I need to talk to my wife.”
“We’re not in communication with them yet. Two of my agents are en route now.” She nodded to Ryder, who showed Franklin the
message.
He read it slowly, or multiple times, Catherine wasn’t certain.
“Okay. Good. Thank you, really.” He took a deep breath. “If you talk to Reid without me, you’re going to jeopardize your case,”
he said. “He may get away with everything.”
“Not everything, but yeah, it creates problems. But he has information I need.”
“If I was doing due diligence, I would tell him not to speak to you. There is no evidence of his involvement with this woman’s
schemes—except for my knowledge.” He paused. “They were going to kill me, weren’t they?”
“Most likely.”
“I’ll join you.”
“He has information about the whereabouts of Clara Dolan, and I need it. I can’t offer a legal deal, but my word is good—I
will help him get a reduced sentence if we find her before anyone else dies. We’ll find evidence at the cannery, and we’ll
have the statements of your wife, son, and our team members. Reid won’t walk on murder, I’ll make that clear, but we can make
it easier for him. Plus, Ryder has information about his old girlfriend that may help him make the right decision.”
“Alright. Let’s go.”