‘Yeah, I guess I deserved that.’But Griffin gave an evil laugh as he walked around the van, juggling the keys in his hands.‘No need to lock up, there’s nothing left.’
???
Finn gave the nod.
And Amara raced forward, gun raised at Lenora, with Craig as her backup.
‘POLICE.HANDS UP.’
Griffin bolted for the driver’s door of the van, but Finn was already there.
Stone backed up Finn, who stood by the bonnet and kicked the driver’s door shut like it owed him money.
In the same breath, Finn’s large hand crashed down on the back of Griffin’s neck, driving him face-first into the van’s side panel.That was going to leave a dent.‘Remember me, cowboy?’
‘Is this the part where we say you’re under arrest, Bossman?’Stone smirked at Griffin as he removed the keys from the van’s ignition.
As Finn cuffed Griffin roughly, pushing him onto his knees, Stone called out, ‘Romy?’
She peered out from behind the protective barrier that Stone had made her hide behind and gave a meek wave.‘I’m here.’
‘You can come in, now.’Stone waved Romy in.
Which she did, keenly rushing inside.‘You’ve got them?’
‘The prisoner is secure, sir.’Amara walked around the van with Lenora in handcuffs, forcing her onto her knees beside Griffin.
‘Constable, radio for a prisoner transfer,’ ordered Finn.
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Stone?’With her hands cuffed behind her back, Lenora wriggled around on her knees to face him.‘The eggs and juveniles are in the van.They have to come out.’
Stone went to open the back, only thinking of saving those animals.
‘That’s evidence, Stone.You can’t touch that.’Amara pushed him back.
‘But Lenora is right.They’ll die, Duchess, they need the airflow.The van is a tin can, and even in those containers—if that van’s not moving, they’ll start cooking from the inside out.Eggs first, with the hatchlings not far behind.’
‘Can somebody tape Stone while we get the prisoners secure?’Finn dug into a pocket of his jeans and dragged out some plastic gloves.‘But wear gloves, Stone.We’ll need to take fingerprints as part of the investigation.’
Craig dragged out his phone and began filming Stone.‘Know what you’re doing there, Stone?’
‘I do.You can do this too, Craig.Romy can do the filming because we need to do this fast.We’ve got another van to catch, mate, with more stock on board.’
‘We also have the potential of finding out who this Stock Agent is,’ said Craig, passing his phone to Romy.
‘Do you know who the Stock Agent is?’Finn asked Griffin.
‘I know nothing.’
‘As much as I hate to say it, Griffin’s right.’The handcuffed Lenora scowled at her partner while kneeling on the concrete floor.‘Only Bastion dealt with the Stock Agent.’
‘Stone, what’s your ETA to get in the air?’Finn’s voice was low, but urgent.
‘Give me five, I’m doing this first.’Stone carried a large crate over to the wide pond and lowered it onto the side with the sand.He opened the crate’s side panel, releasing a group of baby crocodiles, who rushed to hide under the water.‘The poor things are stressed.’
‘Here’s the next one.’Craig handed the crate to Stone, who gently let them go.
