"Absolutely not!" The DEA exclaimed. Don had just gone to the district attorney's office and told her about Max's ultimatum. Susan Connor, the district attorney, adamantly refused to listen.
"This guy is responsible for the kidnappings and deaths of at least 5 people," she continued. "He's confessed to it all! I'm not taking the death penalty off the table."
"Believe me, I want to get this guy just as much as you do," Don replied. "I mean, he kidnapped and assaulted my brother! Would have killed him if Charlie hadn't escaped. But we have
to think about Jennifer Talworth. He can tell us where she is."
"Don't you have any leads on Joseph Randall, the guy who took her?" Susan asked.
Don shook his head. "He's a ghost. Every time we get close, he bolts and the woman turns up dead."
"How do you know Jennifer Talworth's not already dead?" Susan asked.
Don sighed. "I don't. But she's 26 years old and Russell Taylor is our only shot at saving her life. Plus I bet you there are more bodies than we've accounted for. He can tell us where they
are, give the families some closure. But if we make this deal, we have to do it now. Otherwise, it will be too late."
"It may already be too late," Susan remarked. Don put his hands on his hips and looked down on the ground.
"It's our only move here," he replied. Susan Connor paced behind her desk, thinking. Finally, she grabbed her jacket. "C'mon." They walked out together.
Russell "Max" Taylor sat smugly at the interrogation room in the State Prison with his lawyer. Don and the DEA walked in.
"Well, hello," Max said seductively to the DEA. He extended his hand. "And to what do I owe the pleasure?"
Susan Connor sat across from him, not shaking his hand. "Save it, buddy," she answered. "I'm not impressed."
Max turned to his lawyer with a smirk. "Feisty one she is."
"Max, this is the district attorney," Larry Feldman said warningly. Max didn't seem altered.
"Listen," Susan said to Larry Feldman. "We are prepared to offer your client life in prison without parole if he gives us the location of all the bodies he's buried and the location of Jennifer
Talworth. Provided we find her and she's still alive, we are prepared to take the death penalty off the table."
"You can't expect my client to agree to that," Larry stated. "We have no control over whether or not you find her alive."
"That's the deal," Susan persisted. "Take it or leave it."
Max sneered, leaning forward. "The deal, sweetheart, is that I tell you where Joseph Randall was last seen with Jennifer Talworth and you take the death penalty off the table. For the
location of the rest of the bodies, it's gonna cost you extra."
"What?" Don exclaimed. "You have got to be kidding me."
Max leaned back, looking casually at his nails. "For that information, I want my own cell and I want extra time outside in the exercise pen."
Susan stood up. "This is ridiculous. Your client isn't serious. We're done here."
"I promise I am very serious, Ms. District Attorney," Max answers. "The clock is ticking on young Jennifer. Tick tock, tick tock."
"Tell us where she is!" Don screamed.
Max leaned in to stare into Don's eyes. "Then take the death penalty off the table."
Don looks at Susan Connor pleadingly. She still looked unsure.
"You are wasting precious timeā¦" Max taunted.
"Fine!" Susan conceded, sitting back down. "The death penalty is off. Now where is she?"
Max smiled widely. "414 Reinhardt Street."
Thirty minutes later, Don along with David, Colby, and a SWAT team drove up to the house. It was a large development with new houses. 414 was a house that Russell Taylor was working to sell as a real estate agent. In hindsight, it was the best hiding place. SWAT stormed into the house, guns drawn, but the house was empty. Don took some of the team down into the basement. They found a bed with ruffled covers and handcuffs hanging from it with a chair next to it. The room was dirty and a pair of ladies' underwear was on the floor. A coffee maker and a mug filled with coffee were on a snack table in the corner. Don felt the cup. It was warm.
"Dammit!" Don swore. "We just missed him." He turned to the SWAT team. "Scour the neighborhood, and get me prints, tire tracks, some kind of evidence. He couldn't have gotten very far." David and Colby approached Don.
"Put Joseph Randall's and Jennifer's Talworth's photo up everywhere," Don ordered. "And I mean everywhere! Toll booths, gas stations, nearby developments. I want them found!" David and Colby nodded and went to work. Don cursed again. Now Max had his deal and Joseph Randall was long gone. Who knew if Jennifer Talworth was still alive? And even if she was, who's to say they would find her? Don was running out of options, and time.
