Page 50 of Ultimate Justice

The man at the hospital who’d been looking for the boy…had he followed them from the hospital to Marlie’s that day? Possibly, and if so, then it was still his fault. Or could there be a leak at the hospital?

He cued up Deck’s number. A moment later, his friend answered. “Yo, Evan. What can I do you for?”

“I need a favor. Can you get with Tori and find out if anyone at North Metro or child services gave out Marlie’s address as where Noah would be living?”

“You really think that’s how they found him?”

“Not sure.” He still couldn’t ignore the possibility he’d been so distracted he hadn’t seen a tail the day he’d followed them home from the hospital. Yet another reason why he shouldn’t be thinking about Marlie in any terms, other than as Noah’s legal guardian.

“I’ll talk to her,” Deck said. “We also heard back from Lakewood PD on the mall cameras. It was definitely Manello. He got into a car that was reported stolen. PD found the car abandoned a few blocks from the mall. He has to know there’s a warrant out for him, so why would he risk it?”

Exactly what Evan had been thinking, and he had a theory. “He needs to grab Noah again before he can ID the location of the camp.” Which made finding it and shutting it down even more important. “Thanks, man.” He ended the call, then waved to Tally and Miriam, who were busy planting those purple tulip bulbs in their garden.

“You sure you don’t want to join us later for dinner?” Tally called out. “Your friends are cute.”

That they are. Although he wouldn’t exactly call Marlie cute. She was pretty. Feminine. Smart.

He gave a quick shake of his head because, again, he and relationships were a futile and truly bad mix. “Thanks, ladies.”

Blue snorted as Beulah, his other next door neighbors’ Australian sheepdog, raced after a frisbee Eduardo threw for her.

Eduardo and Melissa Jenkins had lived there for just over a year. The first thing they’d done after moving in was to plant a small marijuana garden. Could be their proclivity to light up just about every day or could be something else he couldn’t put his finger on, but beyond friendly greetings, he’d never really connected with them. Eduardo handed Melissa a thin cigarette—a joint. He wore their travel agency’s bright red shirt with the company logo.

Eduardo held up the joint, calling out, “Want a smoke?”

Evan chuckled, shaking his head. It was a running joke between them. Like most of his neighbors, Eduardo knew he was an FBI agent and wouldn’t touch the stuff.

“You sure?” Melissa asked, pushing her long dark hair over her shoulder. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”

Yeah. He did. Taking a hit would get him one thing and one thing only. Fired. All it would take was a random drug test the agency could order him to take at any time, day or night. Sure enough, the light smell of pot drifted over the fence.

He turned to find Noah staring intently at his neighbors. “What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing. For a second, I thought…” Noah went back to watching Blue and the dancing monarchs.

“Thought what?” His neighbor wore a red shirt, similar to the one the man he’d chased at the market had on. He hitched his head to Eduardo. “That he was John?”

Noah nodded.

Evan looked back at Eduardo holding the joint to his lips. Same general height, build, and brown hair as John. Melissa was about the same height as her husband and with long dark hair. Like Margaret. But wouldn’t he have recognized his own neighbors? While he didn’t know them all that well, they didn’t strike him as the type to run a forced child labor camp.

“Why is it doing that?” Noah asked.

One of the butterflies had landed on Blue’s back. “Butterflies like Blue.”

The back door shut as Marlie came outside. Blue trotted to her, the butterfly content to remain right where it was, parked solidly on the center of his back.

“They’re beautiful,” she said, joining them in front of the clump of asters. “Why is that one on your dog?”

“Can’t say for sure, but I think it’s because he’s always brushing up against these flowers.” He nodded to the purple asters, where at least a dozen monarchs hovered and flitted their wings, diving gracefully in and out of the flowers. “I planted them just for the monarchs. It’s supposed to be a good source of nectar, and they need it for their long migration back to central Mexico for the winter. Mostly they travel alone, but when they find a good place to chow down, it’s a feeding frenzy.”

Blue shoved his head into the flowers, causing all the butterflies to take to the air in a flurry of black-and-orange beating wings. Evan knew what would happen next. “Blue, heel.” His dog sat and, as expected, another butterfly settled between his ears. “I’m no botanist, but maybe some of the nectar or the aster scent gets transferred to his coat.”

“Cool,” Noah said. “He’s like the butterfly whisperer.”

“That he is,” Evan agreed. “My friend Deck has a dog, Thor, who’s really good with cats. We call him the cat-whispering dog. Maybe someday you’ll meet him and see for yourself.”

The comment had Noah grinning again, but when Evan glanced at Marlie, she’d crossed her arms, and her lips had compressed. Again, those lips…even frowning…entirely kissable. “What?” Something he’d said had royally pissed her off.