Page 88 of Ultimate Justice

The elevator doors opened. Not wanting to risk losing signal, she stayed in the hallway and took the call. “Hello?”

“Ms. Foxe? This is Aileen Muldew at the Lakewood Middle School.”

“Yes?” A subtle vibe in the woman’s voice had Marlie pressing the phone tighter to her ear. “Is everything all right?”

“Is Noah with you?”

Oh God. “No. Are you telling me he’s not in school?”

“What I’m saying is that we can’t find him,” the woman continued, her voice growing more panicked by the second. “The last class he was seen in was English, and that was before lunch. After lunch, he would have had time for outdoor recess, then he had a library study period. But no one’s actually seen him since English class. We didn’t realize he was missing until he didn’t show up for gym class.”

“No! He should be in school.” Marlie speed-walked to the stairwell. “When did his English class let out?” She slammed the heel of her hand on the stairwell door, shoving it open.

“Over two hours ago. We’re calling the police now.”

“Now you’re calling the police?” The first three hours in a missing child case were critical. She of all people knew that. She started racing down the stairs.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Foxe. We didn’t know he was gone. We have people searching everywhere for him. Our buildings have electronically controlled door locks. We have outdoor cameras, some of which are livestreamed directly to the police department. We received no notifications. I don’t understand how this could have happened.”

Still pounding down the stairs, Marlie ground her teeth. Aiden had been standing less than two feet from her when he’d gone missing.

And Frank Manello was still out there.

She knew the drill. The police wouldn’t get fully involved until it was 100 percent verified Noah wasn’t in school and he wasn’t at home, either. “I’m going home to check for him there. Call me if you find him.”

“Yes, of course I—”

Marlie punched off the call and threw her weight against the door. Not caring how many looks she got, she tore down the hall to Tish’s office.

When she flung open the door, Tish looked up. “How’d the interview go?”

“There’s no time. I need to borrow your car.” She held out her hand.

“Okay.” Tish shot her a worried look as she fished keys from her purse. “What’s going on?”

“Noah’s missing from school.” She took the keys Tish handed her. “I’m heading to your house to see if he’s there.”

“You don’t think that Manello guy has something to do with this, do you?”

She clenched the keys so tightly they dug into the palm of her hand. “I don’t know.” Yet, in her gut, she knew something was horribly, horribly wrong.

Fifteen minutes later, she deactivated the alarm and ran inside Tish’s house. “Noah? Noah?” she called out, searching the ground floor, then bolting up the stairs, praying she was wrong.

The door to his room was open, the way he usually left it. He wasn’t there. Leaving no possibility the police could ignore, she opened the closet. Empty, save for the new clothes she’d bought him.

Panic spiked her blood, and she charged down the hallway to check her room and the bathroom, then went into the master suite and checked there, too.

This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening all over again.

She took deep steadying breaths so she didn’t pass out. Back in Noah’s room, she sat on the bed. Just that morning, she’d asked him if he wanted her to adopt him. There’d been no doubting the enthusiasm on his face. He wouldn’t have run away. He wouldn’t.

Something else was happening here.

Clutching her arms around her waist, she fell back onto the bed. Her head hit something hard. She sat up and flung back the covers to find a folded sheet of paper tucked into her laptop. On top of the laptop was a credit card. Her credit card.

She stared at the card. Why would he—? Oh no.

When she’d come in that morning, he’d been doing something on the laptop right before he’d snapped the lid shut. The expression on his face she’d taken as surprise, she now realized was something else entirely. Guilt.