Page 106 of Ultimate Justice

Brett’s brows rose to his hairline. “You’re kidding.”

The shock on his friends’ faces nearly made him laugh. “Not from Denver, and not off the task force. Just off the CARD teams.” Which had been sucking the life out of him.

“Good.” Brett nodded.

“’Bout time,” Deck agreed. “It was killing you.”

“Yeah.” Slowly, he nodded, relishing the blanket of peace that had instantly surrounded him at making the decision. No matter what, something had to change, because he couldn’t go on like this.

“Tell him,” Deck said, looking at Brett.

“Tell me what?”

“Marlie and Noah are moving,” Brett announced. “She rented a house with an option to buy it in a year.”

Evan straightened in the chair. If she moved far away, he might never see her again. The thought left him with a giant, gaping hole in his chest. “Where’s she moving to, and when?”

Brett shrugged. “Dunno the where, but I can tell you the when. Today.”

No. Not that he couldn’t find her after she moved. Finding people was what he did best, but the panic he’d felt a moment ago began twisting and spinning like a tornado.

If he didn’t get off his ass, he’d be making another big mistake. Bigger than letting Marlie walk out of his life the first time.

“Blue!” He shot to his feet and whipped the jacket off the back of his chair. “We’ve got somewhere to be.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

“Are you sad to be leaving here?” Noah asked, tossing his knapsack into the back of her pickup.

Marlie looked up at the apartment building. “No. Not at all. This place was never my home.” It had been a prison of her own making.

She hefted her suitcase into the pickup. Sad, pathetic. Sad, that she didn’t own a stick of furniture. Pathetic, that what little was hers actually fit in the back of a small, antique pickup truck. Maybe it was better that way. A fresh start with a new house, albeit a rental, and new furniture.

The sky was overcast, a shade of gray somewhere between slate and pewter. A gust of autumn wind brought with it a chill, and she zipped up her jacket. This really was a new beginning with Noah in her life. There was nothing like the love of a child. Perhaps she’d been greedy, hoping for more. If only she hadn’t fallen in love with a man who could never love her back.

“Now can we get a dog?” Noah grinned slyly. “You said we couldn’t get one because your apartment didn’t allow them, but now we have a house, so…”

She laughed, remembering how Aiden never forgot a single word she said when it came to justifying something he wanted. “I did say that, didn’t I?” This was the first time she recalled something Aiden had said without her heart breaking into a million jagged pieces. “As soon as we get settled, we’ll go to the animal shelter and look around.”

“Okay.” Noah nodded, though not as enthusiastically as she would have expected. “It won’t be the same as Blue, though.”

“No, it won’t be, but he or she will be yours, and you’ll love him or her just as much as you love Blue.” She draped an arm over his shoulder and urged him to the truck. “We’ll have to set some ground rules. Rule number one, you’ll be the one walking the dog in the rain, sleet, and sno—”

Tires screeched to a stop. A large SUV parked behind her truck, blocking her from getting out. The passenger door opened, and her heart did a not-so-little somersault.

Evan.

“Blue!” Noah ran to the dog and dropped to his knees, laughing as Blue licked his face like an ice cream cone.

“Hi,” Evan said, shoving his hands into his pants pockets. “I heard you were moving.”

“Uh-huh.” She nodded, not knowing what else to do, because hadn’t they already said all there was to say?

His dark brows drew together. “I missed you.”

“I’ve missed me, too.” It had taken three long years, but finally, she was on the right track. Nothing would derail her ever again. “What are you doing here?” Just when she was about to start a new life—without him—and he showed up unannounced and uninvited.

He cleared his throat, drawing her attention to his Adam’s apple and the strong lines of his neck. “I need to tell you some things.”