Page 17 of Ultimate Justice

Brian gave him a meaningful look. “Assistant Director Harte is on speakerphone.”

No shock there. Paulina Harte headed the agency’s Critical Incident Response Group that oversaw the CARD teams assigned to work missing children’s cases. In other words, Evan worked for her as much as he worked for Brian.

“Good morning, Evan,” Director Harte said. “Great work apprehending Stonewall Jackson Jones.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Patting him on the back wasn’t why she was participating in this meeting.

“I understand you may have stumbled on a large-scale forced child labor-kidnapping ring. SAIC Mimoa provided me with the bare bones of the case. I hear you interviewed a witness yesterday, an escapee. I’d like to hear about it.”

For the next twenty minutes, he outlined the relevant details of his interview with Noah. He included the part about recruiting Marlie Foxe, searching for the farmers markets, and ending with Noah’s statements that the people running the camp were in a hurry to grab more kids.

“I agree about the sense of urgency,” Director Harte said, “but a hospital custodian?” Her voice held an undisguised note of disbelief.

“Yes, ma’am.” He looked at Brian, whom he’d already briefed about the need for Marlie’s involvement. Yesterday, he’d lied to her. He still didn’t know if the FBI would actually cover her salary while she was away from the hospital, and he didn’t care. He’d pay it out of his own pocket, if that’s what it took.

“Sammy Aikens is running a full background check on her,” Evan continued. “I’m convinced she’s the key to whatever information is locked away in Noah’s head.” Information he’d do just about anything to extract.

A long beat of silence came and went. Then another. If Director Harte canned his idea, he’d have to find another way.

A long sigh came through the speaker. “Evan, I know your track record. If you say this is the best way to work this case, we’ll go with it. For now.”

Yes! Adrenaline sped through his veins faster than a gunshot. “We’re also waiting on the tech report from the imaged hard drive. As soon as we get Manello’s email address, we’ll get a search warrant for his email service provider.”

“Good,” Director Harte said. “Brian, let me know if you need any additional support from HQ, manpower or more IT resources.”

“I think we’re good for now.” Brian leaned closer to the speaker. “We’re tapping into every agency on the Task Force, including the DEA, ATF, and the Denver and Lakewood PDs. We also have agents trying to match up the eight photos found in Manello’s basement to missing children’s reports in the area. Any photos we can’t match up we’ll circulate to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.”

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was the nation’s largest child protection organization and had FBI personnel assigned who could assist with the search.

“How far back are you going?” Director Harte asked.

Brian gave Evan an encouraging nod.

“We’re starting with ten years on the five printed images. The three photos tacked to the wall look older.” Especially the Polaroid. “For those, we’ll go back twenty-five years. As soon as we have names, teams of agents will coordinate with the local police departments where the children disappeared, then go reinterview the parents.”

“Sounds good,” the director said. “I want daily progress updates.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Brian said, about to terminate the call.

“Wait!” Evan cleared his throat, wishing like hell there was another way. “There’s something else you need to know.”

He tugged a folded sheet of paper from his back pocket—a photocopy of the Polaroid. “We found this in Manello’s basement.” He set it on the desk in front of Brian and took out another photo from his wallet, one taken during Gracie’s last year of school. Taking a deep breath, he set it on the desk beside the Polaroid. “Both of these are photos of my sister. Grace McGarry.”

Brian’s mouth fell open. Evan didn’t have to look at Lori or Santiago to know they wore the same shocked look on their faces. The room was so quiet he could have heard a gnat fart.

“She disappeared twenty-four years ago. Back then, there were no leads for the police or the FBI to follow up on.” He let that sentence dangle for a moment. “Until now.”

“Jesus, Evan!” Brian made a huffing sound and began shaking his head. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

“No, sir.” Evan stood, towering over the man who would equal his height if he decided to stand and get in Evan’s face. “Please, do not take me off this case. My sister is the reason I became an FBI agent, the reason I applied for the CARD teams in the first place. I’m the best person for this job. There’s no agent in the FBI who works harder to bring home missing children. This will only make me work harder.” If that was even possible, considering he’d already dedicated his entire life to the job.

If they removed him from the case because of his personal connection to one of the victims, he’d quit the Bureau on the spot and work the case on his own. With or without the FBI.

“Paulina?” Brian stared at the phone as if he were staring into the director’s face. “It’s your call. I agree with what he said, but we all know leaving him on the case would go against protocol.”

“I’m aware.” Tapping came through the speaker, as if the director were tapping a pen on the phone. “But Evan is the best. I’ll have to run this up the chain to the Director. Brian, loop in the U.S. Attorney’s Office on this. I don’t want any evidence to get flushed because of Evan’s personal tie to this case.”

“Understood.”