Page 24 of Ultimate Justice

The bedsheets were askew, hanging off the edge of the mattress. Noah’s water cup and a straw lay on the floor. A small puddle of water had spilled out next to it. “This can’t be happening,” she whispered. Not again.

Evan pointed to the bed. Gracefully, Blue rose on his hind legs, resting his front paws on the mattress. With noisy inhalations, he sniffed the pillow and sheets. “Find him,” Evan said in an even tone.

The second Blue’s front paws hit the floor, he and Evan shot past her back into the corridor. Marlie couldn’t move, couldn’t think, and could barely draw in a breath as she watched them race for the stairwell. When the door slammed shut behind them, she flinched.

Noah wasn’t her child, and this wasn’t her fault. Still, the hollow, empty feeling in the pit of her stomach was there, and it was real. The same as it had been when Aiden had gone missing. But this wasn’t Aiden. Maybe this boy they would find in time. Before…

Don’t go there.

She tore down the hallway and pushed open the heavy stairway door. One level above her, a door slammed shut, echoing loudly. She took the stairs up, two at a time. Her soft-heeled shoes thudded dully, and her chest tightened with fear.

At the next floor, she yanked on the door and looked both ways. This floor was a mix of specialized patient rooms and a few spare doctors’ offices, most of which were vacant. Evan and Blue were nowhere in sight.

She turned left, half running, half walking as she looked into every open doorway. At the end of the hall, she spun and raced back to the stairwell, heading in the opposite direction. At the first open door, she stopped. Evan stood in front of a desk. Behind the desk and sitting in front of a computer, sat Noah, scrubbing Blue’s ears.

He looked up, his face brightening. “Hi, Marlie!”

As the fear slowly bled from her body, relief nearly took her to her knees. Then relief got nudged out by anger. Misplaced anger, but it had scared the crap out of her, nonetheless.

Doing her best not to let it show, she took a deep, calming breath. He’s okay. He’s okay, she repeated, hoping the mantra would soothe her frazzled nerves.

“Why don’t you sit down?” Evan guided her to a chair. “Then Noah can tell you what he’s been up to.” He nodded to Noah. “You know she was worried about you.”

“I’m sorry.” He hung his head. “The nurse said someone from that place was coming to get me, and I don’t want to go there.”

“So you ran away,” Marlie said, stating the obvious.

“Not really. I’m still in the hospital. I was looking for a computer, and the door was unlocked so…”

She leaned across the desk and pivoted the monitor. The Colorado Rockies homepage filled the screen. Every single computer in the hospital—on the planet, really—required some kind of password. “How did you log in?”

“Um.” He twisted his lips and looked away.

“Noah?” She dragged out his name so it sounded more like No-ah.

“I, uh, found the password.”

“Oh, really.” She crossed her arms. He’d said he was good with computers. Apparently, he was also one crafty little kid. “Where exactly did you find the password?”

He shrugged, refusing to look at her as he pulled open one of the small drawers and shoved some papers aside. She stood and leaned farther over the desk. Taped to the bottom of the drawer was a combination of letters and numbers.

Now that her fear had lost most of its steam, she focused on her new, albeit temporary, parental responsibilities. “I know how much you love computers, but this is the equivalent of trespassing. How would you like it if someone broke into your computer and started snooping around?” Again, he shrugged, but Marlie knew she’d gotten through to him. “You shouldn’t have left your room. Not without telling someone. I—we,” she corrected, catching the corner of Evan’s mouth lifting, “were worried about you.” More than worried. She’d been on the verge of an all-out panic attack.

“Are you mad at me? Please don’t be mad at me. I won’t do it again. I promise.” With his head tilted down while he looked at her, he reminded her of a green-eyed puppy that had been caught tearing a pillow to shreds.

Knowing what he needed—what they both needed—she held out her hand. Noah came around the desk and let Marlie hug him. She pulled away and tucked an errant strand of hair behind his ear. “You don’t have to go to Kids Corner if you don’t want to.”

“Where will I go?” He cocked his head and scrunched up his brows. “I don’t want to stay here anymore, and I don’t want to live with Sheila and Mike again.”

Here goes nothing. The final plunge. The real commitment. “Would you like to come live with me? For a little while, anyway,” she tacked on quickly.

“Really?” The broad smile lit up his face like someone had turned on a high-voltage lightbulb.

“Just until we can find you a new family to live with.” Hearing the words left her with a heaviness in her chest.

“Oh.” The brightness on his face extinguished like someone had flipped a switch. “Okay.”

“It’ll be fun. Now let’s go get you dressed.” The hospital had washed the clothes he’d worn when he arrived. Going shopping was first on her temporary-mom to-do list.