Page 27 of Ultimate Justice

“Wow. She’s so fluffy.” Noah dropped to his knees beside Blue in front of the crate. He lifted his hand to stick it through the bars.

Evan and Marlie moved at the same time, both reaching for Noah’s arm. Evan was closer, and grabbed the kid’s hand. Marlie’s came to rest on top of his fingers. Her touch was light, warm, like being caressed by a lover. Goddammit. Thinking about her in those terms was as smart as touching a live wire, which was exactly how it had felt. He caught the startled look in her eyes right before she yanked her hand away.

He cleared his throat, his lungs filling with her sweet rose scent. “It’s never a good idea to stick your hand inside a dog’s cage. It’s their home, and you never know how they’ll react.”

The kid’s face fell. “I just wanted to pet her.”

“Noah, can you sit up here for me a sec?” Sammy adjusted the camera, but his attention was riveted to the canine romance playing out between Blue and Crystal. “Noah?”

Even Evan had to admit it was cute seeing his tough-guy K-9 totally smitten. High-pitched whining that sounded more like chortles came from his dog’s throat. Was Blue actually whimpering?

“Noah!” Marlie nudged his shoulder.

“Huh?” The kid hadn’t heard a word Sammy said, but the minute Marlie called his name, he responded like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

As soon as their badges had been printed and clipped on, Evan hitched his head to Blue, who’d taken up residence beside Crystal’s crate. “Think you can keep an eye on lover-boy for me?”

“Sure, no problem.” Sammy grinned. “Don’t forget these.” She handed him a plastic bag containing the purchases he’d made yesterday.

“Thanks.” He led Marlie and Noah to a small conference room.

Farther down the hall, Brett poked his head from another room and waved him over. “Got a minute?”

He nodded. “I’ll be back in a few minutes with some photos for you to look at,” he said to Noah. “Meantime, these should keep you busy.” He pulled the latest issue of Sports Illustrated Kids Magazine and three packs of baseball cards from the bag and set them on the table.

“Wow!” Noah ran his hand over the magazine, the cover of which showed the Denver Rockies pitcher posing with some kids about Noah’s age. He tore open one of the packs of baseball cards and grinned. If seeing the kid so happy wasn’t enough to make Evan laugh, the look of complete and utter shock on Marlie’s face did.

She stared at him, and he could swear her jaw was about to drop to the floor.

“What?” Evan threw his arms wide. “He likes baseball.”

“It’s not that. I-I just…” With her eyes only slightly less wide now, maybe the size of a quarter, she regarded him curiously. “That was very thoughtful.”

Yeah right. Thoughtful. Using an adult to further a case was one thing. Getting in good with an eleven-year-old boy for the same reason made him feel about as thoughtful as a cockroach taking a dump. Although he did like Noah. He was a cool kid. Didn’t make him feel any better. No matter how many different ways he justified it, he and the FBI were using him. True, to find other missing kids before they disappeared forever, but his motives weren’t entirely altruistic. Not with his sister potentially being at the camp.

The way Marlie watched him as he closed the door stirred something inside him. Or maybe that was the full pot of coffee he’d chugged that morning eating away at the lining of his stomach.

He went into “the war room,” the largest conference room in the office, and where Brett, Deck, and a dozen other agents were poring over every speck of information the techs had downloaded from Manello’s computer. The cherrywood oval table that took up most of the room was covered with laptops and piles of documents. Enlarged color copies of the photos they’d discovered in Manello’s basement, plus the dozen new ones found on his computer, had been tacked to one wall. Including his sister’s. Twenty in all.

Gray eyes, so like his own, stared back at him. Disappointed, accusing eyes. If only he’d stood up for Gracie that day. If only he hadn’t caved to his friends’ pressure. If only…

How many times had he run through the different scenarios, pounding his head with other possible outcomes? So many he’d lost count, and it was killing him. Slowly, by painful degrees.

After the perfunctory greetings, Evan sat in the empty chair between Brett and Deck. “What’ve you got?”

Brett reached behind him to a printer on the credenza and grabbed a stack of sheets. “Here’s the affidavit for Manello’s email service provider.”

After a brief scan to verify the probable cause justifying the warrant jibed with what he remembered, Evan nodded. “Looks good to go.”

“I’ll email it to the AUSA.” Brett started tapping away on his laptop.

“So far,” Deck said, “we matched up ten of the photos with reports of missing kids.”

“Over what time period?”

“The last ten years.” He handed Evan a stack of folders. “They’re from all over the state, not just the Denver area.”

“This ring could be more widespread than we thought.” Evan flipped through the folders. Boys and girls between the ages of ten and sixteen. None were Noah’s friend, Caleb.