Page 36 of Ultimate Justice

With all the vendors, she couldn’t be certain which one he was pointing to.

“Son,” Evan said, gently pushing Noah’s arm down as he scanned the crowd. “Tell me what you’re looking at. Describe it.”

He inched behind Evan, like he was trying to hide. His entire body began trembling. “That tent. The one with all the vegetables.”

Beneath a green tent halfway down the aisle, a woman wearing a flowy white shirt stood in the center of four tables stacked with baskets of produce. Half a dozen customers milled around, some putting vegetables into brown paper bags. One of the customers—a man in a red shirt—handed the vendor a black plastic tub. After placing the tub beneath one of the tables, the vendor reached into a pouch and gave the woman standing next to him a stack of cash.

“Do you know the woman at that tent, the one standing in the middle of the tables?” Evan asked.

Noah shook his head.

Protective instincts sparked to life, and Marlie moved to Noah’s other side, completely blocking anyone at that tent from seeing him. “Do you know someone else at that tent?”

This time, he nodded jerkily. “The man in the red shirt and the woman next to him.”

The man looked average, with brown hair. The woman had long dark hair down to the center of her back, and she was tall, nearly as tall as the guy in the red shirt. Briefly, the man glanced in their direction before returning his attention to the vendor.

Evan narrowed his eyes. “Where do you know them from?”

“The camp,” Noah whispered so softly she barely heard him.

Still keeping the couple in sight, Evan rested a hand on Noah’s shoulder. “John and Margaret?”

“Y-yes.”

Evan’s jaw clenched. He dug his keys from his pocket and thrust them at Marlie. “Take him back to the Yukon. Get in, lock the doors, and stay there. If anyone approaches you, drive away. Don’t hesitate. Just get out of there.” He grabbed Blue’s leash from Noah and took off in the direction of the green tent.

“C’mon, let’s go!” Her heart drummed faster as she hustled Noah in the opposite direction of the tent. He stumbled, but she caught him before he went down. As they wove through the crowd, fear clawed at her gut like an angry beast. John and Margaret hadn’t seen Noah, and it was up to her to make sure they didn’t.

“Hey, watch it,” someone said as Marlie all but crashed into a woman.

“Sorry,” she called over her shoulder, urging Noah around another group of people who’d stopped to have a discussion directly in their path.

Periodically, she glanced behind them, sucking in quick breaths. “We’re almost there.”

When they finally reached Evan’s SUV, her hands shook so much she nearly dropped the keys. Finally, she managed to unlock the driver’s side door and flung it open. “Get in and scoot over.”

He hopped up and crawled onto the front passenger seat. Marlie hauled herself behind the wheel and yanked the door shut. She smacked at the lock button so hard it hurt her palm.

Noah clasped his arms around his stomach and curled into a tight ball, ramming his back against the door and hunkering down below the level of the windshield. His body shook worse now. Leaning over, she wrapped one arm around him, trying desperately to offer the comfort he needed.

A flash of color caught her eye. A man stood next to the SUV. Wearing a red shirt. His back was to her. Marlie shoved the keys in the ignition. If he so much as twitched in their direction…

She tightened her grip on the keys, ready to crank the engine and slam her foot on the gas. He started to turn. Marlie held her breath. When their gazes met, she nearly collapsed to the floorboards with relief.

It wasn’t him. It wasn’t the same man Noah had identified as John.

The guy turned away and waved. A moment later, a petite red-haired woman linked arms with him. Together, they walked off.

“We’ll be okay. We’ll be okay,” she repeated. But as she said the words, she wondered if that were really true.

Yes. They were.

She balled her hands into tight fists.

If John and Margaret ever came near Noah again, she’d punch and kick and never stop fighting to protect him.

Chapter Eleven