Page 63 of Ultimate Justice

“It means I need to be a hundred percent certain this is the camp you were at.”

Blue sniffed the other side of the gate, the side with the call box. Evan went over and pushed the button. A minute later, there was still no response. Again, he pushed the button with the same results.

“Let’s go.” He indicated the SUV, looking back over his shoulder. Marlie couldn’t see what had grabbed his attention, but he went back to the call box and pressed the button again. As before, no one responded.

He kicked at the gravel in front of the box, then backed away, looking at the ground.

“What is it?” she called out.

“Wait inside the Explorer.”

She and Noah returned to the SUV, watching Evan and Blue walk about thirty feet along the fence line to the left of the gate, then the same to the right side. Before getting back in the Explorer, he snapped a few photos on his phone.

“Did you see something?” she asked.

Staring straight ahead, he strummed his fingers on the wheel. “There are cameras positioned along the fence line in either direction.”

“Is that normal? Do most farms in Wyoming have this much security?” People guarded their privacy so much these days, anything was possible.

“Maybe. Then again, it’s a helluva security system for a farm.” He turned the vehicle around and headed back the way they’d come. “There are a few other properties I want Noah to look at.”

He turned back onto the main road. In the sideview mirror, she glimpsed Evan’s friend’s SUV fall in behind them. Some of the animals in the fenced enclosures had drifted to the edge of the road. They weren’t sheep, like she’d originally thought. They were llamas.

“Stop!” Noah pointed. “There! I saw them a few minutes after we left the camp.”

“Llamas?” Evan pulled over. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.” He nodded enthusiastically as he rolled down the window and took a deep breath. “They stink. Worse than sheep.”

Marlie wrinkled her nose as the cloyingly thick animal scent invaded the passenger compartment. She had to agree. They did stink.

“Now can we go back and look for Caleb?” Noah asked. “I think that was the place back there.” He indicated in the direction they’d just come from on Painted Sky Road.

Noah might think that was the place, but she knew that wasn’t good enough. Evan still didn’t have probable cause.

“Not yet. Sorry, pal. A lot of places in Wyoming have llama farms. Llama hiking companies are big tourist attractions, and a lot of farmers harvest their wool for sweaters.” He pulled back onto the road. “But it does give me a couple of ideas.”

Chapter Eighteen

After driving to the other three locations Sammy had pinpointed, Evan was no closer to obtaining a search warrant. Seemed like this area really did have as many llama farms as Georgia had peach orchards. He had his own reasons for thinking Noah was right about the first location they’d been to. That place pinged his radar louder than a brass band belting out “Jingle Bells.”

The call box he could go with. In fact, the third farm they’d been to had one, and no one had answered that one, either. But none of the other farms had security cameras. What he hadn’t told Marlie about was the pressure pad hidden beneath his feet in front of the gate. From the moment he’d stepped on the pressure pad and pressed the button, someone could have been watching them, taking their photos or videoing them the entire time. Maybe both.

Having a heightened security system wasn’t a crime, and it wasn’t enough to convince the U.S. Attorney’s Office or a federal magistrate he had probable cause for a search warrant. It was a start, but he needed more than just Noah’s and his hunches.

He turned onto 18th Street in the center of Cheyenne. Reception was so bad he’d called Brett three times before finally getting through to notify him they’d be stopping by the local PD. He backed in next to a cruiser and threw a police placard on the dashboard. “I’m leaving Blue with you. Brett will stay outside.” He pointed to Brett’s SUV backing in next to them.

“Okay.” Marlie gave him a half-hearted smile that drew his attention to her lips. Lips he needed to stay away from.

His stomach growled with emptiness as he jogged up the stairs to the front door. In the lobby, a uniformed officer sat at a raised desk behind a glass window. Evan flashed his creds and asked to see the duty sergeant. A minute later, a heavy metal door at one side of the lobby opened, and a stocky sergeant with graying brown hair and a brass name pin on his chest that said T. Browning lifted his chin in Evan’s direction.

Again, he flashed his creds for the sergeant to see.

Browning glanced down. “You new here?”

“No.” He shook his head, understanding the sergeant’s curiosity. The FBI had five offices in Wyoming, two of which were in Cheyenne. “I’m from the Denver office. All our Wyoming agents are down there on a case.” His case, to be precise.

“What can I help you with?” Browning asked, still propping open the door.