Page 14 of Ultimate Justice

“Look at it this way,” Tish continued. “You won’t even have to tap into your vacation time, which, by the way, you’ve barely used. This is a chance for you to get out of here and do something else, even if it’s just for a few days.”

Marlie frowned at her friend, but she was right about one thing. In the two and a half years she’d been working at North Metro, she’d used only a few days here and there, and then, only when absolutely necessary. Because she didn’t want to be alone at home with only her grief for company. Yet some of what Tish said struck a chord. It had taken three years to get to this point, but the realization smacked her in the face as surely as if someone had physically struck her.

Inside, she was dying. A slow, painful death by tiny increments. She could feel the life bleeding out of her every day, every week, every month that passed.

“As I said,” McGarry added, “if necessary, the FBI will pay your salary while you’re working with me. We’ll expedite the paperwork to make you his legal guardian.”

“You can’t possibly do that in time.” No one worked that quickly.

“I can, and I will,” he answered flatly. “The FBI is the most powerful law enforcement agency in the country. We won’t stop until we have every resource needed to get the job done.”

We won’t stop? Or he won’t stop?

Regardless of to whom he was referring, it was the same outcome in her book. This man would move mountains to get what he wanted, and right now, he wanted her.

Noah’s sad, lonely face swam before her eyes. Could she really do it, help the FBI? “No,” she whispered to Tish. “Even if I wanted to work with the FBI, my foster training credentials had to have lapsed by now, and it takes time for the court to approve a legal guardian.”

“I can fast-track any legal approvals needed.” McGarry continued watching her with an unnerving intensity that made her want to squirm like a worm on a hook.

The huge German shepherd also seemed to be staring at her with the same alarming concentration.

“I don’t know.” The legalities were just an excuse. The real impediment was her own reluctance to put herself out there, for anything or anyone. Though part of her secretly resented having become such a coward.

“This is a priority case,” he continued. “Anything involving children is a priority.”

“I know that, dammit.” She pounded the rim of the garbage bin with her fist.

McGarry pressed his lips together, narrowing his eyes, and in that moment, she felt as if he could read her thoughts and knew exactly what she’d been through. Well, duh. He dealt with distraught parents all the time. He’d be experienced at this. Maybe he could see right through her.

“I need you, Ms. Foxe. Noah needs you. Without you, I don’t think he’ll open up, and I need him to help me find that camp ASAP. Do this for him and for all the other kids there.”

“I-I don’t know.”

He took a step closer, as did his dog. “Think about all those families whose children are missing. How frantic their parents must be.”

Again, she swallowed, but not from fear. He’d hit on something she knew all too well—exactly what those parents were going through.

The man’s dark brows rose. “Whatdya say? Will you help us?”

She glanced at Tish and caught the subtle upward twitch of her friend’s lips. The dog, Blue, nudged her hand with his nose, as if pushing her to say yes. No fair. Three against one.

But this wasn’t about her. She was being selfish, wallowing in her own misery. Noah did need her, and if she could help the FBI find those kids, maybe their parents wouldn’t have to suffer the way she had. And still do.

“What—” She broke off, her voice coming out like a strangled cry. She cleared her throat. “What exactly do you want from me?” God, was she actually considering this?

Yes. Those dice had already been rolled. While McGarry’s hands remained at his side, he might as well have done a fist-pump.

“I want to take Noah to the farmers markets in Denver. Once we find the one he was at, I want to try to get him to remember enough to backtrack to the camp.”

She must be out of her mind. After all her hard work at distancing herself from anyone—especially children—she was taking a leap that might very well kill her.

“The families left behind never stop grieving. Do they?” he asked quietly, his steel-gray eyes going as soft as a dove, yet still laser-focused on her.

Now she was sure of it. He knows.

Aside from Tish, whom she’d known for over a decade, no one she’d encountered in the last three years ever suspected a thing. In less than an hour, this one man had figured it out.

“Marlie.” Tish’s hand rubbed her back in slow circles. “You can do this. You’re stronger than you think you are.”