Page 29 of Ultimate Justice

“Did you meet all the women who worked at the camp?”

“Yeah.” Noah nodded. “I think so.”

“Who is she?” Marlie asked.

Gracie. As she would look today, courtesy of aging software.

“Someone who went missing a long time ago.” He hoped and prayed she was still out there somewhere. Anywhere. Living. Breathing. “I thought she might have been taken to the same camp Noah was.”

“What’s her name?” Marlie asked.

“Doesn’t matter. Not if she isn’t there.” A total lie. She would always matter. One way or the other, he would find her. He shoved the photo back in the folder and closed it.

Marlie watched him with slightly raised brows. She knew he was full of shit. If she ever discovered just how much, she’d accuse him of lying and being deceptive about his motives. And she’d be right.

Chapter Nine

“This truck is so cool,” Noah said, for what had to be the third time since they’d left the FBI office.

“Thanks.” Marlie took the turn for her apartment complex. She glanced in the sideview mirror. It was nearly five o’clock. The sun still shined brightly, glinting on the chrome bumper of the Expedition directly behind them.

Agent McGarry’s—Evan’s—Expedition.

Something was up with him. Based on what she’d overhead in the hallway, the FBI had been considering taking him off the case. Odd, since he’d been the one who’d found Noah in that basement. Why had the other man—his supervisor?—thought Evan wouldn’t be “focused” or “impartial?” And who was that woman in the photo he showed Noah?

His reaction had been brief, but it had been there. The man was hiding something, and that unleashed a gaggle of suspicions in her mind.

She parked in the closest spot she could find near the door to her building. Evan pulled in beside her. “Don’t forget your bag.” She pointed to the hospital toiletry bag on the floor by Noah’s feet.

Evan had insisted on following them home. Home. The apartment she’d been renting for nearly two years had never felt like home. She hadn’t had a real home since she and Chris had sold the house. Since…Aiden.

“Can I drive your truck someday?” Noah asked.

Marlie laughed. “Maybe in about five years. When you have a driver’s license.” The second she’d said the words, she regretted them.

Long before Noah turned sixteen, he’d be with another family. He still didn’t comprehend her guardianship was only temporary, and she didn’t have the heart to tell him otherwise. Not now, certainly not so soon after what he’d been through. He needed time to adjust.

Evan and Blue met them at the hood of her truck. He ran his big hand over the chrome headlight bezel like he was stroking a woman’s body. What was it about men and trucks?

“After you.” He held out his arm.

“After me, what?” He wasn’t really going to—

“We’re escorting you and Noah to your apartment.”

“No. You’re not.” It wasn’t that hot out, but sweat began beading on her forehead. She hadn’t had anyone in her apartment. Ever. Letting Noah inside was one thing. Even though Evan was an FBI agent, allowing a man into her sad little sanctuary was unfathomable.

“I want to check the place out before you go in. As a precaution.”

“That’s completely unnecessary.” There was absolutely no way she was letting him into her home. She parked her hands on her hips. “No one knows he’s staying with me. I didn’t even know for sure until this morning.”

“We still don’t know who was looking for Noah at the hospital. We could have been followed to the FBI office or here.” He pointed behind her. “Your truck is kick-ass, but it stands out like the Jolly Green Giant. You may not like it, but I won’t take no for an answer.”

“You say that a lot.” Because he was a man who got what he wanted, she was coming to realize.

He stepped closer, partially invading her personal space. “That’s because I mean it a lot.” He let the words hang there.

A breeze whipped up, bringing with it his spicy, woodsy aftershave or cologne. She backed up until her butt hit the bumper of her truck. Maybe it was because he smelled so good, or because in the last three years, she hadn’t been close enough to a man to actually smell his scent that made her brain cloud with confusion. If she wasn’t already backed up to her truck, she would have retreated an additional five feet.