Page 90 of Ultimate Justice

About two hundred yards off, he spotted wire fencing. Could be a road just beyond the fence line. “I’m gonna hump it to the road, try to get a cell signal. Stay awake, okay?”

“Yeah.” He pressed a hand to his bleeding temple. “I’ll just sit here on my ass and get warm by the fire.”

Evan chuckled, happy they were alive, and Chip was well enough to crack jokes. “I’ll bring you some marshmallows.”

He took off at a slow jog. With every step, his shoulder ached worse than an unsedated root canal. Hopefully, he hadn’t busted it. Halfway to the fence, he stopped and checked his phone for a signal. Nada. He kept going to the road, then checked again. One measly bar.

His phone buzzed with notifications of calls he’d missed—two from Marlie and one from Tony Wong. Seeing Marlie’s name sent a jolt of excitement through him, followed by a twinge of worry. After the way things had ended between them, he hadn’t expected to hear from her anytime soon. Unless there was a problem with Noah. As much as he wanted to hit redial, he had to prioritize. Getting Chip medical assistance came first.

Again, he punched in 911. While he waited for the operator to pick up, he pulled up his location on the phone’s GPS app. The chopper was equipped with an ELT—emergency locator transmitter—but there was no guarantee it was still transmitting.

“This is 911. What is the location of your emergency?”

He rattled off the coordinates, then, “This is FBI Special Agent McGarry. An FBI chopper was just shot down two hundred yards from my location. Two souls on board, including myself. The pilot is injured and needs medical assistance. Probable concussion.” In the background, he heard the dispatcher relaying the information to police units and requesting paramedics.

“Emergency services and police are on their way to you. Please confirm, did you say you were shot down?”

“Affirmative. Shots fired from the gated property at the end of Painted Sky Road.” The camp.

There was no doubting now that was the location Manello had taken Noah. “I need you to send police to that location and secure the gate. No one gets in or out.” Through the gate, anyway. There’d be no way to monitor a thousand acres without air support, something he didn’t recommend at the moment.

After the dispatcher relayed the information, he called Brian Mimoa and gave him an update.

“You sure you’re okay?” Brian asked.

“Ten-four. The pilot’s got a concussion, but we’re both alive.”

“Thank God,” Brian said. “I’m heading to you now with the entire office.”

“Copy that.” By the time they arrived, this could all be over. “Call Deck and Brett. They’re in Fort Collins. They can be up here in less than thirty minutes. This is an active shooter scenario. That gives us PC to go in without a warrant.” Evan planned on commandeering a ride from the local PD and busting into the camp before the shooter took off.

“Agreed,” Brian said. “Be careful.”

“Ten-four, boss.”

The fire still roared, sending a plume of black smoke billowing skyward from the wreckage. Sirens wailed in the distance. No sooner did he hang up, than his phone rang. It was Tony Wong again.

“I emailed you the complete Red Notice file on Bram Ackerman,” Tony said when Evan answered. “INTERPOL is still hot to make an arrest.”

“Stand by.” He put Tony on speakerphone while he opened the file.

Sirens grew louder. Evan could make out the first emergency vehicle turning off the main road.

He scrolled to the photo at the bottom of the report. His blood went colder than ice, then seemed to freeze entirely.

No way. No. Fucking. Way.

Police cars, fire trucks, and an ambulance roared around the last bend, but he barely heard them, as pieces of a very ugly, convoluted puzzle fell into place.

The ambulance screeched to a stop, along with several patrol cars.

“Tony, I gotta go.” His fingers were unsteady as he ended the call.

After all this time—all the grief, heartache, and misery his family had been through—he now knew who was responsible for Gracie’s and all the other missing children’s disappearances.

Even if it took his very last breath, one way or the other, he’d put an end to this.

Today.