She sighed. “Here’s a picture of him.”
Grayson looked at the picture. Redhead, curly hair, green eyes, large chin, small beard.
She readjusted her seatbelt. “Since this residence is his ex-wife’s, we can’t go inside without her permission.”
“Third-party ownership. Too bad he wasn’t going to his own place. No search warrant needed.”
“Exactly.”
They finally reached the ex-wife’s house and pulled up curbside at the house next door. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
They both got out of the vehicle and went up to the door together. A red Toyota was parked in the driveway. “Is that the vehicle he drives?”
“Yeah.”
He felt they might have some success then. He was ready to get on with their earlier mission and watch the teen’s home, but he wanted to help Kendra take Matson into custody and turn him over to the police first.
Kendra rang the doorbell, though a Ring doorbell alerted the owner that she had company. Probably Matson also.
“I’m going around back, just in case.” Grayson headed for a wooden gate.
“Okay. Be safe.”
“You too.”
Then the front door opened. “Hello? What do you want?” a woman asked, sounding irritated.
Grayson listened for anyone trying to come out through a back door or a window. Then he heard a window open on the other side of the house, and he raced off to make sure that Matson wasn’t climbing out of it. He finally reached the window and saw a leg come out. A jeans-covered leg, the person wearing sneakers, and it was definitely a man.
A hand gripped the frame as he moved the rest of his body through the window. Then he caught sight of Grayson, but he was more out of the window than in. Grayson took a few running steps and reached Matson. Grayson grabbed his arm and pulled him the rest of the way out through the window.
“Fugitive Recovery Agent. Grayson Stone. Are you Dan Matson?” Grayson still had hold of his arm with a steel grip.
“No, no, I’m Eliza’s brother, Buddy Holton.” The guy looked like the picture Kendra had shown him.
“Why are you climbing out of her window then, instead of going through the front door? And why is that Dan Matson’s car out front? Not Buddy Holton’s? And why do you look exactly like Dan Matson? Let me see some ID, and if you’re not who I know you to be, you can go on your merry way.”
He tried to get away from Grayson, but he just held Matson’s arm tighter. Kendra soon joined them. “That’s him.”
“Can you get his wallet and check his ID?”
“Yep.” She helped Grayson zip-tie his wrists, then dug in Matson’s pocket for his wallet. She opened his wallet and pulled out his driver’s license. “Dan Matson. I knew it was him, but we just had to make sure.”
“Absolutely. Let’s get him to the police station.”
Matson’s ex-wife came out to shake her head at Dan. She folded her arms. “You didn’t tell me you were fleeing from the law. Don’t ever come back here.”
“What did he tell you was his reason for coming to see you?” Grayson asked, curious.
“To try and get back together with me. I nearly fell for it.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Matson whined.
“Right. You only came here to hide out. What did he do?” the ex-wife said.
“Stole merchandise from a department store totaling $1,500,” Kendra said as she and Grayson hauled him out to Grayson’s vehicle.
