Page 37 of Ultimate Justice

The aisles were jammed with people, including small children and toddlers in strollers. Much as Evan wanted to, shouting “Police” or “FBI” to clear a path could cause a fear-fueled stampede.

The man in the red shirt and the woman with him had already left the green tent. If he didn’t catch up fast, he’d lose them. He gave Blue more slack, allowing his dog to make a hole. One look at Blue, and people scattered.

They serpentined through the crowd, but the going was too slow. Flashes of red from the man’s shirt were becoming less frequent.

A solid flash of red turned left into another aisle. He and Blue darted ahead, then turned the same corner. He tightened up on the leash in the nick of time. Three women pushing baby strollers had blocked the entire aisle. Evan craned his neck, trying to catch another glimpse of red. There was none.

“Shit,” he hissed under his breath. “Let’s go!”

He and Blue reversed course, pushing through the crowd toward the next intersecting aisle. Several minutes and three more turns later, they were back on course, but the man and woman were gone.

Dammit!

For the next twenty minutes, they meandered through the entire market, including the parking lot. Slowly, he did a three-sixty, looking up at utility poles dotting the perimeter of the parking lot and the storefronts. There were cameras attached to a few stores in the strip mall and one on a utility pole facing South Colorado Boulevard. Maybe he’d get lucky and catch his quarry on camera. Better yet, maybe they’d catch the vehicle they left in. But did these cameras record or just monitor?

The kind of security cameras most stores used probably recorded but were usually taped over after forty-eight hours, making the chances of retrieving footage from the day Manello drugged Noah unlikely. Assuming the camera on the utility pole overlooking South Colorado Boulevard was owned by the city of Denver, who knew if it was even functioning.

There was a slim chance the couple was still here somewhere and he’d missed them, but he didn’t think so. Even if they were, he needed to get Noah out of here.

He cued up Marlie’s number on his phone. “You and Noah okay?” he asked when she answered.

“We’re fine.” Her voice shook a bit. “We’re in the Yukon. Did you talk to them?”

“No. Stay there.” He ended the call and headed back to the green tent.

Minutes later, he and Blue stood in front of a table loaded with baskets of tomatoes, squash, onions, and carrots, yet the distinctly earthy, woody smell of marijuana lingered. Was the vendor smoking it or selling it? While she finished a transaction, he looked around.

People had lined up, waiting for this particular vendor, who’d attracted quite the crowd compared to adjacent ones. The man in the red shirt had handed over a black plastic tub. He’d bet his ass it was loaded with pot.

“Can I help you?” the woman asked, smiling.

“I hope so.” He smiled back, whipping out his badge. “FBI. I need to talk to you.”

The woman’s eyes practically popped out of her head. Her Adam’s apple bobbed as she swallowed repeatedly. Nervous much?

“I, um.” She eyed the small crowd watching and listening raptly. “This isn’t a good time. I have customers. Can you come back at the end of the day?”

“No.” He held up his badge to the crowd surrounding the table. “Sorry folks, we’re closed until further notice.”

“What?” she shrieked. “You can’t do that.”

“I just did.” He stuffed the badge back into his pocket.

Most of the people milling around slunk away quickly, telling him they were here to buy something, all right, and it wasn’t tomatoes. This vendor knew something, and he wasn’t about to leave until he squeezed whatever it was out of her. “A man and woman were here about twenty minutes ago. The man wore a red shirt. He handed you a black plastic tub, and you gave them cash. What were their names?”

She paused, touching her fingers to her lips. “Um, uh, a red shirt?”

Stalling, touching their face, stammering and repeating what he’d already stated…all classic “tells” of someone about to lie their ass off.

“I, uh. I don’t know who you’re talking about. I purchase products from other vendors all the time. So many people have come here today. I can’t remember all of them.”

“What’s in the black tub?”

She glanced down to where she’d stowed the tub. “Um…peppers.”

Bullshit. He rounded a corner of the table where a space had been left to enter and exit. Blue trotted in behind him and sat directly in front of the woman, forcing her to back up until her ass hit the edge of the table.

“What are you doing? You can’t come back here.”