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Brian snorted. “Well, when you’re done with that maybe we can play some Farcry.”
“Sounds good, Brian. Thanks for talking to me like a normal person.”
“Oh, buddy,” Brian said, reaching out to rest a hand on Adam’s narrow shoulder. “I’ll always do my best to treat you like a normal kid. Okay?”
Adam nodded, grinned, and dashed into the house, calling Diamond. “Don’t forget her paws,” Brian warned.
“Got it!”
He shook his head. That kid was amazing, and not just because of his intelligence. He had an open, emotional understanding that seemed to surpass them all. Brian had a feeling it would be a pleasure to watch the boy grow into a man with the same understanding.
When he stepped into the kitchen, Sage was just picking up a muddy towel from the floor. “I warned him,” Brian laughed.
She shared a look with him. “Well, he tried before they took off. He said something about getting some work done so he could play games with you after dinner.”
“Yes. He knows you want to talk to him about something, too, but I didn’t tell him what.”
She nodded and carried the towel down the hall to the laundry. When she came back, she looked around the kitchen. “I don’t know if I want to cook tonight.”
“Okay. What are you thinking? Pizza? There’s a pretty good little Chinese place I order from.”
She cocked her head. “Chinese sounds good, actually. Let’s do that. I’ve got the turkey breast defrosting for tomorrow. Are you sure your family is okay with you staying down here? It’s not too late to head North. We’ll be fine here.”
Brian cocked his head at her. “We already talked about this. I planned on staying home anyway.”
Brian scrolled through his phone and found her the menu he’d downloaded. “Now, what do you want?”
She made a list and called it in.
“How are the cases you’ve been working on? Did you track down that kid?”
She shrugged, lightly. “Not bad. You can tell a lot of the missing are homeless, and some of them are just babies. I mean, like, kids Adam’s age disappearing and never being heard from again. I sent a patrol unit out tonight to see if they can track this ‘friend’ down. I have a feeling he may have been the girl’s pimp or something.”
They chatted for a while, and Brian appreciated that they had common ground. They were both investigators and they thrived on being in the midst of things. And they thrived on righting wrongs.
Adam came into the kitchen and peered into the fridge. “What’s for dinner, Mom?”
“We have Chinese coming. Can you wait half an hour, ish?”
He nodded, grabbing a bottle of water.
“Come have a seat, Adam, I need to talk to you about something.”
She related the conversation with Randall Parks.
Adam was frowning. “I got an email from them, but I thought it was redundant. Like you said, we’d already done the tour.”
“Yes. Well, now we know why. I know I told you before, but you need to watch for him. I don’t know what he’s planning, but I seriously doubt it’s anything good.”
Adam shook his head, looking down at his lap. “Why won’t he leave us alone?”
“I don’t know buddy. If anything else happens, I’m going to look at getting a protection order to keep him away.”
That wasn’t a bad idea, Brian thought. Pulling out his phone, he sent Parker a message, recapping what Roe had done, and he asked him to run it by his fiancée, Andromeda. As a prosecuting attorney, she would know better than any of them what was possible.
20
The Chinese food was as good as Brian had promised. Sage sat back in her chair, hand on her tummy. “I think that was the best Mongolian Beef I’ve ever had.”
