Free Deceived (Private Justice Book #3): A Novel by Irene Hannon

one of the other kids could have picked it up by mistake.”
    “I’ll do that. The last name was G-a-r-b-e-r, correct? I threw away the invitation and I don’t know all the parents from daycare.”
    “Hold a sec.” Silence on the line, followed by the clack of keys. “Yes. That’s the correct spelling. Linda Garber.”
    Connor wrote down the first name.
    “Perfect. Thanks so much for your help.”
    “No problem. I hope you find it.”
    Connor killed the connection. “Nice work.”
    She shook her head. “Don’t get your hopes up. There’s no guarantee she had the right kid in mind. Lots of little boys are blond. And didn’t you say neither the man or boy was carrying a shopping bag?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Most of the time at those parties the kids build a bear and take it home with them.”
    That wasn’t the best news he’d heard all day. Perhaps the duo had stopped in simply to window-shop after all.
    He frowned and tapped his pen against the notepad. “There could be some reason the boy didn’t have it in hand.” Nikki’s skeptical expression suggested the odds of that were slim, but already he was turning over next-step scenarios. “I’ll give this a little more thought before I call Kate.”
    Nikki rose and moved to the door. Stopped. Angled toward him. “For what it’s worth, your new client didn’t strike me as the type who overreacts. It might not hurt to make a few phone calls. How many Garbers can there be in the phone book?”
    “I was already thinking along those lines.”
    “I figured you were. You want me to peruse the phone listings while you and Cal are at the executive security meeting this morning? I could make a few preliminary calls, see if I can find the right Garber.”
    “Do you have time?”
    “I’ll have to push Dev’s filing down on my to-do list, but that’s no hardship.”
    “Then give it a shot.”
    “You got it.”
    As she exited, he leaned back in his chair, rolling his pen between his fingers. Maybe they’d hit pay dirt with one of the Garbers . . . but that was a big maybe.
    Meaning much as he wanted to help Kate, if this didn’t pan out, they were at the end of the road.

    “Hey, Dad, I got my bear today! Lindsey’s mom finally remembered to bring it.”
    At Todd’s exuberant greeting, Greg took his son’s hand and looked down at the Build-A-Bear shopping bag as they exited the daycare facility.
    The thing turned his stomach.
    Who could have fathomed a simple, innocent kid’s birthday party would shake the foundation of his world?
    “You want to see it?” Todd beamed up at him.
    “Sure. But let’s get in the truck first.”
    Sixty seconds later, as his son buckled himself into the car seat, Greg circled around, slid behind the wheel—and took a calming breath. Things could have turned out worse. If Linda Garber had been taking her daughter back to daycare after the party instead of heading home to pack for vacation, Todd wouldn’t have needed to be picked up. Instead, he’d have been with Linda and Lindsey. What if Kate had spotted him then—and approached Linda?
    He suppressed a shudder.
    Using his brief lunch hour to rush to the mall to pick up Todd may not have been convenient—but in the end, it had averted disaster.
    He hoped.
    “Whaddaya think, Dad?”
    Resting an elbow on the back of his seat, Greg angled sidewaysand studied the bear, which sported a Cardinals baseball uniform and cap. “That’s pretty cool.”
    “Yeah.” Todd tucked the bear next to him. “I wish I could have taken it with me the day of the party.”
    “But it was thoughtful of Mrs. Garber to offer to go back to the mall and pick it up after the lady at the shop found that ripped seam.” Greg shifted around to face front, put the pickup in gear, and pulled away from the daycare center.
    A few seconds of silence passed. “Do you think we might go back to that mall sometime too?”
    A thrum of tension began to pulsate in his temples. “Why?”
    “If we