Free Out For Justice by Vicki Taylor Page B

even to Mr. Thomas. If they’re not the boots we’re looking for they’d help in clearing him. She might be more approachable using that angle.”
    “If not? Then we hurry downtown and get a search warrant issued as soon as possible,” Karen answered, and then asked, “is that even a possibility right now?”
    “Absolutely.” Sam tilted his chin to let the cold air drift across his face. He sighed. “Okay then. Head back in?”
    “Yep, may as well. Let’s try one more time.”
    Sam and Karen walked quickly across the street, through the yard and back up the small rickety steps. Sam knocked rapidly on the door. Once again, it was opened by Maggie. She still held the boots in one arm.
    “Ms. Morris, about those boots…”
    “These boots? Oh pooh, I decided to let you take them.”
    “I’m sorry?”
    “Huh? You can take them with you. Ray won’t mind, I’m sure of it.”
    “We appreciate your cooperation, Ms. Morris. Maggie.” Karen smiled as she watched the shorter woman begin to protest about the use of her formal name.
    Sam felt in his pockets then asked Karen, “Do you have another pair of gloves?”
    Karen patted her pockets. “No, but I have a pair in the car. I’ll grab a paper bag while I’m in there. Be right back.”
    In a matter of minutes, the boots were secured in a paper bag in the trunk of the car. Karen and Sam drove away from the house in the early dusk. The purple tinge to the night sky made reflections shine extra bright in the car’s headlights.
    “We got him, Sam.” Karen grinned. “I think we should nail this sucker.” Karen grinned again and gave a nervous laugh. “I can’t believe we’re this close. This close.” She held up her hand and pinched the air with her thumb and forefinger.
    “We’ve gotta do this right, so we can make the charges stick. You got the woman to sign a consent form so we could search, right?”
    “Yep, got it right here in my notebook.”
    “Good. That’s first. You also got her statement about offering the boots to us, right?”
    “Yep.”
    “We need to get these boots to Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) as soon as possible so they can start testing them to see if they match the print found at the scene.”
    “How soon do you think we’ll know?”
    “They’re notoriously backed up. Hopefully only a few days.”
    “Good, I want to nail this bastard.”
    “Well, now we have to figure out why or how Thomas would ever logically be around the Hunts and how he could have left a print on the boy’s clothing.”
    “You think he knew the Hunts?”
    “We need to figure that out. And we should run a more intense background check on him. Map out any affiliations he might have that might coincide with the Hunts.”
    Karen made hurried notes as she kept up with Sam as he talked. They agreed to get started on the background search first thing in the morning.

Chapter Twelve
     
     
    Karen stood just inside the door of the restaurant. She’d been to Miguel’s before and knew they had good food. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other then shifted back again. Every time the heavy wooden door opened she turned her head to see who came through. Each time she was a little disappointed that it wasn’t Mike. However, she also breathed a sigh of relief. She needed another minute to prepare herself.
    Susan did tell her that Mike would meet her at seven thirty. And seven thirty it was, on the dot. She had hoped that when she arrived he would be waiting for her, not the other way around. One finger in her mouth, she gnawed absently at a ragged cuticle.
    The door opened again. This time the man walking through the door was blonde and handsome. And very sure of himself as he said, “Been waiting very long?”
    Quickly removing her finger, Karen hid it behind her as she responded, “No, not long. I actually just got here myself.” She threw the hostess a quick look that dared her to contradict her statement.
    “Great. This place