Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) - Karen Rose Page 0,102

up, dusting the dirt from his hands. “Not a bad haul.”

Croft stuck her head in the open door. “That’s a lot of pot to remove. This house is trashed. Let’s check it out. He might have left something behind.”

But he hadn’t. There were no beds or clothing in the bedrooms, no food in the kitchen, no appliances of any kind. There wasn’t even a refrigerator, all the power going instead to the grow lamps.

“We’re heading back to the field office,” Croft said once they’d searched the small house. “Thank you for getting in touch with us, Sergeant Farley. If your team turns anything up, please let us know.”

“Of course.” Farley looked across the lawn at Officer Garvin, the uniform left behind to protect the crime scene. “I think my officer really wants to talk to you, Agent Hunter. He’ll probably ask for an autograph, just to prepare you.”

Croft frowned. “Wait. You knew who Agent Hunter was, too?”

“Before you got here,” Farley said. “I looked you two up. Not much on you, Agent Croft—no offense—but this guy? His name gets a shit ton of hits.”

“Wonderful,” Croft grumbled. “Although I have to say, he’s pretty humble to be so famous.”

“Thank you,” Tom said graciously. “I’ll meet you at the car.” He ambled over to where Officer Garvin stood nervously. “What can I do for you, Officer?”

Garvin exhaled nervously. “My kid’s birthday’s next week. He’s a huge fan. Can’t rip him away from the TV when a game is on. Knows all the stats. He’d love an autograph from you.”

Tom gave the man his card. “E-mail me your address. I’ve got gear just cluttering a closet. I may have a few basketballs. Won’t be a game ball, but hopefully he’ll still like it.”

“Thank you,” Garvin said. “He will be over the moon.”

Tom shook the very happy father’s hand. “Nice to meet you. Have a great day.”

When he got back to the SUV, Croft was rolling her eyes. “Does this happen often?”

“Not really. As time passes it’ll be even less frequent.” He settled into his seat and started the engine but didn’t drive away.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

“DJ Belmont’s houses,” Tom said. “If this was where he slept when he came down from Eden, where will he sleep now? He has to know that he can’t come back here.”

“He did clean his place out,” Croft agreed. “We can send his photo to hotels and B and Bs around Sacramento. He might also be staying at the rehab center with Pastor.”

“Which is why I want eyes and ears inside the place. If he’s there with Pastor and they talk, we need to know what they’re saying.”

“I agree and so does Raeburn. He’s working on that. So why are you still frowning?”

“He has to know that we’re looking for him. He might not know that we got his photo from the security cameras from yesterday’s office building, but he has to know that we have his description from Mercy, Gideon, and Amos. If I were him, I wouldn’t stay at a hotel.”

Her smile was encouraging. “Where would you stay, Tom?”

“Somewhere I trusted. Where I’d be safe.”

“Friends, maybe? I’d say family, but he doesn’t have any. His father’s dead.”

That was what had been bothering him. “But his father’s family isn’t.” Tom searched the files on his phone for the folder on Eden. “We checked out Waylon Belmont’s family weeks ago. He was from Benicia and his mother and his brother still live there. The brother, Merle, was the one who filed the missing-person report on DJ Belmont when he disappeared when he was a little boy.”

“When he was taken to Eden.”

Tom nodded. “I believe so. The timeline matches up, anyway. He disappeared with his mother when he was four years old, a few months after Eden was started. I called Waylon’s brother, but he hadn’t heard from DJ and had no idea where he’d be. He and his wife thought DJ had to be dead after so much time. At the time I hoped he was dead.”

“Maybe we should pay them a visit now that we know he’s not dead, if for no other reason than to warn them.”

“I think so too, but first . . .” He found the paragraph in his Eden file and passed his phone to Croft. “The Belmonts own a house that they rent out, also in Benicia. It’s a long shot, but . . .” He shrugged. “It’s only an hour away, so not too much time lost if