Fugitive Justice Read Online Free PDF Page A

hair and warm brown eyes. The man was a couple of years older than his wife, and rather handsome—not in a rugged square-jawed way, but with boyish good looks—and he sported a cheerful smile on his friendly face. But then, you couldn’t tell a cheater by looking at his face.
    Jake tucked the photo into his pocket alongside the packet of bills. “What about the woman?” he asked. “Do you have any idea who she might be?”
    Merrilla shook her head. “I have no idea. Originally, I had the thought of setting up some hidden cameras in the house. But then I realized that might not work so well. I had no way of knowing when it would be safe to set them up, and besides, I was afraid he might discover them.”
    Jake nodded and figured she should’ve gone with her first idea.
    “Where does your husband work?” he asked.
    “Richmond Realty. It’s downtown, but like I said, he’s not there most of the time.” She produced a business card from her handbag. “Here’s his card, and his cell phone number’s on there.” She frowned. “It might not be a good idea to call him.”
    “I don’t expect I’ll be calling him. Maybe his office. I haven’t worked it all out yet.” Jake drained his coffee and pushed the cup to one side. “I’ll probably watch the house until they show up. So, I’ll need your address.”
    Merrilla told Jake her house address, and he wrote it down on the back of Nile’s business card along with her cell phone number.
    She pointed to the number. “You can call me anytime. Please, keep me informed.”
    “I will,” Jake said, tucking the card into his pocket.
    Merrilla looked at her watch and then back at Jake. “If there’s nothing more you need, I’m already late for work, and I’d better get a move on.”
    “I have everything I need for now,” Jake said.
    “Thank you,” Merrilla said with a smile, then she clutched her handbag in one hand and rose to her feet. “I look forward to hearing from you.” She wound her way past the waiting customers and out the front door.
    Jake swooped up the empty cups and dropped them into the recycle container, then headed out to the car. He called Annie and told her he was taking the job, and that he loved her, and he would see her later in the afternoon.

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 6
     
     
     
    Tuesday, 10:03 a.m.
     
    JAKE TOOK ANOTHER look at the back of the business card as he turned down Mulberry Lane. According to the information Merrilla had given him, she and her husband Niles lived at number 166.
    The houses on Mulberry were of the larger cookie-cutter variety. The subdivision was twenty or so years old—plenty of time to allow each of the similar two-story houses in this mature upper-middle-class neighborhood to develop its own character. Most had a double-width driveway in front of a two-car garage, along with a generous front lawn. Many of the properties were separated from their neighbors by rows of hedges, large shrubs, or blooming flowerbeds.
    Jake kept one eye on the house numbers as he eased down the block. Halfway down, he spied the number he was straining to see. He drove past 166, pulled a U-turn, and parked across the street in front of the neighbor’s house. From where he sat under the shade of a maple tree, he had a direct view of the entrance to the Overstone house and the empty driveway in front.
    He called Richmond Realty, and a woman with a sultry voice answered the phone. She informed him Niles Overstone was not in his office, but he could be reached on his cell phone or voicemail. Jake said he’d call back later in the day. He decided if Niles didn’t show up at the house within the next couple of hours, he would make an anonymous call to the man under some pretense or another.
    He thanked her and hung up, turning his attention back to the house. As he stared at the empty driveway, he thought it strange a man would carry on an affair in his own home. Perhaps he felt safe in the knowledge his wife was at work. He