Yes. Cade was aware. He’d hid in the garage with Junior while the police had searched Evelyn’s home thoroughly. They’d actually searched the boxes that Cade had stacked atop the box in which he and Junior were hiding.

Just when Cade had been certain he’d be found, the cop had left, thanking Evelyn for her cooperation.

Now they were sitting in a long line of vehicles waiting to be searched at the roadblock, going out of Dani Novak’s neighborhood. As getaway vehicles went, the pet grooming van was, in some ways, ideal. The windows in the back were small and close to the ceiling, more for ventilation than viewing, and there was a decent place to hide—for a petite woman. For Cade, not so much.

Nevertheless, he had stuffed himself and Junior into the dog bathing tub. Luckily Evelyn had clients with very large dogs and had bought the largest model. It had an inset “base,” like a false bottom, that enabled the tub to be used for smaller dogs. Cade was hiding under the inset base.

Luckily, Evelyn kept her equipment clean. There was a strong odor of dog shampoo and disinfectant, but it wasn’t exactly unpleasant. And if it got him out of this dragnet, he’d have sat in dog shit.

But he was glad he hadn’t had to, because his leg was on fire. The Feds’ bullets hadn’t done a lot of damage, but Cade was afraid the wounds were getting infected. He had antibiotics back at the old pedo’s house. He just had to make it until then.

“Of course,” Evelyn was saying to the cop. “I’ll open the back door for you.”

Well, fuck. Cade tightened his hold on the rifle. If that inset base was lifted, he’d start firing. God help anyone who got in his way.

The back door creaked as Evelyn opened it.

“This is a pretty nice setup,” the cop said. “Very clean.”

“Thank you,” Evelyn said, sounding like she was speaking through clenched teeth.

Heavy footsteps sounded just outside his hiding place and Cade could hear the van’s cabinet doors being opened and closed. He held his breath, freezing when Junior made a disgruntled sound. Not a cry. But he wasn’t being quiet. Just a little longer, Junior.

Everything went silent outside the tub, and then Cade heard the thump of a fist on the inset top. Junior opened his mouth. Cade clamped his fingers over it. Do not cry, Junior. Do. Not. Cry.

“Okay, ma’am,” the cop said. “Everything seems in order here. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”

“That’s okay,” Evelyn said, her voice trembling. “I hope you catch him.”

The doors closed and Cade finally released the breath he’d been holding. They were free. He waited until the van began to move at a decent speed before cautiously pushing the inset base out of the way.