Page 46 of No Man Left Behind

Elina shared a smile with Rachel. “I’m not sure. I actually don’t know much about renovations. But I think Marcus might be able to give us some ideas.”

Marcus hadn’t moved from her side. He’d directed a few people on what to do inside and then had waited for her.

Now, he approached with a twinkle in his eyes but his expression serious. “Are you good at keeping secrets?”

Owen nodded eagerly. “I am. I never told anyone Tristan likes Preesha. He asked me to keep it a secret, and I did.”

Elina rolled her lips together to keep in the smile. Owen didn’t realize he’d just blown his buddy’s cover.

Marcus nodded. “Good to know. I’m going to have a room upstairs that holds all the evidence.”

Owen’s eyes lit up. “Like all the secret stuff that keeps the bad guys in jail?”

“Exactly like that. I need to clear out the room and then clean it up. We can’t put any evidence in there until it’s ready.”

“We can do it, Deputy Ramirez. My mom and Elina can help. And we’ve got some toys to keep Flups busy. Can Flups come too?”

Marcus ruffled the boy’s hair. “Let’s see if he can handle it.”

Owen carried his puppy up the stairs so his paws didn’t get hurt in the construction zone. Elina hadn’t been in the back room yet but found it hadn’t been touched much. It held a couple of old dressers and a bed that was about the size of a cot.

Once Marcus closed the door, Owen looked around. “Do you think it’s safe to put Flups down??

Marcus nodded. “Yes. We don’t need to change out walls in here, so there hasn’t been any demolition. We’re going to add shelving and another closet along that wall. Before we can do that, we need to clean out everything. Find out if there’s anything that can be used or given to someone who needs it, or see if everything is trash.”

“We’ll do a great job.”

“Counting on it. I’ll be back in a bit.”

He grinned at Elina and Rachel, then headed out, closing the door behind him.

Flups squirmed until Owen put him down and then sniffed out all the corners of the room. When the puppy disappeared under the bed, the boy declared he’d start looking under there for anything that needed to go.

She and Rachel moved to the dressers, tall enough to reach halfway up the windows. The soft brown wood showed lots of scars. It had been well-loved. “These are beautiful. I wonder how many people have used them over the years.”

Rachel nodded as she ran her fingers over the surface. “The workmanship is gorgeous. Look at the flowers carved into these drawer fronts. Someone was an incredible artisan.”

Elina agreed. The flowers were delicate and detailed. The artist had been talented. She opened the top drawer to see if the inside had any further details, then slammed it shut with a gasp. “Stop.” Her harsh whisper had Rachel looking at her and holding up her hands. “Take Owen and Flups downstairs. Send Marcus up.”

Rachel nodded. With wide eyes, she raised her voice. “Hey, Owen, we should take Flups outside in case he needs to pee. Don’t want him messing up the new station.”

“Okay. See you later, Elina.”

Part of her wanted to open the other drawers, but she knew Marcus wouldn’t want that. Instead, she backed up and didn’t touch anything else. Her gaze roved the space, and she searched for any clues. The creep had been here.

Her hands shook, and she fisted them to control the tremors. The jerk was after Marcus. There was no way for him to know who would be in this room and open this drawer. But this building belonged to Marcus, and that was probably obvious to an outside observer. All he’d have to do was ask a question of any local to find out.

She heard Marcus climbing the stairs two at a time, and his long stride brought him into the room quickly. “Are you okay? What happened?”

He crossed to her and ran his hands down her arms until he gripped her hands. His eyes checked out her body, but she wasn’t injured, just scared. Seeming to realize that, he pulled her in for a hug. “Are you okay?”

She nodded and steadied herself. “I’m okay. I just found something. He was here. In this room. It has to be you he’s after.”

“How do you know? What did you find?”

She pointed at the top drawer with a shaky finger. “I opened that and found a mouse, or what’s left of the poor thing. It has to be the same guy. There’s no way there’s two people who would do something like that.”

Marcus growled and squeezed her again. “I’m sorry you found that.” His voice was granite.

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