Page 13 of Colorado K-9 Rescue
Mckenna didn’t know if she had heard that right. But Lily was speaking so she didn’t want to say anything. Evan took a step closer.
Lily turned and her eyes locked onto Mckenna’s. “I killed her. Autumn is dead because of me.”
Sobs took over Lily’s body as she held Mocha tight.
CHAPTER 10
Lily continued to sob and Mckenna leaned forward in her chair. Why did Lily think she had killed her friend? Evan sat down near them and Mckenna worked to not think about the smell of his cologne and how close he was to her. She could reach out and run her fingers down his chest. Good God, where didthatthought come from? Sweat beaded up on her palms and she scooted her chair a little bit away from him. He gave her a questioning look, but she ignored it even though she wanted to gaze back and lose herself in those blue eyes. She had to focus on Lily and Mocha. That was her job right now.
“Lily, I don’t believe you killed Autumn. You were both victims,” Evan said. “Take your time. Tell me what happened.”
Annoyed, Mckenna shot Evan another look.Just give her time. You don’t need your answers immediately.Lily shook her head and more tears streamed down her face. Mocha remained by her side, every now and then giving Lily kisses on her cheek, wiping away her tears.
“You don’t have to say anything until you’re ready,” Evan said.
Mckenna appreciated Evan changing his tactic slightly and not pressuring Lily. Mckenna forced herself to take a deep breath and calm down. The previous sheriff hadn’t been so nice to Mckenna during her own case. He had told her that she needed to tell him everything.“Now.”Mckenna had struggled through that, but somehow managed to answer his questions—although she had barely remembered much at the time.Probably why I’m so touchy with Agent Knox. I hated law enforcement for not having any patience. At least he’s trying to be nice. Is that whyhe said I could call him Evan? Is that his way of being nicer? Or is he messing with me somehow?
Stop thinking about Evan and your own case. Help Lily. But I do like seeing this softer side to Evan. Maybe everyone needs to give him a chance. Or, maybe, I just want to get to know this softer side. I need to stop all these thoughts and focus on Mocha and our work.
“I’m ready to talk, but I don’t want my parents here,” Lily said, breaking Mckenna’s thoughts.
Mckenna saw Lily’s parents start to disagree, so she stood and headed in their direction. She knew they never wanted to leave their daughter’s side. Her parents, especially her mother, wouldn’t leave Mckenna alone for a long time after her kidnapping. She had to eventually tell her mom that she needed space. She needed to talk to therapists. She needed to figure out who she was now. It had been rough on her parents, but it was the best thing for her.
“I’ll be in here with Agent Knox,” Mckenna said to Lily’s parents. “As you both know, I’m a survivor myself and I understand what Lily is going through. I can tell you that it’s going to be hard to say what happened, especially around her family. There’s lots of feelings like shame and you also want to protect those you love from knowing what you went through. I’ll give you some great resources and therapists for Lily, but also for both of you. You’re victims too. Right now, though, we need to speak with Lily so that Agent Knox and the sheriff can move forward with the investigation.”
“Okay,” Lily’s mother said as her father nodded. They both stood up to leave and paused at the door. “We’ll be outside.”
“I’ll come get you when Lily is ready,” Mckenna said, closing the door behind them. She sat back down over by Evan, trying to close her mind to anything about her experience. Mocha pickedhis head up and stared at her and then flopped it back down near Lily’s shoulder. The girl continued to keep him in a tight hold, but Mckenna figured Mocha would let them know if he was uncomfortable.
“There’s no rush,” Evan told Lily. “Just start when you’re ready. Maybe think about before you went missing. What were you doing?”
Lily took a deep breath and just when Mckenna thought she wasn’t going to speak, Lily started in with her story. “We’d had a great summer back home and we were excited to get back to college. There was one final bash of the season. It’s kind of a secret party and it’s out in a more remote area at a house where the cops don’t go very often. I’d always wanted to go. Autumn couldn’t have cared less about it. She wasn’t as into partying as I was, but I talked her into it…”
As Lily trailed off, Mckenna was struck by how similar Lily’s story was to hers.
I attended a secret party too. Same kind of thing. The person who threw it only chose “special” people to come and we were all sworn to secrecy.
Silence filled the room and Mckenna was glad that Evan waited for Lily to speak again, not pressuring her.
“We were drinking,” Lily finally continued. “And dancing and having fun. Then everything is kind of hazy. I vaguely remember being out in the woods, but no one was forcing me out there. I don’t even remember how I got there. Then things are fuzzy, but when they become clear again, Autumn and I were in an old building. I don’t know where it is. It smelled weird, like rotten eggs mixed with dust and we could hear critters scurrying around. Trees would brush up on the building and make a scraping noise.”
Mckenna shivered. Her memory was similar.Stop thinking about your experience. Focus on Lily. But rotten eggs? I smelled that too. I was in an old building. Not a barn or a cabin, but whatever it was, it was old. I don’t remember how I got there either. Things are fuzzy, just like Lily said, between the party and waking up in a strange location.
Clasping her hands together, Mckenna worked to not shiver or shake. Lily’s experience couldn’t be Mckenna’s. Or could it? Toby had been out just long enough that he could have done this. She caught Evan glancing at her, seeming to notice how she gripped her hands. Mckenna stared at Lily, ignoring Evan.
“What do you remember next?” Evan asked.
“There were letters carved into the side of the wall.”
“Do you remember if they spelled a word? Maybe initials?” Evan said.
I carved my initials into the wall. I wanted there to be a trace of where I was because I figured he was going to kill me.
Mckenna started shaking harder.Stop it. Just listen to Lily. You’re making connections in a way you shouldn’t. Your kidnapper was caught. But he was released…
“I don’t remember if it spelled anything,” Lily said. “In fact, I can’t even remember what the letters were because that’s when he spoke.”
“Your kidnapper,” Evan said.
