Page 2 of Colorado K-9 Rescue
Ever.
Mocha seemed to have missed this recent memo analyzing the new agent. He sat on his hindquarters and stared hopefully into Agent Knox’s flushed red face.
“Your dog ate my sandwich.”
Mckenna stifled a laugh and worked on appearing serious. “What? Is this a federal offense? Are you going to arrest him? Do we need a lawyer?”
Agent Knox stared at her. She was making a joke out of this, and he didn’t look like he appreciated it. “You’re not taking this very seriously, are you? You really need to work on your dog’s training.”
With a sigh, Mckenna pulled a ten-dollar bill out of her pocket. “Here. I’m sorry. He snuck out of my office. Does this cover the cost of your late lunch? Dinner? Whatever it is?”
Knox shrugged.
“I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. I can go get you another sandwich if you’d like.”
“No, I don’t need another sandwich, but you better hope this never happens again. And find someone to help you train him.”
Now Mckenna was annoyed.
“What makes you the expert on dog training?” she fired back.
“My father was a K-9 handler for the local police where I grew up. He taught me everything he knew.”
“And you never had a dog misbehave or have a moment where they stole food? Your dogs were always perfect?”
Knox put his hands on his hips. “Just keep a better eye on your dog.”
“Can’t answer that, can you? I’m sure your dogs messed up. And don’t worry, I will keep a better eye on Mocha. I’ve been a bit…a bit distracted.” Mckenna glanced down at the carpet, thinking about Toby walking free. The only way she knew howto cope was to continue with her life. Her work—helping other victims. If she didn’t know better, she could have sworn that Agent Knox’s face softened a little bit. But it didn’t matter. She could see the edge that kept everyone away from him. God help her if she was assigned a case where she had to work with him.
CHAPTER 2
Agent Evan Knox watched Mckenna and Mocha leave. He was annoyed about his sandwich—it had been a long day, and he hadn’t had much to eat—but luckily there wasn’t anything on it that would be poisonous to Mocha, like onions. He knew he’d snapped at Mckenna, and felt bad about that. It would only add to his reputation. One he knew he’d earned, but at this point he didn’t care.
The other day, he’d heard the water cooler gossip where other agents and a few secretaries were discussing how hard he was to work with. Evan didn’t want to be that difficult, but after what had happened to him in his previous field office, he didn’t trust anyone. He didn’t want to get burned again. What had happened before could have cost him his job, and without his job he was nothing.
He caught Mckenna talking with her sister, Cassidy, and they both gazed his way. He shuffled some papers on his desk to look busy and then picked up the ten-dollar bill Mckenna had given him.
What kind of person are you, Knox? It’s not like you can’t afford another sandwich. She’s a nice person. You know that. You’ve seen her enough around the office.
He’d give the money back later.
He glanced again toward the two women. There was something about the victim specialist that made him look twice. She had a vulnerability but at the same time was strong, like she’d overcome something in her past. He’d seen the same traitsin other victims he’d worked with. There was a power unique to someone who had overcome trauma. And Mckenna had that power. That and those gorgeous sea blue eyes that stood out against her dark, almost black hair.
“Don’t go down that road,” he muttered to himself. “Just focus on your job, solve some big cases and work toward the promotion you’ve always wanted.”
A few minutes later, Mckenna came back out of her office with Mocha, waving at other agents in the office and saying good-night. He stared a second longer than he should have, and she caught him looking at her. Agent Parker, her sister, was the classic beauty, but Evan couldn’t help studying Mckenna for a little bit longer.
She wasn’t an agent and in fact he wasn’t sure he believed in her job or the job her dog was meant to do. The FBI wasn’t touchy-feely. They were there to solve crimes, but the strength and determination on Mckenna’s face made him wonder what she had overcome. What was her past? Had something happened that pushed her down the career path of a victim specialist? He wanted to know more and as she and her Lab headed out the door, he couldn’t help but see how perfect her body was—at least to him.
He hadn’t felt that in a while, but the last thing he needed was a female in his life. Or anyone else for that matter. He just needed to keep his head down, work hard, solve cases and put the bad guys away.
Maybe if he did that long enough, he’d accomplish his goals. He’d wrapped up some cases this week, and for once, he might get out of the office early. Then what? His work was his life. Maybe a run in the foothills and then dinner, since he had missed his late lunch. After that, home to an empty, barely decorated house. Maybe he’d call one of his sisters or something,although they’d lecture him about getting a life.I’m not in the mood.
Evan’s phone rang. It was his boss, and he was being summoned to his office.
Hopefully, Mckenna hadn’t complained about him. That was all he needed.
Evan could tell by the look on his boss’s face that he wasn’t going on a run anytime soon. His boss, Adam Clark, the special agent in charge or SAC, was on the phone and waved at him to come in. Evan leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and waited for his boss to get off the phone. After a few more “yeahs” and “I’ll send Special Agent Knox tonight,” Adam hung up. Evan waited to be filled in. It looked like his plans for the evening would be all work. He didn’t mind. He’d rather work.
