Page 7 of Colorado K-9 Rescue
And the apology for the incident yesterday with Mocha? Maybe there was a nicer side to the office grouch. But right now, she could tell that whoever was on the phone was delivering tough news. Agent Knox hung up and snatched his keys off his desk.
“What’s going on?” Mckenna asked, knowing that most of the casework the agents did wasn’t any of her business, but she could tell that Agent Knox was bothered.
At first, she didn’t think he was going to answer, but then he said softly, “They found the girls…”
Mckenna sucked in her breath. “And? Are they okay?”
He shook his head. “One is okay, but one girl is deceased.”
Heart dropping, Mckenna stared at the floor and balled up her fists, her chest constricting. She wouldn’t cry in front of him, but the emotions hit her hard. Mocha, sensing the change in his handler, came over and leaned against her. She crouched down and hugged Mocha, allowing him to lick her face a couple of times while her heart raced. What had happened? How muchdid the surviving girl know? Which one survived? Did it matter? One girl was gone. Forever.
“Do you know which girl is deceased?” Mckenna asked. “I will go help with the notification. Mocha can help too.”
Agent Knox shook his head, “I’ll have to go to the scene and find out. The sheriff said that they found the girls together. The one girl was trying to resuscitate the other. I need to get going.”
The change in tone took Mckenna back, but the devastation across his face made her realize that he was being abrupt because he too was upset. She knew what it was like to try to shove away emotions. That never turned out well. “I can help. I can go with you and Mocha can help the survivor.”
Agent Knox stopped and turned back to Mckenna. “I don’t need your help. This is now my investigation with the sheriff’s office. You can go talk to the families, but don’t ask them anything. Just do whatever it is you do.”
“Whatever it is I do? That’s nice,” she snapped.
“I can’t have someone interfering with my investigation. I need to do my job.”
Anger started building in Mckenna and she was already changing her mind about thinking that there was a nice-guy side to Agent Knox. “Okay, fine. You do your job and I’ll do mine, but at the end of the day we’re all in this together and we all want the same thing.”
“And what is it that you think we all want?”
“Justice. That’s what I want. Nothing will bring back the young woman who lost her life, but if the asshole who did this goes to prison, then the family can start moving forward. To figure out who did this, though, you’re going to need the survivor to talk to you and I guarantee that she’s going to be so traumatized that getting anything out of her is going to be difficult. Mocha can help. When you need us, I’ll try not to say, ‘I told you so.’”
Agent Knox opened his mouth and closed it again. Then he muttered that he needed to go and stomped out of the office. He passed Cassidy on his way to the exit and brushed up against her. He apologized brusquely and kept going. Mckenna stared at his retreating back, daring him to turn around. So much for her earlier thoughts about him not being a jerk. He’d just proved her wrong. And why did she have to be so damn attracted to him? It was like she wanted to slap him and then kiss him. But who would want to be with her? Especially some agent who was completely out of her league in looks and made her spitting mad. She was destined to be a spinster with dogs.
“Being single with dogs isn’t so bad, is it, Mocha?” Mckenna asked. Mocha gave a soft whine and nudged her hand with his head. She petted him as Cassidy approached.
“Everything okay?” Cassidy asked.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” Mckenna said, letting out a sigh.
Cassidy peered at her, tilting her head slightly in a way that reminded Mckenna of Mocha. Cassidy was analyzing her.
“You like him, don’t you?”
“What?” Mckenna said.
“You like him. I mean, I agree, he’s not hard to look at, but a little bit of sisterly advice—he’s a disaster waiting to happen. He has baggage. Or so I’ve heard. Just ignore him. What did he say?”
Mckenna filled Cassidy in on the return of the girls and what had happened. “He said I should do my job and he needed to do his,” Mckenna finished.
“He does kind of have a point,” Cassidy said. “I mean your job is different. Very important, but it’s not investigative.”
“I know that, but he’s going to need an interview from the survivor, and I know what she feels like. I know how hard this is going to be. She knows she’s home, but she won’t know whoto trust. And then, the second part of her nightmare will begin. There will be interviews, TV crews, social media. Some people will blame her for being kidnapped and her friend dying. Others will be sympathetic. If Agent Knox wants to get information from her, he needs someone who understands what she’s going through. And Mocha. Mocha could help just with his presence.”
Cassidy crossed her arms. “Are you sure you’re not too close to this case? Maybe you need to excuse yourself.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll admit this case is a tough one, but I’ll be okay. I just need time to myself. And quit worrying about me and being the bossy, overprotective older sister.”
“Is that so bad?”
“No,” Mckenna said, “but it feels like you can’t let go either. You’re so worried about everything with me because you feel guilty about covering for me at that party where I was taken.”
