Page 11 of Colorado K-9 Rescue
I wonder if Lily will eventually feel the same way. Or will she be the opposite and want the safety of people around her?
After closing the rear door, she grabbed her large mug of coffee off the hood of her car and climbed in to drive to the hospital. Mckenna hadn’t slept the previous night. Memories of her kidnapping had kept cropping up—like a slideshow. She knew she’d been drugged so many of the memories had been lost, but occasionally she could remember something new.
She’d taken out her journal and jotted down what she could.
Why am I doing that? It’s not like they didn’t catch the guy. Maybe if I can regain my memories, I can regain a piece ofmyself that I lost. But I never did see my kidnapper. That’s always bothered me.
Mckenna merged onto I-70 toward Denver, the trees blurring by as she approached Floyd Hill and all the signs flashing yellow lights warning truckers they weren’t down yet and there were steep grades ahead. A runaway truck ramp was on her right with fresh tire marks in the deep gravel. Hopefully, she’d never witness the horrific sight of an out-of-control semi. She shifted her thoughts back to her kidnapping and how she could help approach Lily with Mocha. It would help him figure out who did this.
But what if she’s like me? What if she didn’t see him? How can someone be sure they’re prosecuting the right person if I never saw him?
Mckenna hated it when those thoughts crept into her head, but even though she was still at the beginning of her career, she’d been doing her job long enough to know innocent people were prosecuted and sent to prison. The Innocence Project existed for a reason. They’d helped over 240 wrongly convicted people get out of prison. Was Toby innocent? Or was he the monster the previous sheriff had made him out to be?
She may have skipped his parole hearing, but she’d watched his trial. He’d kept a poker face, staring down at the table in front of him, barely acknowledging his lawyer. Everyone said it was because he was guilty, but Mckenna always thought it was because he seemed broken.
The sheriff at the time had said Toby confessed. Her jacket and some other belongings were in his vehicle. The crime scene investigators had found some sort of drug in his truck that they suspected had been used on her, but a tox screen had never been done. Why, she didn’t know. Nor had anyone followed up on the anonymous phone call made to the sheriff’s office statingthe person had seen these items in Toby’s truck. Why not? There were enough whys that Mckenna had never felt completely convinced Toby was guilty.
Why am I going through this? Do I really think Toby is innocent? No, there was enough evidence. And he did plead guilty. Just look at your scars on the side of your body and be reminded of Toby’s guilt.
Mckenna gripped the wheel, glad to be coming into Denver, getting closer to where she could quit thinking about her case and focus on Mocha helping Lily solve her kidnapping and Autumn’s homicide. If anyone could work some magic and help Lily, it would be Mocha. He’d helped her personally, and Mckenna was glad he’d flunked out of the FBI Doggy Academy as she called it.
Mocha had been destined to be a tracking and bomb dog with Cassidy, but he would start tracking and then lie down and refuse to move. He did the same thing when she asked Mocha to search for bomb odors. He would check one or two vehicles and then flop to the ground, pretending to be exhausted. He wasn’t enjoying the work.
Cassidy and Mckenna worked together to see if they could motivate him to at least track by Mckenna being “lost.” Mocha would find her with joy, but as soon as Cassidy asked Mocha to find a different person, he’d quit. He only wanted to find Mckenna. The FBI decided that if he couldn’t make the cut as a K-9, then maybe Mckenna could take him on as a crisis K-9. Mocha passed those tests with flying colors and came to live with Mckenna. Cassidy had trained another dog, a yellow Lab named Cooper, who had been much better at working than Mocha.
Mocha had helped Mckenna move forward even though she still experienced anxiety. For a while she had felt like she’d been followed, but her family told her it was just her imagination orthe media. For a while, the media would camp out on the roads near their house, waiting like vultures. “Talk to them or don’t,” Mckenna had advised the families of Lily and Autumn. “It’s up to you, but don’t think that the media will play fair or help in anyway.”
Now that feeling of being followed hit Mckenna again.
Stop it. It’s only because of this case. It’s only because you told the families yesterday about the possibility of someone following you.
Mckenna turned and could see the hospital down the road when she glanced in her rearview mirror. There was a blue Jeep behind her. She could have sworn it had been behind her since Floyd Hill, even when she was in the slow lane, shifting down and driving cautiously. Most people went around her because she drove too slowly.
“You’re seeing things. Stop imagining things. Be in the moment,” Mckenna said aloud.
Mocha suddenly let out sharp barks startling Mckenna. She weaved slightly into the other lane, receiving a honk and an unfriendly finger wave from the other driver, but Mckenna didn’t care. The Jeep was still behind her. She made an extra turn just to see if it would follow.
It did.
Her hands started to shake. What if it followed her into the parking garage? She could call Agent Knox. He’d come and meet her.
No. I won’t do that. I can take care of myself. If this vehicle follows me in, I’ll drive back out and call 911.
With her plan clear in her head, Mckenna pulled into the hospital parking garage only to see the Jeep drive by.
“See? I’m being silly,” Mckenna said to Mocha. “And what was up with the barking? Cat? Squirrel? We might need to work on that, so you don’t make me drive off the road.”
Mocha gave a little whine in response and then sighed.
“Okay, we need to get inside. You have work to do, big guy.”
Mckenna and Mocha made their way to Lily’s room. As Mocha trotted along, doctors, nurses and other hospital team members turned and smiled at the happy black Lab. Mckenna knew that Mocha brought joy to everyone around him, which delighted her. She was glad he hadn’t made it through K-9 training—he was doing what he was meant to in life, just like her.
Agent Knox stood outside Lily’s room, arms crossed and appearing frustrated. When he turned and saw the pair coming, Mckenna could have sworn something changed in him. A slight smile, his face relaxing. Or was she imagining that? Her heart picked up a beat and Mckenna scolded herself for feeling this way. Plus, he hadn’t exactly been friendly with her yesterday. And why would he be interested in her? Cassidy was the one all the guys wanted. Once they were done with this case, she would be happy to work with another agent.
“Hey, there,” Agent Knox said.
Mckenna decided formal was best. She meant what she had said—Mocha was here to help Lily with her trauma. If that helped to gather more information for the investigation, then that was a bonus. “Hello, Agent Knox.”
