Page 5 of Colorado K-9 Rescue
He just had to dig.
As Evan and the sheriff finished up their questions, he saw the younger siblings had become tired and were now lying with Mocha on the floor. The black Lab had curled up next to them and even had a paw softly resting on one child’s arm. Evan resisted smiling; he needed to keep up his “agent face” as he called it, but Mocha reminded him of his childhood Lab. The dog was loyal and would have followed him anywhere. Evan’s father had taught him skills like tracking and finding narcotics with the Lab. Evan had loved every moment of it. And while Mocha wasn’t a working dog but rather a service dog, he still brought back good memories.
They headed out into the night. The sun had disappeared behind the mountains, but rays of light still illuminated the peaks. Evan had never seen the West or the mountains until his dad and sisters moved to Colorado. The scenery still filled him with awe. Leaning up against his vehicle, he waited for Mckenna and Mocha to come out. He wanted to know more about her and her past. Did the vulnerability mixed with strength he sensed come from her experience? Or was she just like that? There were so many questions he had.
She stepped out of the doorway, closing it behind her, and walked with Mocha down the stairs to where the cars were parked. She seemed lost in thought and then looked startled, seeing him still standing there.
“I didn’t know you were still here,” Mckenna said. “I figured you’d be off on the next interview saving the world or whatever it is you do.”
Evan let out a small laugh and then stifled it. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. Mckenna brought out a different sideof him. Something that hadn’t existed for a long time. Part of him liked it and part of him didn’t.
“I wanted to ask you about your experience. This kidnapping deal. Tell me more.”
The smile and twinkle in her eyes instantly disappeared and her expression darkened.
“I thought maybe it would help this case to know more, that’s all,” Evan said, stumbling over his words. He usually felt like he was tough and in charge, but she made him question that. “I want to know more about you.”
“This kidnapping deal.” Such an ignorant thing to say.Mckenna ignored him and strode to her vehicle, pulling out portable stairs and helping Mocha load into the crate in the back. She closed the tailgate and started the car while standing outside her vehicle so she could turn on the air-conditioning for Mocha. Even though the night was cooling off, it was still August, and the car could get too warm. Evan admired how well she took care of her dog. Minus the sandwich incident of course.
“Agent Knox, I don’t know why you want to know more about my past and what happened to me, but I’m used to it. Everyone wants to know the gory details. What was it like escaping? What was it like running for your life while someone was shooting at you? How did you dodge the bullets? I’ve answered those questions enough for television. I shouldn’t have given them any interviews. I’ve sat through hours of law enforcement interviews. My past is that, it’s my past. My future is helping others because when you’re done with this case and it goes through court, you’ll already be working on the next case. There will always be a next case for you. My job is to help the family because there is no next case for them. For them, their lives have permanently changed, and right now, those parents in theredon’t know how drastically it will change, even if their daughters come home alive.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” Evan started to say, but Mckenna cut him off.
“We both know the probability of those girls coming home alive is low. It doesn’t happen often. There’s not too many of ‘us’ and our cases are rare, but no matter what, life as the family or the victim knows it is shattered. They must pick up the pieces one by one and start putting their lives back together. There’s a chance those pieces will get shattered over and over again. My past doesn’t play into that. My past won’t help them other than the fact I understand them. But my job and Mocha’s job is to be there every time those pieces get shattered again. Have a good night.”
Mckenna turned and climbed into the front seat of her vehicle. Evan watched her drive away. For once in his life, he was speechless, which was good, because her reaction was right—what he’d said had been stupid and insensitive. He rubbed his face with his hands. Everything about Mckenna piqued his interest. He wanted to know more. He wanted to spend time with her.
And that was the last thing he needed.
There was a reason his job was his life. There wasn’t room for anyone else, not after everything that had happened. She was right. He needed to investigate this, help the sheriff, figure out who took these girls and then move on to the next case after someone was arrested. If someone was arrested.
But he couldn’t get Mckenna Parker out of his mind.
CHAPTER 5
It was late, but Evan headed back to the office rather than home. He wouldn’t be able to sleep, and the things Mckenna said had resonated with him. Whatever happened with this case, he’d be assigned another one. Not that there were cases where you didn’t work tirelessly seeking a resolution, but there was always, unfortunately, another case. For the victim of a crime, there was only their case. He hadn’t thought about it that way before.
He was also curious about Mckenna and why one of the victims’ father had asked if her kidnapper might be the one who took his daughter. Evan parked and went into the building. It was quiet, which was the way he liked it. Getting to his office, Evan booted up his computer and let his thoughts about the case wander while he waited for the screen to come to life.
Finding out more about Mckenna and her kidnapper was his intent. Maybe he was wasting time, but the victim’s father wanted to know if a guy convicted of kidnapping out on parole could be on the hunt again. Evan sought an answer to the same question. As of now, there were no suspects, but the jaded side of him thought that offenders often repeated their crimes.
And he was curious about Mckenna and her past. He should have let it go with her, but he couldn’t.
The screen came to life and Evan started searching for Mckenna’s case. It wasn’t hard to find on the internet. He could get the case files too, but for now he wanted to know the basics.
There were headlines about her being found alive. A good Samaritan had seen her running down a road and stoppedto help. She’d been bleeding and dehydrated, but otherwise, considering she’d been kidnapped and was missing for three days, she wasn’t in bad shape. He continued scrolling. The sheriff zeroed in on Toby Hanson quickly after an anonymous tip led to Mckenna’s jacket and some other belongings being found in his vehicle. After a lengthy interrogation, Hanson had confessed.
He’d been sentenced to eleven years in prison and now he was out in eight for good behavior. There were pictures of the man being released a couple of weeks ago, walking out of prison.
Evan sat back in his chair feeling for Mckenna and the terror she must have suffered. Today was incredibly hard for her and he’d treated her callously. In fairness to him, he hadn’t known about her past, but still, like the office gossipers pointed out, he could be a little nicer.
Rubbing his eyes, Evan flipped open his memo book and readthrough the notes on the current kidnapping. He took out a pad of notepaper and started reworking the notes. Evan was a big believer in victimology. The more he could figure out about the victims of the crime, the easier it often was to zero in on a suspect. Hopefully, these girls hadn’t been trafficked. If that were the case, they might not ever be seen again. Or if they were found, they would never be the same.
He’d tried to force out the memories of going undercover to help bust a trafficking ring, but there were things in life he couldn’t unsee. Those memories gave him both daymares and nightmares. He had to find these girls before it was too late.
Lily and Autumn. Evan preferred to call the victims by their names. It made it more personal, which was great when cases were solved, although harder when they weren’t. He scribbled down a list of questions on his notepad.
Could the suspect be someone they know? Could they have been drugged? Groomed online? Followed? Will there be a ransom?And the last question Evan circled,How were they forced or talked into complying?
