Page 57 of Colorado K-9 Rescue
Cassidy hung up and Evan grabbed the photo album, bagging the photos with Keith in an evidence bag. Keith had been playing him. The boots and the missing clothes now seemed too convenient. Evan went back to Rex’s room and found tennis shoes stuffed under the bed. Size nine and a half.
Just to double-check, he went to Toby’s room and found shoes. Also nine and a half. The boots at the back door were too big for both men. Keith probably planted the boots he’d been wearing when he’d spied on Evan and Mckenna at Evan’s house. No wonder he had offered to come check on Rex. It gave him the perfect opportunity to plant evidence. Only this time he’d become sloppy, leaving the wrong size boot.
Evan thought about the scribbled handwriting in Mckenna’s journal. He strode back out to the kitchen. There had to be a grocery list or something with Rex and Toby’s handwriting. He finally found a list of supplies for the hardware store.
The handwriting wasn’t exactly the neatest in the world, but it was much better than the scribbles in the journal. He needed a sample of Keith’s handwriting. If it matched, then not only did he need to find Rex, but he also had to find Keith.
He called Keith.
Mckenna could be in more trouble than he thought.
Supposedly, Keith had been heading back to the office for appointments. Evan dialed the number for Keith’s boss. Thankfully, he answered.
“This is Agent Evan Knox. I’ve been working with one of your probation officers, Keith Warren. Is he still at the office? I need to get in touch with him and he’s not answering.”
“No, sorry, he left early for the day. Took some personal time. I’m not sure what’s going on, but he said something about needing to take care of business.”
“Great,” Evan muttered. “Can you do me a favor? I know this sounds odd, but I need to see Keith’s handwriting. Can you find something that you can legally send without a warrant and shoot me an email with an image?”
“That is an odd request.”
“It’s important. It could make or break a case I’m working. I can get a warrant, but I don’t have time.”
“Let me see what I can find. Maybe there’s something in his office.”
Evan waited, pacing. Time seemed to stand still until finally, the man came back on the phone.
“I found notes he made that have nothing to do with any of his parolees. I’ll send you a picture.”
“Thank you,” Evan said, hanging up.
He couldn’t leave right now. He had signal at this house. Just then, Cassidy sent him a text.
I called Lily’s parents. Mckenna left and no one knows where she is. I’ll drive there and see what she wanted with Lily. Maybe that will help us find her.
I’ll meet you there,Evan wrote back.
As he rushed out the door, the evidence team was pulling up. Evan handed them the pictures and mentioned the boots. “These are important items. Can you start by dusting for prints in the back room where they were making bullets? If you find a print, run it through the database to see if it matches Probation Officer Keith Warren. Call me if there’s a match.”
The evidence gal had a confused look on her face but agreed.
Evan had a bad feeling that Keith and Rex were in on this together. Rex had been following Mckenna. Two guys would make it easier to kidnap two girls.
And certainly, quite easy to kidnap one woman.
CHAPTER 37
Part of Mckenna still wanted to run. She could get help. Come back with law enforcement, but she’d have to drive a good distance away and if someone was in trouble, then she was leaving them. She made herself stop. Listen. Look around. There didn’t seem to be anyone else nearby.
The cry of help shattered the air again.
Mckenna remembered calling for help too. Once she came out of the haze of the drugs and realized what a remote location she was being held in, she’d stopped yelling and started looking for a way out. That memory hit her clearly. Mckenna couldn’t bring herself to leave someone, but the voice sounded like a male and that concerned her. Although, this far away, she couldn’t hear for sure. Gazing around, Mckenna realized she could use the aspens with the curvy trunks to help conceal her. If she approached the mining camp cabin from that direction, then maybe she could see in a window and discover who was inside.
Telling herself that after this, she would never investigate things on her own, Mckenna forced herself to move and follow her plan. The hillside was steep leading to the aspen trees. Probably why an avalanche happened. It was incredible that the mining camp building itself hadn’t been destroyed by an avalanche years ago. Of course, that could be why this part of the ghost town was hidden. Plus, the smell of rotten eggs meant that gold had never been found, or if it had, it would have been in very little quantities. That explained why not many people knew of the place.
The trees waved in a breeze that picked up, making rustling noises with their leaves. The edges were starting to turn a slight gold color. It wouldn’t be long before this grove of trees would be part of the fall beauty. Unfortunately, the trees were also witnesses to horrible crimes.
Mckenna leaned up against a trunk and listened again. The cries for help had died down. She hadn’t heard or sensed the presence of anyone else here other than the person inside the building.
