Page 68 of Colorado K-9 Rescue
“He’s tired,” Mckenna said. “He worked hard to find me. And I’m fine, Mom, really.”
“You’re the best dog,” her mom said, rubbing Mocha’s face. “I’ll buy you your favorite dog cookies forever.”
Mocha wagged his tail even harder. Mckenna didn’t know what to say to her family. She finally said, “This is all over. Evan says Keith is going away for a long time.”
“Evan?” her mom asked.
“Agent Evan Knox,” Cassidy interjected. “He’s been the agent assigned to this case.”
“Oh! That’s the man who had the idea to let Mocha track. We’ll have to find him and thank him too.”
Mckenna knew that her sister was getting ready to cover for her. The last thing her parents wanted to know was that she’d spent the night at Evan’s house, but Mckenna did want them to know one thing—Evan was now a part of her life. Her mother had worried that Mckenna’s experience would mean she would never have a normal life, which Mckenna translated to her mother fretting about not having grandchildren. Neither she nor Cassidy had been in a serious relationship, and their mother was constantly worrying that she’d be the only person at her bridge club without grandchildren or even a son-in-law.
“Yes,” she said. “Agent Evan Knox was not only assigned to this case, and he did have Mocha track, but there’s something else you should know…”
“Yes?” her mother said.
“I’m in love with him too.”
“Does he know this?” her mother asked.
“Yes. He does,” said Evan, standing in the doorway.
Her mother turned and scanned Evan from head to toe. “Very nice, dear. Very nice.”
“Oh geez, mom,” Mckenna said, her face flushing red.
Evan shook hands with her father. Mckenna could tell by her father’s expression that he already liked Evan. Then to her surprise, Evan gave Cassidy a hug. That made her happy as well.
Her mother was getting ready to launch into more questions when Cassidy saved Mckenna. “Well, we can all see that she’s fine,” Cassidy said. “Let’s go get something to eat and then I need to get back to work. Plus, Cooper is hanging out with another handler, and I need to pick him up soon. Let’s leave these two alone.”
Mckenna thought her mom was going to argue, but she ended up following Cassidy out the door. Her father came over and gave Mckenna a kiss on the cheek and squeezed her hand. He turned to Evan and said, “Take good care of her.”
“I will,” Evan promised.
Mckenna could hear her mother still talking about Evan as they all walked down the hall. Then they stepped on the elevator and there was quiet. “Well, now you met my family,” she said.
“I like them.” Evan leaned over and gently kissed her, taking his fingers and caressing the bump on the side of her head where Keith had punched her.
“How did it go? With him…”
“It went well. I guess getting shot and being caught red-handed helps a person confess.”
“To everything? Even my kidnapping nine years ago?”
“Even your kidnapping,” Evan said. “And others, including a couple in Wyoming where he ended up killing his victims.”
“Others? Besides Lily and Autumn? And he killed them?”
Evan filled Mckenna in about how Keith went to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming to go “fishing.”
“He was smart enough to know that he couldn’t do that same thing here, not while Toby was serving time. At some point he went to a probation officer training up there and realized that so many of the Indigenous women had gone missing he didn’t think anyone would miss another one. Plus, there’re so many cases, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and FBI can’t keep up. It was the perfect hunting ground for him.”
The story made her sick. “If only I’d stood my ground more when I thought Toby was innocent. Those young women wouldn’t have had to endure that torture and they might be alive.”
“You can’t blame yourself.”
“I know,” Mckenna said. “But I know what they went through, and I want to make sure their families get the help they need.”
