Page 16 of Colorado K-9 Rescue

Cars crept along in gridlock, heading up the first big hill to the mountains.

Semis were in the right lane, hazards flashing, signaling that until they got to the first point where there was a downhill, they would be crawling up the mountain with their heavy loads.

At this rate he’d be there by midnight, but it gave him time to think about the case, Mckenna and even Mocha.

Thinking about the kiss she’d given him at the coffee shop made him need a cold shower again.

A long one. He turned up the AC on his bu-car.

That would have to do for now. He loved seeing her laugh, which didn’t happen often, but when she did, he was rewarded with the shy smile on her face.

He could feel her inner strength. That of a survivor.

She had fought for her life back and had it.

That made him want to be with her even more and close this case. What if she wasn’t safe?

At least she had Mocha. Sure, he was a typical Lab who was sweet and goofy, but Evan thought if someone really threatened Mckenna, Mocha would at least bark and growl. That might be enough to deter someone from harming her.

Traffic finally opened up after he passed a stalled semi. It didn’t take Evan long to get to the sheriff’s office. He went through the front door and the sheriff was waiting behind the front desk. She hit a button to let him in and waved him to the back.

“Late night for you,” the sheriff commented.

“It is. Thanks for letting me come.”

“No problem. It’s a late night for me too. I’ll be catching up on paperwork. I think that’s all I do anymore since I became sheriff.”

Evan laughed. “Being the top dog isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.”

“No, it’s not, but I like it too. Here’s an empty room you can work in. I had everything brought here, including the evidence if you want to go through it. You know all the protocols.”

“Thank you,” Evan said.

“I’m ordering some pizza soon, want some?”

“I’d love it.”

The sheriff nodded and headed out of the room, leaving Evan with a bunch of evidence.

Was this a wild-goose chase? One he was on because of Mckenna and the way she made him feel?

Or were these cases really connected and was there more than one kidnapper?

He hoped he would find the answers somewhere in these boxes.

Evan wiped his fingers on a napkin after eating a greasy piece of pizza, grateful for the sheriff sharing with him.

He’d been going through files for a while now and the next set was labeled as photographs of Mckenna after she escaped.

He threw away his paper plate and napkin, not sure if he was ready to see what she’d looked like after being found.

Over his career, including some time as a police officer before coming to the FBI, Evan had seen plenty of grisly things both in real life and in pictures. But this would be the first time he’d see someone he cared about in a report, and that changed things.

Sitting back down, Evan opened the file and started flipping through pictures.

The pizza suddenly wasn’t setting well. Several pictures were of Mckenna at the hospital.

There were before-photos of huge gashes on her side.

Then after-pictures with stitches. He couldn’t tell how many stitches she had, but it was a lot.

She probably still had scars. Would he ever get to see them?

See what they looked like now? Run his fingers over them and kiss them?

Tell her nothing bad would ever happen to her again.

He sat back and rubbed his face. Get a grip , he told himself.

But he was starting to wonder what it would be like to be with her.

Maybe just one night. How much trouble would he be in if they had a relationship?

It wasn’t like other agents didn’t get married.

The little bit of time he’d spent with her had been fantastic even though they’d been brought together because of a horrific case.

It wasn’t only her looks, although she was beautiful.

But he also loved how strong she was and how hard she’d worked to overcome her past. She was vulnerable too, but somehow that added to her strength.

She was someone he wanted to be with. Get to know more.

He’d never felt this way about anyone before and it was getting to the point he didn’t want to ignore those feelings anymore.

Okay, back to work. Think about this case and forget your personal life. You don’t have one and for all you know, she doesn’t feel the same way. Although she did kiss you back…

A knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts. The sheriff came in holding CDs that contained all the interviews.

“Here you go,” she said. “Nothing like a Friday night watching a criminal confess. You really think there’s a connection between this case and our current one?”

Evan had filled in the sheriff about Mckenna’s memories and Penny Gardner.

They had agreed they should go talk to Penny.

The sheriff had been ready to arrest her at that moment, but Evan said to give it time.

They needed to gather more evidence so that they could talk to her and get more information out of her.

They also needed more proof that she was having these parties so that she could be convicted for serving minors. The sheriff had reluctantly agreed.

“I think there may be a connection, but I’m not one hundred percent sure yet. It’s the best lead so far,” Evan answered. “When do you need me to leave tonight?”

“You can stay the whole night as far as I’m concerned. I still have a big stack of paperwork and one of my dispatchers is sick. Since it’s a Friday night, I might be filling in.”

“Okay, thanks,” Evan said.

“I’m down the hall in my office. Let me know if you find the smoking gun as they say.”

Evan laughed. “I’ll do that.”

The sheriff closed the door as she left.

He’d laughed several times now. He hadn’t done that in forever.

Ever since the incident at his previous office, he’d become serious, and he knew that most of his coworkers appreciated his work ethic but not his personality.

He’d forgotten how to laugh—until he met Mckenna.

Evan popped the first CD into the computer and started watching. The interview started with the sheriff and another deputy or detective coming into the room. Toby sat hunched on a chair staring at the floor as the sheriff read his Miranda Rights. He already appeared defeated.

Evan listened intently, trying to catch anything in Toby’s interview that made him think he was guilty, but as it went on, he had to agree with Mckenna.

The sheriff back then, a large man with a big belly who was obviously quite full of himself, was relentless.

Toby told him over and over he didn’t know anything.

He didn’t do it. It was so repetitive that Evan decided to skip ahead a little bit.

That was when he realized that the interview was over twelve hours long.

People might say they would never confess to a crime they didn’t commit, but be interviewed—no, battered—for long enough and soon, you’d admit to anything just to make it stop.

To go home. To get away. At one point Toby asked if he needed a lawyer.

The sheriff never really answered, and anger boiled inside Evan.

Technically, Toby had never asked for a lawyer.

He’d only asked if he needed one. So, they didn’t have to stop the interview, but it would have been the right thing to do.

Of course, any cop or agent knew that once a defense attorney was present all interviews were probably over, and they’d never get this opportunity again.

He understood that side of it, but he still felt like it was wrong.

Evan continued watching until he couldn’t stand it anymore.

Then he went back to the file with notes about Mckenna’s condition at the hospital.

Not only did Mckenna have gashes on her side, but she was bruised.

She’d told them that the kidnapper never touched her—that she had the bruises from running blindly while he was chasing and shooting at her.

He’d never tried anything sexual either, which was amazing.

That was usually the motive for taking someone.

That or money. But she had said what Lily had—he’d wanted the thrill of catching them and then releasing them.

He got off on the power and control. Whatever the reason, the more Evan went through the files the more he believed that Toby might have been framed.

By whom? Law enforcement? Would the sheriff have been so desperate to solve a crime that he’d plant evidence? Did the sheriff know about these parties? The current sheriff certainly had no clue this was going on in her area.

The more Evan read, the more he realized that Toby had never had a chance.

Other leads weren’t followed up. His vehicle was never processed for DNA to see if Mckenna had been in it at some point.

Even that wouldn’t prove anything necessarily.

A good defense attorney could work with that and say that Toby had only given her a ride.

Evan stood and started pacing, trying to think better.

If Toby didn’t do this, then who did? He needed to get Mckenna and Lily together and question Lily again to see if their stories continued to match up.

If either of them could think of anything more, that might lead him to the real kidnapper.

It was still a possibility that Rex was the culprit, but would Toby take the fall for his older brother?

Evan had seen stranger things in his career, but this was a big one.

Serving eight years in prison wasn’t something a person just did to help their sibling.

Wondering what the current sheriff knew about her predecessor, Evan went to her office, hoping she wouldn’t mind an interruption. He knocked on the door and she waved him in.

“Question for you,” Evan said.

“Go for it.”

“I’d love to chat with the detective and sheriff who questioned Toby. Do they live around here?”

“No, unfortunately, the previous sheriff died from a heart attack and the detective lives in Florida now. I’ve lost track of him. I could work on that if you need me to.”

“Not yet, but I’ll keep that in mind.”

“What’re your thoughts?”

Evan hesitated. How much should he share?

He’d been burned at his other field office when he shared too much with the jealous agent, not realizing what was going on.

He still mostly had working theories. But he liked the sheriff and trusted her, so he decided to run Mckenna’s theory by her.

“Toby Hanson was forced into confessing. I’m not sure he’s our guy now or back then. ”

“Holy…” The sheriff trailed off.

“Yeah. And if that’s the case, I have to wonder if this is the same person who took Mckenna? Or are there two different kidnappers out there? I’m going to go home for the night, but if I need those files and evidence again, would it be okay?”

“Of course, anytime. Just let me know.”

“Thank you,” Evan said, standing and realizing how much he needed some sleep. “I’ll keep you posted on anything I find out.”

“And vice versa,” said the sheriff.

As Evan headed out into the night that was starting to cool off, he had to wonder why the previous sheriff had gone after Toby so hard and had such tunnel vision.

Thanks to him, a kidnapper could have been on the loose for a long time and there could be many more victims out there.

He’d reach out to surrounding states and departments because he didn’t think someone with this compulsion could stop for nine years.

Another thought crossed his mind. If Toby really was framed and Mckenna had told others her theory, was she safe? Evan didn’t know what he’d do if something happened to her.