Page 2 of Colorado K-9 Rescue

A gent Evan Knox watched Mckenna and Mocha leave.

He was annoyed about his sandwich—it had been a long day, and he hadn’t had much to eat—but luckily there wasn’t anything on it that would be poisonous to Mocha, like onions.

He knew he’d snapped at Mckenna, and felt bad about that.

It would only add to his reputation. One he knew he’d earned, but at this point he didn’t care.

The other day, he’d heard the water cooler gossip where other agents and a few secretaries were discussing how hard he was to work with.

Evan didn’t want to be that difficult, but after what had happened to him in his previous field office, he didn’t trust anyone.

He didn’t want to get burned again. What had happened before could have cost him his job, and without his job he was nothing.

He caught Mckenna talking with her sister, Cassidy, and they both gazed his way. He shuffled some papers on his desk to look busy and then picked up the ten-dollar bill Mckenna had given him.

What kind of person are you, Knox? It’s not like you can’t afford another sandwich. She’s a nice person. You know that. You’ve seen her enough around the office.

He’d give the money back later.

He glanced again toward the two women. There was something about the victim specialist that made him look twice.

She had a vulnerability but at the same time was strong, like she’d overcome something in her past. He’d seen the same traits in other victims he’d worked with.

There was a power unique to someone who had overcome trauma.

And Mckenna had that power. That and those gorgeous sea blue eyes that stood out against her dark, almost black hair.

“Don’t go down that road,” he muttered to himself. “Just focus on your job, solve some big cases and work toward the promotion you’ve always wanted.”

A few minutes later, Mckenna came back out of her office with Mocha, waving at other agents in the office and saying good-night.

He stared a second longer than he should have, and she caught him looking at her.

Agent Parker, her sister, was the classic beauty, but Evan couldn’t help studying Mckenna for a little bit longer.

She wasn’t an agent and in fact he wasn’t sure he believed in her job or the job her dog was meant to do.

The FBI wasn’t touchy-feely. They were there to solve crimes, but the strength and determination on Mckenna’s face made him wonder what she had overcome.

What was her past? Had something happened that pushed her down the career path of a victim specialist?

He wanted to know more and as she and her Lab headed out the door, he couldn’t help but see how perfect her body was—at least to him.

He hadn’t felt that in a while, but the last thing he needed was a female in his life. Or anyone else for that matter. He just needed to keep his head down, work hard, solve cases and put the bad guys away.

Maybe if he did that long enough, he’d accomplish his goals.

He’d wrapped up some cases this week, and for once, he might get out of the office early.

Then what? His work was his life. Maybe a run in the foothills and then dinner, since he had missed his late lunch.

After that, home to an empty, barely decorated house.

Maybe he’d call one of his sisters or something, although they’d lecture him about getting a life. I’m not in the mood.

Evan’s phone rang. It was his boss, and he was being summoned to his office.

Hopefully, Mckenna hadn’t complained about him. That was all he needed.

Evan could tell by the look on his boss’s face that he wasn’t going on a run anytime soon.

His boss, Adam Clark, the special agent in charge or SAC, was on the phone and waved at him to come in.

Evan leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and waited for his boss to get off the phone.

After a few more “yeahs” and “I’ll send Special Agent Knox tonight,” Adam hung up.

Evan waited to be filled in. It looked like his plans for the evening would be all work. He didn’t mind. He’d rather work.

“That was Sheriff Charlotte Stewart. There are two girls that have gone missing in her jurisdiction. She has a large mountain county but a small department. They don’t usually deal with anything like this and the girls have been gone about forty-eight hours now, so the chances of finding them alive are diminishing.

I told her you’d go up there tonight and help.

We will provide her department any resources we can.

I’m also calling in our victim unit and sending Mckenna Parker and her K-9 to help with the families… ”

“Sir, if I can say something,” Evan interjected.

“Yes?”

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea to have Mckenna Parker and her K-9 meet with the families until I can talk with them.”

“Agent Knox, you’re talented, you’re driven, you’re everything the FBI wants, but think outside the box.

The victim services response team has grown.

There’s almost three hundred people on that team now, including former agents.

Why? Because the FBI has learned that it helps.

They are an important piece to helping families out, and if we can offer support, they will be better witnesses.

We have a greater chance of convicting people like human traffickers.

For all we know, it’s scum like that who took these girls.

Get over it and do your job. Mckenna Parker will do hers.

And maybe we’ll get lucky and find these girls alive. ”

“Yes, sir,” Evan said, as Adam handed him the address of the sheriff’s department. It wasn’t that he minded a victim specialist helping. Then why had he argued?

Admit it. It’s this particular one that’s the problem. She bothers you in a way that you can’t handle.

It was going to be a long night.

Mckenna and Mocha had arrived home when her work phone rang.

She answered quickly. It was her boss, Marcia Jackson, the Administrative Assistant Special Agent in Charge, giving her orders for a new assignment.

Mckenna wasted no time loading Mocha back into the car to get to work.

All cases were important, but this one even more so. This one felt personal.

A little while later, after navigating the back mountain roads, they pulled up to a large mountain home with a deck that overlooked a breathtaking view to the west. Mount Blue Sky sat above the other peaks.

She’d never driven on the highest paved road in North America to the top of the fourteener, but that was on her bucket list. She’d seen pictures of the shaggy white mountain goats that lived up there and would love to capture some pictures of them too.

In reality, she knew she wouldn’t go—especially now that her captor walked free.

Hiking on her own was not a good idea and only created more crippling fear.

I have to get over feeling apprehensive, but I don’t know how.

One of these days, I’ll make myself go on my own and start hiking without worrying.

It’s not as if he’s really out there waiting for me…but what if he is?

Taking a deep breath and focusing back on why she was at this house, Mckenna wrapped her fingers around Mocha’s leather leash.

She reached over and straightened his vest that identified him as a crisis K-9 for the FBI.

Her family’s ranch wasn’t too far from here—a ten-minute drive.

While she loved the mountains and lived in Idaho Springs, another small mountain town about twenty minutes from Denver, she didn’t like coming to this area that was once home.

It only brought up memories. This case would make it near impossible to block her thoughts about Toby Hanson walking free.

Is there any way he had taken these young ladies? Probably not.

Unfortunately, there was a good chance that someone had been grooming the girls and managed to kidnap them for human trafficking. That tragedy was happening more and more often. Even young adults could fall victim.

That was why she was here. She understood.

Mckenna’s experience not only made her resilient, but it was also why she was doing this work.

With her own case, she’d been assigned a victim advocate who helped her learn her rights, including speaking in court and gaining access to reports.

Mckenna knew what it was like seeing law enforcement move onto their next case while the victim dealt with what happened to them for the rest of their lives.

Now she was doing the same thing after going to school and working her way into the FBI victim services response team program.

Mckenna loved the feeling of giving back and helping victims have the epiphany that they could overcome what happened to them.

Mocha sat next to her and gazed at her longingly.

He’d been requested because the families of the two girls loved dogs.

Her boss thought Mocha could help with the situation.

Mckenna agreed. In her mind, her dog was a superstar and the best employee in the Denver office.

Even if he did eat an agent’s sandwich.