Page 33 of Colorado K-9 Rescue

T he mountains stood out against the light blue sky—a color that reminded Mckenna of Evan’s eyes.

There was a part of her that was still angry and hurt that he hadn’t told her about Toby.

She had a right to know as a victim, and he’d lied.

Well, not exactly lied, but he’d kept the information from her.

If Mckenna was going to be in a relationship, it had to be honest. After everything that had happened in her life, that was the one requirement she had.

Sighing heavily, she made it to the driveway of Lily’s house and turned in.

Mocha stood in his crate and shook, the tags on his collar creating a jingling noise.

She had a call and text from Evan, but for now she ignored it.

She’d call him back after she talked to Lily.

Right now, her only focus was seeing if together she and Lily would be able to recall more details about where they were kept.

It was the best lead to find this bastard and end this all. No more kidnappings. No more deaths.

The last thing Mckenna wanted to hear was Evan ordering her back to the office without telling her why.

She knocked on the door and Lily answered.

Mckenna thought she looked better than the last time she’d seen the young woman.

Her face had more color and today she had on some light makeup and her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

She looked like a kid again and that made Mckenna happy.

Their experiences had made them both grow up too fast.

“Thanks for letting me swing by,” Mckenna said, as Mocha went in front of her and greeted Lily.

“Oh! Mocha,” Lily said, kneeling and saying hello. The Lab responded by leaning into her and licking her face. “Come on in.”

Mckenna followed Lily to the living room area, where Mocha made himself at home on the couch. “Are you sure your mom doesn’t mind him up there? He knows better. I can tell him to get off.”

“No, it’s okay,” Lily said, taking a seat next to Mocha and snuggling in with him. Mocha rolled to his side and stuck a paw up in the air, indicating he wanted his belly rubbed. Lily obliged. “He’s such a great dog.”

“He is,” Mckenna agreed with a smile. Mocha made a big difference in her life too. “Do you mind if I ask you some questions? Not as a victim specialist or in any type of investigative capacity.”

“Sure. As long as I can pet Mocha.”

“You bet,” Mckenna said. Where did she start?

She didn’t want to bring up bad memories, but she needed to see what Lily remembered.

Sometimes it was best to start slow, but Lily seemed like she was doing well today.

Mckenna decided to go for it and get right to the point.

“I don’t know if you had heard, but when I was about your age, I was kidnapped too. ”

Lily paused petting Mocha for a second and glanced up. Then she went back to the belly rub. “No, I didn’t realize that.”

“It was a similar case to yours. In fact—” Mckenna took a deep breath “—I think there’s a chance the same person took us. I went to a party at Ms. Gardner’s house. I don’t remember much, and I didn’t see the person who took me.”

Mckenna watched Lily to make sure she was handling what she was saying okay. Mckenna knew how shocking it had been for her personally when she’d listened to Lily tell Evan her story. Lily’s eyes were big, but otherwise she seemed fine.

“I woke up in a room and I wasn’t tied up either.

I was able to start looking around for an escape, but the man was there.

I never saw him, but he talked about how much he enjoyed catch and release fishing, but it had become boring to him.

He wanted to try it with humans. I was his first. Talk about a sick person. ”

“Did they catch him? I mean, if they did, then how did he kidnap me? Wouldn’t he still be in prison?”

“They did catch him. His name was Toby Hanson,” Mckenna answered. “He was released a couple weeks ago.”

“Then can’t that agent go arrest him? He promised justice for Autumn.”

“He wants to,” Mckenna said. Should she tell Lily that Toby was dead?

She didn’t want to scare her, so she’d keep a few details out.

This was what Evan was doing for her. In a way, it was protecting someone by omission.

She was still annoyed with Evan, though.

Shoving that thought aside, Mckenna continued.

“The thing is, now we’re not sure Toby was my kidnapper. He may have been falsely convicted.”

“Oh. I’ve heard about things like that on TV and stuff.”

“It happens. I want to ask you a few questions because no one has been able to find where we were taken and held captive. Maybe if we could figure that out, we’d know who the kidnapper was. It could be as simple as he owns the property.”

“Okay,” Lily said. “What do you want to know?”

“Do you remember seeing a grove of aspen trees with funky, curved trunks?”

Lily’s eyes widened. “I do. I thought I was seeing things.”

“I did too, but I researched it.” Mckenna brought up some pictures on her phone and showed Lily.

“I thought the drugs made them seem weird or something, but it turns out there are aspen groves like this due to avalanches. When an avalanche happens, the soil can shift the trees. Those trees still need sunlight, so they get a curve in their trunks. It doesn’t happen often, so I think this could help narrow things down. ”

“There was a smell too,” Lily said. “Like rotten eggs.”

Mckenna nodded. She remembered the distinct odor as well. “Yes. I remember that too. I thought at first that it was a sick joke. Like the man was leaving bad eggs for me to eat.”

“It was so gross.”

“It was.”

“What do you think that was from?” Lily asked.

“I think wherever we were kept was near a mine. Sometimes fool’s gold or pyrite can smell like that. If there was an old mine and we were kept in an old mining building, then we might catch whiffs of rotten eggs.”

“I know about the ghost town, but that agent said he’d checked it out.”

“I know,” Mckenna said. “I’ve been doing research today and I found a second ghost town.

One that’s not on a map and very few people know about.

It’s on Forest Service land and there’s no easy vehicle access to it.

And because of the mines, the Forest Service tries to keep the area closed.

But doing that in the mountains is impossible.

Someone can always find a way in. And the other thing about this mine is that there’s a creek. I think that’s the one you followed.”

“So now what?” Lily asked.

“I’m going to go there. I want to see it for myself. If it’s the right location, then I’ll call Evan.”

“Evan?”

“The agent,” Mckenna answered.

“Oh, are you two like, you know? A thing?”

“I’m not sure. It’s complicated.”

“Always is,” Lily said.

“You’re wise for your age.”

“Thanks. You should have Evan go with you.”

Mckenna heaved a deep sigh. Lily was right. But for some reason, Mckenna wanted to do this on her own. She doubted anyone would be up there now and it was part of facing her fears. “I’ll see if I can find it first. Could be that it’s so old, there’s nothing there.”

“How will you get to it?”

“The same way I think our kidnapper did. If you drive to the edge of the ghost town, you can hike in. It’s a short hike although there’s rough terrain in the area, at least based on the map. Driving a vehicle in would be harder,” Mckenna said, standing. “Thanks, Lily. I appreciate your help.”

Mocha saw Mckenna on her feet and hopped off the couch, ready to get back in the car and go on with his next adventure.

They said their goodbyes and headed out to the car, where, after loading Mocha, Mckenna sat in deep thought.

She was certain she’d found the place. Lily was right, she should have called Evan, but to be honest with herself, that scared her too.

What if he was just a one-night stand? Or wanted a quick fling before he headed on to his next assignment, wherever that was.

Mckenna had fallen for him, and she didn’t want to be hurt.

But she also believed what she’d told Cassidy—that it was worth it and her decision to be with Evan.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t wanted last night or had not played a willing role.

If it was a fling, she’d be crushed, but she would also learn from giving in to her feelings.

“Shall we call him?” Mckenna asked Mocha. She heard a little snore in response. Mocha was also tired from all the excitement. Mckenna dialed Evan, but it went to voice mail. She almost hung up and then decided to leave a quick message about what she’d figured out.

Relaying all the details about the ghost town and the location of the old mining camp, Mckenna finished with, “I’m going there to check it out. I’ll let you know what I find.”

She hung up, now wishing he had answered.

But Mckenna needed to know if the mining camp was where they were kept.

Then she could tell Evan or the sheriff and feel like she’d done her part to help solve the kidnappings and sort of make up for keeping the secret about Penny’s party all these years.

She’d drive there, hike back and take a quick peek, see if there were curvy-trunked aspen trees and a bad smell and then leave.

It wasn’t like a kidnapper would be waiting there for her. It would be fine.

Mckenna wanted, no, she needed some answers. She needed closure so she could move on with her life in whatever way she was meant to—with or without Evan.