Page 36 of Colorado K-9 Rescue

E van’s phone chirped. He had the warrant.

Blowing out a breath, he flipped through the photo album, searching for more pictures.

The one he’d found had been a little bit blurry.

He wanted to be one hundred percent certain that he’d seen the person he thought he had in the pictures.

Because if it was him, that complicated things. A lot.

He’d come to the last of the photos, all of them documenting teenagers partying the night away before real life came and made them grow up.

Among them was one who would go to prison for the next eight years of his life, but what Evan was looking for was a clearer picture of someone else, someone who was in the background.

Then he found it. This picture was better.

It was him all right. Young and awkward. Pimples all over his face.

But it was undoubtedly him—Probation Officer Keith Warren.

“You weren’t completely honest, were you, Keith?

Neither was Penny. She didn’t mention you on the guest list,” Evan said out loud.

It helped him think. This didn’t necessarily mean anything.

The fact that Keith never revealed growing up around here or knowing Toby and Rex was odd.

In fact, he should never have been assigned to Toby as his PO.

That meant that the judge didn’t know, and even Toby hadn’t said anything. But why?

Could all three of these guys be in on this sick and twisted catch and release deal? Evan needed information, quickly. He tried Mckenna again, but she didn’t answer, making him worry more. Then he called Cassidy. She answered on the first ring.

“Knox? Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. “Have you heard from your sister?”

“No. She told me she had to go to talk to Lily. Have you tried calling her?”

“Yes,” Evan said, trying to keep his frustration in check. “If you hear from her, will you tell her to call me?”

“I’ll do that. I can call Lily’s parents too.”

“I’ll be honest, I’m worried,” Evan said. “We need to find out if she’s still at Lily’s house. There’s something else too. Do you know a probation officer by the name of Keith Warren?”

“Sort of. He grew up in our town, but moved away when we were in middle school.”

“Did he move back?”

“Sometimes he’d visit. He was nice when Mckenna was taken. Helped look for her and stuff,” Cassidy said.

“Did you know he was Toby Hanson’s PO?”

“I’d heard that.”

“You didn’t think that was a conflict of interest?” Evan asked.

“No. I mean Keith and Toby never hung around each other. I thought they barely knew each other.”

Evan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I think Keith knew them better than he ever said. Cassidy, I’m worried he’s one of the kidnappers and that he’s after Mc-kenna again.”

“Do you have proof? Where are you? I’ll meet you and help you out.”

“I’m at Rex and Toby’s house, but nothing here is leading me to Mckenna. Can you ask around the office and see if she checked in with anyone?”

“I’ll do that. I’ll let you know what I learn,” Cassidy said. “And Knox?”

“What?”

“I know this isn’t the time, but I need to know one thing, right now.”

“What?” Evan said.

“Did you do anything to hurt my sister? Break up with her? Anything like that?”

“No. I would never do that.” Evan stopped for a moment.

He’d rather tell Mckenna first, but right now, if it helped Cassidy get going with looking for her sister, then he’d break the news to her.

“I’m in love with her. I’d never do anything to deliberately hurt her.

I need to start from here, but call me if you find out anything. ”

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.