Page 4 of Colorado K-9 Rescue

E van had to tear his eyes off Mckenna and focus back on the investigation and the questions he needed answered.

From what the sheriff had told him, he doubted the families knew much about the abduction, but anything he could learn about the two girls would help.

The sheriff had mentioned the girls had grown up in the community, graduated from the local high school with honors and completed their first year of college.

They were home for the summer and getting ready to leave in a couple of days to go back to school for the fall semester.

But what was all this about Mckenna Parker being kidnapped?

He never was into office gossip, but this time he regretted it.

Maybe if he opened up more, he would know more about Mckenna.

He found himself intrigued. This revelation explained so much about her.

He forced himself to get back to the interview.

He flipped open his memo book and started with the usual questions. When did they last see the girls? Where were they going? What were they doing? Did they know of anyone contacting them through social media? Had they ever run away before?

The families gave the usual answers. They were good kids and students.

Autumn was a great older sister. She and Lily didn’t stay out too late and all that jazz.

Evan had heard it all before and, unfortunately, he knew from experience that once he started digging, there was always something the family didn’t know.

There could be someone grooming them on social media, or they could be dating someone who had ulterior motives.

Usually, the victims went from low-risk “good girls” to higher-risk “we didn’t know our daughters were doing that. ”

He just had to dig.

As Evan and the sheriff finished up their questions, he saw the younger siblings had become tired and were now lying with Mocha on the floor.

The black Lab had curled up next to them and even had a paw softly resting on one child’s arm.

Evan resisted smiling; he needed to keep up his “agent face” as he called it, but Mocha reminded him of his childhood Lab.

The dog was loyal and would have followed him anywhere.

Evan’s father had taught him skills like tracking and finding narcotics with the Lab.

Evan had loved every moment of it. And while Mocha wasn’t a working dog but rather a service dog, he still brought back good memories.

They headed out into the night. The sun had disappeared behind the mountains, but rays of light still illuminated the peaks.

Evan had never seen the West or the mountains until his dad and sisters moved to Colorado.

The scenery still filled him with awe. Leaning up against his vehicle, he waited for Mckenna and Mocha to come out.

He wanted to know more about her and her past. Did the vulnerability mixed with strength he sensed come from her experience?

Or was she just like that? There were so many questions he had.

She stepped out of the doorway, closing it behind her, and walked with Mocha down the stairs to where the cars were parked. She seemed lost in thought and then looked startled, seeing him still standing there.

“I didn’t know you were still here,” Mckenna said. “I figured you’d be off on the next interview saving the world or whatever it is you do.”

Evan let out a small laugh and then stifled it. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. Mckenna brought out a different side of him. Something that hadn’t existed for a long time. Part of him liked it and part of him didn’t.

“I wanted to ask you about your experience. This kidnapping deal. Tell me more.”

The smile and twinkle in her eyes instantly disappeared and her expression darkened.

“I thought maybe it would help this case to know more, that’s all,” Evan said, stumbling over his words. He usually felt like he was tough and in charge, but she made him question that. “I want to know more about you.”

“This kidnapping deal.” Such an ignorant thing to say.

Mckenna ignored him and strode to her vehicle, pulling out portable stairs and helping Mocha load into the crate in the back.

She closed the tailgate and started the car while standing outside her vehicle so she could turn on the air-conditioning for Mocha.

Even though the night was cooling off, it was still August, and the car could get too warm.

Evan admired how well she took care of her dog. Minus the sandwich incident of course.

“Agent Knox, I don’t know why you want to know more about my past and what happened to me, but I’m used to it.

Everyone wants to know the gory details.

What was it like escaping? What was it like running for your life while someone was shooting at you?

How did you dodge the bullets? I’ve answered those questions enough for television.

I shouldn’t have given them any interviews.

I’ve sat through hours of law enforcement interviews.

My past is that, it’s my past. My future is helping others because when you’re done with this case and it goes through court, you’ll already be working on the next case.

There will always be a next case for you.

My job is to help the family because there is no next case for them.

For them, their lives have permanently changed, and right now, those parents in there don’t know how drastically it will change, even if their daughters come home alive. ”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” Evan started to say, but Mckenna cut him off.

“We both know the probability of those girls coming home alive is low. It doesn’t happen often.

There’s not too many of ‘us’ and our cases are rare, but no matter what, life as the family or the victim knows it is shattered.

They must pick up the pieces one by one and start putting their lives back together.

There’s a chance those pieces will get shattered over and over again.

My past doesn’t play into that. My past won’t help them other than the fact I understand them.

But my job and Mocha’s job is to be there every time those pieces get shattered again. Have a good night.”

Mckenna turned and climbed into the front seat of her vehicle.

Evan watched her drive away. For once in his life, he was speechless, which was good, because her reaction was right—what he’d said had been stupid and insensitive.

He rubbed his face with his hands. Everything about Mckenna piqued his interest. He wanted to know more. He wanted to spend time with her.

And that was the last thing he needed.

There was a reason his job was his life. There wasn’t room for anyone else, not after everything that had happened. She was right. He needed to investigate this, help the sheriff, figure out who took these girls and then move on to the next case after someone was arrested. If someone was arrested.

But he couldn’t get Mckenna Parker out of his mind.