Page 7 of Colorado K-9 Rescue

E van pulled up on the shoulder of a dirt road and parked, taking in the scene around him.

While it was difficult, there was always an adrenaline rush too with a crime like this one.

He wanted to solve this and—Mckenna was right—he wanted justice.

Nothing felt better than the moment he put handcuffs on a suspect.

It made the long hours, no friends, and barely going home worth it.

What was hard was the emotional toll. Those were the times he wanted someone to go home to and talk about things, but between his parents’ disastrous marriage and his previous partner, he didn’t know how he’d ever have a relationship he could trust.

Which was why he needed to stay as far away from Mckenna Parker as possible.

He felt bad that he’d snapped at her again, but she seemed to see through the wall he put up and understand him in a way no one else did.

He didn’t know what to do with that or how to handle it.

The last thing he needed right now was to fall for someone—especially someone in his office. As if the gossip wasn’t bad enough.

Just get to work and figure out this case. Forget Mckenna. You do your thing, and she can do hers. The last thing I need is her interfering with this case.

Evan stepped out of his vehicle and walked over to the crime scene tape. He checked in with the person securing the scene so they could log him in and then stepped under the yellow tape flapping in the breeze.

The yellow tape seemed so out of place here in the mountains where other than the sounds of officers working the crime scene, there was silence.

Sometimes a Steller’s jay or magpie squawked in the distance, but a big piece of the beauty for Evan was the quiet.

It was like heaven to him. He’d love to live in the mountains.

When he’d moved to Colorado he’d bought a house in the foothills near Morrison, but there were still neighbors and too much noise.

He flashed his badge to another deputy as he approached a young woman on an ambulance gurney.

They were about to load her in, and he stopped the EMTs.

He recognized Lily Hendrix from the picture her parents had provided.

Blond hair framed her face that had dirt smudges and enough blotchiness for Evan to know she’d been crying…

probably sobbing. His heart went out to this young woman who also happened to be his only witness right now.

How could such a horrible crime be committed when he was surrounded by such a beautiful setting?

It didn’t seem right. He hated to ask her, but he had to try to see if Lily could remember anything.

“Lily? I’m Agent Evan Knox. Are you up for a few questions?”

No answer. Lily’s eyes stared off toward the mountains behind him.

“Lily?”

“Hey, man,” one of the EMTs finally interrupted. “She hasn’t been responsive for any of us. We need to get her to the hospital so she can be checked out.”

“Okay,” Evan said, stepping back. “Lily, I know this is hard. I’ll find you later at the hospital. Maybe we can talk then.”

Lily’s eyelids opened and closed, but that was the only reaction. The EMTs loaded her up and closed the doors. He’d find out for sure, but they’d probably take her down to Denver General.

It was crazy that in a short drive they could be in the heart of the busy city versus the rugged terrain and open wilderness that surrounded him.

As much as he loved the mountains, he wished this crime had happened in the city.

There were no cameras out here. No witnesses.

None of the possible investigative tools that came with the city.

He sighed as he watched the ambulance negotiate the dirt road, dust billowing up behind it.

“Agent Knox?”

Evan turned around and found the sheriff behind him.

“Our other victim is over here.” She nodded in the direction of a coroner’s truck and a couple of deputies watching. No one would touch the scene until the coroner gave permission.

Evan walked with her toward the scene. Her face said it all—the look they all had when they saw something they didn’t want to.

A young woman, her life gone. It kept it real and motivated him to find the son of a bitch who did this.

Evan shuddered as he approached the scene.

Just another thing to add to the list of things he couldn’t unsee.

Time to get to work.

“If you’d like, I can check into getting some of our ERT folks out here,” Evan offered to the sheriff, referencing the FBI’s Evidence Response Team or their version of CSI.

“I’d appreciate that,” the sheriff said. “Thank you. I hope you don’t mind, I also called in the CBI.”

“No, that’s good. The more help we can get processing the scene, the quicker we might be able to figure out a suspect.”

“Agreed.”

Evan took in the still body of the young woman. The coroner carefully moved Autumn to prepare bagging up her body. Evan noticed an injury on her upper arm.

“That looks like a gunshot wound. If it went through her bone and entered her body, she might have bled out,” Evan said.

“That could be what happened. If that’s the case, then maybe we’ll get lucky and find a bullet for evidence. Hopefully, we’ll know more after the coroner examines her.”

“Who found them?”

The sheriff nodded in the direction of a couple standing near a picnic area.

“They were coming up for the day to get out of the city and have a picnic. Weekday, so they figured it would be quiet. Retired couple. They said that Lily was doing CPR on Autumn and screaming for help. Once they were able to get a text out to 911, they realized Autumn was deceased, but Lily wouldn’t stop chest compressions.

When the EMTs arrived, she held Autumn and wouldn’t let go.

Once they convinced her that Autumn couldn’t be revived she shut down and quit talking. ”

Evan nodded. There was nothing to say. He’d need to talk to the couple. Even rule them out although he highly doubted they had anything to do with the kidnapping. “I’m glad they were here to help.”

“Me too. Although I think the wife is about ready to pass out. I’ve talked to them. I have their information. Mind if I tell them they can go? They want to get home, and I don’t blame them.”

“No, I don’t mind. If you’ve talked with them and have a statement, we will follow up.”

“Okay,” Sheriff Stewart said. “I’ll go and tell them they can leave.”

Evan watched the sheriff head over to the couple, his mind shifting back to the morning and what Mckenna had told him.

Her words flipped through his mind. She put out a strong facade, but underneath it all she too was still trying to move forward from what happened to her.

Did she know that Lily wouldn’t want to talk because she’d been the same way?

How was she doing knowing that the man who took her was now out free at the same time this case was going on?

There were so many things he wanted to ask her, but he didn’t dare.

Unfortunately, he had to admit, she was going to get to say, “I told you so,” because if Lily didn’t want to talk, the best bet was to bring in Mocha and see if he could help her through the trauma.

Evan knew how much dogs could help, not only from his own experience.

He’d heard of crisis K-9s at mass shootings around the country and how they’d helped victims give their statements.

One person was even able to say what happened only when the dogs showed up and he was able to walk with the K-9 through the scene of the crime telling the dog what had happened.

Yes, Mckenna was going to get the ultimate I told you so .