Page 49 of Pretty Broken Dolls

She laughed. “Something like that.”

“I bet you’re trying to figure out the killer’s motives and why they are so screwed up.”

She shifted her weight and moved her attention from the window to her partner. “It’s really difficult to stay focused on this killer when there are three previous cases.”

McGaven didn’t respond, but it was clear he knew exactly how Katie felt. His face and jaw tightened.

“This may sound strange…”

“What?”

“Somehow this case—these cases—seem personal. It’s the K9 training. It’s a part of you—probably forever.”

“I never thought about it like that—but you’re right.”

“Yeah…” He took the turn into the storage facility and stopped at the entrance to key in the code. The black gate opened wide and McGaven drove in. “Sometimes I may just surprise you.”

Katie smiled. “Every day on the job you surprise me, Gav.”

McGaven eased around several buildings until he found “E.” He parked outside and they both exited the vehicle.

“We’re looking for E121,” he said.

The entrance on the bottom floor was a plain metal door. There was a simple sign above, reading “E110–E130.”

Katie pulled the utility door open and the fluorescent ceiling lights automatically lit up as they entered. The outside door shut behind them, making a distinct suction sound. They walked down a long hallway. As they passed through, the lights extinguished, leaving darkness behind them. The temperature was quite a bit cooler than the outside air and became stifling. Since there were no windows to indicate if it was light or dark outside, it had a creepy vibe.

“I think this is it,” Katie said and pointed to a medium-sized storage unit on the left. “E121.”

McGaven retrieved the key, unlocked the padlock and pulled up the roll-up door. “There it is.”

Looking inside the locker, they sighed. There were boxes stacked from floor to ceiling and it would take a bit of time.

“Well,” Katie said. “At least they are clearly marked, so let’s find the personal items and forget the rest. We don’t need to look at the dishes, pots, and pans.”

McGaven shed his jacket and began to pull out boxes of interest. Twenty minutes later, they had only a total of ten boxes to view.

“That’s not so bad,” she said, with her hands on her hips. “I’ll take five.”

McGaven sliced open the tops of the boxes with his pocketknife.

For the next fifteen to twenty minutes, Katie and McGaven carefully emptied boxes, examined the contents, and then repacked them.

Katie felt keenly aware of the intrusion by going through Jeanine’s private things as she viewed personal letters, birthday cards, and individual pieces of jewelry. “Anything?” she said, glancing to McGaven.

“Nope.”

Katie had been through three boxes already and was just about to pull the last item from the bottom of the fourth box. It was a navy-colored journal. With no picture or lettering, it was just a plain book. When she opened it, she viewed handwriting and some simple drawings. She noticed that the last entry was a week before Jeanine was murdered. “Gav.”

He was busily repacking one of the boxes.

“Gav,” she said again.

He looked up. “What do you have?” He moved closer to see the journal.

“I’m just skimming but she was very honest and detailed when she wrote her entries.”

McGaven read over her shoulder. “Let’s bring it with us.”