by Laura Scott
“Cocoa?” Mikey echoed.
Eva winced, and he realized she hadn’t meant to say that in front of the boy. “Officer Finn and Abernathy are still looking for him,” she promised. “They’ll find Cocoa.”
Finn helped unpack the food, then took the seat to Eva’s right, placing her between him and Mikey. “I have a good idea about what we need to do,” he said, holding out his hand. “We’ll pray.”
Eva stared at his open palm for a long moment, before placing her hand in his. With her other hand, she reached for Mikey’s. “I’m willing to try.”
The little boy didn’t seem to understand the concept of prayer, but at least this time he was paying attention. Finn wrapped his fingers gently around hers and bowed his head. “Dear Lord, we ask that You bless this food we are about to eat. We also ask for Your strength and guidance as we continue to search for truth and justice. We ask You to guide us on the right path to find Cocoa and to bring him home safely. Amen.”
“Amen,” Eva said.
“Amen,” Mikey mimicked. “Cocoa safe.”
That made Finn smile. “Yes. God will keep us all safe. Now we can eat.”
“Noodles!” Mikey gestured with his chubby hand. “I want noodles.”
“I know you do,” Eva agreed wryly. “They’re one of your favorites.”
“Nothing wrong with his appetite,” Finn said, grinning at the boy. “He’s holding up really well.”
Eva’s expression softened. “Yes, he is. He still has the occasional nightmare, but overall is adjusting well.”
“Don’t like nightmares,” Mikey said, tomato sauce and cheese smeared along his cheek. “Good dreams, right, Mommy?”
Eva froze at the little boy’s slip, but then she leaned forward to press a kiss on his forehead. “Yes, Mikey. Good dreams.”
Finn watched the interplay between Eva and Mikey, thinking about how his own mother had abandoned him all those years ago. He only vaguely remembered being hugged and kissed by her, accompanied by a hint of perfume. She’d seemed to love him the way Eva obviously loved Mikey, and to this day he couldn’t understand how his mother could have just walked away. Oh, sure, he’d found her eventually, happily married to a businessman with two pretty little daughters, who were eleven and twelve years younger than him. He’d watched them for a long time, his mother smiling with her second family after abandoning the first.
He’d considered confronting her, forcing her to acknowledge him and what she’d done, but in the end he’d simply walked away without letting her know he’d been there.
“You look sad, Finn,” Eva said. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” He forced a smile and took a bite of his lasagna. “Yum. Mikey is right—this is amazing.”
She tipped her head to the side, studying him thoughtfully. He fidgeted in his seat, feeling as if her blue eyes could see through his outward jovial facade to the depths buried beneath. To the secrets he’d never told anyone.
To the family he’d always wanted and at the same time refused to allow himself to have.
He was a cop. It was all he’d ever wanted. To be like his father. To protect and serve.
But watching Eva, so stunningly beautiful he could barely stand it, hug and kiss Mikey made him want to reconsider his priorities. Was it possible for him to have both his career and a family? As if sensing his inner turmoil, Abernathy came over and nudged him, placing his head in Finn’s lap.
He stroked his K-9 partner’s silky fur and reaffirmed this was what he was meant to be. A K-9 cop focused on bringing the bad guys to justice.
Not a family man.
* * *
Eva sensed there was something bothering Finn, but he clearly wasn’t interested in sharing whatever thoughts were weighing on his mind.
For some odd reason, Finn’s prayer had touched her deeply, unexpectedly providing a sense of calmness in a chaotic world. The distress she’d felt at finding the cash in Malina’s purse was replaced with a sense of peace after Finn’s prayer.
It occurred to her that Mikey deserved a chance to learn about God and faith. She knew Pete hadn’t grown up with religion, and that he and Malina hadn’t attended church on a regular basis after their wedding five years ago.
Her cell phone rang, startling her. After warily picking up the device, she relaxed when she saw Pete’s name on the screen. “Hello?”
“Hi, Eva. How is Mikey doing?” Her brother-in-law’s voice was difficult to hear amid the background noise.
“He’s great. Do you want to talk to him?”
“Sure. I’ll try to find a quiet corner.” The background noise muted a bit and she held the phone out toward Mikey, putting the call on speakerphone.
“Mikey, say hi to your daddy,” she instructed.
“Hi, Daddy,” the child said.
“Hi, Mikey. I love you, buddy. Are you being good for Auntie Eva?”
Mikey nodded his head, apparently not understanding his father couldn’t see him.
“Say yes,” she encouraged.
“Yes, Daddy. When are you coming home?”
“In a few days, buddy.” Pete’s voice thickened with emotion. “I miss you, Mikey. Be a good boy and I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay, bye, Daddy.”
Eva took the speaker function off and put the phone to her ear. “Listen, Pete, I need to ask you a quick question about Malina.”
“What about her?” Was it her imagination or was there a hint of defensiveness in his tone?
She hesitated, glancing at Finn. He gave her a nod of encouragement, so she moved away from the table, out of Mikey’s earshot and continued. “Malina may have mentioned the newest puppy I’m caring for, a chocolate Lab named Cocoa. Well, he’s missing. He was taken by a thug who threw a rock through the bedroom window in the house I share with my roommates. The rock had a threatening note attached, telling me if I wanted to see the dog alive I needed to find the package my sister stole from them.”
“Package? What package?” Pete asked, confusion lacing his tone.
“I don’t know. I have a K-9 cop, Finn Gallagher, and his yellow Lab, Abernathy, helping to find Cocoa, but we need to know what Malina was involved in before she died.”
Pete was silent for a long moment. “I don’t know anything about a package. Malina and I...were going through a rough patch for a few months before she was struck by that car.”
Hearing him admit that much sent a chill down her spine. “What were you two fighting about?”
“Just the usual.” Pete’s voice was evasive. “Nothing major, but we had a big argument about a week before the accident. Now I wish I hadn’t yelled at her like that. It’s all I can think of now that she’s gone.”
Eva sensed Pete didn’t know about the five hundred dollars she’d found in Malina’s wallet. “I’m sorry to pry into your personal life, Pete. The reference to the stolen package is confusing to me. You’re sure you don’t know anything about a package?”
“I’m sure. I never saw Malina with a package.” Pete’s tone was firm. “Is Mikey really doing okay? I’m worried about how he’s adjusting.”
She glanced over her shoulder at the little boy liberally smeared with pasta sauce. “He’s holding up very well. Try not to worry about us.”
“This package business is worrisome,” Pete admitted. “Maybe I should just leave the conference and come home.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary and I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble with your boss. As the paramedic training coordinator, you have to learn what’s new. I have the police looking for Cocoa, and Mikey is doing great. I promise to call if that changes.”
“Yeah, okay. But please be careful, Eva. Mikey needs you now more than ever. You’re the only mother figure he has at the moment.”
Tears pricked her eyes at the concern in Pete’s tone. “I’
ll be very careful. See you in a few days, okay?”
“Yeah. Bye.”
Pete disconnected from the line and she stared at the blank screen of her phone for a long moment, her emotions churning. She couldn’t imagine what her brother-in-law was going through, losing his wife and becoming a single parent overnight. She was glad she could be there for him and for Mikey.
What was the usual stuff married couples fought about? Money? Spending time together? Or had Pete suspected drugs? She knew from her nursing roommates how the opioid crisis was infiltrating every corner of the city. How people got addicted to painkillers and, when they couldn’t get the pills any longer, turned to either heroin or cocaine because they were cheaper and easier to get.
Malina had got her appendix out about five months ago. Was it possible her sister had somehow become addicted to painkillers? An addiction that had sent her searching for something cheaper and more readily available?
“Eva? Everything okay?”
“Huh?” She lifted her head and focused her gaze on Finn. “Yes, fine. Pete doesn’t know anything about a package. And while he admitted to fighting with her over the usual stuff, whatever that means, he didn’t say a word about Malina using drugs.”
“Are you sure he’d tell you something like that?” Finn’s question cut through her like a knife.
“Yes, I’m sure.” She brushed past Finn to return to the kitchen although her appetite had vanished.
After Mikey was finished eating, she looked at the mess he’d made and sighed. “Bath time,” she said with a smile.
“I’ll clean up in here,” Finn offered. They hadn’t said much during the remainder of the meal.
“Thanks.” She picked up her nephew and carried him upstairs to the bathroom, wondering if Finn planned on re-searching the areas of the house she’d done. As a cop, she knew he had to be suspicious of everything, but it still hurt that he’d think the worst of her—and of Pete.
Mikey enjoyed splashing in the bathtub, and Eva had to smile at how he played with the bubbles. When the water went cool, she lifted him out, dried him off and dressed him in his jammies.
When she returned downstairs, she found Finn and Abernathy waiting in the now-spotless kitchen. “I didn’t want to leave without telling you.”
“Thanks for cleaning up.”
“I’ll come by to pick you and Mikey up again in the morning,” he offered. “Unless I’m called away for something.”
“Okay.” It seemed foolish to turn down a ride that was intended to keep her and Mikey safe. “Let me know.”
“I will.” Finn stared at her intently for a moment, then turned toward the door. “Come, Abernathy.”
“Bye, Abe,” Mikey called out.
“Bye, Mikey,” Finn said with a smile.
It was tempting to ask Finn and Abernathy to stay overnight, but she told herself that it wasn’t smart to get any more emotionally involved with Finn than she already was.
Still, after he left, the silence in the house seemed suffocating.
Just like the night before, she didn’t sleep well. Thankfully, Mikey slept through the night. She’d heard from Pete that he sometimes woke up with nightmares. Still, she couldn’t stop thinking about the moment the rock had crashed through her window and how she’d initially thought it might be the sound of gunfire.
As a result, Eva overslept, having fallen into a deep sleep at some time after three in the morning. She quickly showered and changed, and then fed Mikey cereal for breakfast. Finn arrived and drove them to Mikey’s preschool, and then he dropped her off at the training center.
“I’ll call to let you know if I’m able to drive you home, okay?” Finn’s expression reflected his regret. “Unfortunately, there are a few things going on that I have to take care of.”
“That’s fine,” she assured him. “I know you have a job to do.”
Though he looked like he wanted to argue, he simply nodded. She headed inside and spent the day working with George, the black Lab puppy who was a week younger than Cocoa. When Finn called to let her know he couldn’t pick her up, she understood.
Taking the subway for the first time since the incident at the training center was unnerving. The dark clouds hanging overhead, an indication of an impending rainstorm, only added to her depressed mood. She found herself acutely aware of the people around her. She didn’t smell the dusty, the raspy guy or the stinky, twangy guy, but for all she knew they’d sent someone else to watch over her.
Being surrounded by strangers was suffocating, and she couldn’t help wondering how she’d manage to ride the train once she’d lost her eyesight. Her determination to remain independent wavered in the face of what that really meant.
Moving around Queens, among the people and traffic, seemed a daunting task. Even with a guide dog. That was what she trained them to do, but experiencing it firsthand wouldn’t be easy.
Time ticked by slowly before she arrived at the subway stop near Mikey’s preschool. She exited the station and waited for the stoplight to turn green. After crossing the street, she headed down the sidewalk toward the preschool.
She smelled a hint of dust seconds before a man wearing black stepped out from between two buildings and grabbed her arm roughly, yanking her into the alley and up against the wall. He was behind her, so she couldn’t see his face.
“Did you find the package yet?” he whispered harshly in her ear.
“No, but I’m looking for it,” she admitted, realizing this was the raspy-voiced guy, the one who had tried to drag her into the black sedan. “I promise to keep searching.”
“You better look harder or you’ll never see that puppy again. And you never know who’ll be next.”
“I’m trying,” she insisted. Was the threat against her? Or Mikey?
The raspy guy yanked her from the wall and shoved her sideways. The momentum sent her falling hard against the concrete.
Her hands and knees stung from the force of the blow, but she ignored the pain, jumped up quickly and headed out to see which way he went.
The raspy guy was long gone. She struggled to breathe against a wave of panic. Fearing the stinky guy might be nearby, she turned and ran to the safety of Mikey’s preschool before using her phone to call Finn.
“Gallagher.”
She tried to control her racing heart. “It’s Eva. The raspy guy just threatened me, or maybe Mikey. I’m at the preschool now, but I need you to come and get us. Hurry!”
“I’ll be right there,” he promised.
“Thank you.” She disconnected from the call and leaned heavily against the wall near the doorway. Knowing Finn was on the way wasn’t as comforting as it should be.
You never know who’ll be next.
The subtle threat against her or, worse, a three-year-old boy was nearly her undoing. If anyone was the true innocent in all this, it was Mikey. These men wouldn’t stop until they got what they wanted.
No matter the cost.
SEVEN
“I have to go.” Finn glanced at a fellow K-9 cop, a rookie named Faith Johnson and her partner, Ricci, a German shepherd named after fallen Officer Anthony Ricci. They’d been searching the Rego Park area because someone had reported seeing a German shepherd running loose. The K-9 team had hoped the dog might be Jordan Jameson’s missing K-9 partner, Snapper. So far, they’d come up empty-handed. “You’ll be okay?”
“Yeah, Ricci and I will be fine.” Faith waved him off. “We’ll do one more sweep, then head back to headquarters before the storm.” She sighed. “I was really hoping to find Snapper.”
Finn nodded, but his mind wasn’t on the mystery surrounding the missing K-9. He needed to get over to Mikey’s preschool as soon as possible. Knowing that the raspy guy had accosted Eva and threatened her and Mikey so close to the preschool made his blood boil.
Bad enough that they�
�d dognapped Cocoa, but to threaten an innocent woman and a three-year-old child? The two men must be desperate to get their package back, and he knew only too well that desperate men did equally desperate things.
Traffic was horrible, and it hadn’t even started raining yet, but thankfully Rego Park wasn’t far from Forest Hills, so he made it to the preschool quickly. When he and Abernathy walked up, Eva came out from the doorway, where he surmised she’d watched and waited for him. Her eyes were wide with fear and horror.
He instinctively pulled her into his arms, cradling her close. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She nodded her head, her voice muffled against his chest. “Bruised and sore, that’s all.”
He closed his eyes, thanking God for keeping Eva safe. He never should have let her head home alone. He should have told her to wait for him until he’d finished searching for Snapper. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered.
“It’s not your fault.” She lifted her head to gaze up at him, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “I’m worried about Mikey. We have to find that stupid package, Finn. We have to!”
“Shh, it’s okay. We’ll keep looking, I promise.” He pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. “Mikey is inside?”
She sniffled, swiped at her eyes and nodded. “They were working on a finger-painting project for Father’s Day. Mikey wanted to finish it for his dad and told me it was to be a surprise. I assured him I’d wait for you and Abernathy. I also called Pete, but he didn’t answer so I left a message. I didn’t go into detail, because I didn’t want to panic him, but I told him to call me back as soon as possible.”
Finn nodded and glanced around the sidewalk. “Show me where this went down.”
Eva looked a little nervous, so he took her hand in his, noting the rough abrasions on her palm. She led him two blocks away from the preschool and gestured to the narrow alleyway between two buildings. “Here. He grabbed me as I was walking past and shoved me up against the brick building.”
Thinking about how frightened she must have been had him clenching his jaw to keep his temper in check. As if the bruise darkening her cheek wasn’t bad enough, these guys just kept coming after her. He swept his gaze around the area, but there was nothing resembling a clue as to who raspy guy might be. Finn wished he had the tire iron that was used at the guide dog training center with raspy guy’s scent on it, but he’d left it at the crime lab.