Blind Trust

by Laura Scott

  “We were both close to Malina,” Eva pointed out. “How about we stop playing the blame game and do our best to move forward from here?”

  “I’ll try.” There was a pause before he added, “I’ll text you when we finally have a plane so you can figure out when my flight might get in.”

  “Okay, see you later, then.”

  Eva set her phone aside and went to the playroom to check on Mikey. He was curled up in a beanbag chair, his eyes drooping as a Disney movie played on the television. She knew the little boy hadn’t got much sleep last night between bouts of nightmares, so she left him alone, returning to the kitchen.

  She’d taken a package of chicken breasts out of the freezer, determined to make at least one home-cooked meal for her nephew. She found one of Malina’s recipes for a cheesy chicken and veggies dish that looked easy enough.

  Finn returned her call a few minutes later. “Hey, I’m getting ready to leave headquarters. I should be there within twenty minutes or so, and we can leave for the custom-framing craft shop whenever it’s convenient for you.”

  She was glad Finn wasn’t there to see the silly smile that had bloomed on her face. “Mikey’s taking a nap now, but I don’t expect him to sleep for long. Oh, and I’m cooking dinner—nothing fancy, but hopefully edible. You’re welcome to join us.”

  “I’d love to.” Her silly smile widened at his words. “See you soon.”

  “Bye.” Once again, she set her phone aside, then turned toward the food items she had sitting on the counter. Determined to prove she wasn’t a complete imbecile in the kitchen, she painstakingly followed the recipe and then set the covered dish in the fridge so she could bake it in the oven later.

  “Auntie Eva, I’m hungry.” Mikey’s plaintive tone had her moving quickly to the playroom. She scooped the boy into her arms and kissed his cheek.

  “How about a snack while we wait for Officer Finn?”

  Mikey perked up. “We’re going to get my picture framed for Daddy?”

  “Yes, we are.” After all the excitement from the night before, having normal plans for the evening seemed strange. There was a small part of her that feared leaving the house, but she shrugged it off. Finn wouldn’t let either of them out of his sight, and they’d have Abernathy with them, too. “We’ll do that first, then when we get back home we’ll have dinner.”

  Mikey nodded. “Pizza?”

  “No, I’m making dinner tonight, one of your mommy’s recipes.”

  Mikey’s lower lip trembled, and she instantly wished she hadn’t mentioned his mother.

  “It’s okay, Mikey. Your mommy is here, in your heart.” She tapped his chest lightly. “She’ll always love you.”

  Mikey patted his chest, too, following her lead. “Is my daddy coming home? Or is he in my heart, too?”

  “Oh, sweetie.” Her heart ached for the little boy. “Your daddy is in your heart, but he’ll also be home tonight, hopefully before you go to bed. But even if he can’t get home until later, he’ll give you a hug and a kiss when he arrives, okay?”

  “Okay.” Mikey seemed mollified by that, and she let out a soundless sigh, feeling good that the impending crisis had been adverted. For now.

  She gave Mikey animal crackers and milk for his snack and put the finger painting off to the side of the table, in case of a spill. Finn arrived ahead of schedule, Eva greeted him with a warm smile.

  “You made good time.”

  “I did.” Finn took a moment to fill Abernathy’s water dish, then came over to ruffle Mikey’s hair. “Hey, buddy. Ready to head out to get your picture framed?”

  “Yes!” Mikey’s tone was full of excitement.

  “All right, then. If you’re finished with your snack, we can leave.”

  “Goody!” Mikey squirmed out of his booster seat and the three of them, along with Abernathy, went outside.

  The drive to the craft store took longer than picking out a frame. While they waited in the checkout line with the finished product, an older woman smiled at them. “Oh, look at that, your son made a family portrait! How sweet.”

  Eva smiled and nodded, not bothering to correct the woman’s assumption that Mikey’s drawing was of the three of them. But when Finn glanced at her and winked, she blushed.

  Finn’s carefree attitude confused her. His playfulness was helpful during times of stress, and at other times, like now, it seemed to be his way of telling her not to take this—whatever it was between them—too seriously.

  Just another reminder of how she needed to protect herself from becoming emotionally attached.

  * * *

  Finn loved the way Eva blushed and had to stop himself from stealing a kiss right there in the middle of the store. The framed finger painting turned out better than he’d expected, and he hoped Pete Stallings knew how fortunate he was to have a son like Mikey.

  Despite digging deep into Pete’s background, he hadn’t found anything suspicious. That fact didn’t preclude Stallings from being guilty, but proving the guy was involved in his wife’s death or with drug dealing in general would be impossible without some hard evidence.

  When Eva had told him about Pete being delayed in Chicago, his doubt around the guy’s innocence in this mess had grown exponentially. One man couldn’t have that much trouble flying home from a trip, could he? Sure, anything was possible, but Finn wasn’t buying it. Not yet. Not until they knew for certain who was behind the attempts against Eva and Mikey.

  Maybe once Pete was back in Queens, he’d slip up somehow, giving Finn and his K-9 team the proof they needed.

  Stallings wasn’t the only lead he was following up on. The Fitness Club was another angle. He couldn’t dismiss the possibility that Eva’s stinky guy was also a member and maybe even had met Malina there. Finding the cocaine in her locker wasn’t a total surprise, but he’d really hoped to have found the missing package, even though he knew the stinky guy might have already tried to search there for it. If he could find a way into the women’s locker room without being seen.

  The longer it took to find the package, the more convinced he was that there was no package to find. Malina had already used the drugs or the money for herself.

  “Finn? We’re ready.”

  Eva’s voice broke into his thoughts. He glanced over in surprise to see her holding Mikey on her hip and the framed picture under her arm. He’d followed them through the checkout line, but he’d been so lost in thought he hadn’t realized Eva had finished up at checkout.

  “Sorry, here, let me carry that for you.” He took the picture from her and led the way outside. They had to walk a few blocks to his SUV, and he made sure to keep an eye out for any sign of danger as they did so. His gaze landed on a black four-door sedan, but it disappeared from view before he could catch a glimpse of the driver. Was the stinky guy following them? The possibility was like a fist squeezing his heart.

  No way was he going to allow anything to happen to Mikey. Or to Eva.

  He opened the back of his white SUV for Abernathy and then tucked the framed painting on the floor. Eva buckled Mikey into his car seat.

  The ride back to Pete’s house was filled with Mikey’s chatter. Eva carried Mikey inside, leaving Finn to follow with Abernathy and the framed picture.

  “It will just take me a minute to pop this into the oven,” she said in the kitchen, pulling a shallow baking pan from the fridge. “Dinner will be ready soon. Oh, and would you mind helping me wrap this for Mikey and Pete?”

  “I don’t mind at all. Give me a minute to take care of my partner.” He noticed Abernathy standing at the door, looking over at him as if to say, What’s taking so long?

  “Coming,” he said, talking to Abernathy as he always did. Some might think he was weird for talking to his dog. For a long time it had just been him and Abernathy. Until he’d met Eva.

  Now all he could think abou
t was her. Seeing her. Kissing her. Spending time with her.

  If he didn’t watch out, he’d fall in love with her.

  The notion of being in love was something he’d never really believed in. His parents hadn’t been shining examples of everlasting love. And while he’d watched a few his colleagues claim to be in love, he wasn’t sure how they knew their feelings were real or whether those feelings would survive the bad times, despite the wedding vows that claimed otherwise.

  All women weren’t like his mother. But he also knew that cops had the highest divorce rate of any profession. Not just because of the unpredictable nature of the job, but also because cops witnessed firsthand the horrific things people could do to each other.

  Often, a case took a piece of a cop’s heart, until there was nothing left for himself, much less his family.

  When Abernathy finished with his nature call, Finn cleaned up the mess and went back inside. He left Abernathy with Mikey and went into the bathroom to wash up.

  “Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes,” Eva said when he walked into the kitchen. The way she twisted her hands together betrayed her nervousness. “I used Malina’s recipe, so there’s no reason it shouldn’t turn out.”

  “I’m sure it will be delicious,” he assured her. “Now, where’s that wrapping paper?”

  It was a good thing nobody was there to critique their wrapping job, because it left a lot to be desired. His fingers tangled with Eva’s more than once, and they both ended up with tape and bits of paper stuck to their skin.

  Listening to Eva laughing at the final product made Finn realize how little she’d had to laugh about in the past few days. Since the day he’d met her, she’d faced one struggle after another.

  He made a silent promise to work harder at bringing her joy.

  The atmosphere in the kitchen was homey as he cleaned up the mess on the table and Eva took the cheesy chicken out of the oven.

  “Mikey, time for dinner,” Finn called. “Abernathy, come.”

  His K-9 partner came into the kitchen with Mikey, grabbing at the dog’s tail, hot on his heels. “Don’t hurt Abe,” Finn warned.

  “I won’t. I love Abe.” As if to prove it, Mikey put his arms around the animal’s neck and gave him a kiss. Abernathy licked him in response.

  “Up you go.” Finn lifted Mikey into his booster seat. “Don’t forget we have to pray,” he told the child.

  “I won’t forget.” Mikey leaned over to see the dog, who’d taken up his usual position as sentry on duty beside Mikey’s chair. Abernathy was too well trained to beg, but he wasn’t going to allow any food to hit the floor for long, either.

  In a matter of minutes the table was set and the steamy cheesy chicken bake was in the center of the table.

  “This time, I’d like to say grace,” Eva said as she took her seat beside Finn.

  “Of course,” he agreed, pleased she’d taken the lead. He took her hand in his and then grasped Mikey’s hand. To his surprise, Mikey reached down to put his other hand on Abernathy’s head, as if including his partner in their prayer.

  “Dear Lord, thanks for keeping Mikey safe. Please help Finn and the other officers working the case find the men responsible for their crimes. Please continue to keep us safe. Amen.”

  “Amen,” Finn echoed.

  “And Abe, too,” Mikey added. “Amen.”

  That made Finn laugh, and he was grateful that Eva smiled, as well. Mission accomplished, he thought.

  He helped cut up Mikey’s food and then took a bite. “Yum, this is fantastic.”

  Eva blushed again and shook her head. “It’s Malina’s recipe, not mine.”

  “Better than takeout any day.” He didn’t like the way she put herself down and made a mental note to talk about that later. Her phone chirped and he glanced at her expectantly.

  “Pete texted me that he’s on the plane heading home,” she said and set the phone aside. “He probably won’t land here until nine o’clock, though.”

  “I can pick him up at the airport,” he offered, thinking it might be a good time to question the guy about his relationship with Malina and the missing package.

  “Oh, no, that’s too much of a bother. Pete told me he’ll call a car service.”

  “Okay.” Finn figured he’d wait here for Pete to get home and talk to him then. “I may stick around for a while if you don’t mind. I have some computer work to take care of.”

  “Fine with me.”

  After finishing their dinner, Finn helped clear the table while Eva took care of Mikey. It was beyond Finn how the kid always managed to get food in his hair, but Eva didn’t seem to mind taking him upstairs to give him a bath.

  Abernathy licked his chops and sniffed along the floor as if looking for any spare crumb he might have missed. Once Finn had the dishes taken care of, he took Abernathy outside again, looking around to make sure the house wasn’t being watched by anyone nearby. Thankfully, there was no sign of the black sedan. Finn grabbed his laptop from the SUV and carried it inside.

  He set up a makeshift office along one side of the kitchen table. Listening to Eva and Mikey with one ear, he booted up the laptop and began organizing his notes.

  If the three separate cocaine samples from the upstairs bathroom, Malina’s locker and the apartment Roach was using all matched, that would mean the cocaine had come from the same batch. How could he use that to their advantage? He listed off the questions as they popped into his head.

  Had Malina worked for Roach? What was her job? To sell the drugs or to simply transport them from one place to another? Was she involved in handling the cash inflows? Why had she taken the package from Roach and his accomplice? For personal use? Or to sell on her own? Had she really thought she could get away with doing something like that without repercussions?

  He stared at the list of questions, thinking about how Malina had got fired from the guide dog training center yet had maintained her Fitness Club gym membership. What other secrets had she kept hidden from those closest to her? Remembering the five hundred dollars Eva had found in Malina’s bag, he couldn’t help but believe there had been many.

  But the real question revolved around motive. Why would Malina get involved with these guys in the first place? She had a husband, a beautiful son, a job at the guide dog training center. Why risk it all?

  He turned his attention to the list of patrons that had been provided by the woman behind the desk at The Fitness Club. He’d had to fax in a court order for the list and she’d immediately sent it to him.

  Scanning the names of gym members was depressing. There were so many of them, and even if he split the list in half, he had over 250 men’s names to sift through.

  Frustrated, he closed the document as Eva entered the kitchen. “Something wrong?”

  “Other than that I’m sitting here spinning my wheels on this case? Not at all.”

  “No new evidence today?”

  He hesitated, not sure he should be confiding in her. Sure, Eva was a victim in this crime, but it was an ongoing and active investigation. She deserved to know the truth, but he wasn’t so certain his boss would agree. “Not really.”

  “I thought Roach wanted to make a deal?”

  “He will, but his lawyer was tied up today and the DA’s office wants to be involved, so we aren’t set up to meet until tomorrow.”

  “Bummer.” Eva sighed and then yawned. “Oops. Sorry. I guess my lack of sleep is catching up to me.”

  He longed to take her into his arms but forced himself to stay where he was. This attraction he felt toward her was getting out of control. Maybe it was time to pack up and head home. Pete would be here in an hour or so and he had a cop stationed outside the house. There was really no reason to stay here with Eva like this.

  Mikey and Abernathy came running into the room. “Can Abe sleep with me tonight? Ple
ase?” Mikey looked squeaky-clean in his Superman pajamas.

  “Oh, I’m not sure that’s allowed,” Eva said, responding before he had a chance. “Abe is a police dog, not a pet.”

  “But I wanna sleep with Abe so I won’t be scared.” The little boy’s clear blue eyes were wide and pleading.

  “You can sleep with Abe for a little while,” Finn offered. “Until I need to head home.”

  “Yay! Thanks, Officer Finn.” Mikey ran over and gave Finn a hug. Finn kissed the top of the boy’s head, breathing in the comforting scent of baby shampoo.

  “You’re welcome.” He cleared his throat and glanced at Eva. “I won’t be in your hair for much longer.”

  She gave him an odd look and simply nodded. “Come on, Mikey. I’ll read you a bedtime story.”

  The kitchen felt empty after they left, and it occurred to Finn how much he’d grown accustomed to having Eva and Mikey around. Annoyed with himself, he turned his attention back to his work.

  As he reviewed the information he’d dug up on The Fitness Club, he stumbled across the name of Grant Ulrich. Ulrich, Ulrich.

  Why was that name so familiar?

  He pulled a thick file from his computer case and began searching through the paperwork he had in there from other drug-related cases. In particular, from the recent drug bust Zach Jameson had uncovered at LaGuardia.

  There! He pulled a sheet of paper from the pack and stabbed the name with his index finger. Grant Ulrich. Not only did he own The Fitness Club but also the furniture store, located near the airport and found to be central to the drug-smuggling operation.

  Was The Fitness Club another undercover operation for dealing and smuggling drugs?

  THIRTEEN

  Eva read Mikey one of his favorite bedtime stories, touched by how the little boy snuggled up against Abernathy. When Mikey finally drifted off to sleep, she set the book aside and watched him for a moment.