Blind Trust. Laura Scott

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      “I don’t know,” she hedged. “I don’t think it will help. I honestly didn’t get a good look at his face.” Her lack of enthusiasm toward working with the sketch artist bothered him. Where was the woman who had insisted on coming with him to find Cocoa?

      “Give it a try,” he persisted. “It can’t hurt.”

      There was a long pause before she gave a curt nod. “Okay. But please don’t pin all your hopes on the sketch. The keys I used to scratch him with will likely help more than the brief glimpse I got of him.”

      “DNA takes time, and if this guy isn’t already in the system, having it won’t help until we get a suspect to use as a potential match. The sketch is a better place to start.”

      “Okay.”

      He held the door of the training center open for her, wondering once again why Cocoa had been targeted. The pup was only ten weeks old—what was the point of stealing him? Especially since there were other, more valuable dogs in the kennel?

      Did someone have a grudge against the training center? Had the pup been taken as a way to ruin their reputation? He made a mental note to ask Wade Yost for a list of employees who had been fired in the past year.

      Finn waited fifteen minutes before Wade showed up. The director was roughly five feet eight inches tall with a husky build. He had dirty-blond hair and nondescript features.

      “Eva? What happened? How did you let Cocoa get away?” Yost demanded.

      “I tried my best to prevent it,” Eva said. “I’m sorry.”

      “The man attacked her,” Finn said, speaking up on her behalf. He shot the director of the training facility a narrow glare. “She’s fortunate she wasn’t seriously injured or killed.”

      “Yes, of course,” Yost said, backpedaling. “Eva, I’m so sorry you were hurt. Do you want to take the rest of the day off?”

      Finn glanced at her and she rubbed a hand over her shoulder.

      “Maybe. But first Officer Gallagher wants to see the security video.”

      “Yes, I do,” Finn said. “And you don’t seem to have a security system, correct?”

      “With all the dogs in here, didn’t think I’d need one.” Wade Yost led the way to his office and the computer screens he had sitting on a table in the corner. The director went over and pulled up the video feed, going back a few hours. There was no sound from the video, and a heavy silence fell among them as they watched.

      Finn rested his hand on Abernathy’s silky head. He saw Eva entering the guide dog training facility through the front door. The cameras were only on the outside of the building, not on the inside. They waited, watching various cars driving by on the street, as the timer clicked through. Nine minutes later, the door abruptly swung open and a man dressed in black rushed out. The guy instantly turned left, the same way Abernathy had tracked him, then disappeared from view. The man’s face was averted, a ball cap pulled low on his forehead as if he’d known exactly where the camera was located.

      “Do you have another camera?” Finn asked. “Something pointing down the street?”

      “Afraid not,” Yost said. “The other camera points to the parking lot in the back of the building.”

      “That might show him breaking in,” Eva pointed out.

      Yost went to work pulling up that security feed. As Finn watched, he could see a tall man wearing black from head to toe, along with the baseball hat pulled over his brow, coming out from behind a dumpster. He again kept his head down as he made his way to the back door. Using the tire iron, he opened it up and disappeared inside. Once again, the angle of the camera made it impossible to see his face beneath the rim of the cap.

      Finn blew out a frustrated breath. “I want copies of the video going as far back as you have it.”

      “Should be about a week’s worth,” Yost said. “Maybe eight days at the max.”

      Great, that was just great. The video they had wasn’t helpful, and Eva hadn’t got a good look at the guy. He’d still have Eva work with a sketch artist, but at this point they had very few clues.

      Finn turned toward Eva’s boss. “Tell me, do you have a list of employees who were let go in the past twelve months?”

      “Uh, yeah, sure.” Yost looked uncomfortable as he glanced at Eva, then back at Finn. “I’ll, um, get that for you.”

      Yost rummaged around in his desk drawer, then pulled out a sheet of paper. He glanced again at Eva before handing it over. “You’ll, uh, keep that confidential, won’t you?” he asked.

      “Of course.” Finn didn’t understand why the guy was so uncomfortable until he scanned the list, his gaze stumbling across a familiar name.

      Malina Kendall-Stallings.

      Eva’s older sister.

       TWO

      Eva could feel Finn’s intense gaze boring into her and desperately wished she could see him more clearly. Unfortunately, he was standing with his back to the large window overlooking the street, and the light coming in behind him cast a shadow over his face.

      “Is something wrong?” she asked, finally breaking the strained silence.

      “No, of course not.” Carefully, Finn folded the paper her boss had given him and tucked it into his pocket. “Wade, do you mind if I take Eva down to the station with me? I’d like her to work with a sketch artist. We need all the help we can get identifying this assailant in order to get Cocoa back.”

      “That’s fine,” Wade agreed. “Eva, why don’t you take the rest of the day off? You were planning to leave early anyway, right?”

      “Yes, I was.” Normally working with the animals relaxed her, but since her brother-in-law, Pete Stallings, had just left town to attend a conference, she needed to pick up her three-year-old nephew, Mikey, from his preschool program. Spending extra time with him would be nice. The poor little boy was struggling after his mother’s death just three weeks ago.

      She picked up her purse from the counter, wishing there was a way to get out of going with Finn. She really didn’t want to work with the police sketch artist, knowing that what little she’d been able to see of the man wasn’t enough to recreate a good likeness. Yet she wasn’t about to reveal her degenerative eyesight issues to Finn Gallagher, either. She knew only too well that men treated her differently once they discovered the truth. Sure, her ex-fiancé, Rafe Del Rosa, had denied breaking off their relationship because of her diagnosis, but she knew the truth.

      Rafe was an artist and the ability to see was very important to him. The fact that one day she wouldn’t be able to see or appreciate his work had bothered him. Considering they’d met at one of his art exhibits, she could somewhat understand.

      Despite what she’d heard on the rare times her parents had taken them to church, love did not conquer all.

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