Blind Trust. Laura Scott
to say grace.
“Dear Lord, we thank You for this food we are about to eat. We also thank You for keeping Eva safe in Your care. Please provide us the wisdom and guidance to find Cocoa, too. Amen.”
There was a brief pause before Eva murmured, “Amen.”
Mikey had already taken a bite of pizza, completely oblivious to the prayer. Finn smiled and made a mental note to include the boy next time.
Whoa, wait a minute. Next time? There wasn’t going to be a next time! He was only here because Eva had been attacked twice in one day.
This might look like a nice cozy scene, but Eva wasn’t his woman and Mikey wasn’t his son.
“Finn?”
He looked up from his food, belatedly realizing he was staring at it without making the slightest effort to eat. “What is it?”
“Do you think we’ll be okay here?”
“I think so, yes.” He picked up a slice of pizza and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. He didn’t want to say too much in front of the boy. “It’s probably better for you to be here than at your own place.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “I hope so.”
“How many people know that your brother-in-law is out of town?”
“My roommates know, of course. So does my boss.” She nibbled at her pizza.
“How long will he be gone?”
“About six more days, he left yesterday. He’s a paramedic and firefighter, stationed not far from Mercy Medical Center here in Queens. He’s their trainer, and there’s some new strategies about caring for patients in the field he has to learn, so they sent him to Atlanta.” She was silent for a moment before adding, “It wasn’t easy for him to leave so soon after...” Her voice trailed off.
Finn nodded his understanding. He couldn’t imagine losing your wife and then leaving your son behind as you went off on a business trip. “It’s great that you’re able to be here for Mikey.”
“Yes.” Her smile held a hint of sadness. “Between the two of us, we’ll help him through this.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to ask about God and faith, but then remembered how she hadn’t immediately joined him in saying grace. Maybe that was part of his role here. Not just to protect her, but to help Eva understand God’s grace and the power of prayer.
Mikey played with his food, pretending his slice of pizza was a plane and dive-bombing his silverware. Crumbs from the pizza crust were falling everywhere, and he noticed that Abernathy had taken up residence next to Mikey’s chair, gobbling up every morsel the kid dropped.
Finn tried not to wince. Normally Abernathy wouldn’t eat from anyone other than him, but with his vest off, he obviously thought Mikey’s crumbs were fair game.
“Don’t play with your food,” Eva said, putting her hand on Mikey’s arm. “Are you full? Or do you want to eat some more?”
“Eat,” Mikey said, popping what was left of his pizza into his mouth. “Can I visit Cocoa?”
Eva froze, her gaze locking onto his. She drew in a shaky breath, then told the little boy the truth, “I’m sorry to say Cocoa is lost, Mikey, so you can’t visit now. But Officer Finn is going to work really hard to find him.”
“Yes, I will.” Finn wasn’t exactly sure how he would accomplish that feat since he didn’t have a clue where to start. Earlier, he’d taken Eva’s keys with him back to the station and had asked Ilona, the lab tech, to run the DNA. Once those results came back, they’d know if the perp who’d hit Eva was in the system or not. But how long would that take? Despite what was portrayed on TV, fast turnaround times for DNA happened only in rare circumstances. A puppy-napping wouldn’t be high on the list.
“I’m sorry about what happened this morning,” he said. He couldn’t imagine what he’d do if someone took Abernathy from him. The dog was more than just his partner.
Abernathy was the only family Finn had since his father had passed away last year. The other K-9 officers were like his brothers, but Abernathy was more than that. The K-9 was his best friend.
“I know.” She offered a lopsided smile. He knew she was worried about more than just Cocoa’s fate.
“I’ll take a look around the place when we’re finished,” Finn offered. “See if there are any extra security measures I can add.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Eva said gratefully. “I know we’re probably fine here, but I don’t want to take any chances.”
He wanted to offer to stay there with her but knew he shouldn’t get too emotionally involved. Bad enough that he was tempted to ask her out for dinner and maybe a movie. What was it about her that made him want to toss his two-date, nothing-serious dating rules out the window?
Five minutes later it was clear Mikey was finished eating. Eva washed tomato sauce off his face and his hands, then lifted him down to the floor. Finn finished his meal so he could help clean up.
“I’ll take care of it,” she said, shooing him away with a wave of her hand. “Do me a favor and check things out, would you? I know I’m being paranoid, but I want to be sure we’re safe.”
“No problem.” Finn moved through the house, taking note of the layout. A living room was located through the doorway from the kitchen, along with a small bathroom and a bedroom. From what he could tell, the bedroom was used as a playroom, toys strewed everywhere.
There were steps leading up to the second floor, where he surmised the other bedrooms were located.
Sure enough, he found two bedrooms separated by a full bathroom. The master suite didn’t look frilly, and he wondered if Pete had already got rid of things that reminded him of his dead wife. Crossing the room, he looked out the window. Just as he’d suspected, there was a narrow fenced-in area containing a patio in which a turtle-shaped sandbox was located. There was a grill out there, too, perfect for spending summer evenings outside.
He did the same routine in Mikey’s room. A look out the window revealed a wooden trellis from beneath his window to the ground. The window had a sturdy lock, but he wondered if there was something more he could do to prevent anyone from using the trellis to gain access inside. It might not hold a man’s weight, but he didn’t want to take any chances.
Finn made his way back downstairs to the main level. He found Mikey in the playroom. Abernathy was stretched out on the floor, his tail thumping against the linoleum.
Eva joined him a few minutes later. “Any thoughts?”
Finn glanced at her. “Just the trellis against the wall outside Mikey’s window.” He kept his voice low so the little boy wouldn’t overhear.
Her blue eyes clouded with fear. “Maybe I’ll have him sleep in the master suite for the rest of the week.”
“Not a bad idea,” he agreed. “I’ll call the 110th Precinct and ask for cops to drive by on a regular basis.”
“That would be nice.” Once again her smile was sad, and Finn found himself wishing there was a way he could lighten the burden she seemed to be carrying around with her.
“Auntie Eva, look!” Mikey picked up the small furry stuffed replica of Cocoa she’d given to him the day she started working with the puppy. “Here’s my Cocoa. I wanna play with your Cocoa.”
Finn knew that a missing puppy was a difficult concept for a three-year-old boy to understand, and Eva glanced at him as if she wasn’t sure how much to tell her nephew.
Since he was hardly an expert on little kids, he had no clue, either.
“I already told you, sweetie, Cocoa is missing,” Eva said gently. “He’s lost, but Officer Finn and Abernathy here are going to