“Listen, Eva, I need your full attention on training these pups. I have owners who have paid a lot of money for guide dogs and they’re expecting results.”
“I know, I know.” She didn’t understand why Wade was getting upset over one additional day off. “I’ll be in tomorrow,” she repeated. Without giving Wade time to argue, she disconnected from the line. She understood this was all getting to her boss, but she was under even more stress than he was. Normally he didn’t mind when she adjusted her schedule as needed.
She hoped the guide dog training center wasn’t having financial difficulties. She decided to ask Wade about it tomorrow when she reported in for work.
By late morning, Mikey was getting bored. “I wanna go to preschool,” he whined. “I miss my friends.”
“Not today,” she said, glancing at her watch. How she’d keep Mikey occupied indoors for the rest of the day was beyond her. The rain from yesterday had moved on, leaving bright sunlight behind. “Tell you what? I’ll see if Officer Finn will take us to get your Father’s Day finger painting framed when he’s finished with work. How does that sound?”
The boy nodded eagerly. “Okay.”
Before she could call Finn, her phone rang. She answered immediately when she noticed Pete’s name on the screen. “Hi. Are you on your way home?”
“Just getting on a flight in the next thirty minutes,” her brother-in-law responded. “The earlier flight was overbooked, so I had to wait until this one that’s scheduled to go out at noon. The storm messed up a lot of flights, so I’m stuck with a layover in Chicago. I probably won’t get in until well after dinnertime.” There was a pause, then Pete asked, “How is Mikey?”
“He’s fine. Truly. I kept him home from preschool and we have a cop stationed outside. We’re safe, don’t worry. Do you want to talk to him?”
“Yeah.” Pete sounded choked up, and she could only imagine how difficult it must have been for him to be in stuck in Atlanta while knowing his son had been kidnapped.
“Mikey, say hi to your daddy.” She turned the phone so that the little boy could see his father’s face.
“Hi, Daddy!” Mikey waved at his father. “Are you coming home soon?”
“Yes, Mikey. Very soon. I’ll be there before you go to bed tonight.”
“I have a surprise for you,” Mikey said eagerly.
“Don’t tell him,” Eva cautioned. “Remember? It’s a secret for Father’s Day.”
“I can’t wait to see your surprise, Mikey.” Pete’s voice grew husky. “I love you and will see you soon, okay?”
“Okay. Bye, Daddy!” Mikey waved again, and this time Eva could see Pete’s eyes were moist.
“Bye, son. I’ll call you when I land, Eva,” Pete added.
“I’ll talk to you then.” She disconnected from the call, knowing that once Pete returned she’d have to go back to her place. After the rock incident, she’d convinced her friends to stay at a hotel for a couple of nights.
She could stay at a hotel, too, but didn’t like being in a strange place overnight. Her night vision wasn’t great, and she always ended up walking into furniture in the dark. She preferred being at home, among her own things and where she was familiar with the layout of each and every room.
Something to worry about later. She called Finn, but he didn’t answer. She left a quick message related to Mikey’s request to get his painting framed, then chastised herself for bothering Finn while he was at work.
This attachment she’d formed with Finn couldn’t go anywhere. She knew it. He knew it. They might be attracted to each other, but that didn’t mean they needed to do anything about it.
Once they’d arrested the stinky guy with the Southern twang and got Cocoa back, she wouldn’t be seeing Finn any longer.
And that was exactly the way it should be.
* * *
Finn spent the morning getting caught up. He focused on writing up his report of Mikey’s kidnapping and subsequent rescue, a task that took longer than he’d anticipated. When he finished with that, he followed up on the other outstanding issues. The news related to the paper-covered rock that had sailed through Eva’s window wasn’t good. No fingerprints, nothing unusual about the paper or the color printer the photo had been printed from.