“This warrant gives us permission, regardless of your boss says,” Finn pointed out. “You can either help us out, or we’ll just go back there on our own. Your choice.”
Yasmine looked indecisive for a moment, then shrugged. “Okay. I’ll get the master key and make sure the locker room is empty so you can go in.”
“Thanks for your cooperation, Yasmine.” Finn waited until she went to clear the locker room before glancing at Zach. “Eddie pick up anything?”
“Negative.”
“The contents of the locker might be exactly what we’re looking for,” Finn said in a low voice.
“I hope so,” Zach agreed.
“It’s all clear,” Yasmine announced. She held the locker-room door open and handed Finn a key. “I’ll keep everyone out until you’re finished.”
“Thanks.” He and Zach took their respective K-9s inside the women’s locker room. They found locker twenty-six without trouble, and Finn could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he opened the locker door.
But all he found were sweaty clothes, a bag of makeup and other toiletries. No package.
“Hey, what’s this?” Zach put his pinky finger against some white powder clinging to the corner of the locker.
Eddie alerted on the scent and Finn nodded grimly. “We’ll bag that as evidence, too, and compare it to the other samples.”
“Will do.”
The trace of cocaine wasn’t what he’d been hoping for; yet, knowing Malina had kept her gym membership was an interesting tidbit of information.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have any way to link Eva’s stinky guy to the gym. Finn began to despair they’d ever find Cocoa.
Or the man searching so desperately for the missing package.
TWELVE
Eva told herself to stop staring at her phone, waiting for Finn to return her call. He was busy working the case, which was the most important thing right now. Not getting Mikey’s finger painting framed.
When her phone rang, she pounced on it. Disappointment washed over her when she saw Pete’s name on the screen. “Hi, how was your flight?”
“I’m in Chicago, but there’s an engine problem with the plane so we have to wait for a replacement.” Sharp frustration laced his tone. “It’s as if everything is working against me this trip.”
“I’m sorry, Pete, but please know that things here are fine.” She found herself wishing Pete might find some solace in prayer, but she didn’t say anything. She was too new to the idea of praying. “I haven’t let Mikey out of my sight and we still have a squad car sitting in the driveway.”
“Yeah, I know.” Pete sighed heavily. “It’s just that I need to be there, to hold Mikey close. I never should have left him—” He broke off what he was about to say, but Eva could easily fill in the blank.
“With me,” she said.
“That’s not what I meant,” Pete interjected, backpedaling.
“No, it’s okay. I’d probably feel the same way if our situation was reversed. And Mikey was taken right under my nose. I never should have turned my back on him, even for a second.”
“Don’t, Eva, please?” The pent-up frustration left Pete’s tone. “If you blame yourself, then I have to take my share, too. This is all related to Malina stealing some package, which makes me culpable. I should have known something was seriously wrong between us. Should have figured out she might be involved in something criminal. The way she was going through money...” He didn’t finish his thought.
“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.