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 about 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.”