“Thanks.”
Leaving Finn to look through Wade’s office, something she’d rather not do anyway, Eva went through the small reception area. There weren’t many hiding places in general, and she found nothing in any of the drawers located along the right-hand side of the desk.
The dogs’ barking was getting on her nerves, so after verifying there was no sign of the mysterious package, she went back to the kennel area.
“It’s okay,” she crooned. “It’s just me.”
The dogs continued to bark, wanting out of their kennels. She didn’t blame them. Seeing them like this was always difficult for her. The puppies stayed alone in the kennels during their basic training, starting when they are eight weeks old, until they were twelve weeks old. Once that was finished, they went with trainers to be fostered for almost a year before returning to the center for formal training. Still, it wasn’t easy to turn her back on them.
“Find anything?” she asked, returning to the office area.
“Just another bit of white powder.” Finn held up an evidence bag. Eva squinted at it and saw a few grains of what might be cocaine.
“No package?”
“Nope.” Finn tucked the evidence bag into his pocket, his expression reflected his frustration. “There must be somewhere else to search. Why else would Malina have a key?”
“There’s a storeroom in the back near the kennels,” she offered. “It’s mostly filled with dog food and treats, along with some spare supplies.”
Finn’s green eyes brightened with excitement. “Show me.”
She led the way back toward the kennels and opened the supply closet. They never kept it locked since it didn’t house anything of real value, unless you counted the dog food.
Thinking of that made her worry about Cocoa. Did the stinky guy still have the puppy? Was he taking care of the animal? Feeding him regularly? Was stinky guy aware that puppies needed to be fed twice a day? It was horrible to think that Cocoa might be suffering at the hands of the man who would clearly do anything to get his stolen package back.
She prayed that Cocoa wasn’t being mistreated and would be returned safe and sound.
Soon.
There wasn’t a lot of space in the closet for two people and a K-9 partner, so she stayed back and let Finn perform the search. Abernathy was excited about the supply closet, no doubt smelling the food and treats within. Starting at the top, Finn moved everything around on the shelves, looked into a large box of doggy treats and made his way to the bottom shelves. There was a giant bag of dog food in the corner and she saw him eyeing it speculatively.
“You’re not planning to dump all the food out, are you?”
“Yeah, I am.” He hauled the bag toward him, shooing Abernathy out of the way. “The bottom of a bag of dog food would be a great hiding place.”
“Until the bag is empty,” she argued. Glancing around, she looked for something to use. “You can’t just toss the food on the floor.”
“Give me a minute to feel around in there.” He shoved his hand into the bag, wiggling it all the way down until his entire arm was encased in brown pellets. A few were knocked onto the floor and quickly gobbled up by Abernathy.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, her lips curved into a smile. Finn looked ridiculous, and she didn’t for one minute believe that Malina had buried the stolen package in the bottom of a bag of dog food.
“Can you find something I can use to empty part of the bag?” He glanced over his shoulder, frowning when he noticed her grin. “What’s so funny?”
“You. This.” She waved a hand. “Give it up, Finn. We don’t have anything to put all this food in. If we did, we wouldn’t keep it in the bag. Besides, you’re not thinking logically. How would Malina get the package to the bottom of the bag in the first place? Look at how you’re struggling, and you’re much stronger than my sister would have been.”
He didn’t give up for several long minutes. When he finally pulled his arm out from the bag, it was covered in brown crumbs. He tried to brush them off, but without much success, especially since Abernathy eagerly licked them up before he could stop him.