“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 find him.”
Mikey’s expression clouded, and Finn was afraid the little boy was about to burst into tears. “Maybe the bad man has him.”
What? Finn glanced at Eva, wondering if he’d heard the child correctly.
Eva had gone pale. She dropped to her knees beside Mikey so she could look him in the eye. “What bad man, sweetie? Did you see a bad man?”
Mikey dropped his stuffed Cocoa and picked up two plastic dinosaurs, slamming them together with glee.
“What do you think?” Finn asked in a soft voice. “Do you think he saw something?”
“I don’t know.” Eva’s expression was full of concern. “He’s only three years old. Maybe he just heard something on TV.”
“He watches cop shows?” Finn asked wryly.
“No, but have you seen some of the cartoons? Several have bad guys in them.”
“Bad guy,” Mikey repeated. “Mommy said the bad guy is real, not make-believe.”
“Mommy said that?” Eva asked in horror. She swayed as if she might go down, so Finn put his arm around her waist.
“Easy,” he murmured near her ear. “If Mikey sees that you’re upset, he’ll cry.”
“I don’t understand,” she whispered. “What does he mean? Why would Malina tell him the bad man is real?”
Finn had no clue, but he remembered seeing her sister’s name on the list of people who had been fired from the training center. Something Eva didn’t seem to know.