“Is that—” She didn’t finish.
“Cocaine,” Finn said grimly. He looked at her, then shifted his gaze to Pete. “It was here all along.”
Eva let out a low groan. “I never thought to look out here.”
“Me, either.” Finn hefted the package in his hand. “Looks and weighs about as much as a ten-pound bag of sugar. This is worth a lot of money to those guys.”
“Fifty grand,” she whispered. “That’s what Greer claimed.”
“Not worth dying over,” Pete said, a faint note of bitterness lacing his tone.
“No, it’s not,” Finn agreed. “I’m sorry.”
Pete blew out a heavy breath. “Not your fault. Just...do me a favor and get it out of here, okay? I can’t stand knowing that Malina died because of those drugs.”
“Sure.” Finn carried the newfound evidence to his SUV, leaving Pete and Eva and Mikey alone in the backyard.
“I’m sorry, too, Pete,” she said, breaking the silence. “I hope you’ll let me know when you need me to watch Mikey.”
He hesitated, shrugged, then nodded. “I appreciate that, Eva. I’ve been sitting here, berating myself for going to that stupid conference in Atlanta. I hate to admit it, but at the time, I was anxious to get away from it all. But the thought of losing Mikey scared me to death. I need to spend more time with him, and even more so, we need grief counseling. We have to learn how to cope with losing Malina. I’ve been granted an official leave of absence for two weeks and can use my vacation time to extend it if needed. I’ll let you know when I return to work.”
“I’m so glad to hear that, Pete. You and Mikey are going to be fine.” She bent over and gave Mikey a hug and a kiss. “See you later, alligator,” she teased.
“After a while, crocodile!” Mikey shouted back.
Eva carried Cocoa through the gate to where Finn and Abernathy waited near the SUV. She heard him on the phone, no doubt calling in about the drugs. When he saw her, he finished his call and slid the phone in his pocket.
“Everything okay?”
“It will be,” she said with confidence. “Pete’s strong enough to get through this. He’s a good father and will do what’s best for Mikey.”
“I need to drop this evidence at headquarters. Do you want me to drop you off at the hotel or my place for a bit?”
“Um.” His place? Was he serious? First an off-the-cuff proposal and now this?
She was tempted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. The future Finn offered was one she couldn’t have.
Or bear to lose.
* * *
Finn hid a smile at Eva’s poorly masked confusion. He hadn’t been joking when he’d asked her to marry him, and he silently promised to prove it by taking her ring shopping as soon as he wrapped this up.
Eva had requested to go to the hotel, but he wasn’t thrilled with that idea. Even though she was safe, he didn’t like having her out of his sight.
At headquarters, Finn quickly flagged down Zach Jameson. “We found it.”
“What?” Zach’s puzzled gaze cleared instantly. “The package? Are you kidding? Where?”
“Buried in Mikey’s sandbox.”
Zach let out a disgusted snort. “I should have had Eddie sniffing around back there. It makes sense now that you think about it. Of course she didn’t keep it inside the house. Buried in the sandbox was a perfect hiding place.”
“I know. Have they given us anything else?”
Zach nodded. “Names of other players. This is it, Finn. We broke the biggest drug ring in New York City.”
“I’m glad.”
“I heard Abernathy is getting a medal of honor next week.” Zach patted Abernathy’s head. “You’re going to take the cone off for pictures, right?”
“Right,” Finn agreed. “I’ll check in with you later, okay?”
“Sure thing.”
Finn was making his way through the maze of cubicles when one of his fellow cops, Gavin Sutherland, snagged his arm.
“Finn. Have a minute?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
Gavin’s expression was grim. “Remember the building that came down due to a boiler explosion a few months ago?”