Blind Trust

Staying here was perfectly safe.

And maybe if she told herself that over and over again, she’d be able to shake off the sense of unease long enough to believe it.

* * *

Finn drove his SUV around the block, looking for a sign of someone who might be watching Eva’s place. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, and no one resembling the sketch she’d made of the stinky guy.

No matter how safe Eva likely was there, he couldn’t bring himself to leave. If anything happened to her, he’d never forgive himself.

He made a second loop around the block before pulling into the driveway and parking his vehicle in front of the two-story house. The light was still on in Eva’s room, but the rest of the place was dark. He waited, wondering if she’d look out to find him sitting there, half expecting her to come out to confront him, but she didn’t.

After cracking the windows open on either side to let the fresh air circulate through the interior of the SUV, he put his seat as far back as it could go and tried to relax.

Sitting in the car wasn’t remotely comfortable because he couldn’t stretch his long legs all the way out, but he’d been in worse situations, so he made the best of it. He yawned and shifted in his seat. With the windows open, he should hear the sounds of traffic going by and, hopefully, would also hear if anyone tried to approach the place. Thankfully, Abernathy’s keen hearing would alert Finn to anything he might miss.

He stared at the house wondering how he’d ended up here. Somehow, he’d instinctively known she’d pull something like this. Eva was stubborn, especially when it came to maintaining her independence, and while he admired that about her, at times like this he found it frustrating.

“Women,” he said to Abernathy. “Sure, I like to have fun. Normally it takes only two dates for me to know it’s time to move on. Yet here we are. I’m telling you, I have no clue why I’m letting this woman get under my skin.”

Abernathy yawned and then, as if in agreement, shook his head, making his ears flap.

Finn thought about their fruitless search of the guide dog training center. He’d thought for sure that he’d find the package hidden in there somewhere. Why else would Malina have kept a key to the place?

The shiny brand-new key nagged at him. Obviously, Malina had got it made just prior to being let go. Had she known Wade Yost was onto her drug use? She must have suspected the hammer was coming down or she wouldn’t have had time to get the key made. He had to believe Yost would have taken the key from her after firing her. And again, why had she bothered? Was it possible she’d had the package hidden in the training center for a short time? Maybe as a temporary hiding place? It clearly wasn’t there now.

Unless Wade Yost had found it. As soon as the thought popped into his head, Finn disregarded it. Yost would have notified the authorities about something like that.

Eva might be right in concluding that Malina had used the drugs or spent the money that they were relentlessly searching for. Their best chance of cracking this case open was to convince Roach to talk in exchange for a lighter sentence.

Coming across the small dusting of white powder had been interesting. He’d have it matched to the other samples they’d found, but he wasn’t sure that information would add much to the investigation. Malina was the common denominator between three of the four locations where they’d recovered the drugs. The house she shared with Pete, the locker at The Fitness Club and now the training center. Matching them to the drugs they’d found in the apartment Roach was using would connect the drug dealer to Malina, which wasn’t necessarily a surprise, either. Not if Malina had stolen the package from them.

Roach was small-time. No way was he in charge of the entire operation. Zach mentioned something about the kingpin being known as Uno, whatever that stood for.

Finn turned his thoughts back to Grant Ulrich, the owner of The Fitness Club and the furniture store across from the LaGuardia airport. That was a key connection and he made a mental note to talk to the DA tomorrow about his requirements related to Roach’s deal. Finding Cocoa was a top priority, but so was obtaining the name and identity of the leader in charge of the drug ring.