LITMIR.BIZ

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her face was tender and sore to the touch, but not bad enough that she needed medical care.

      Finn drove until he found a parking spot in the tiny lot adjacent to the building. She climbed out of the white SUV while he released Abernathy from the back. With Abernathy between them, she followed him through the double glass doors that led into the main lobby area. Finn punched in the code that allowed them access so they could go inside.

      A woman in uniform sat behind a large U-shaped desk wearing a headset. She appeared calm despite the never-ending ringing of the phone.

      Finn waved at the officer, who handed a visitor badge to him while still talking on the phone. He clipped it to Eva’s collar, then led the way inside. The interior of the police station smelled like old coffee, animal hair and the faint odor of gun oil. There were cubicles separating the desks, but she could still hear cops talking at the same time, some on the phone, some to each other. The din made it difficult to hear specific conversations, and the entire place seemed to be one of perpetual chaos.

      “Is Joey Calderone around?” Finn asked the officer closest to him. “He’s supposed to meet us here.”

      “I’m here.” A man about her age came over. He also had a visitor badge clipped to his collar. “What’s going on?”

      “Joey, this is Eva Kendall, and she saw the man who dognapped one of Stella’s puppies.”

      Joey, a man who was as short as he was wide, looked horrified. “That’s awful. Why would anyone steal a puppy?”

      “No clue, but I intend to ask when I find him.” Finn’s jovial tone held an underlying note of steel. “Have a seat, Eva. Joey is a master at getting sketches done from witnesses just like you. This shouldn’t take too long.”

      Eva sat down in the uncomfortable plastic chair, thinking that Joey hadn’t ever had to work with someone with such limited vision as hers. Still, she was determined to give this her best shot.

      The questions started out easy, the shape of his face, his build. Eva relaxed as the drawing materialized in front of her. But when it came down to identifying details like the shape of his eyes, his nose and his mouth, helplessness washed over her.

      “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember.” She sensed Joey’s frustration, but he kept his tone light and easy.

      “It’s okay. Just close your eyes for a moment, see if anything comes back to you.”

      She closed her eyes, forcing herself to remember the brief flashes she’d got of the attacker’s face. After several long moments, she opened her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “But other than a unibrow over his eyes and the five-o’clock shadow, I can’t tell you anything more specific.”

      “That’s okay. It’s better to have something than nothing,” Joey assured her. He put a few finishing touches on the drawing, but even she could tell the face lacked depth.

      It could have been anyone. Even Joey.

      “How does it look?” Finn and Abernathy crossed over to see the portrait. She imagined Finn was disappointed, but he didn’t say anything. “Thanks, Joey.” He took the drawing and handed it to another officer. “Calvin, I need you to spread this sketch around to the rest of the precincts, so all cops can keep an eye out for him. He’s the one who stole one of Stella’s puppies.”

      Calvin looked surprised at the directive, but then nodded. “Yeah, sure. I can do that.”

      Eva knew when she was being patronized and couldn’t prevent a flash of anger. She jumped up from the plastic chair, grabbed her purse off the back and threw it over her shoulder. “I told you this wouldn’t work. I told you I didn’t get a good look at him. It wasn’t well lit inside the building and everything happened so fast.”

      “It’s okay,” Finn began, but she’d had enough.

      She turned quickly and made her way through the various desks of the precinct toward the door.

      It wasn’t until she was outside and walking away from the police station that she realized she was more upset with herself than with Finn Gallagher. She should have tried harder to get a good look at the guy. She knew the limitations of her vision but hadn’t attempted to compensate for it.

      Instead of trying to stop the big hulk of a man with nothing more than her keys, she should have studied his features, memorizing them for future reference.

      Her shoulders slumped with defeat. It would be her fault if Cocoa was lost forever.

      * * *

      Finn was flabbergasted by Eva’s abrupt departure. What had he said to set her off like that? He couldn’t imagine. He knew civilians didn’t have the same observation skills that were drilled into new recruits during their training at the academy. Having her come work with the sketch artist had been a long shot, but he’d felt it was worth it.

      He hadn’t expected her to become so angry and upset.

      “Wow, you must be losing your touch,” Joey said dryly. “What happened to the infamous Gallagher charm?”

      “No clue,” he admitted. He wasn’t necessarily proud of his reputation with women but hadn’t actively done anything to change it, either. He dated often, but never more than a few times with one woman before moving on. Despite that, he hadn’t left a trail of broken hearts behind. He’d worked hard to make sure the women he went out with knew he was all about fun and nothing more serious. He had Christian values after all, so he’d never crossed the line. And they’d always parted as friends.

      But Eva was different from the women he usually went out with. Not just because she was stunningly beautiful, but because of the many complex facets to her personality. Layers he was dying to peel away in order to catch a glimpse of the real woman hiding beneath.

      Not that he would be getting that chance anytime soon, he thought wryly. Which was too bad, since she intrigued him in a way the others hadn’t. Unfortunately, he wasn’t relationship material. His dad had been a cop and his mother had left them both when he was just a kid. He remembered being huddled in his bed, listening to his parents fight. His mother had railed at his father that sitting around waiting for him to get home wasn’t fair, especially when she wasn’t even sure he’d come home safely. She’d screamed at him that the reality of being a cop’s wife wasn’t what she’d signed up for and that she was leaving.

      Finn’s mother had never come back.

      “She’s a looker. You gonna just let her leave like that?” Joey asked, breaking into his thoughts.

      “No. Come, Abernathy.” He followed Eva outside, figuring that once she’d got outside she’d change her mind and wait by the police-marked SUV for him to take her home.

      But he was wrong. Emerging from the building, he headed toward the spot where he’d left his vehicle, then stopped when he noticed Eva wasn’t waiting by the SUV. In fact, she wasn’t anywhere in sight. He frowned, sweeping his gaze over the area, trying to imagine which way she’d gone. Had she called a car service?

      A glimpse of golden-blond hair caught his gaze, and he was shocked to see that Eva was already several blocks away. Did she really intend to walk all the way home? Or was she heading toward the subway station?

      Was she familiar with the Jackson Heights area? He wasn’t sure.

      Muttering under his breath, he and Abernathy picked up the pace in order to catch up with her. Not because he believed the neighborhood was dangerous, but he had promised to take her home. She’d been assaulted just a few hours earlier, and it didn’t sit right to have her leaving on her own like this.

      “Eva!” He called her name, hoping she’d stop and wait up for him. But the streets of New York were always packed with people and, from what he could tell, she didn’t act as if she heard him.

      She seemed to be heading toward one of the subway stations, so he tried to move faster, bumping into people as he attempted

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