Page 56 of Carter

“Which means she went into hiding or something,” I say, leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms.

“Yeah, or something,” I say.

“Which is a pretty good indication she knows something,” Gendreau says. “So, if we can find her…”

“We may be able to solve this case,” I say, looking up at them. “Good work. Both of you.”

“Just doing our jobs,” Weber says.

“What about any of the other cases? Any updates?”

Gendreau explains, “We’re about to head over to the warehouse to grab some evidence boxes to go through this afternoon. We have a few interviews tomorrow morning.”

“We will catch up tomorrow afternoon,” I say.

“That’s our plan,” he says as they both get up.

“Call me if you need anything,” I call out as they head for the door.

“Same to you, Bennett,” Gendreau says with a small laugh.

I glance at my phone, itching to tell Carter the good news.

But I can’t. It could be too much. We may not have anything. This could all be a dead end, and I can’t bear to see that hope leave his eyes. He’s been so happy lately, so hopeful. I won’t kill it. Not when we aren’t sure. So I get to work on some of my other cases, and continue to look at my phone to see if he’ll respond to my text.

Chapter twenty

Carter

Another Saturday.

Another morning with Teddy.

I sit with my back against the wall, running my hand over her head and down her back. She lets me do that now, when she never used to before. I can’t go near her tail though; that’s when she starts to stiffen.

“You poor baby,” I say softly, watching as she sleeps gently against my leg. “You poor sweet girl.”

The door opens from down the hall, and I frown. Teddy jumps up and runs to her corner. No one comes in here at this time because they know I’m with her. She’s fine with me but only when I’m alone. Everyone who works here and volunteers is aware of how much I’ve been working with her, and theyappreciate it because I’m her only chance at being adopted. She has to get used to people, and I’m making progress with her.

I stay where I’m at. Maybe someone is bringing in another dog or something. Once they’re done, I’ll get Teddy back over to me. A few dogs start to bark or yip.

The footsteps don’t sound animal though. I don’t hear the tip-tapping of dog nails on the floor. It sounds like two sets of footsteps…

“Hazel?” I say when she stops in front of the door. “What are you—”

But then someone comes up beside her. A large brick house of a man.

“Nash?”

“You have a visitor,” Hazel says softly. “Well, youandTeddy.”

“What are you doing here?” I ask him, my mouth dropping open. I’m so confused.

“I’ll leave you two,” Haze says with a wink and walks away.

“I needed a break from work and thought maybe the place could use some help.” I don’t know what to say, so I just stare at him. “Is this Teddy?” he asks, pointing at her.

She’s sitting in the corner of her cage, half covered by her pink blanket, looking out at him with terror in her eyes.