Page 56 of Pretty Broken Dolls
“You going to write the report?” she said.
“It’s my turn.” He sat quietly for a moment. “Did you get anything from the director?”
“Nothing that will push the investigation forward. We still need to talk with Virginia Rodriguez.”
“Before the man started shooting, I was eavesdropping on someone I suspect to be Virginia Rodriguez talking to another woman. I was going to intervene but I was waiting for you. She is a brutal gossip. Mandy was right about Jeanine saying there was a hostile environment here.”
“The interviews, the background checks, and what we’ve investigated so far seems weak. We need to dig more.”
“I have faith in our medical examiner and forensics,” he said.
“You’re right. We can’t give up in the bottom of the ninth.”
“When did you start referencing baseball?”
“When we needed a home run to solve Jeanine’s murder. Let’s regroup and keep digging.”
“That’s what we do.”
Chapter Twenty
Saturday 0945 hours
Katie felt energized and happier than she had all week as she drove to one of the lesser-used parks for police K9 training. Sergeant Hardy from Pine Valley Sheriff’s Department had invited her and Cisco to participate in routine training as the department’s own dogs practiced for an upcoming competition. It helped to keep Cisco’s energy in check and he would be doing what he loved most—searching for and catching bad guys.
Cisco whined and paced. He knew—most likely by the change of Katie’s energy level—that they were going to train.
Katie had called Lizzy and invited her to come and check out the dogs and training. She had sent a text with the location but didn’t hear back from her. Their shared military K9 training was one of the factors that had sealed their friendship. Few people knew what that type of bond was like until they trained and worked in police or military K9.
Even though Katie was on her own time and relaxing for a few hours off from the investigation, her mind was never far from the cases.
Yesterday had been intense, but she reviewed in her mind what they had really learned. She felt they understood Jeanine Trenton’s life a little better: her work environment was intense due to the workload and the lack of supplies—it was a job that wasn’t for everyone, and that was without the harassment that she had suffered. But Katie thought there were clues they were currently missing that would explain why she was murdered.
Katie turned into the parking area at the park where there were several K9 SUVs from Pine Valley as well as some from the surrounding cities.
Cisco amped up the volume of his whining.
“Easy, boy. Save all that energy for the bad guy.”
Katie got out of her Jeep and walked through the parking lot until she saw Sergeant Hardy talking with two officers that she wasn’t familiar with. He smiled and nodded when he saw her.
“Hi, Detective,” the sergeant said.
“Sergeant. Nice to see you.”
“Is Cisco ready for some action?”
“Always.”
“Good. We’re setting up for protection work and then some trailing to find the bad guy.” He made some notations on a clipboard.
“Great.”
“Are you on a tight schedule?”
“Not really. I’m meeting my uncle later, but he can wait.” She laughed.
“Well, it’ll probably be about twenty minutes before your turn is up.”
