Accidental Hero

Chapter 11 Another Dead End

Damn, that could have gone better. Eve is one confounding woman. One minute shes afraid and vulnerable and the next shes a tsunami crashing into chaos. I don't know how everything ties together here but sooner or later, it'll come clear. I just hope she can keep herself out of trouble. She has a way of stumbling straight into the middle of a lot of nasty shit.

I spent a few hours last night researching her. The missing husband is a big red flag. Maybe she's gotten involved with some dangerous people who helped her get rid of an unwanted spouse. If so, I can't find any trace of it. The investigation into his disappearance was as thorough as it could be when a man vanishes in a foreign country. The FBI doesn't fool around and if something was there they should have found it. Besides, my gut tells me that's not what happened. Nothing about her fits the profile of a husband killer.

It just can't be a coincidence that she's in the middle of two investigations in as many weeks. She really did just adopt the dog from the pound. It's starting to feel like maybe the dog is the link. But how? Why? I've seen some rescue dogs do some pretty amazing things. I've even heard of service dogs that can alert people to a seizure before it happens. But how could a dog know someone is going to cause harm beforehand? Its pretty damn unbelievable.

The pound told me Tracker was originally owned by a man named Eustas Brunner. That led nowhere because Mr Brunner was in hospice care when I tried to talk to him. The poor guys in a coma and it won't be long before he's gone. His sister, his only remaining relative, said Eustas bred dogs for years but she didn't know much about them. She lives in Virginia and they didn't see much of each other in recent years.

Another dead end in a case filled with them.

Pushing away from the desk I realize its 6:30pm. Dinner time for most folks. I can't help thinking of Eve and wondering what she's doing now. I imagine her at the stove, putting dinner on plates, carrying them to the table and calling Morgan to come downstairs. Damn, I had my chance at a family and it went so very wrong. Its been 4 years and it feels like yesterday. The familiar knots in my stomach begin their throbbing. I reach for the antacids and steer my thoughts back to the case.