Cole said. “It sounds like you came to the wrong place. You need the sheriff.” “No. I need you.” More tears formed in the boy’s eyes. “To find Bob.” “Is Bob your dog?” Leena asked. “Did your dog run away from home? Is he the fugitive?” “Bob is my tortoise. A red-footed tortoise. He ran away from home.” “Ran?” Leena repeated. “Okay, crawled. Can you help me find him?” Tears continued to roll down the kid’s freckled cheeks. “Sure.” She gave him a reassuring hug. “Sure, we’ll help you find him. Cole is a vet. He knows where tortoises go when they run away from home. Right, Cole?” “I, uh, may have some idea . . .” “So there’s nothing to worry about.” She cut Cole off before he could say anything to dash the kid’s hopes. Leena knew all about dashed hopes and she couldn’t cope with any more of that today.
