They came upon an area where there were tire tracks that led from the road to the pass. While this area wasn’t meant for a vehicle, it was a clear spot with no trees or large boulders. Someone had used this to cut over towards the slash pile area.
Finn started a zigzag pattern back and forth, working a scent cone. He’d found something. Maya had already dropped an evidence marker by the tire tracks, but then Finn sat and stared at the ground. Some of the snow patches were dark red. Blood. She placed a yellow evidence marker down next to the spot. This could prove that maybe the person was killed somewhere else and then moved to the slash pile. Maya hoped the person had been deceased before they were set on fire.
Josh praised Finn and threw him a toy. Maya expected him to be a little more excited about his dog’s great find, but Josh still seemed upset. Not that she blamed him. She just hoped it didn’t rub off on his dog.
“After you get done playing, let’s see if he can find anything more in the area on the road,” Maya said.
“Okay,” Josh agreed.
He didn’t say much more. They headed toward the road and Josh cast Finn out again. Finn’s nose went up in the air this time as he caught a scent. His tail pricked straight up and he followed his nose, his ears flopping in rhythm with his trot. The Lab made a hard turn on the road toward the pass and went down a small hill and then sat again.
The snow had melted in this spot, but Maya could see footprints, and it seemed like there were several different ones. Finn stared at the ground. She realized there was another bloodstain. A big one. Then she saw what appeared to be drag marks through the mud.
“Reward Finn,” Maya said, placing another yellow evidence marker near the bloodstain. “I’ll get Juniper, and we’ll see what kind of track we can do and if we can find any evidence. I don’t know what happened out here, but it was bad. Rory, grab some crime-scene tape and start from the road. We don’t need anyone driving up here and messing up this scene.”
“You got it,” Rory said, heading back toward their vehicles.
Josh played with Finn. His face was tight and a bit pale.
“What’s going on?” Maya asked. “This is more than people from Chicago visiting here.”
Josh turned to her, and at first, she didn’t think he was going to answer. Then he said, “This is where I was supposed to meet Amber. But I didn’t drive up this far. I stayed at the bottom of the hill. What if she was here? What if that body is her?”
Speechless for a moment, Maya finally said, “Why didn’t you say something earlier?”
“Because we weren’t really near this spot and I didn’t think it could be connected. But dogs don’t lie. Finn went right to this area. Where someone was recently killed and then burned. Probably to cover up the evidence. But there’s too many coincidences. I don’t believe in those.”
“Neither do I,” Maya said. “We’ll figure this out.”
She hoped no more surprises popped up when she worked Juniper. Whoever did this was one sick person, and Josh was right—they’d probably thought they could destroy evidence with fire.
What they didn’t know was that they were up against two excellent K-9s. And Juniper was itching to work.
* * *
Elena panted from the thin air, sweating. The sun had come out and the temperature was much more pleasant. She slowed down and found a large rock under an old fir tree to sit on and rest. A chill washed over her as, even though the sun was out, the tree provided shade and made her cold. She stood and moved to where there was more sun on the other side.
Since there was no rock, she leaned up against the tree trunk and slid down. She’d made it through the night. She was still alive. The food and water had helped, but thanks to the survival course knowledge, she had managed to stay warm by stuffing her clothing with leaves. She’d been lucky to find the leaves in an aspen grove. Then she’d built a structure made from branches and more leaves. She’d stacked them using a natural indentation in the ground so that she created a tent shape. Then she’d put leaves on the ground to help with the cold. It was a rough night, but she’d stayed out of the elements. She’d tried to rest as well as she could with two killers pursuing her.
But Elena was a survivor. She always was and always would be. Running had been her way of getting away from her parents when they were fighting. Then it became her way of dealing with her mother’s death and her father going to prison when she lived with her aunt. Her aunt had encouraged track and cross-country in school. Looking back, Elena was grateful for that. Running was literally how she was going to survive now.
Two questions had kept going through her mind throughout the night. Was Ref right and there was a reason he was accepting his sentence? Or was this separate from her case and tied into Amber somehow? Ref had been scared enough of someone to spend an extra twenty years or so in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. She’d assumed it was his gang leader, but now Elena wondered who else might be involved and why. Could it even be a cop? Josh Colten? Would Josh kill Amber to try to keep her from getting the evidence she claimed he had? No matter what, Ref should serve his sentence for the right crime. And somewhere out there a real murderer who needed to be found was on the loose.
Ref was part of a horrible crime that took the life of a little kid. But there was no other way to convict the guy who did pull the trigger other than having him testify. That meant finding the person responsible for the murder he was currently serving time for, to be able to make authorities listen to the evidence that he was in the car for the shooting. Saying gang violence was tragic was an understatement. No one was a winner and was justice ever really served?
But the senator’s daughter—this had all started when Elena opened that case. Ref had said there were people in high positions that wanted to keep this quiet. There was no way for her to know one hundred percent if she was being pursued because of Sydney’s case or if there was something with Amber from her time here in Colorado.
Stay alive. Find your way to town and get help. Get to the sheriff’s office. Then you can figure this out.
Elena kept telling herself to keep going, but when she finally got to the sheriff’s office, could she trust anyone? This was a small town, and ever since they’d called Josh Colten, nothing had gone right.
Hoisting herself to her feet, Elena grabbed her backpack with all her notes. She had to keep this safe. If something happened to her, she needed to get this to someone she could trust. Who that was she didn’t know.
Pulling out the map again, she saw some strange little dots that looked like teeny-tiny cabins. Searching the legend, she discovered those were recreation cabins. Did people vacation this time of year out in the mountains? If nothing else, maybe those cabins would provide a place to stay and rest.
Based on the sun and the map, she needed to keep heading west to get to the cabins. Her feet were heavy, but she made herself move again. One foot after another. Step by step.
In the distance she swore she heard a vehicle. Was it them? The two men? By now they had probably figured out that she’d ditched her cell phone. The wilderness did have one advantage that a city didn’t—out here she could go where vehicles couldn’t.
