“Yes,” Maya said.
“Maybe that’s why Juniper alerted. She knows Josh’s scent. Maybe she found this because of that.”
“But what is his hat doing out here near a homicide? How did it get here? He kept this hat in the camper out on my property in case we wanted to go hiking,” Maya said, fighting back tears of frustration. How could this be happening? “What if someone is trying to frame him?”
“Then we’ll figure it out,” Lucas said. “I’ll help. There must be a reasonable explanation. And if someone is trying to frame him, then maybe they made a mistake and left behind evidence like DNA.”
“No matter what,” Maya said gaining some control over her emotions, “you need to photograph this hat. It’s evidence.”
“Agreed,” Lucas said, pulling out his camera.
Rory had stayed behind and was quiet. The only sound was the shutter of the camera taking pictures. Even the wind had died down. Maya agreed with Lucas—there had to be an explanation, but if the gun was Josh’s, then along with this hat and possible fingerprints matching his on the sports drink bottle, Maya knew that they had a long road ahead proving Josh was innocent.
Especially if the remains were identified as Amber. From a prosecutor’s standpoint, Josh was supposed to meet Amber and would have motive to get rid of his ex. He was now the number one suspect.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Returning to his vehicle, Josh pulled out his phone and checked to see if he had service. He needed to find out if Amber had come to Colorado and if there really was a prosecutor named Elena Pierce. If both were true, then finding his gun wasn’t a good thing.Hopefully Maya doesn’t find anything more.
It was Sunday. No one was going to answer the phone in the state attorney’s office right now. But Josh was certain his dad still had connections there, although he hesitated to ask Spencer for much help. In the past, when Josh wasn’t making the best decisions, his dad had always bailed him out. Literally and figuratively. He didn’t want that to happen again, but he did need information.
Josh dialed his dad’s number, but there wasn’t enough service in the area to connect a call, so he switched to texting.
I was wondering if you could do me a favor. I’m trying to find out if there’s a prosecutor in the Cook County State Attorney’s office named Elena Pierce. I’m also trying to find out if she might be here in Colorado with Amber. Do you know of anyone you can contact who might have that information? Thanks.
Josh hit Send and then waited. It would take a little while for his dad to find out more, so he opened his back door where Finn was napping in his crate and petted him to help calm Josh’s nerves. The Lab lifted his head, and his tail made a thumping sound in greeting. “Hey there, boy. You did a good job finding the blood spot earlier.”
Finn licked his hand in response and his big brown eyes stared at Josh with love. “You’re the best. I’m glad I have you now,” Josh said. “Maybe along with Maya and Juniper we can figure this all out.”
The Lab tilted his head and then stared behind Josh. Turning around, he saw Maya, Juniper, Lucas and Rory all heading in their direction. Lucas was carrying several evidence bags. What else had they found? He gave Finn one last rub on the head and then closed the crate door. Maya had Juniper’s compartment door open and the Mal had jumped inside and turned around before giving Maya a slurp on the face. She closed the door but didn’t look at Josh right away.
That wasn’t good.
“Maya?” he asked. “What is it? What did you find?”
“I don’t know if I should say, Josh.”
He stared at her. A strand of her red hair had come loose and was waving in the breeze. Her green eyes were intense and her face a bit pale, bringing out some freckles. Why was she withholding information? “I won’t tell anyone you told me. What did you find?”
Maya sighed and then said, “Your stocking cap. The Forest Service one I gave you for Christmas.”
“What?” Josh said, surprised. “I just wore that the other day when we were out snowshoeing. I left it in the camper.”
“I know.” Maya paused. “But we found it.”
“Are you sure it’s mine? I’m sure that’s not the only Forest Service stocking cap ever made.”
“True. So, no, I don’t know for sure that it’s yours, but we also found an empty sports drink bottle that matches what we drink. We also had some of those after snowshoeing the other day.”
Josh nodded. That had been a fun day outdoors enjoying some of the last snow before mud season really hit in April. The dogs had come and run with them. Then they’d spent the night in the camper and that had been nice too.
“If we hadn’t found your gun, I wouldn’t be so worried,” Maya said, breaking the silence. “I think someone is trying to frame you.”
“Yeah, but who? And why?”
Maya shrugged. “I hate to say it, but this all seems to center around Amber and this prosecutor. And who knows how this victim today plays into all of this.”
“I texted my dad and asked him if he still had contacts to find out if Elena exists and if Amber might be out here. I’m sure he’ll get back to me soon.” Josh pulled out his phone and checked it. His dad had sent a quick text.
