“Rory, I need you to do me a favor, even if you need to go back to the sheriff’s office so you can work on a computer. I need you to find a picture of Elena Pierce—junior prosecutor for the Cook County State Attorney’s office—and any information about her. If we can get a picture, height, etc., that might help us with identifying the body. I’ll let Pops know I asked you to do this. When you get the information, check back in. Got it?”
“Yes. I’m on it,” Rory said.
“Thanks,” Maya said. “And Rory?”
“Yes?”
“You’re doing awesome as my backup officer. Thank you.”
The compliment brought a bigcros smile to Rory’s face and she nodded, turned, and headed toward her patrol vehicle. Facing Josh, Maya said, “I want to get Juniper out again and go beyond where she found that evidence. I want to see if there’s any more scents she can pick up that might give us some answers.”
“You just sent your backup officer away,” Josh said. “I’m happy to back you up, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”
“There’s no one else I trust more,” Maya said. “We’ll let Lucas know what we’re doing since he’s working on finding out about the hotel and flights. You back me up, but we can ask Deputy Wilson to come with us too. That way if we find something, he’s there as both a witness and to collect the evidence.”
“That sounds good,” Josh said. “And it would be good experience for him. I’ll radio him to join us while you get Juniper.”
“It’s a plan,” Maya said, trying to sound strong and hoping her voice didn’t give away the thoughts running through her head. How could she even doubt Josh? But she knew that sometimes when people were pushed to the edge, they did things no one thought they would do—including the person who committed the crime. And especially when it came to relationships.You’re jumping ahead to conclusions. You don’t even know if the deceased victim is Amber.
As Maya approached her vehicle and Juniper’s compartment, she could see a couple of golden eyes staring at her through the holes in the metal door. Then a thumping sound from Juniper’s wagging tail started. “Hey there, girly. You up for another run?”
Maya’s answer was a high-pitched yip followed by Juniper turning circles.
“Okay, okay. Give me a second to get everything together.”
Gathering the tracking harness and long leather lead, Maya decided to also grab Juniper’s doggles. They were goggles made specially for working dogs, and with the wind gusting at times, she didn’t want any debris blowing into Juniper’s eyes. She’d thought about the booties for Juniper’s paws too, but the temperature was rising and the Mal hated wearing those. She’d tolerate them if it meant she could work, but there was always a display of displeasure with lifting paws and trying to bite at the booties. However, Juniper never seemed to mind the doggles. Maya figured Juniper knew they made her look awesome and was also smart enough to know they protected her eyes.
After getting Juniper’s gear on, they joined Josh and the other department rookie, Deputy Wilson. Maya had worked with the young deputy over the past few months and agreed with Josh’s assessment that while he’d made some rookie mistakes, and who hadn’t, he was a solid officer with a quiet demeanor and a way of talking to people that calmed them down. She was glad to have him along today.
“Thanks for joining us, Wilson,” she said.
“You’re welcome, ma’am.”
That was Deputy Wilson’s one downfall. He always called herma’am, and while Maya knew it was out of respect, it made her feel old. She wasn’t that much older than the two rookies, but with her experience serving in the military, there were times when she felt ten times older.
“We’ll hike beyond where we found the evidence this morning. Based on the different footprints, I believe there were at least three people here, plus our victim, so a minimum of four. I want to see if Juniper can pick up any fresh tracks from the person I believe was the victim. We can see where they take us. I’d like to also see if Juniper can track the larger footprints. We’ll work until she gets tired.” Maya left out the part that the larger footprints were about Josh’s size and the tread seemed similar to his boots. If they tracked those prints and it led them to more evidence pointing at Josh… She stopped that thought.Let your dog work. You trust your dog and you trust Josh.
“Yes, ma’am,” Wilson said.
Maya caught Josh trying not to smile. He knew how she felt about being calledma’am. But she could also still see the strain on his face, so she let it go with Wilson. As they started heading in the direction of the track, Lucas approached them.
“Before you all head out,” he said, “I wanted to let you know that I was able to confirm with both the airline and hotel that an Elena Pierce and Amber Zielinkski never checked in at their hotel near Denver International Airport or boarded their flight back to Chicago. We also figured out which rental car company they used, and the vehicle was never returned.”
Maya sighed. Not good. “Would you let Pops know and call Doc? That way Doc can get dental records for both Elena and Amber and compare them to the victim. If our deceased person is Elena or Amber, then that’ll help us ID the remains quicker.”
“I’m on it,” Lucas said. “And your grandfather said he’s coming here shortly.”
“That’ll be good,” Josh said. “I shouldn’t be in charge of this investigation if our victim is Amber or Elena.”
Lucas nodded. “I know. I agree. We’ll figure this out.”
“Thanks,” Maya said. There were so many questions she needed answers to, but unfortunately, on a Sunday, those answers would be limited. She didn’t know yet what Elena looked like or her height, but she did know one thing—the victim in the slash pile was about Amber’s size. Knowing that Amber didn’t make her flight only heightened the tightness in Maya’s chest.
If that person was Amber and Elena was missing, then someone was really working hard to frame Josh. It would only be a matter of time before he was interrogated and arrested. Were there things he wasn’t telling her? Maya couldn’t go there. Not yet.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Trekking back to the area where they’d left off with the track, questions kept churning through Maya’s mind. She wanted to be alone with Josh and ask him more about the Bradfords. It seemed all of this stemmed from Amber calling Josh, but why? They finished their hike to the area where Juniper had found Josh’s hat.
