“Not that I know of,” Lucas said.
Maya could hear tension in his voice. She’d known him a long time and trusted him, but she also knew that didn’t mean he wouldn’t arrest Josh if he thought he needed to.
“Look, I don’t know why the reporters are out there,” Lucas said. “As far as I know no one leaked anything. Josh is a person of interest that I want to talk to, but I’m also letting you help with this investigation, so that should tell you that I don’t have tunnel vision. I’ll see you in a little bit, okay?”
“Okay, thanks, Lucas. See you soon,” Maya said, hanging up, as she heard a knock at the door.
Both dogs, Juniper in the lead, rushed to the door, barking. Maya always figured anyone who ever broke into their house would be sorry when they met the Maligator. Finn might just lick someone to death. Peering out the long window next to the door, Maya saw Pops standing there.
“Hey, Pops,” she said, opening the door. The dogs crowded around him, tails wagging. “Come on in.”
“Thanks. I won’t be long. I wanted to stop by and see you on my way to the courthouse. Why do you have reporters camped out over there?”
“No idea,” Maya answered even though she had her suspicions. Right now, denial was the best way for her to deal with them.
Pops leaned over and petted each dog. They both loved him and took turns leaning against his legs, begging for more attention. Maya gave a little whistle and the command for each of them to go lie on their beds.
Finn, happy to have had some love and still a little tired from his track the day before, went over and curled up. Juniper slunk a few steps, glanced back at Maya, and then sighed and went and sat on her bed. Maya knew Juniper had slept well last night, saw her in uniform, and didn’t want to lie on her bed. She wanted to get to work.
“I’m glad you stopped by before you headed into the valley,” Maya said. “What time does court start?”
“Oh nine hundred for me.”
Maya nodded. “You need some coffee? Josh is in the shower, but he’ll be out soon.”
“No, I’m good, thanks.”
“I can tell you want to talk to me about something,” Maya said. “What is it?”
Pops chuckled. “You could always read me well.”
“And vice versa.” Her concern grew as Pops stared at the floor and didn’t say much at first. They were a lot alike, so she didn’t say anything and waited. Josh came out, dressed and ready to go. He saw Pops and said hello. Grabbing his cup of coffee, he leaned against the counter and waited for Pops to speak as well. Maya loved this about Josh. Somehow, he instinctively knew when Maya and Pops needed their space. She wanted to ask Josh about the Dark Angels gang in Chicago but didn’t want to get into it with Pops heading for court.
“Well, so, you probably know that I’ve pretty much handed this investigation over to Lucas and the CBI,” Pops said, breaking the silence.
“I heard,” Maya said. She knew there was more he wanted to say. He didn’t stop by without a good reason.
“Yep. I think he’ll do a real good job.”
Josh glanced at Maya and tilted his head slightly as if asking what was going on. Maya gave a quick shrug and turned her attention back to Pops.
“Are you nervous,” she asked.
“About Lucas? No. Not at all.”
“That’s not what I meant. I meant are you nervous about the trial?” Maya said.
Pops nodded and then stared at Maya. “I am. Look, Maya, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I have a favor to ask.”
“What’s that?” she asked. “I’ll do anything I can.”
“Don’t come today. Or tomorrow. I don’t want you to see me on trial.”
“What? But, Pops, I was going to come this afternoon to support you,” Maya said.
“I understand, but I will be sitting in the same chair where you see defendants. The people we’ve arrested, found evidence against to build a case and who we view as guilty. And hell, Iamguilty. In fact, I’ve talked to Spencer about possible plea deals, but he didn’t think any of them were fair.”
Maya was shocked to hear that Pops was even considering taking a plea. They had all debated, Josh included, if what Pops did was wrong. Another officer had admitted to Pops that he was involved with a militia trafficking drugs in the national forest. But Pops hadn’t taken the action he should have. Instead, he gave Doug a chance to turn himself in because he was Maya’s best friend and like a son to Pops. But before Doug could make things right, a big disaster occurred, which led to his death. Maya understood the charges, but she also knew that sometimes their jobs weren’t black and white and hard decisions were made.
