Patting Juniper, Maya left her off leash. The Mal would stick with them, and on the way back, who knew if there would be something that her nose might pick up—even with the wind. While the wind made a track difficult, it could also blow in another scent. The hard part for the dog was pinpointing that scent when the wind whipped around.
They were making their way through the thick forest, almost back to the cabins, when another gust blew through. Juniper put her nose up in the air as it twitched. Maya could tell she’d caught some sort of odor. Then Juniper trotted off. Maya and Lucas sped up to keep up with her. The Mal still managed to lose them, but when Maya came around a grove of trees with the cabins in sight, she saw Juniper lying down, staring straight ahead into a grassy area.
“What did you find?” Maya asked. The wind had probably blown the scent away from Juniper when they started. Lying down was Juniper’s alert that she’d found evidence. Sitting was her alert for finding narcotics. Maya had taught her that when they had teamed up, and she was proud of her dog for quickly figuring out the different indications.
Lucas had come up beside Maya and they approached Juniper together.
“Let me go see what there is, reward her, and then I’ll take her away,” Maya said. “That way you can do what you need to do.”
“Works for me,” Lucas said, stopping and waiting.
Maya headed over to where Juniper was, already praising her. She saw a glint of sunlight from whatever Juniper had found. It was something metal. Coming closer, Maya realized it was a knife. A good-size one too. Then she gasped.
It was Josh’s knife. And it had blood all over it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Lucas stepped closer to Maya. She had frozen in place when she realized that Juniper had found evidence, but not just any evidence—Josh’s bloody knife.
“Maya? What’s wrong? You look like you saw a ghost,” Lucas said.
“It’s what Juniper found,” Maya answered. Her voice shook as she took a deep breath. Juniper was waiting for her reward by holding the alert. The dog’s gaze never wavered. She continued staring at the knife. Maya pulled out Juniper’s toy and threw it to her. Happy to get what she wanted, Juniper danced around, throwing the Kong and chasing after it.
Maya still couldn’t move. Her feet seemed cemented in place.
“I’ll bag this knife. I wonder if it’s the murder weapon,” Lucas said, giving Maya a concerned glance. “Why are you so upset over Juniper finding this? It could be an important piece of evidence. You should be proud of your dog.”
“Iamproud of my dog,” Maya said, closing her eyes and opening them again as if it would change what she saw in front of her. “But that’s Josh’s knife. He keeps it out at our camper in case we need it for something. It’s not used often. It’s kept inside.”
Lucas crouched down, started photographing the knife, and then stopped. What Maya said seemed to hit him. He stared at her. “Are you sure this is his knife? It’s a common brand.”
“I guess it could be an exact match, but then so is everything else we’ve found, from the gun to the hat and even the sports drink bottle. I think someone is trying to frame Josh.”
Lucas bagged the knife and sealed the evidence bag, filling in the information needed on the tag. “Do you know where he was last night? Was he with you?”
Maya fought off the anxiety. Tell Lucas the truth? Or lie and talk to Josh first? She decided to split the difference. “He visited his sister last night and came home late.”
“Are you sure he was with his sister?”
“Yes.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because Josh wouldn’t lie to me,” Maya said.
“He might not lie, but he’s proven in the past that he hasn’t told you the entire truth. I know you love him, but think about how you didn’t know anything about Amber until she showed up a couple months ago.”
“No,” Maya said. “I don’t care what you think. Josh is the last person who would be involved in this or kill anyone. But I’m telling you, there’s something going on and it involves this Illinois senator. I mean, all of this started when his daughter’s case was reopened.”
“Do you have his sister’s phone number? I’d like to call her.”
Maya’s anxiety turned to frustration and anger. “Josh didn’t do this.”
“I know that’s what you want to believe, but I have a job to do. You can give me his sister’s phone number or I’ll get it myself. But I can’t ignore this evidence. If the gun’s serial number matches Josh’s missing weapon and that victim is Amber, I will not only be questioning him, I’ll be reading him his rights before I do it.”
Juniper had come back to Maya and dropped her toy at her feet. Maya reached down and rubbed her ears, knowing she had to stay calm for her dog. But the other part of her was furious at Lucas. If he took Josh in for questioning and read him his rights, it meant Josh was under arrest.I have to let Lucas do his job, and I can’t help Josh if I get kicked off this case. They need Juniper to help with evidence and tracking, which means they need me.
“I’ll give you Bianca’s number,” Maya finally said.
