“Fair enough,” Josh said.
“We need to find this missing prosecutor—Elena. If she’s still alive, I think she can fill in the missing pieces and make some sense out of all of this. Right now, though, all we know is that the senator came to town at a suspect time along with two cops you worked with in Chicago that you don’t like. Do you think they are capable of murder?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that once my partner was killed, they were some of the cops that made my life miserable. They helped make sure no one would work with me again. But that doesn’t make them killers.”
“Okay. I need to figure out how this ties back to the senator, other than the obvious fact that his daughter was the first victim. I’ll work on that, because I’d love nothing more than to arrest him right now and stop this, but we have nothing but ideas,” Maya said, wishing she had room to pace in the closet. Juniper leaned against her leg, helping to keep her grounded.
“I’ll take Juniper out when the wind dies down and we can keep tracking. We have to find our missing person. I don’t care at this point if we should be working on this case or not. Everyone involved in it seems to be disappearing or dead.”
“I agree,” Josh said. “We’ll find Elena and sort this out. I promise you, I had nothing to do with it other than what I’ve already told you.”
“I believe you.” Maya gave him a quick kiss and then asked her next burning question. “How did the trial go today?”
“I had to testify in the other case, but it was only jury selection and opening statements. I think there’s a strong case because no one witnessed Pops and Doug Leyton talking.”
Doug had been Maya’s best friend and the officer who was like a son to Pops. “That’s good, right?” she asked.
“I think so,” Josh said. “If there’s no evidence, then how will the prosecutor prove his case?”
“Unless Pops takes the stand. He’d never lie under oath.”
“I guess we’ll see. I don’t know what strategy my dad has or if he’ll let Pops testify. But I think it was a good first day and the jury seems solid.”
“We never know, do we?” Maya asked, not expecting an answer. “Let’s get out of here and go find Pops. We have a missing person to locate.”
“Okay, but one thing first. If we’re going to hide in a storage closet, I at least want one kiss,” Josh said, pulling her close.
* * *
Leaving the storage closet breathless, Maya was glad to have had a moment alone with Josh so they could talk. She felt better, but she did wish he would stop joking around. There was a long road ahead when it came to proving his innocence.
They saw Lucas had arrived and joined Pops in the conference room. Maya put a leash on Juniper. She knew everyone here, but even so, if someone made a move toward Maya that Juniper deemed threatening, it wouldn’t matter how well Juniper knew anyone. She would take a bite. Even Josh.
Pops and Lucas stared at them as they entered, and Maya felt like they were teenagers caught making out.
Pops spoke up. “We’ve been looking for you two. Where were you?”
“I needed to talk to Josh first,” Maya said, feeling her face warm and probably turn red. She hated it when it did that.
“Sorry you were looking for us,” Josh said. “We’re here now. What’s up?”
Pops crossed his arms and went red from his neck up. “Undersheriff Colten, I need to put you on administrative leave. I need your badge and your department-issued gun.”
Shock hit Maya and she sucked in a deep breath. Her vision narrowed for a moment. This was really happening.
Josh didn’t say anything. He took off his badge and unholstered his gun, taking out the magazine and pulling the slide back so that it showed the weapon was clear. One bullet had come out when he racked the slide back, and he placed that on the table next to his badge and service weapon.
“Am I under arrest?” he asked Pops.
“Yes,” Pops answered.
Lucas stepped forward and asked Josh to turn around and put his hands behind his back. Josh complied and Maya fought tears. She’d known this was going to happen, but somehow seeing it was harder than she thought it was going to be.
Lucas finished securing the handcuffs and said, “I would like to ask you some questions. Would you be willing to sit down with me?”
Josh glanced back over his shoulder at Lucas. Maya stood near Lucas and mouthedI love you.
“Are you going to read me my rights?” Josh asked.
