Suddenly, Juniper’s sniffing changed, her body tensed, and her tail poked straight up in the air. Then she took off.
“I don’t know how you keep up with her when she starts,” Lucas yelled from behind them.
“I know, she goes fast,” Maya answered, trying to keep up with her dog. “She’ll settle down into a solid pace here in a second.”
“Good.”
Juniper continued on a path and it went exactly where Maya thought it would—their friends’ house.
“Any idea where Josh would go?” Lucas asked.
“Yes.”
“You care to elaborate?”
“Not at the moment. I need to watch Juniper,” Maya yelled back over her shoulder. “But I think you’ll get your answer soon.”
Sure enough, as they zigzagged around, Maya could tell Josh had headed to where she suspected. It didn’t take long with the pace Juniper had going to see the house in the distance. It was dark and there were no signs of life, but then Juniper stopped. A low, guttural growl came from her throat. Maya shortened the leash and waited for Lucas. She trusted her dog and there was something wrong.
“You think someone other than Josh is here?” Lucas asked as he stared at Juniper.
Maya knew he was reading her dog too. He might not be a handler, but he’d worked with her long enough to know that Juniper was warning them. “I think so. Juniper wouldn’t growl at Josh. We need to proceed with caution.”
Lucas unholstered his gun, finger off the trigger but on the side, just in case. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Glad that she’d put on Juniper’s Kevlar vest, Maya asked her to go back out and track again. Juniper picked up the scent and started toward the house, but then the Mal stopped, air scented and growled.
“Let’s go get ’em. Find the bad guy,” Maya said.
This time, rather than put her nose down and track, Juniper had zeroed in on the back deck. Maya followed her, letting her dog lead the way. Approaching the deck, moonlight lit up the area. Juniper went around to the master bedroom doors. One was standing open.
Juniper was locked in on the doors and started another low growl.
“Forest Service law enforcement. Come out with your hands up,” Maya announced as she, Juniper, and Lucas took cover near some trees.
“Colorado Bureau of Investigation,” Lucas joined in announcing. “If someone is there, they need to come out with their hands up.”
Maya kept Juniper by her side and felt the tremble up the leash—not from fear, but rather excitement at the thought of biting someone. Besides tracking, Juniper loved nothing more than to help apprehend a criminal.
No one came out. Maya didn’t expect them to.
But then Juniper turned to the side. Maya unpinned her leash. The Mal took off as a person stepped out from a grove of trees, shotgun aimed at them.
CHAPTER FORTY
Clouds came over the moon, blocking some of the light and making it hard for Maya to see. But there was a wave from the tall grass as Juniper ran full speed. The person with the shotgun had it aimed at Maya but wasn’t expecting the impact from Juniper flying out of the grass and nailing them in the arm. The shotgun went off, blasting a tree not far from Maya and Lucas.
“Don’t shoot,” Maya yelled at Lucas. “You might hit Juniper.”
She could hear screaming and the sounds of Juniper latched on, shaking someone. Maya sprinted up and saw a woman whose face was covered in tattoos. Probably gang tats. Juniper had the woman by the biceps and was shaking her arm as hard as she could. Maya searched for the shotgun and saw it just out of reach, but the woman was desperately trying to pull herself and Juniper toward it.
Unholstering her weapon, Maya aimed it at the lady. “Stop trying to get that gun and I’ll get my dog off of you.”
Lucas was already grabbing the shotgun and taking it away, but Maya didn’t know what other weapons this person might have. She’d also bet that the shotgun was going to match the wounds on the guards, which would help clear Josh of that crime.
The woman was yelling in pain, and with Lucas’ help, Maya went to call Juniper off the bite. As Maya approached, the woman spat at her, just missing her face.
“If you want that dog off your arm, you’ll cooperate,” Maya said.
