“What did you find?” Maya asked her, walking over to where Juniper was holding the alert. “Attagirl. You’re such a good girl.”
Lucas handed Maya some gloves, and after she put them on, she crouched down next to her dog. It took her a minute to see the backpack wedged up in the chimney, but she was able to wiggle it out easily.
“Does that belong to Josh?” Lucas asked.
“No, I’ve never seen this before. We have a backpack in the camper, but it has a sheriff’s logo on it. I’m wondering if this belongs to Elena.”
“Let’s take it over to the camper. You have lights in there, right? We can go through it easier,” Lucas said, also putting on gloves.
“Yeah, we do have lights.” Maya handed Lucas the backpack and threw Juniper her reward—her Kong. Juniper ran around with the toy in her mouth, happily throwing it out in front of herself and then retrieving it and dropping it at Maya’s feet. Maya complied with Juniper’s request and threw the toy for her a couple times. It seemed like Juniper always knew when Maya would play and when she wanted the toy back. When it came to Maya putting the toy away, Juniper would suddenly lock her jaws. After playing for a little bit, Maya managed to sneak the toy away from Juniper.
“You okay with her coming into the camper with us?” she asked Lucas.
“Sure.”
They all went inside. Maya was glad to have her dog with her, because not only did she love her and her company, but if anyone showed up who shouldn’t be on her property, Juniper would let her know.
The backpack had soot and other dirt all over it. Lucas gloved up and carefully unzipped it and pulled out a note. Maya recognized Josh’s handwriting.
Maya,
I’m so sorry that I had to go on the run, but I’m sure if you have found this backpack then you know that crash wasn’t an accident. You have also found the man I shot in self-defense. Please be careful. There are dangerous people after me.
I found Elena and we will fill you in more later, but for now, I know you’ll figure out a lot of this on your own. Take Elena’s notes and photos and compare them with what I gave you. Make copies of all her evidence. I believe extra copies will help keep us safe. We need something to hold over these people.
I know you’ll want to find us, but it’s more important right now that you copy this evidence and get it to Pops and Lucas than to pursue us. We are with a “friend.” You may have an idea of who. Get some rest too. I’ll be in touch when it’s safe.
I love you!
Love,
Josh
P.S. Have Miranda process the camper for fingerprints, starting with the key. It wasn’t in its usual spot and our friend saw two men break in. Maybe we can get lucky and prove they stole the items that framed me.
Maya placed the letter back in the bag. “We need to follow his instructions.”
“What evidence is Josh talking about?” Lucas asked.
“Let’s go to my office and I’ll show you. I’ll give you copies of Josh’s evidence. We can look this all over and see if we can figure out what Josh is talking about by looking at the pictures. It should be straightforward if that’s what he wants us to do.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Josh and Elena followed Eric and arrived where he’d been staying as the sun started to rise. There was a beautiful meadow that still had a good amount of snow. The thick trees around it protected the area from strong winds. Josh had learned his first winter here that wind was the main reason snow melted. Otherwise, in the high country, it remained into June sometimes, depending on the area and the amount of sun.
I hope Maya found my note. I have faith in her and Juniper.
“Nice place,” Josh said to Eric.
“Thanks. It’ll work for now. It’s a research campus with the local university and I don’t think anyone will be up here until summertime,” Eric said. “I’ll stay for now. Although, once we get you figured out, I’ll be out of here again. Now you know my secret hiding place.”
They headed to a building that had several dorm rooms and a kitchen. Eric opened the door and went inside as Josh and Elena followed.
“Is there no security system?” Josh asked.
“There is, but luckily I know a little bit about disarming those. And the cameras that they leave up. I took care of those too.”
Elena sat down on a chair and took out a bottle of water. She took a sip and then said, “So…how do you two know each other?”
