Josh and Eric gave each other a look.
“It’s a long story. Complicated,” Josh said. “Eric is my girlfriend’s father.”
“And you live here?” Elena asked. “Let me rephrase that: You broke in to stay here. Why?”
Eric shrugged and stared at Josh. “We need to tell her the truth.”
“I agree,” Josh said. “Eric is wanted and on the run from the law. If I weren’t an escaped suspect, I’d arrest him right now.”
Elena started to rub her temples and shook her head. “I can’t believe this. You’re telling me the best chance I have right now is with two wanted fugitives?”
“That’s the short story,” Eric said.
“I don’t want to know the long story,” Elena said. “That way I can claim I didn’t know anything.”
“Fair enough,” Eric said. “Let’s get some rest and then you can tell me more about what’s going on with the two of you.”
“I don’t want to rest,” Elena said. Josh thought she might cry, but she took a deep breath and continued. “I want to go home. I’m tired of being on the run. This has to stop. Somehow. Now.”
“Okay, let’s get some food and then go over the case,” Eric said, pulling out some bread. Josh handed him a small jar of peanut butter. “Hope you aren’t sick of peanut butter sandwiches. Now, explain everything to me from the start.”
* * *
By the time Maya and Lucas had finished copying everything and stashing extra copies in the safe, the sun was out and shining bright. Juniper had crashed on her dog bed and was fast asleep, exhausted after all her work.
It appeared it was going to be a nice start to the day, but by that evening, the storm would arrive and flakes would start falling. The sun was almost like a false sense of hope when Maya knew that by tonight, the temperature would drop, the wind chill would be frigid, and roads would become impassable. Not the best conditions for Josh and Elena unless they’d found a good place to stay.
Josh’s note went through her mind and what he’d alluded to. Could that be for real?
As if reading her mind, Lucas said, “Do you think Josh and Elena are with Eric by any chance? I know he’s been leaving you notes, so that means he’s in the area.”
“I don’t know,” Maya said, yawning. She was almost a little jealous of her dog, who was now snoring away. “But that would be my guess.”
“Would Josh go with him?”
“Why not?” Maya answered. “What does he have to lose? I mean, he’s on the run too. If Eric can provide help, then I think Josh will take it. He’d never do that in any other circumstance.”
“Eric must be within hiking distance from your property. How far away do you think he’d go?”
Maya shrugged. “Good question. He’s fit and grew up in the Montana mountains. I would guess that he’s pretty resourceful and I have some ideas depending on which direction he goes. But that’s the thing: I haven’t tried tracking him. Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“I was actually trying to behave myself and let someone else handle it…” Maya said. Then she took a deep breath. Lucas was her friend and was like a brother. “And because I liked hearing from Eric. It was as close to having a parent as I’ve ever come.”
“I would probably do the same thing if I were you,” Lucas said.
“Would you? I don’t know anymore. It’s like you try to do the right thing, but sometimes, what’s right and what’s wrong is a blurred line. I figured if I wasn’t helping him, then it was okay.”
“Why don’t you go home, get some rest?” Lucas said. “I need to crash for a few hours too. Then let’s regroup and go through this evidence. We have copies made and the originals should be secure in your safe. Meet you at the sheriff’s office around ten? We can go through all of this and see if we can make some sense of it.”
“That sounds good,” Maya said. “I’ll crash here on the couch. I’ve done it before. I don’t mind.”
“Marines. We can sleep anywhere, can’t we?”
Maya smiled. “We can. See you soon.”
Lucas headed out and Maya shut the door behind him. She knew napping would be hard despite how tired she was. As she was getting ready to lie down, she received a text from Pops:
