Page 23 of Chasing Justice
Dr. Asher gave Maya care instructions. After signing off on the paperwork, Maya went back into the kennel to retrieve Juniper. This time she was greeted by the wag of a tail and slurp of a tongue. She clipped the leash on, and they strolled out of the clinic together. Maya loaded Juniper into her special K-9 area of the vehicle. She was getting ready to head home and continue the process of bonding with Juniper when a sheriff’s vehicle pulled into the parking lot. Josh. Great. Not the distraction she needed right now.
Josh pulled up next to Maya’s vehicle in the typical cop window-to-window fashion. Juniper circled around her back area. She whined and then gave a sharp bark.
“Quiet,” Maya said, rolling down her window. “He may not be our favorite deputy, but you still have to be nice.”
Juniper cocked her head to one side, listening.
“Of course, I’m not sure I have a favorite deputy,” Maya admitted to Juniper. “It should probably be my grandfather, but technically he’s the sheriff, not a deputy. I’m sure you’ll meet him at some point too. Or maybe you already have.”
Maya’s window finished rolling down and she said, “What’s up?”
“You talking to the dog?”
“Maybe. Why? Jealous?”
“Just curious if it was a good conversation,” Josh said. Maya didn’t answer. Her heart rate increased and she had to look away. Why did he have that effect on her?
“Your grandfather heard about the call at the bar. Just FYI. I thought you’d want to know,” Josh continued. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”
So, to add to his other duties, he’s my grandfather’s messenger too.
“Did you pull up to harass me or did you actually have something important?” Maya leaned her arm on the window. In the back Juniper started panting out of excitement. She poked her nose on the door that opened between the cab and her K-9 area, making a wuffling sound as she sniffed.
“No, I do have something else to tell you, although harassing you is fun too,” Josh said, grinning.
“Get on with it. I need to get Juniper home and start getting her settled in.”
“All right, all right. Had an arrest last night. Domestic. When we got there the guy had calmed down probably because he had decided to take all the drugs the couple were fighting over.”
“Okay,” Maya said, noticing that Juniper had decided to circle in the back now and, based on a ripping noise she heard, the blankets she’d put in there were being shredded. Typical for a young working dog. Maya should have known better. Hopefully, Juniper wouldn’t eat the blankets.
“When we arrested him,” Josh continued, “I noticed that he had sores all over his body, mostly where you would inject the drug. We had to take him to the hospital and have him treated. The wife also had the start of some sores in injection sites. They were both having trouble speaking.”
“Are you thinking it’s infected heroin injection spots? Or are you thinking of something different?”
“We’re having them tested for Krokodil.”
Maya sat back in her vehicle. Krok was a drug that she had only run across in Afghanistan and was popular in Russia. Users of Krok had large sores, which was how it got its name. According to the DEA, the drug hadn’t made its way to the United States because the main ingredient was codeine. That was available over the counter in Russia, but the United States was strict about codeine prescriptions. “You really think that’s what it is?”
“I’m not sure. Tox reports will take a couple of days to come back, but I was wondering if the lab has let you know what kind of drug was being manufactured up at the Forest Service cabin.”
Maya shook her head. “No, but my boss and some FBI investigators are coming into town either later today or by tomorrow. They should have some more information. Krokodil would be unusual. I keep thinking whoever had the lab was producing meth or something along those lines.”
“Yeah, that would make more sense, but when I was working as a cop in Chicago, we arrested some Russian mobsters. It was a big raid with a lot of three-letter agencies. They had been starting to produce Krok to sell in the U.S.”
“I guess it makes sense. If they can get the codeine here, it’s cheaper to make than meth,” Maya said. “Better high for the user, stronger addiction, everything you’d want to gain a good drug clientele. I saw it in Afghanistan when we would raid buildings. People were oblivious to us coming in. They were off in their own world. The high only lasts about two hours so they would need a fix right away. Didn’t see it often because it’s more of Russia’s problem, but our medical guys would try to help them because often the sores were gangrene. Not that we could really do much.”
“Yeah, according to the doc at the hospital, the guy we arrested may lose his foot to the sores. Said the same thing, looked like gangrene.”
“Let’s keep each other in the loop,” Maya said.
“You mean work together?” Josh raised an eyebrow, faking surprise.
“Yeah, work together.” Maya sighed, noticing that Juniper had lain down in what appeared to be the shredded remnants of the blanket.
“Then you’ll need to put my number on speed dial. And I need yours.”
“You have mine. Or at least the sheriff’s office does.”
