Page 32 of Chasing Justice
Maya started toward the door when she heard her grandfather say, “Maya.” She turned around, expecting some sort of lecture, but all he said was, “Thanks for stopping in.”
“Yeah. See you around, Pops.”
Maya closed the door behind her, descending the porch steps. She paused at the bottom and shoved her hands in her pockets. Her grandfather was holding back, but why?
Chapter Nineteen
Maya sat in her SUV in Pops’s driveway. The keys were in the ignition, but she hadn’t been able to leave. She’d stared off at the mountains in the distance; some early afternoon thunderheads were building. It was that time of year when storms would roll in bringing much-needed rain and dangerous lightning.
Juniper woke up from her nap and stretched in the back. She put her nose up to the door that opened between her compartment and the front of the vehicle. Maya unlocked the door, giving Juniper a couple treats and rubbing her head. She thought about the conversation with Pops. What would it take to get him to open up to her?
Maya glanced down at the center console and saw her phone was blinking. Her boss, Todd, was calling so she immediately answered.
“Thompson, I know it’s your day off, but can you come to the office ASAP? An FBI agent will be there along with Coleman. We need to talk. We have a situation.”
“Sir?” Maya said. Coleman was the special agent in charge of criminal investigations for their region. His job would be to help investigate Doug’s death and present the case to the attorney general when they found the bastard who had done this.
“Just get here ASAP. No uniform needed,” Todd said.
“Okay,” Maya said, hearing the click on the other end of the line as he hung up. In the short time she’d known Todd, she had never heard him this upset. It had to be something with the investigation. But what?
She thought about the hidden cash, the letters where Doug mentioned a complicated relationship, and the fact Pops was holding back on information. Was Doug somehow involved in all this? Had she done something? Maybe they had changed their mind about Juniper and had decided to give her to another handler. That thought made Maya feel sick. Thinking about it made her realize that the trial period was bullshit. She wanted to be Juniper’s handler.
Maya floored the SUV and peeled out of the driveway. She took the curves as fast as she dared, glancing every now and then at Juniper, who had flattened herself up against one side of her enclosure, giving Maya a look that said she didn’t appreciate the speed.
After passing a couple vehicles, Maya made it to town in good time. She grabbed Juniper’s leash and went around to get her out of the back. While Juniper was supposed to stay quiet, she needed to move around a little bit and Maya had to admit that whatever Todd was about to tell her had her nervous enough that she wanted the support of Juniper by her side.
Maya noticed two more vehicles with government plates parked by Todd’s car. She recognized the special agent’s car and figured the other belonged to the FBI. There would be many different organizations helping with this investigation since the crime happened on federal land, but the sheriff’s office would also be involved. Maya wondered why her grandfather wasn’t called in too.
She opened the office door. Todd was sitting at her desk and the two other agents sat facing him. “Sir,” Maya said, clearing her throat.
“Officer Thompson, thanks for coming so quickly. You know Coleman, and this is FBI Agent Kessler.”
“Gentlemen,” Maya said, shaking their hands. Coleman was all business and nearing retirement. She had heard through the law enforcement grapevine that Agent Kessler was a recent Quantico graduate and new to the Fort Collins field office. He had a baby face with slicked-back hair and fiddled with his wedding ring, making Maya suspect he was a newlywed. She supposed you had to start somewhere, but she had hoped there would be a more senior agent assigned to the case.
Juniper pushed her way between Maya and the two men. “Nice to meet you,” Maya said. “I’m Officer Thompson and this is K-9 Juniper.”
Maya sat down by Todd and asked Juniper to lie down. Much to her relief, Juniper listened. “We have some results from the investigation,” Todd started. “Before we talk any further, I need to know if you know anything that you’d like to tell us.”
Everyone stared at Maya. She felt her face heat up even though she hadn’t done anything wrong. “Sir? Like what?”
“Anything. Did Officer Leyton ever tell you anything that we need to know? I know you were good friends, so it would be natural to protect him,” Todd said.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Maya said. Juniper swiveled her head back and forth, taking in the conversation. Maya reached down and scratched Juniper’s ears.
Coleman cleared his throat. “What we mean is that we were able to get fingerprints and DNA from the bomb pieces as well as parts of the drug lab.”
“Good. Do you have a match?” Maya asked.
“Yes,” said the FBI agent.
Maya didn’t like the way he was looking at her, as if she were the one who was being interrogated.Maybe Iambeing interrogated. She decided to play their game for now. She didn’t care about the agents, but the look on Todd’s face bothered her. There was a mix of mistrust, frustration, and resignation—something she’d never seen from him before. “That’s great. Have you arrested the person?”
“No,” said Coleman.
“Why not?” Maya asked.
Todd leaned forward on the desk, set his hands down and interlaced his fingers. “Because the prints and DNA belonged to Officer Leyton.”
