Page 50 of Chasing Justice

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“Ready to go again?” Maya asked her. Juniper started running a small circle, indicating she was ready to go back to work.

Maya moved to a new location, the trailhead that led to the waterfalls. She knew her grandfather loved that location, and there was a good chance that’s where he would have been going. Maya started casting the dog out again to pick up the trail of her grandfather. “Okay. Track, girl. Let’s find him.”

Juniper put her nose to the ground sucking in air, tension traveling up the leash, hesitating, sniffing until her body stiffened, and then she shot away from the waterfall. This time Maya was a little more prepared and did less of a Superman impersonation.

Juniper pulled Maya through brush and over logs. She could hear Josh huffing and puffing behind her.

Picking her way through the forest, Juniper continued searching. They reached another trail that appeared to have been made by deer or elk. Juniper had her nose on the ground, in the bushes and back up in the air. Her nose twitched and Maya watched the dog, proud of how well she was doing with just a little bit of work after her injuries.

They came to an old Forest Service logging road that hadn’t been used in years. Juniper worked a scent cone, which meant she was trying to pinpoint where she should alert. Maya knew odor would be coming off something hidden and Juniper would work that scent back and forth until she could determine the exact location.

Maya stayed patient and let her dog work. After a few seconds, Juniper sat and let out a small whine, asking for her toy while staring intently at the bushes to the side of the road.

“Good girl,” Maya said, scratching her ears and rubbing around her neck.

“What does that mean?” Josh asked.

“It’s her alert.”

Maya praised Juniper and then rooted around in the bushes. The sun glinted off something small. Maya put on gloves and pulled out the shiny object. Her hand closed around the cold metal.

“What is it?” Josh asked.

Maya gave Juniper her toy, praising her and rewarding the dog, but fighting back tears at the same time. “It’s Pops’s St. Michael medal. Nana gave it to him. To protect him. Good girl, Juniper.”

Maya shut down her emotions.I have to stay on track, like Juniper. Stay focused.

“You think she can keep tracking?”

“I don’t know how much more she has in her,” Maya said, desperately wanting the dog to track more, but knowing she’d already asked a lot. “Let me see if she’ll do a little bit more.”

Juniper wagged her tail and Maya used a higher-pitched voice to excite Juniper. She took Juniper past the bush where she’d alerted on the medal and started casting her out to see if she could find her grandfather’s scent trail again. Juniper air scented, which meant she might have lost the scent on the ground. Maya worked her in the area and then Juniper took off again, nose on the ground, tail pricked up in the air. She trotted along for only a few more feet to a road and then stopped and started whining.

“Trail is cold here,” Maya said. She reached down and praised Juniper. Her dog had worked well.Where are you, Pops? How could you have just disappeared?

“This gives us a better idea though of where your grandfather went,” Josh said. “Looks like fresh tire tracks, so maybe he fell off and then caught a ride home from someone.”

“This is an off-road Jeep trail,” Maya said. “There’s not a lot of traffic. I don’t like it.”

“I don’t either,” Josh said. “We’re back on Forest Service land. Where does this road go?”

“It’s an old logging road that really doesn’t go anywhere except a few camping spots, but we’re close to the Ray Ranch,” Maya said.

“Okay, we’ll check in with the local hospital and make sure Wayne didn’t hitch a ride to the hospital.”

“He would go check on his horse first,” Maya said.

Josh nodded and got on the radio, telling the other deputies to go check the sheriff’s ranch again.

“I think he was taken,” Maya said.

“But why?” Josh asked.

“Because the other night at the bar, Cody Ray told me my grandfather and I should watch out. He was going to get us. I brushed it off, but maybe he wasn’t kidding. I don’t know. Something about all this seems off.”

“Then I’ll get our crime scene tech up here to take a cast of the tire treads. I’ll see if I can get a search warrant for Cody Ray’s vehicle. Maybe the tracks will be a match. Don’t worry, we’ll find him.” Josh stepped closer to Maya and she leaned into him, hearing his heartbeat and feeling the strength of his arms as he wrapped them around her.

What am I doing? This is not the time to get close to someone.