Page 72 of Chasing Justice
“Thanks,” Maya said.
“She’s the best,” Josh said. “We’re lucky to have her.”
“Don’t forget that,” came a voice from the other side of the door.
“And apparently she has really good hearing,” Maya said. “Come on, let’s go get some lunch.”
They headed outside, and she stopped to check on Juniper. The young dog had her face pressed against the metal part of her carrier and was staring at Maya. “I guess she’s rested,” she said. “That was a quick nap. I forgot what a young dog was like.”
Josh laughed. “Why don’t you get her out and let her walk with us on leash? I’ll go in and get the food. But you’re still paying.”
“Deal,” Maya said, grabbing Juniper’s leash. As soon as Juniper saw that Maya had the leather lead, she ran circles and started yipping. “I’ll be a minute. I’m going to wait for her to settle so this doesn’t become a habit.”
“You got it. I’ll go get our order started.”
A few minutes later, Juniper settled down enough for Maya to open the door and get her leash on. She stepped back and let Juniper jump down. Juniper landed, shook her whole body, and then began some small yips again. A few people walking by paused with concerned looks on their faces. Even though Maya knew the dog was being playful, a Malinois could be intimidating. There were many reasons law enforcement used the Mals and the shepherds. Intimidation was one of them.
Maya settled Juniper by taking the opportunity to work on obedience. Once Juniper was listening better, Maya asked her to heel. They left the sheriff’s department and headed down the sidewalk. She was proud that Juniper’s behavior was improving. One person even asked if she could pet Juniper. Maya gave her the command to relax and be “off duty.” Juniper gave the lady a few licks in return.
Approaching the café, Maya saw Josh inside ordering. She signaled to Josh that she had the cash when he was ready and then she put Juniper on a down-stay in some grass. The door opened behind them, and Maya turned around expecting Josh to be there. Instead, Maya was staring at Jenna Ray.
It took Maya a moment to recognize Jenna. Even over the last couple of days, she’d lost weight and there were circles under her eyes. Jenna was a beautiful woman—she could almost be a model—but now she appeared haunted.
Jenna paused for a moment and stared at Juniper. Before Maya could say anything, Juniper hopped up and raced toward Jenna.
Maya was ready to pull her up, but she noticed that Juniper’s tail was wagging and she was dancing around Jenna the same way she did around Josh.
It was like Juniper knew Jenna.
“You can pet her if you want,” Maya said, testing out her theory.
“No thanks.” Jenna gave Juniper one last look and then headed down the street, hands in her pockets.
Jenna looked over her shoulder once, and Maya thought she saw a look of sadness cross her face. But Jenna continued, hunched over a little bit, not the same person Maya had seen even at the bar a couple days ago. Juniper continued to wag her tail and gazed longingly at Jenna.
“You seem like you know her pretty well, girl.” Maya signaled for Josh to come out.
“Don’t worry, I was going to get the money from you,” he said.
She handed him a twenty. “Did you see where Jenna Ray was sitting?”
“I did.”
“Go in there and grab her glass. Bag it for evidence just in case she’s not in the system. I want to see if her fingerprints match the ones on the evidence we just gave Miranda.”
“Okay. I look forward to hearing what brought you to that conclusion,” Josh said, raising an eyebrow and shrugging. “I’ll be right back.”
“Hurry up. We don’t want them to bus the table and lose the glass.”
Josh shook his head. “I’m on it.”
A few minutes later Josh came out with several paper bags. “Here’s the evidence,” he said, handing Maya a bag with a glass. “I think you bought a glass with lunch. You owe me five more dollars.”
“It’s worth it if it’s a match.”
“What makes you think Jenna is connected to this? Other than she’s a Ray.”
“Juniper acted like she knew her,” Maya said. “She gave the same reaction to Jenna that she does to you or me. I let someone else who didn’t know Juniper pet her a few minutes ago. Juniper was friendly, but not that excited. She broke a down-stay the moment she saw Jenna.”
