Page 66 of Chasing Justice
“Sounds like you have experience with this,” Maya paused. “So, I’ve been thinking...”
“Uh-oh.”
“We’re going to drive up to the Baker cabin, right? Or pretty close?”
“Yeah,” Josh said, taking a sip of coffee.
“I was thinking, why didn’t we drive up there that day? Why did Doug insist we hike in?”
“Good question.”
“At the time we responded to the call, I went with the fact that Doug was my FTO. Since he was training me I assumed there was a reason we were hiking in. I didn’t question him, but I should have.”
“Well,” Josh said. “Let’s get up there and take another look. You had a traumatic experience. Maybe getting back to the place where it happened will jog your memory.”
“True. Okay, let’s go.” Maya rolled up her window and put the Tahoe in Drive. Juniper continued to run circles in excitement, but once the car moved, she settled down.
“Atta girl,” Maya said. “Save some of that energy for work, will you?”
The better Juniper felt, the more her true personality was showing. She was a sweet dog with a good head and strong work drive, but without her regular job, she was getting bored, and Maya wasn’t certain her cabin would survive much longer.
She drained the cup of coffee in time to turn on the road leading to the cabin and carefully negotiated driving over rocks and other obstacles. She would go from left or right, so she didn’t bottom out the vehicle and cause any damage. If she broke down here, it would be a very unhappy tow truck driver who would have to come and get her out.
Maya glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Josh following her tracks. Aspen trees now fully leafed out lined the road, and off to one side several groves of evergreens stood tall. She couldn’t wait to see what Juniper’s nose uncovered. Hopefully, there would be some evidence left behind from the mystery person, with enough scent left for Juniper to find it.
Handlers debated how long a scent lasted when it came to evidence. Some trainers would say only about twenty-four hours, but others had talked about how their K-9 found items days later. Maya wasn’t sure what to believe as there were a lot of factors, like weather, but she knew running Juniper was worth a try.
The cabin, or what was left of it, came into view. Maya’s heart started pounding as she parked the Tahoe and took in the scene. Juniper stood in the back and then started a low, heart-wrenching yowl. Maya opened the door between her and Juniper’s compartment and reached through, giving her dog a pet. Juniper responded with a quick lick and then went back to whining.
“Hard to be back here again, isn’t it, girl?” Maya said. Juniper pushed into her hand.
A piece of left-behind crime scene tape fluttered in the breeze. Parts of cabin walls remained standing, but others had been completely knocked down. Charred pieces of wood littered the ground. There was probably glass too. Maya made a mental note to stay clear of the cabin debris when she started working Juniper. She didn’t need a shard of glass sticking into one of Juniper’s pads.
Josh stood outside, waiting for her, seeming to understand that she needed a moment to herself. Maya eventually opened the door and stepped out. Juniper remained quiet.
“You okay?” Josh asked.
“I just need a minute.”
“Take your time,” Josh said.
Maya took in the surroundings. Aspen trees waved in the morning breeze. Sunlight created shadows from the tree trunks. She closed her eyes to remember the day of the bombing—hiking in and discussing her relationship with her grandfather.
“We came up from the other side,” Maya told Josh. “Since we hiked in rather than drive, we discussed my relationship with my grandfather. Looking back, it was almost like Doug wanted to help patch things up. Maybe he knew he wasn’t coming back.”
“Do you think this was a suicide?”
“No.” Maya shook her head. “He wouldn’t have put Juniper in danger like that. I think every handler can agree that no matter what our mental state, we’d always put our dog first and make sure they’re okay.”
“Did you ever talk about your relationship with your grandfather before this?” Josh gently probed.
“No. I mean, we sort of did. We went fishing once and I told him about not coming home for Nana’s funeral. He didn’t say much. He just let me talk. And he was my FTO, so most of the time he was talking training stuff. I didn’t think much of it that day, but now I wonder why he brought up all the stuff with my grandfather.”
“Is that all you talked about on the hike?”
“All that I can remember.”
“What was the original call you were responding to?” Josh asked.
