Page 75 of Chasing Justice
“I will. I promise.”
“Okay.” Maya turned to go when dispatch radioed in. She and Josh both stopped and listened to the call.
“There’s a male subject on the line. He claims he has found a possible deceased person up Moose Track Pass. Reporting party has agreed to stay on scene. Please respond.”
“Shit,” Maya said, hitting the button to her radio. Her hand shook. “Did the RP say if the deceased was male or female?”
“No, RP is very upset and didn’t give me that information.”
“Can you get back in touch and ask?” Maya said.Could it be Pops?
“I’m sorry, I keep losing contact with the RP. I’ll see if we can switch to texting and if I can get more information.”
“Just find out if the body is the sheriff. Radio me. I’m on my way,” Maya said.
The sidewalk seemed to spin underneath her, and for a moment she thought she was going to toss up her lunch. She heard Josh radio that he would also go with her, but she was running to her patrol vehicle, not paying full attention. Her hands continued to shake as she tried to get the keys in the ignition. She couldn’t lose Pops too.
Maya finally managed to start her vehicle when a knock at the window startled her.Josh.
“I’m responding to the call with you. You up for this? You look upset.”
“Josh, what if it’s Pops?”
“I’ll look at the body first, okay?”
“Let’s quit chatting and get going.” Maya was now annoyed. She didn’t need to be coddled—she needed to know the identity of the body. “You know where you’re going?”
“I’ve heard of that mountain pass, but I’ll follow you,” Josh said, sprinting back toward his car.
Maya flipped on the lights and floored her vehicle in reverse. Juniper sensed the urgency and started to get excited in the back, giving loud yips. “Don’t get too excited, girl. You may not be needed on this.”
Juniper settled down for a moment, cocking her head to listen to Maya.
“Get ready for some bumpy roads.”
Juniper lay down and gave a whine.
“Atta girl. Just stay there and you’ll be good.”
Maya floored her patrol vehicle to make up as much time as she could while she was still on paved roads. That and, she had to admit, driving fast was a blast. A job perk. Responding to a possible homicide? Not so much a job perk. Especially if the body was her grandfather.
She tried to push that thought away.I can’t handle losing him.
About thirty minutes later, Maya parked near a clearing where two roads intersected. One road was meant more for ATVs, but many hikers liked to follow that path as well. The other road was a pass that served as a scenic shortcut through the mountains. Most people drove it in the summer or fall to enjoy the majestic mountains. In the winter, the Forest Service shut down the road due to heavy snowfall.
Maya put her vehicle in Park and could see a distraught guy pacing the area. He looked to be about nineteen. Maybe a college student up for the day from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, or maybe he was a ski bum that was trying to figure out what to do with his summer. He had on a baseball cap that said420, long shorts, and a shirt with Rocky Mountain Highprinted across his chest. Based on the marijuana references, Maya now wondered if he was out here to get away and smoke a little weed. If there hadn’t been a dead body she would have asked since marijuana was still illegal on federal land.
Maya radioed to dispatch she had arrived at the scene. Josh was a little bit behind her, still making his way up the pass. She stepped out of her vehicle and approached the young man.
She didn’t even have to ask him for information. The moment he saw her, he started blabbing. “I was, like, up here hiking and, uh, enjoying nature. Then I come around this bend and I see this.”
“Where? I don’t see the body. Male or female?”
“Yeah, it like totally freaked me out, so I don’t know if it’s a chick or a dude.”
“Just show me where the body is,” Maya said, irritated. Normally she’d be a little more understanding. Finding a deceased person was traumatic and she understood that, but she needed to know if it was Pops. She saw Josh pull up and step out of his vehicle. The man pointed to his left.
Maya was afraid to look but needed to know if this was Pops. She took a deep breath, tried to ready herself, and stepped forward towards the human remains. Josh had come over and was by her side. As they carefully treaded around the area to avoid damaging the crime scene, she couldn’t tell at first if it was Pops. The body had been pulled behind a large boulder—either by a human or an animal.
