Page 82 of Chasing Justice
“I agree. I’ll get another deputy up here and we can mark off the scene. I’ll also see if we can get that phone to our tech guys—maybe there’s something to salvage.”
“You have any more deputies to protect the scene?”
“I’ll admit, I’m running low, but the DEA will be here soon and take over. Bobbi was one of theirs, and you know how they get. I’ll get another guy here until the federal crime scene guys arrive.”
“True,” Maya said. “They’ll want that cell phone too.”
“I know,” Josh said. “I’ll give it to them, but maybe we can get something off it that will tell us about your grandfather first. If the Rays really do have him, then Bobbi probably would have tried to get that message out. That could even be what got her killed. I’ll leave out the part about you taking Juniper for a ‘walk.’”
Maya heard a buzz, and Juniper stopped chewing on her toy for a minute and tilted her head. Her triangular ears perked straight up.
“You have cell reception here?” Maya asked.
“I guess I do,” Josh said, pulling out his phone. “That must be why Bobbi was here. She was probably trying to send a message.”
He hit a button and listened to the voice mail that had been left. Maya and Juniper stared at him, waiting for information. Maya hoped it would be about her grandfather.
Josh’s face registered concern and then surprise. Then he put the phone back in his pocket.
“What is it?” Maya asked. Juniper stood up and stretched. Sensing the change in Maya and hoping she was going back to work, she began to dance around. Maya settled her back down.
“You were right. Your inclination about Jenna. That was Miranda calling, and she said the unknown fingerprints on the knife matched the glass Jenna Ray used. There’s a good chance she’s the one who kidnapped your grandfather. We have enough to get a warrant. Also, I had asked another deputy to look into who owned the property with the abandoned cabin. He left a voice mail and said it belonged to a Lillian Ray. Who’s she?”
Maya felt excited and sad at the same time. “Lillian was Jenna and Cody’s mother. She died not too long ago. I think it was cancer. I heard that’s why Jenna came home.”
“I think we’ve got enough to approach the judge again.”
At least there was a break in the evidence. Without Juniper they wouldn’t have that.
Maya reached down and scratched her on the head. She thought about how Juniper reacted to Jenna. Jenna was built like the suspect at the bombing. She was also blonde. Could Jenna be the mystery girlfriend? Was she stashing the money at Doug’s—was it drug money? But why would Doug take Maya and Juniper up to the cabin that he knew was rigged with bombs? How would taking Pops benefit Jenna?
There were too many unanswered questions. Searching the Ray property could be the only way to get answers.
“How long to get a warrant?” Maya asked.
“I’ll call the judge before we leave this spot and see if I can have one ready by the time I get back to town.”
“Call me as soon as you hear something.”
When Maya was back in town, she went into the sheriff’s office. She would go through her grandfather’s files until she found Josh’s profile jacket and see if Sam was right. She had to decide how much to trust him and she couldn’t do that without more information.
Maya nodded to the front desk deputy who let her in and went down a hall lined with photographs from flood and forest fire rescues. She opened the door to her grandfather’s office but left the light off. She didn’t want anyone to know she was snooping around. Probably a little bit out of her jurisdiction. She turned on her flashlight, hoping it wouldn’t tip someone off that she was in the office.
She took note of the pictures around the office. There was one of Pops and Nana many years ago on their wedding day, Maya’s mom as a young girl fishing with Pops, and right on the desk where he could look at it every day was the picture Maya had sent home of her and Zinger. She didn’t realize Pops had this on his desk.
She picked up the picture. That moment with Zinger seemed like years ago when Maya was much more innocent.
Setting it back down, she focused back on the task at hand. She went to the filing cabinet and scrolled through all the files until she found Josh’s. After pulling it out, Maya started reading. Josh hadn’t lied about how his partner had been killed, and he had been cleared.
As Maya read the details of the incident, relief flooded over her. Josh had made an honest mistake in the death of his partner and Sam blew it out of proportion. Josh had made an error any of them could make—he hadn’t patted down a kid. Cops had to be careful frisking a juvenile when they weren’t the suspects. The kid’s parents were having a domestic dispute. There really wasn’t any reason to check and see if there were weapons on him. But that had cost Josh’s partner his life because it turned out the child had snuck a gun out of the house. The kid saw his parents being arrested, freaked out, and shot at the first cop he saw.
Maya knew some cops would hold this against Josh forever, and that’s probably why he left Chicago. If Sam knew the whole story, he would be the type to hold it against Josh. Sam was a little bit old-school and maybe his ego was bruised by Josh’s promotion—especially since he had been friends with Pops for a long time.
Then Maya turned the page and saw the next entry.
Relief turned back to anger.Damn it.Joshhadbeen holding back. There was more to Josh’s story than just his partner being killed. He left out the details of everything that happenedafterhis partner’s death. She understood now why Josh was happy to be in Pinecone Junction. Pops not only gave him a second chance—he took a big risk in hiring Josh. No wonder Sam wasn’t happy. Josh had a lot of demons in his past.
Maya closed the profile jacket. She would confront Josh about this information. He should have told her the whole story.
