Page 16 of Hunting the Truth
“Thompson,” Todd said, in his typical short, to-the-point manner. “I need you to look into something.”
Maya liked her boss. He was fair and had had her back when she needed it the most last summer after her friend Doug died. “What’s that, sir?”
“We’re getting reports that there’s someone setting booby traps in your area, near Deer Valley Pass.”
“Booby traps?” Maya said. “What kind?”
“Trip wire. If someone triggers it, a ball of sharp sticks will swing at them. Luckily, the first person who found and triggered one of these was able to get out of the way. But I need you to go out on some foot patrols and see if there’s any more traps out there. I’ll text you the coordinates.”
“Yes, sir. I can do that.”
“Be careful, Thompson. Do you know how to disarm one of these if you find one?”
“I have some basic training from the military. I’m not an expert, though,” Maya answered.
“If you need assistance, just call. We can figure out someone who can come and help you.”
“Will do.”
“Thanks, Thompson.”
The line went dead. Maya stepped out of her vehicle and let Juniper out as a text came through from Todd. She would map out the coordinates and then plan her day. She opened up Juniper’s door and the dog bounded out.
Maya worked on some obedience in the parking lot. She asked Juniper to do a variety of exercises including a down-stay and then come. When Juniper settled down, they went into her office, and she pulled out some paper maps. You never depended on phone GPS in the wilderness. Not only would you most likely lose service, but the directions to most places could also be inaccurate. Just the other day, Maya had helped some tourists who were trying to get back to their bed-and-breakfast. They had routes pulled up on their phone and three hours later, they were still on roads that didn’t go anywhere near their destination. Maya had helped them get to the main road and back to town.
As she circled the locations on the map where she’d be headed, Juniper’s tail started thumping hard on the wooden floor. She ran over to the door and sat, waiting expectantly. Only Josh brought that behavior out in her dog, but just in case there was someone else there, Maya called Juniper back over as the door opened.
Josh stepped in, dressed in his dark blue sheriff’s uniform and carrying coffee and doughnuts. “Morning.”
“Morning,” Maya said.
“How are you doing?” He set the doughnuts and coffee down on Maya’s desk. “Here’s your coffee with enough cream to pretty much make it more of a latte.”
“Thanks,” Maya said.
“Did Juniper have any more reactions last night? Did you feel like anyone was watching you?” Josh asked as he peered in the doughnut bag and raised an eyebrow.
“No, it was fine. I’m glad you didn’t have to suffer on my couch. What’s wrong with the doughnuts?”
“I asked the coffee shop barista for two chocolate doughnuts. She added in extra doughnuts with powdered sugar, and she put her phone number on my coffee cup.”
Maya started giggling and let it turn into a full-on laugh. “Well, she probably hasn’t thought about the fact you wear dark uniforms and white powdered sugar doughnuts will only raise your dry-cleaning bill. You going to call her?”
“What? No. Why?”
“Just wondering,” Maya said, taking the chocolate doughnut Josh held out to her. They each took a seat and she was grateful for more coffee.
“Kendra should be arriving soon,” she asked in between bites.
Josh peeked at his watch and said, “Yeah, I’ll have to get going here in a minute. Hope she works out. I’ve been filling in on some of the shifts and I’m ready for a break.”
“The joys of a small department,” Maya said.
“Yeah, no kidding. What’s on your schedule today?”
“Oh, you know, a typical day. Someone has been setting booby traps near Deer Valley Pass. I’m going to head up there and try to see if I can find any more and dismantle them.”
“Be careful,” Josh said, finishing up his doughnut. “Radio me if you need anything.”
