Page 26 of Hunting the Truth
“I am. I thought I’d stop in and see if Miranda had any results from the crime scene,” Maya said.
“Just a couple things. She did a cast of the shoeprint we found on the track. It’s a match to the boots Kendra was wearing. Miranda bagged the gauze in case we might need a scent article for Juniper. We also haven’t been able to find Kendra’s vehicle or cell phone. I was able to get a warrant so that the phone company could try pinging her phone and see if we can locate it. Who knows, that might lead us to more evidence.”
“That all sounds good. If you can find the phone location or the vehicle location, let me know. Juniper could do another evidence search or she might be able to locate the vehicle with the scent article from the scene. She might pick up a track if someone dumped those items and then took off,” Maya said, and then she went quiet for a moment as her mind processed that they were talking about evidence in not just any murder case, but a murder of one of Maya’s friends. Josh didn’t say anything. He always seemed to know when to speak up and when to let Maya sit with her thoughts. “I was thinking about Kendra and the worst part of our jobs—death notifications.”
Josh nodded. “I was thinking about that too. Do you know if she had any family around here? Anyone we should talk to?”
“All I know about her is that she said her dad was in prison because he killed her mother. She never said anything about any siblings or other family, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t someone.”
“I’ll look into it more.”
“Thank you,” Maya said, feeling relieved.
“If I find anyone, do you want to go with me to tell them?”
She hated doing a death notification. Being the person who told someone that their loved one would never walk through the front door again was one of the most difficult things she’d ever done, but Kendra had been a friend. Maybe not the closest friend in the world, but a friend nonetheless. “Yes, I’d like to do that.”
“Okay, I’ll let you know if I find anything,” Josh said.
Maya stood up to leave and Josh stood too. They stared at each other for a moment, and she wondered how many awkward moments they would continue to have like this before one of them admitted that they liked the other. It felt like being in high school all over again. She was getting ready to say something when there was a knock at the door, and someone cleared their throat.
“Hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Miranda said. She gave Maya a wink.
“No,” Josh said. “Come on in. Maya was just getting ready to head out on patrol for the day.”
“Then this is good timing. I have a result from the fingerprint on the tree borer.”
“Already?” Maya asked, impressed at the quick hit.
“It’s because the person it belongs to was already in AFIS so that made it easier. I think you both will be interested in looking over this file,” Miranda said, handing a folder over to Josh.
Maya knew that this was luck on their side. Even though the Automated Fingerprint Identification System was a national database, it didn’t mean you would get a hit this quickly. To say the system had a ton of fingerprints on file was an understatement. Josh flipped open the folder and started reading. His expression changed to a look of surprise.
“An ex-cop and wanted felon?” Josh said.
“What?” Maya asked.
Miranda nodded. “Yep. The fingerprint matches a guy by the name of Eric Torres. He was a cop up in Montana, but his fingerprints ended up in AFIS because he’s wanted for multiple felonies including murder of two cops and a judge. All in Montana.”
“What’s he doing here?” Maya asked.
“No idea,” Miranda said. “That’s your jobs to figure out, but I hope you find him. I don’t think he’s someone we want running around loose in the forests.”
“I’ll put out a BOLO for him,” Josh said, meaning abe on the lookout. “I’ll make sure our deputies know to watch for him and call for backup if they spot him.”
“I’ll keep an eye out on my patrols too,” Maya said. “Is there a picture?”
Josh flipped the file around and Maya peered at the attached photo. Butterflies started in her stomach and she swallowed hard. Dark hair and eyes—a stare like a snake ready to strike.
“I know him,” Maya whispered.
“What?” Josh said. “How?”
“I’m pretty certain he was the one at the house the night my mother died.”
“Are you sure?” Miranda asked.
“No, I guess not. I was just a little kid, but I’ve been having dreams and memories coming back. I swear it’s him. Does that look like the man that we saw on the trail in Fort Collins?”
