Page 32 of Hunting the Truth
Maya waited for Juniper to settle down. She was holding Juniper’s flat collar that was used for narcotics searches. Once the collar was on, Juniper would know what job Maya wanted her to do. Juniper, in her excitement, stood in front of Maya, jumping up and down, but never touched her. She knew better than to cross that line. Maya continued to wait for Juniper to calm down. She had the collar in her hands, and all of a sudden, Juniper sat and poked her head through the collar.
“Good girl,” Maya said, loving on her dog. Her mind was finally forgetting everything that had happened this week. She was glad to have Juniper as a distraction.
Juniper was alert and listening. The tension vibrated up the leash.
“Go find it,” Maya said, directing her dog toward a bush with her free hand while letting the leash out longer with her other hand.
Juniper leapt toward the bush and placed her nose down on the ground. For the most part, Maya let Juniper go, but every once in a while, she would ask Juniper to check up higher or lower. Air flow was funny, and the odor could go up high or even drop down low. So much of it depended on the environment conditions including wind, temperature and humidity.
Continuing to sniff, Juniper was a couple feet away from the rocks where Maya had hidden the meth. All of a sudden, Juniper’s head whipped around, and her body tensed. She headed in the direction of the rocks, pushing her nose into the rock pile. Then she sat, staring at the pile of rocks. Maya waited a moment, making sure Juniper committed to her alert. Then she threw Juniper’s favorite toy in front of her.
Juniper took off, playing with the toy in her mouth and squeaking it in a staccato rhythm. She jumped around and tossed the ball out of her mouth and then pounced forward, grabbing it again. Maya smiled. Juniper could always take her mind off anything that was bothering her. She didn’t know what she’d do without her dog.
Maya picked up the hide and put everything away. Juniper came over and pushed the ball against Maya’s leg. She indulged the dog by grabbing the rope and playing tug with her. She asked Juniper to release, and for a moment, Maya thought Juniper might ignore her, but then the Mal let go of the toy. Maya spent a few minutes playing fetch with Juniper as a reward. That way the toy wasn’t just being given away, it was being given back too.
Eventually, Maya took the toy away for a final time and put it in her BDU pocket. She got out a bowl and put some water in it. Juniper happily lapped it up.
Satisfied that Juniper had been able to burn off some energy, Maya put her back on leash and they started hiking the pass.
The events of the morning filtered back into her mind. She checked her phone to see if she had any messages, but she was out of range. That was probably for the best. Easier for her to concentrate on her job.
Usually, Maya let Juniper run out ahead of her, but with the threat of a possible booby trap, she kept Juniper close to her as she scanned the trail. In Afghanistan, she would have relied on her K-9, Zinger, to help her find the booby traps, but that was because they had explosives attached to them and Zinger was a bomb dog. Maya still found herself heartbroken over Zinger and her mistake as a handler. Maybe at some point she could discuss what had happened in the veterans’ group. If she could ever feel safe talking to the group again. Kendra had created some distrust for Maya.
They wound up the trail when Maya noticed the sun glint off something near the next switchback. She stopped Juniper and put her on a down-stay so she could inspect the area closer without Juniper by her side.
Sure enough, as Maya crouched down to look from a different angle, she saw a wire that they could have easily stepped on. She spent the next few minutes tracing it to where the trap was, and then Maya carefully disarmed it. Juniper sat and stared at her, head down between her paws. Maya was glad she’d gotten some energy out before, or else Juniper might not be as happy to stay in place.
When Maya was satisfied that everything was safe, she released Juniper from her down-stay. Maya made notes for her report and gathered the evidence. If they’d stepped on the booby trap, it would have released a ball with very sharp sticks. Sharp enough to go into a body and cause damage. She took pictures, documented things and gathered the evidence in paper bags. The sticks were not from trees, but rather wooden stakes from the local hardware store that had been shaped until they had a sharp end. The hardware store’s logo was still on the end of a few of them.
Once she cleared the area, Maya decided to have Juniper do an evidence search. Maybe they would find something that would help her find the person setting these traps. She took Juniper over to where she’d disengaged the trap and took off her leash. There was no one in the area and she felt like the area was clear of any danger from booby traps. Juniper would like working off-leash.
“Okay, girl, seek,” Maya said, sending her dog out to search the area.
Juniper scampered around, working the area back and forth in the grid-like pattern that she was trained to do. Maya would only direct Juniper when she thought they had possibly missed an area such as bushes or around rotted out logs on the ground. If Juniper got too far ahead of Maya, she would turn and wait. Even though Maya felt like Juniper was testing her at times, they’d definitely still formed a bond. Juniper waiting for her only proved that.
Maya caught up to where Juniper waited. They’d come to a small area near a creek that had an old firepit. She put her hand over the pit. There was still some heat coming off it. She was about ready to make sure the fire was completely out when Juniper snapped to attention. She worked a scent cone back and forth until she narrowed the odor down to an old tree. Juniper sat at the tree and stared up in the branches.
Sitting was Juniper’s alert for narcotics. Maya praised her as she put on gloves. Juniper didn’t move, her body shaking with excitement, waiting for her toy. Maya went over to the tree and stood up on an old stump where she could see better. Up in the tree was a bag that had been secured around a branch. Maya untied the strings of the bag and found a pipe, some dab and wax—all potent marijuana products. While marijuana was legal in Colorado, it was still illegal on federal land, so Juniper was trained to find it.
“Good, girl,” she said, giving Juniper her toy. As Juniper played, Maya took pictures and documented everything. It was hard to tell if the drugs connected with the booby traps. No matter what, Maya would start patrolling this area more often. She would also see if Miranda could get fingerprints off the bag, pipe and containers with the marijuana dab and wax.
She made sure the campfire was out and then spent another hour hiking with Juniper and looking for any other traps, but didn’t find anything. She’d go to the hardware store before she headed home and see if they had a record of anyone buying stakes like these.
“Come on,” Maya said to Juniper. “Let’s head back to town.”
Leaving the mountains and heading back to reality made Maya think about Josh. Guilt washed over her at how she’d left things with him and what she’d said. He was only trying to be her friend and despite all the reasons Maya had to push him away, she just couldn’t. She had to go and make things right with him. That’s what being strong was all about.
Chapter Fifteen
After finishing her patrol, Maya figured she’d drive into town and stop by the hardware store and see if they could remember anyone buying a large amount of wooden stakes. Maybe they’d even have records and receipts too. That could help a lot. Maya would also give Todd a call and update him.
She wanted to stop into the sheriff’s office too and see what they found at Kendra’s apartment, but for now, she was putting that off. She both wanted to see Josh and avoid him. She knew she needed to make things right, but she didn’t really know how.
All these years of being in the military and now law enforcement, Maya had worked with lots of guys. But after one serious relationship in the military, she had decided she would never mix work and relationships.
Ever.
And then she met Josh.
