Page 40 of Hunting the Truth
“Okay,” Maya said. She told Abigail she’d meet at the café because she needed to get Juniper out. After letting her play for a few minutes, she put her back in the vehicle. Juniper’s pointy ears drooped slightly, and she appeared put out and pouty.
“I promise we’ll go to the mountains today and do something other than have you sit in the car. You did get to have some fun last night,” Maya said to her.
She felt a little guilty because she knew that after lunch Juniper would still be stuck in the vehicle. Maya needed to stop in at the hardware store and see if Daryl had found any receipts, and after that, help their local parks and wildlife officer check hunting tags. Then she would have to take Juniper and do something. Some training would be good. Maybe they’d even head back home and go for a run.
Home.
A thought started to form in her head.
Her cabin was the one crime scene that hadn’t been processed. She knew now that someone had been watching her, and that was Kendra. According to Abigail, there was a good chance Kendra had been working for Torres, probably gathering intel on Maya. If Torres thought that she knew something about the evidence her mother supposedly stole, then he might have been surveilling her cabin too.
Maya thought about the cigarette smoke she’d smelled. Why had she ever doubted her instincts...and Juniper’s instincts? There was a good chance there were more cigarette butts out there somewhere that Juniper could help her find and possibly some other evidence that could help them locate Torres.
Maybe Maya could do a “training” session with Juniper to work on evidence searches and older tracks. It was a long shot, but it could kill two birds with one stone—give Juniper something to do so she didn’t tear apart everything at the cabin and find some more evidence.
Maya drove down to the Black Bear Café and parked in front. Juniper huffed and sighed in the back and turned around, so she was facing away from her. Maya smiled and said again, “I promise we’ll do something fun this afternoon. You’ll enjoy it.”
She headed into the café, stopping long enough to do her ritual of patting the wooden black bear statue out front on the nose. There was a lunch rush going. There wasn’t much to do in Pinecone Junction, so the locals often grabbed lunch together. Ranchers would gather and discuss things like hay and beef prices. Wives would get together and discuss how the kids were doing and gossip. Maya used to come with Nana for lunches like that. She’d enjoyed it, but after coming home from Afghanistan and with Nana being gone, she felt more like an outsider now.
She wound her way through the other lunch patrons over to where Abigail sat in a corner. It was the table closest to the bar. Part of her wanted to move tables. She’d love nothing more right now than to go to the bar and have a few beers. Make all these feelings go away. She didn’t like having raw emotions pop up, but discussing the cases this morning had brought up deep feelings. Maya always worked to be stoic and tough, but the reality was, she was as vulnerable as the next person. It didn’t matter what uniform she wore or what type of gun she had on her duty belt.
Abigail studied the menu. “What do you recommend?”
Maya picked the chair that faced away from the bar. “Everything here is good. I’m a burger and fries kind of person, but Josh loves the meat loaf.”
“Meat loaf?” Abigail made a disgusted face and then laughed. “Maybe my mom just didn’t know how to make meat loaf.”
“No, you’re not alone, I’m not a huge fan either.”
The waitress came over and took their drink and food orders. Maya had her usual cheeseburger and fries while Abigail ordered a turkey sandwich. The server left and Maya suddenly felt awkward. She didn’t know Abigail. What would they talk about? They couldn’t really discuss the case in public and Maya wasn’t on it anyway. Why had she agreed to come to lunch, especially when she had so much to get done?
Abigail broke the silence. “Heard your boss pulled you off the investigation because of the family ties.”
“He did, but I understand,” Maya said.
“Still, it must be frustrating.”
Maya glanced over at the bar again. This conversation would be easier if she could order a beer. Maybe she’d better call her sponsor later too. The craving was hitting her hard today. “It is frustrating,” she finally said.
“How old were you when your mom died?”
“I was four, almost five,” Maya said.
“That’s young. I’m sorry to hear that. You remember much about that night?”
Maya’s memories were still fragmented, but she could still feel the heat of the fire and the relief of Pops finding her and carrying her to safety. She could even taste the mac and cheese she’d been eating earlier that day. “I have some memories, but they’re not great. The memories come in pieces, kind of like looking into a broken mirror. You can’t quite see the whole picture, but I’ve been working on remembering more. The most vivid memory was when my mom told me to go hide.”
“It’s a good thing she did tell you that or you might not be here today.”
“True,” Maya said.
“So what made you want to become a cop and work K-9s? I mean, it’s not a common profession for women. I should know.”
“Pops and Nana adopted me after my mother’s death. They were both grandparents and parents to me. I can’t imagine how they felt losing their only daughter and then having to raise their granddaughter, but I loved them both and I always said I wanted to be just like Pops. I don’t think he was happy at first that I wanted to be in law enforcement, but Nana always encouraged me to be what I wanted.”
“You’re lucky to have had them,” Abigail said.
“I am. How about you? What took you down this career path?”
