Page 43 of Hunting the Truth
But Maya was definitely going to run the plate.
Eric downshifted as he passed his favorite place to park. The last thing he’d expected to see at the pull-off was Maya, her dog and another guy—he thought he was another investigator, but he didn’t know for sure. Damn it, she’d probably used her dog to track to where he normally parked to hike in and do his surveillance. Now that spot was off limits.
And she’d taken a picture of his license plate.
They were Colorado plates—stolen at a rest stop on his way here—so that they wouldn’t stick out. His Montana plates rested under the seat of his truck. He wondered how long before Maya ran the numbers and the plates showed up in the system as stolen. He hadn’t worried about it because the rest stop was way up north in Wyoming and Eric figured that bought him some time.
Now that Maya had a picture of the plates, he would have to get rid of these. Maybe even get rid of the truck. Dump it somewhere where it wouldn’t be found. The bottom of a reservoir always seemed to work. The thing was about done anyway. He was a little sad as he’d bought it new back in 1992 when he’d started out on the force. Back when he thought what he was doing was a noble cause. That being a police officer was the best job ever.
When had he changed? When had he become the monster he was now?
He stared at the butt of his handgun sticking out from the vehicle gun holster. He could go back right now. Maya might still be there with her dog and that other guy, but maybe he could take them by surprise. He could grab her.
Eric stepped on the brakes and whipped the old truck around in a U-turn. If he did this right, he could ambush her and grab her before the dog could do anything. Or so he told himself. This really wasn’t a good plan.
He came around a curve in the road back to where he’d last seen Maya.
She was gone. He’d missed his chance.
Eric was tired of waiting and decided that he had to move now. Tonight.
He had to get to Maya as soon as possible. She’d seen him and would probably call it in.
Her fate was sealed.
Chapter Twenty
Once Lucas had left for the lab and Maya was back on her porch, she pulled out her phone and called Josh. He didn’t answer, so she left a voice mail asking him to call. She needed to talk. Maya wasn’t one for long voice mails—short and sweet worked for her. Juniper finished drinking and put her head on Maya’s lap. Maya stroked the dog on her head and down her back.
“Thank you for finding that bracelet,” she said to her. “You’re such a good girl.”
Juniper responded with a tail wag. Maya forced herself to get up and stared at the phone, willing Josh to call. She decided to send him a quick text too, just in case he wasn’t in a good spot to answer the phone.
I know where Eric Torres is parking when he watches the cabin and I found more evidence. Lucas already collected it. Give me a call. I’ll fill you in more.
Maya hit send. There was a part of her that even wanted him to stay with her for the night, knowing that she’d been under surveillance. But she was a Marine, for God’s sake, and she really didn’t need some guy taking care of her. She realized, though, that after she’d pushed Josh away when he asked her to stay with him, he’d been even more distant. She missed him and his friendship. She missed having someone to talk to. Even Marines needed friends.
She and Juniper went inside. Maya opened some windows to help cool off the cabin. At least when the sun set, the night would cool off. She didn’t have air-conditioning because at this altitude the house cooled off every night and stayed cool until the afternoon. Juniper willingly went to her crate and went inside, curling up. They were both tired. It had been a long day.
Maya peered in her fridge and freezer. There was one frozen pizza left. If Josh didn’t call soon, that would be dinner. She hoped though that he would call and come over.
The bracelet had triggered more memories and Maya was certain Eric had been at their house that fateful night her mother died. DNA only confirmed it. She could be a witness against him with what she remembered. He had threatened her mom—probably because of the evidence Zoey had. Where would that evidence have gone? Was there any chance it would be at Pops’s house? Could that be why Nana was killed?
Maya let Juniper out of her crate and gave her the command to go lie on her bed. She hoped that Juniper would get better about this so that she had more options with her when she was home at night. The dog seemed tired enough that she listened to Maya and curled back up. Maya lay back on her couch and closed her eyes, trying to relax. She needed a break from everything.
She’d started to doze off when all of a sudden Juniper leapt off her bed, growling and barking. Maya sat straight up. “Juniper! Come!”
If Eric Torres was outside, they needed to be careful. She didn’t want Juniper to be a target.
Maya rolled off the couch, grabbing her phone and staying low to the ground. Juniper came over near her and Maya crawled near the big picture window, but off to the side. She gripped Juniper’s collar, not letting the dog get away from her. Juniper was not happy about being held down, but Maya didn’t care. It took all her strength to keep her under control.
She carefully peeked her head up and peered out the window. Now that she knew the most likely place for Torres to watch her, she wanted to see if she could spot him. She had her phone still in her hand. She would rather have had her gun. Her shotgun sat by the front door. Maya was thinking about crawling to it and grabbing it when the first bullet pierced the glass.
She shoved Juniper underneath her body as glass shards sprayed around them. Maya pulled her back into the corner away from the window and the glass. More shots were fired in a staccato rhythm. Most likely a semiautomatic rifle. Probably a long gun like an AR-15. Maya clung to Juniper, who fought her, wanting to go out and do what she was trained to do—bite the person shooting at them.
“Pfui,” Maya said, giving the command for Juniper to stop and hoping she would listen. Her arms strained as she continued to hold Juniper back.
More bullets were fired and, along with glass spraying everywhere, they hit Maya’s kitchen cabinets. Dishes shattered and crashed to the ground. The bullets shredded the wood and pierced the cabin walls. Maya decided the shooter probably had a larger caliber weapon like a 300 Blackout.
