Page 67 of Hunting the Truth
“I still feel broken. I have flashbacks and nightmares. I wake up screaming sometimes. I had to sleep with the television turned up loud after I returned home. I was stationed out of Bagram, and since that was mainly Air Force, there were jets taking off all hours of the night. You could hear explosives all night long too. I couldn’t sleep when it was quiet. That’s gotten a little better. Sometimes all I need is the radio. Juniper has learned to live with me, but I figured I was meant to be alone. When you’re broken like me, no one wants you.”
“You’re not broken, and I want to be with you,” Josh said. “Plus, I’ve heard I snore. Maybe that’ll be enough noise for you.”
She laughed. “Maybe, but let’s just take it slow, okay? I’ll stay in the guest bedroom and that way I won’t keep you awake.”
Josh leaned over and gave Maya another kiss. “Just know you can join me anytime you want.”
Maya felt her face go red again. “Okay, thanks.” She sat back and suddenly realized something. It was quiet. Too quiet. “Crap, we started talking and lost track of Juniper.”
She jumped up out of her chair and Josh followed her to the backyard. There were no signs of Juniper. Maya willed herself not to panic. She whistled and hoped the dog would come bounding up to her, but there was still no Juniper.
“The yard goes around to the other side of the house,” Josh said.
Maya followed him, hoping Juniper hadn’t escaped. They turned the corner and stopped in their tracks.
“Oh no. I’m so sorry,” Maya said.
Juniper peeked up at them out of a deep hole she’d dug near the back gate. Maya stepped forward to investigate. Juniper had just about managed to dig under the fence but must have decided she was tired and enjoyed lying in the cool dirt.
“I’ll fill it back in and re-sod it. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Josh said. “I was thinking about planting a tree there anyway. I think it’s a good spot.”
“You want a tree near the gate?” Maya said, as she started giggling and then, not being able to hold it in anymore, erupted into laughter.
“Well, maybe there’s a better spot we can get Juniper to dig,” Josh said, as he started laughing too.
Juniper slunk out of the hole, coming over to Maya and leaning up against her. She rubbed on her dog and told her all was forgiven.
“I guess when we have serious talks, we should kennel her,” Josh said. “I don’t want to plant too many trees.”
“I just hope your house survives us,” Maya answered.
Josh’s phone rang and he looked at the caller ID. “It’s Miranda.”
He answered it and walked off a little distance and then started pacing around the yard. A few minutes later, he hung up.
“Did she have some results?” Maya asked.
“Yeah. She did. Are you ready for this? She found more fingerprints on the tree borer. Along with Eric Torres, there were more prints that belonged to Harold Conner. Doc also agreed that the cause of death was stabbing and the tree borer was definitely the murder weapon.”
“I’m beginning to wonder if Eric could be telling us some of the truth,” Maya said. “I wish we could find him and bring him in for questioning.”
“There’s more,” Josh said.
“What?”
“Miranda managed to collect some of the glass used for the Molotov cocktail. There was a partial print and it looks like it matches Blake Conner. Lucas went to pick him up for questioning, but he’s gone. Abigail doesn’t know where he is.”
“Let’s go look for him. Based on the giant hole in your yard, Juniper is ready to work again.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
The next morning, Maya woke to the sound of Juniper whining. She rolled over and looked at the clock—0430 in the morning. Even though it was early, she had actually slept pretty well. The bed was comfortable, and she snuggled back under the covers. Maybe Juniper was just dreaming. She’d worked hard tracking last night.
She and Juniper had been tired after helping Josh and Lucas look for Blake. They’d only turned up dead ends and had decided to go home and regroup. Abigail had no idea where Blake might have gone and expressed surprise over his prints being on the Molotov cocktail.
Then she heard another whine. Nope, not dreaming.
