Page 71 of Hunting the Truth
“Glad you had some standards,” Maya said, sarcastically. “What happened after my mother started working for Abigail?”
“I think she saw and did things she didn’t want to. Abigail is not a good person. Zoey knew that and realized if she ever wanted out, she needed leverage. I think there were so many times she wanted to call your grandparents and just go home, but she knew Abigail would at the very least drag her back and maybe even kill her. Then you came along. She loved you so much, Maya. I’ve never seen someone so happy to be a mother. She decided to get herself clean. She didn’t want this life for you, so she continued working on gathering evidence. She took pictures, recorded conversations, wrote down notes with names and kept collecting all of this until she had evidence so airtight that she could go to the FBI. If she’d done that, this would have all been over, but because of the people she would have implicated, Zoey knew she’d probably be in some sort of witness protection. She’d never see her parents again and would always be looking over her shoulder, so she made a deal with Abigail.”
“What kind of deal?” Maya asked.
“She told Abigail about the evidence but said it would remain hidden forever if Abigail let her go home with you. She just wanted to live in peace. Abigail agreed. I personally never thought Abigail would let it go, but for quite a while it seemed like she did. Then things changed.”
“What changed?”
Eric took a deep breath. “A state investigator and FBI agent caught wind of what was going on in our neck of the woods. They talked with people and eventually Zoey’s name came out. He called her and asked about the evidence. Zoey denied knowing anything and Blake drove down to make sure it would stay that way, but then she changed her mind. I don’t know why. Knowing her, Blake threatening her would have made her mad and she might have decided to do something about it.
“Zoey might still be alive if she had stayed quiet. Word got back to Abigail, and I overheard her talking about needing to destroy the evidence. She decided she would go visit Zoey and remind her of their deal and get the evidence from her. I knew that meant Zoey was also in danger. And you. I drove to Colorado hoping to get to you and Zoey first, and I did, but she wouldn’t believe me. I tried to get her to come with me, but she wouldn’t. She didn’t trust me, and I didn’t blame her.”
Maya nodded. That fit her memory from the night her mother died. “I remember you coming to our house that night.”
“It was the last time I saw you—until recently.”
“If Abigail killed her, why not just shoot her? Why stick her with heroin? It’s not like the cause of death was an overdose.”
Eric peered out over the ridge. Maya realized he was making sure no one was pulling up.
“That’s Abigail for you,” he said. “To say she’s messed up is an understatement. It was probably her way of showing that in her eyes your mother was nothing more than a drug addict and whore. That she wasn’t worth anything to Abigail.”
Maya stood trying to stay stoic, but it was hard to imagine someone viewing her mother like that.
“I know it’s hard to hear,” Eric said, “and I’m sorry. But you wanted the truth and that’s the truth.”
“You could be making all of this up. You and Abigail tell similar stories about each other. You could be working together. Why should I believe you?”
Eric sighed. “Good question. I want out of this too. I’m tired of being on the run, although I probably don’t have a choice. Maybe I can be a witness and get a deal or something. I don’t know. But there’s so many people involved, from judges to police officers to lawyers in both the defense and the DA’s office. It’s crazy. Things are out of control up there. I understand if you don’t believe me, but let me give you a little more insight into Abigail. Did she discuss being a female in law enforcement and the glass ceiling and all that stuff?”
Maya sucked in her breath. She didn’t mean to give away her answer, but that lunch was one of the reasons she’d trusted Abigail. Even respected her. “She did,” Maya finally answered.
“She’s not totally lying. Being a female cop in our area when she started was horrible. She was one of two women in the police department at the time. The other one took her own life because things were so horrible. Abigail was raped by her FTO.”
“What?” Maya asked. An FTO was a field training officer and someone who should help a young officer, not hurt them. Juniper sensed Maya was upset and shoved her nose into her palm. Maya reached down and petted her.
“Yeah, it was at a party and her FTO came onto her. She played along a little bit, but he took it too far. She tried to do the right thing and report it through the right channels, but she was laughed at and told to quit. She was told that this is why women shouldn’t be cops. I have a feeling a similar thing happened to the other female officer, but Abigail was the type of person to wait to get her revenge. And that she did. She killed her FTO in a shootout. Said he got in the way and she nailed him by accident, but I have no doubt it was deliberate.
“By that point she’d started figuring out that it didn’t pay to do things by the book. She had blackmail on half the department, including the chief, and she wasn’t afraid to use it. Before long, Abigail was the cop people came to for help when they needed something. She’s done everything from destroying evidence, to arranging hits, to taking bribes and who knows what else. She was also making good money from her side gigs. Your mother threatened to destroy all of that.”
Eric took a deep breath. “Abigail is probably a millionaire by now. She loves the power and she’s greedy, and with this evidence out there, she’s threatened. When you reopened these cases, she probably thought you had found the evidence. I knew you were in trouble, and I came to help protect you. She knew I would be here and put out as many warrants on me as possible and put my info in the system. You ever wonder how you got a hit so fast in CODIS? That never happens, but Abigail made sure my DNA was there so it would be found. Then she could manipulate you. We need to find that evidence. It’s the only way to put an end to this. You need to remember what your mother did with it.”
Maya stared at him, so many raw emotions hitting her at once. She didn’t know if she should believe a word. It was quite a story Eric had just spun, but if any of it was true, she wasn’t the only one in danger—Pops and Josh were too. They were working directly with Abigail to find Blake. That would only push the people Maya cared about in Abigail’s direction.
“Do you have any idea where it might be?” Eric asked.
“Why would I remember?” Maya finally said. “I was four years old when my mother was killed. I can barely remember her, much less where she might have hidden evidence.”
“We can work together and find it. If we talk more, maybe we can come up with places to look for it.”
“Why would I work with you?” Maya asked. “For all I know you’re in on it, and even if you aren’t, you need that evidence too. It’s all that’s standing between you and prison.”
“True,” Eric said. “But I also want Abigail and everyone else involved in these crimes over these years to go away for life. Our town is corrupt because of it.”
“My mother is dead because of it,” Maya snapped. “You ever think about that?”
“I have. Everything was taken from me too, including my family. My children. I want some of my life back. I want to see my children without them looking at me like I’m a criminal. I have a grandchild I’ve never seen. My wife divorced me years ago. I have nothing left.”
