Page 73 of Hunting the Truth
Maya realized he was headed back to an area where there were some caves. For all she knew that’s where he had set up camp after losing his last camping spot. Sure enough, as they rounded the corner, she saw a large opening to a cave with a fire pit inside and some tree branches spread out. That might have been his bed.
“You sleep here last night?” she asked.
“I did. Wasn’t the best night’s sleep, but you and your crew sort of took my camping spot and gear.”
“Yeah, well, that happens when you shoot people.”
“It was in self-defense, you know that.”
Maya couldn’t argue with that. She’d smashed the guy in the face with her elbow when he tried to grab her.
“Sit down,” Eric said, nodding toward a rock.
“What are you going to do? Hypnotize me to help me remember?”
“No,” he said. “You know, you really remind me of Zoey. You are definitely her daughter. I mean that in a good way.”
Maya didn’t know what to say, so she took a seat on the rock. “You don’t happen to have any water and a cup, do you? For Juniper?”
Eric surprised her by saying, “I do. Everything is over there in my backpack.”
Maya stood and walked over to the bag. She found the water and was glad to see the bottles weren’t open. It made her feel better that he wasn’t trying to poison them or something. She should have brought her backpack with her supplies, but she didn’t realize she’d be trekking back into the woods. She poured water in the bowl and offered it to Juniper, who happily drank it up.
“So,” Maya said, “what’s your plan? What’s next?”
“I want to see if we can brainstorm where your mother may have taken this stuff.”
“How much are we talking about?” Maya asked. “Boxes?”
“She had a duffel bag packed full of everything that she collected. A large one.”
“Okay,” Maya said. “She said the mountains. Did she give you any indication if it was around here?”
“No, but she loved to go camping. It was one of her favorite things to do.”
“True.” Maya allowed herself to smile at the memory coming back. “We’d just gone camping a few days before she died. We made s’mores. I loved them. Still one of my favorite things to have in the summer.”
“See? You have memories from your younger years. Where did you go camping on that trip?”
“I don’t remember,” Maya said. She started rubbing her necklace. “We lived over on the other side of town, and she rented a house there. After it burned down, the people didn’t rebuild it. You don’t have to go far from there to access Forest Service land and lots of great camping areas.”
“Are they high-traffic camping spots?”
“Yeah,” Maya answered, still rubbing her necklace. “They are. The campgrounds often fill up in the summertime too and then less campers as we head into this time of year.”
They sat in silence. Maya continued rubbing her necklace until she suddenly dropped her hand. Kendra had commented on her necklace. What if the key was literally the key?
“You look like you remember something,” Eric said.
“This necklace. Nana gave it to me, but she said it was a special gift from my mom. I haven’t taken it off since Nana gave it to me. Not even in Afghanistan. I always thought it was my good luck charm and kept me safe, but what if it’s the key to something that’s holding the evidence?”
“You have any ideas of what that might be?” he asked.
“I do,” Maya said, standing. Juniper was right by her side. “Come on, let’s go. I think I might know where this evidence is stashed, and it’s not out in the wilderness.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Maya made Eric walk in front of her and Juniper again. They had a good hike ahead of them, but they couldn’t risk using either of their vehicles and being spotted.
