Page 79 of Hunting the Truth
“I can help if you want,” Eric said. “You can tell me what to do.”
“No, it’s okay, I’ll figure it out.”
Maya followed the course of the wires. This time, the person had outdone themselves and created several layers, more than just a simple wire to disarm. Maya was glad they’d stopped before they set off the trap.
She was about ready to start disarming the trap, when she heard a rock rolling down the mountainside. Someone was out there. Was it another hiker? Or had someone seen the truck and followed them? Or could it even be the booby-trapper? Maya didn’t want to take any chances, so she scrambled back over to Eric.
He’d heard the person too. Maya took him and Juniper and pulled them all behind some bushes as she pulled her gun from its holster. They weren’t concealed very well, but it was better than nothing. She didn’t hear anything more and was beginning to think she was overreacting. Although Juniper was also tense. She sensed someone there too.
“Quiet,” Maya told her dog. She didn’t want Juniper to give away their position. Juniper listened, but her ears stayed pointed straight up and she quivered with excitement.
A figure came out of the shadows and around the corner. Maya strained to see who it was. If it was a hiker, she had to warn them about the trap. If it was Abigail or Blake, then the trap might just be the best thing that happened.
Chapter Forty
Still holding her gun, Maya waited, barely breathing. Eric also stayed quiet. Juniper kept her eyes on the trail. The person changed course, stepping off the path and cutting through an area with grass. Maya caught glimpses of someone in dark clothing walking through the trees below them. Were they trying to come around and surprise them?
Eric mouthed,Cut my arms loose, I can help.
Maya shook her head. She had no doubt that this could be an ambush and she had Eric under control—for now. There was always a possibility that somehow Eric had gotten a message to Abigail or Blake. They might be here, tracking and hunting them. Maya could at least have the upper hand with Eric if he stayed handcuffed. She stayed low and kept scanning the area where she heard a rock roll down the mountainside.
Suddenly, the sound of a wire snapping echoed off the mountainsides. She heard a cry of pain from the person and then some four-letter words.
She knew that voice.
She stepped out from behind the bush. Juniper was right by her side; she recognized that voice too. Maya debated having Juniper watch and guard, but she figured with Eric cuffed, Juniper could easily catch him.
They headed toward the location of the four-letter words. Maya slipped a little on pine needles that littered the ground as she navigated downhill. She caught a glimpse of a dark blue shirt. The sun gleamed off the person’s name tag. She kept her gun drawn just in case he wasn’t alone, but when Maya found the victim, it was exactly who she thought it would be.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Trying to help you,” Josh said.
Maya holstered her gun and Juniper wagged her tail. Josh sat on the ground, a wooden stake impaled in his thigh. Juniper went over to him and started licking his face.
“Thanks, Juniper,” he said.
Fear struck Maya for a moment seeing Josh injured. She couldn’t move. The thought that she would lose another person she loved paralyzed her. Then her training overrode her fear and she kicked into action.
Maya crouched down and said, “I don’t need saving, but you might with this booby trap stuck in your leg. I thought you were Abigail or Blake coming after us. I could have shot you. Why didn’t you stay on the trail? What are you doing here?”
“I thought I heard you and then everything was quiet. I wanted to try a different vantage point and make sure I wasn’t walking into a trap in case someone had kidnapped you. Abigail never showed up at the sheriff’s office this morning. We can’t find her or Blake, so I thought maybe they had taken you along with your felon friend. Son of a bitch, this hurts.”
Maya absorbed what Josh had just said. The more she found out, the more she realized Eric was actually telling the truth.
She inspected where the stake went into Josh’s leg. There was a chance that it had gone into his femoral artery. With any luck it hadn’t, but she thought he was starting to look pale.
“He’s not my friend, but Eric is here. He didn’t kidnap me, though. I went with him voluntarily. He has on flex-cuffs, because I didn’t know if he might be working with Blake and Abigail too. He swears he isn’t...and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m starting to believe him,” Maya answered. “I’m worried more about you, though. The stake that impaled you could have nicked your femoral artery. How do you feel? Dizzy? Cold?”
“Right now, I’m fine. In fact, I’m pissed off to have wood sticking out of my leg, so I don’t think I’m bleeding out or dying anytime soon.”
“The stake could be the only thing keeping you from bleeding out.”
Maya took off her backpack. She still had the first aid kit in there. She pulled out gauze and wrapped Josh’s leg to keep the area around the wound as clean as possible and try to stabilize the stake so it wouldn’t move. Then she took out a tourniquet and wrapped it around his leg above the wound. She pulled down hard to make sure it was applied right.
Josh cried out in pain, but Maya knew it had to be tight even if it was painful. If the stake shifted or moved, he could bleed out in minutes. The tourniquet might be all that kept that from happening.
“Sorry about that. I need to borrow your radio and call this in,” Maya said.
