Page 82 of Hunting the Truth
After listening to Josh, though, he knew that Abigail and Blake wouldn’t be far away. They might even be here. Maya, Juniper and Josh would be sitting ducks at their location. Eric didn’t think that Abigail would shoot down a helicopter, although who knew. She’d become desperate and had done things that shocked even him. If she thought making a helicopter crash would give her a chance to find the evidence first and get away, she might just do it.
Eric made it across the meadow to the willows that ran along a creek. Even though it was September, the bugs were still out and as he approached the water, mosquitoes started buzzing him. He swatted at them but knew he’d have to tune them out. It didn’t matter how many swarmed him.
Abigail was somewhere around here. She had to be. Eric needed to stay hidden but flush her out. How he was going to do that was beyond him. He had to think like her.
As he went along the creek bed, trying to stay out of the water, he hoped he wouldn’t run into any moose that might be bedded down for the afternoon. That would be his luck and make the mosquitoes swarming him seem like nothing.
The creek curved around, and as Eric came around a small bend, he saw someone downstream about fifty yards hiding in the bushes.
Blake Conner.
Maya pulled her Glock and Josh pulled his Sig Sauer. She held onto Juniper’s leash, since she didn’t know what Juniper was barking and growling at. Moose often hung out in the willows, and while they were beautiful animals, they had a habit of charging. A bull moose had even killed a resident in Pinecone Junction last year near downtown. The last thing Maya needed was Juniper tangling with a moose. Then they’d all need the medevac chopper. Not to mention their pistols would only piss a moose off.
Juniper continued to lunge and hit the leash as Maya tried to stay as low as possible. While they didn’t have anything to hide behind like a boulder or a bush, the grass was tall from the summer rain and helped hide them a little bit. She strained to see why Juniper was barking.
The willows started to sway and move. Out came Blake Conner, gun drawn. He was scanning the meadow in front of him. Maya knew it would only take seconds before he located them with Juniper barking.
“Quiet. Down,” Maya said.
Juniper looked like she wanted to argue and then, much to Maya’s relief, she dropped to the ground. It was too late, though. Blake had seen them, and he had a clear shot. The only saving grace was that he had a handgun and the range was too far away, but with Josh’s injury, there was no way they could move and get to cover.
“You and Juniper need to get out of here,” Josh said. “Leave me. I’ll take care of myself.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Maya said.
The sound of the chopper echoing off the mountains grew louder and louder. They were getting closer. Maya didn’t want more casualties. She might have to call dispatch and tell them to have the chopper wait. She peered through the grass again. Blake was headed her way. She had to react.
“Hang on to her leash unless you hear a gunshot. Then let go,” Maya told Josh.
She leapt to her feet. Juniper followed suit, right by Maya’s side.
Josh grabbed the leash and followed Maya’s order. She held her gun straight out in front of her in a high ready position, ready to fire.
Maya’s finger remained on the side of her gun, like she had been taught. You didn’t put it on the trigger until you were certain you were going to pull it. Blake kept coming their way, his gun aimed at them. He hadn’t fired either. He wasn’t new to firearms; he knew he didn’t have a good shot, but he had probably heard the call over the radio to dispatch and understood that Josh was injured and not able to move fast. She and Juniper had to stop him.
“Stop and put your weapon down,” Maya yelled. “Or I’ll send the dog.”
Blake only smiled and kept coming toward them. Maya took a deep breath.
“If he comes any closer, take him out,” Josh said.
“I will. I’m going to give him one more chance.” She yelled out her instructions again for Blake to drop the weapon. He continued forward, closing the gap fast.
She moved her finger to the trigger, pulling it halfway back when Blake dropped to the ground. She took her finger off the trigger in surprise. The rifle shot echoed off the mountains as the sound traveled slower than the bullet. Maya turned toward the boom of the rifle and then dropped down to the ground. Josh clung to Juniper, who had heard the shot and was ready to go bite someone.
“Juniper, down,” Maya said.
Juniper dropped down. Her golden eyes stared at Maya, begging to do her job.
“Where the hell did that rifle shot come from?” Josh asked.
“I don’t know,” Maya said. “But that’s not good. That rifle has a better range, and I don’t know if the shooter would take out the medevac or not. I wish I had binoculars so I could see who’s out there and their location.”
The sound of chopper blades cutting through the mountain air came closer. Maya could see the helicopter as it popped up over the tree line. The pilot would be looking for them and with the way they were on the ground, it would make it harder to spot them.
Maya strained, trying to see who was out there. She finally saw a person coming down the hill in their direction, holding a long gun.
Abigail.
