Page 86 of Hunting the Truth
He had stayed in place and was listening in. She could tell that given the right moment, he would go after the gun again. Could she trust him or was this an ambush? She hoped she could rely on him, but she had to get Abigail under control. She needed some more answers.
“So why did you kill my grandmother so many years later?” Maya asked. This was her chance to get a confession.
“What makes you think I did that?” Abigail said.
“Don’t you want to take credit for it? Another notch in your belt?”
Abigail laughed. “Once you were grown up, your grandmother was sticking her nose into places it didn’t belong. Imagine my surprise when I heard that she was cooperating with an FBI agent in the Montana office about evidence her daughter had that could blow open that asshole’s investigation.”
“So you killed her and made it look like a suicide?”
“Why not? It’s fun to be creative killing people. With your mother’s death I didn’t have to be so imaginative. She had a history that would make investigators think her addiction caught up with her. You know how it is. If it’s a prostitute and drug addict that dies, no one gives a shit, but an elderly lady who goes to the town sewing circle and is the sheriff’s wife? That would make people investigate more. I couldn’t have that. Suicide made more sense. I even made her write her own note. She made me swear I wouldn’t hurt you if she cooperated. I let her believe that. The FBI agent was a problem, but funny thing happened. His brakes failed driving here as he came over a mountain pass. Drove off the road and down a steep embankment. He didn’t make it. Too bad.”
Maya started shaking. Nana had tried to protect her ’til the end. Nana had always promised she would keep Maya safe. If only she had been home, maybe she could have done something. Maybe she could have saved Nana. Maya didn’t know about the FBI agent, but that had to have been what triggered Nana to move the evidence from the hope chest.
Stay in the zone, soldier. You can do this. As hard as it is, get the answers. Get justice.
“I suppose that makes sense,” Maya said, trying to play along and shove down emotions. “You screwed up, though. You used the same gun on Nana that you used on my mother.”
“Did I screw up? From what I remember, the investigators suspected your grandmother killed your mother and then couldn’t live with it. I may have helped them think about it that way. They called me to get some files on your mother. I was able to help them focus their investigation. Case closed. Everything was perfect until you had to go and stick your nose into things.”
“No,” Maya said, stepping up to Abigail. “Everything wasn’t perfect for you because my mother had given the evidence to my grandmother for safekeeping. And when that FBI agent died on his way here because his brakes failed on a mountain pass, my grandmother knew what you needed, and she took it from you. You’ll never get that evidence. It’s over—put your hands behind your head and get down on your knees.”
Abigail smiled at Maya. “I’ll never surrender.”
“Maya!” Eric yelled as Abigail pulled out a knife she’d hidden in her palm. Abigail drew her arm back, ready to slice at Maya’s neck, when Maya saw brown fur fly by her face.
Juniper latched onto Abigail’s arm and shook it, knocking her down to the ground. Maya rushed in to help her dog, who had a great grip with her back teeth. Nothing was going to get her dog off Abigail. Juniper had been waiting all day for this.
Abigail tried to stab Juniper, but Maya blocked her and grabbed Abigail’s arm, twisting it so that she had to drop the knife. Eric jumped in and helped Maya pin down Abigail’s arm. Juniper pulled and shook Abigail with her whole body.
Abigail went limp. Juniper had managed to shake her so hard that Abigail had hit her head on a rock and was knocked out cold. The knife fell out of her hand and Maya grabbed it. Juniper continued to shake and bite.
“Good girl,” Maya praised.
“If you call off your dog, I’ll help you cuff her,” Eric said, stepping back before Juniper decided he was next.
Maya nodded and told Juniper to release. Juniper rolled her eyes toward Maya, not wanting to let go.
“It’s okay, girl,” Maya said. “Out.”
Juniper finally came off the bite but stayed over Abigail, ready to strike again. Maya and Eric rolled her over and put cuffs on her. Maya picked up the knife and thought about everything that Abigail had said about her mother.
She fingered the knife, knowing from her training in the Marines that if she stabbed Abigail in the right place, she could kill her instantly. Or she could just slit her throat. It wouldn’t bring back Nana and her mother, but it might make her feel better. At the very least, it’s what Abigail deserved. Her hand started shaking.
“Don’t do it,” Eric said. “Put the knife down.”
Maya continued trembling, wanting nothing more than to stab Abigail over and over. She wanted to make Abigail pay for all the pain she’d caused. Her grandmother and mother had given their own lives to protect Maya. It seemed only fair to end this by killing Abigail.
“Maya, you’re better than this,” Eric said. “This isn’t you. You’re not like me and you’re especially not like Abigail, but if you do this, then she wins.”
Tears started streaming down Maya’s face. “She took everything from me. Everything. I’ve waited for this moment my whole life. I was a scared kid when she took my mother, but I’m not a scared little girl anymore.”
“I know,” Eric said. “You’re amazing and strong. You’re nothing like her and she’ll pay for it in prison. She’s screwed over so many people that there will be a lineup of prisoners waiting for her. Even though she’ll be kept in isolation, at some point they’ll get their revenge and it’ll be worse than anything you could do to her. Please, give me the knife.”
Maya knew he was right. Killing Abigail wasn’t what Nana or her mother would want. But she wasn’t going to hand the knife to Eric. Not until he explained a few things. Maya took some deep breaths and Juniper came over, pushing into her leg. Somehow Juniper always knew how to help Maya calm her emotions.
“I’m not giving you anything yet. I still need some answers from you,” she said, stepping away from Abigail before she was tempted again to do something rash.
