“I have no idea. Let’s start from the beginning. Slow down. Fill me in on your niece,” Maya said. The realization hit her that if this guy was her brother, then the missing girl could also be her niece. But again, what were the chances of that? And why? Why would someone take Nick’s niece and bring her here?
“Sorry,” Nick said. “My niece, Hope Dawson, didn’t come home from summer school. She’s fourteen and so far we know she was eating lunch off school grounds. We found her backpack by a tree, but no sign of her.”
“Has she ever run away?” Maya asked.
“Once. Her jerk of a father, my sister’s ex, who’s also a cop, believes that’s what happened. He thinks she’ll come home.”
“But you don’t.”
“No,” Nick said. “Because Hope ran away once before, though, the police aren’t working this too hard. My sister called me and I’ve been trying to help. I think this time something else happened.”
Maya took a deep breath. Her sister’s name was Isabelle, according to her father. Eric had filled her in about her family including that she had a niece. He hadn’t given Maya her niece’s name for whatever reason. “What’s your sister’s name?”
“Isabelle.”
Maya closed her eyes and leaned back into her seat. This was crazy. No way this was happening. She and Josh had discussed Maya reaching out to her brother and sister, but she was afraid of the rejection that might happen. Or that they wouldn’t even know about her. Nick hadn’t seemed to have a reaction when Maya gave him her name. She’d often wondered if Nick and his sister were close. In the long run, Maya had decided it was easier to leave things alone and not risk the heartache of a family that didn’t want her. She opened her eyes, took a deep breath and said, “I have a picture a civilian took of the girl we believe is missing. I’ll text it to you. Will you let me know if this is Hope?”
“Yes.”
“Hang on, let me send it.” Maya pulled the phoneaway from her ear and sent the picture. It took a few moments for the image to go through.
“Shit. That’s her. What’s she doing in Colorado?”
“I don’t know,” Maya answered. There was one idea that was starting to form... and it scared her. Maya pushed the thought aside. This was her own anxiety and imagination building. But she’d call Agent Kessler as soon as she hung up. “Do you know the people she’s with?”
“No, but I’ll show the picture to some buddies who work in the police department. Maybe they will know them. I’ll get my sister and we’ll be there as soon as possible.”
“Okay,” Maya said. “I’ll notify the FBI and the local sheriff. Please come to the Western River County Sheriff’s Office in Pinecone Junction. Let me know when you arrive.”
“Got it.”
“Hey, one last thing?” Maya said before Nick could hang up.
“What’s that?”
Maya glanced at Juniper. “I have a K-9 and so does the undersheriff. If you can bag up some scent articles from Hope and bring them, that might help us. Do you know how to do it?”
“I do. I’ve worked with K-9s to find and apprehend some fugitives.”
“Great. Bring a couple different things,” Maya said.
“Got it.”
Then the line was dead. Maya set her phone on the center console. Was there a chance this was still acoincidence? No. She didn’t believe in coincidences. Something strange was happening.
Abigail Harper. She’d always sworn revenge. Maya hadn’t believed her, but now she did. And this would be Abigail’s MO. She knew Maya’s weak point—longing for answers about her family and the pain Maya had endured growing up without parents. Abigail had made sure Maya knew Eric was her father. She’d slowly started giving Maya pieces of what she wanted. And it would make sense that Abigail would only do that to take everything away from Maya. Again.
She opened her phone back up and dialed FBI Agent Kessler. She needed some answers. Now.
Chapter Ten
Abigail took in her new surroundings. The housing was basically large modular homes stuffed with beds, a couple bathrooms, and a small common area with a few tables. At least she wouldn’t have to wait in line. She didn’t plan on sticking around that long. She peered out the window and saw a beautiful sight—no prison fencing. This was the lowest security section and with that came some trust.
Go figure.
The clock on the wall told her it was heading toward early afternoon. She planned on walking away when it was dusk. Many waited for complete darkness, but in this case, the timing correlated with shift change when guards didn’t pay close attention. The ones leaving were ready to get out of there and go home or go to the bar or do whatever it was they did. The guards coming on duty were catching up on notes and doing other things along with dreading another shift. What a thankless job.
She made herself as comfortable as possible on the bed she’d been assigned. A small group of women sitting at one of the common area tables stared at her.They were playing cards. If she were staying, they would be the ones to cause problems for her. The ones she’d have to take care of some way. They probably knew she’d been a cop and planned to shank her in her sleep or something. Good thing she wouldn’t be around that long.
