She’d had some other situations when she was in higher security, but Abigail had ways of taking care of things and making sure no one bugged her. When one of the women came at her, she’d defended herself just fine. The lady ended up in the infirmary for a month. No one bothered her after that.
Crossing her legs, Abigail pulled a book out of her bag and pretended to read. Instead, she thought through her plan. From what she knew from her sources, Eric Torres was still on the run. He’d been spotted here and there, but he’d never been arrested. Not only was this completely unfair in Abigail’s mind, but she was also worried.
If Torres was resisting arrest that much, then he was working on something. She thought she knew what, but she couldn’t be sure. It wasn’t like he was going to come visit her in prison. He’d be in handcuffs right after parking, so part of her plan was to get him to come to her.
The other part gave her great pleasure. Eric Torres bothered her, but he’d done his share of dirty things as a cop. It wasn’t like he was some holier-than-thou person, but his bastard daughter Maya Thompson acted like she could do no wrong. She took her job seriously and there was no gray area for her, which was whyAbigail was sitting here right now. Abigail was furious that Maya had put her in prison. First, her whore of a mother gathered evidence against Abigail. Then all these years later Maya had found the evidence and put Abigail in this hellhole. She wanted to make sure Maya paid for her role in all of this. Maybe even more so than Eric.
If Eric really was investigating what Abigail thought he was, then he could be a problem too and she wouldn’t hesitate to end him. At this point, what did she have to lose?
She looked up from her book. The afternoon sun was still glaring. The trailers weren’t air-conditioned. There were fans and open windows, but they were no help. Her hair stuck to her sweaty forehead. The group of women were still staring at her, chatting and making plans. Yep, if she was staying, she’d have to watch her back.
Maya sat by the side of the road, still processing everything. Along with the fire, the phone call that connected her to her half brother made her realize the missing girl was her niece, and that her siblings were now on the way to Colorado, was the last thing she expected today. Actually, the fire was less of a surprise. Fire in forests had become common and was part of the forest health as it regenerated. A teenager being kidnapped and held somewhere out in the forest was also not totally surprising. Unfortunately, criminals went out in the forest and did nefarious things all the time, which was why Mayahad a job. But the missing kid possibly being a blood relative—that was a shock.
Maya had grown up an only child raised by her grandparents after her mother was brutally murdered. Abigail Harper had been the mastermind behind her mother’s and grandmother’s homicides. Last fall, when Maya reopened her mother’s and her grandmother’s cases, Abigail had tried to kill Maya. With the help of her father, Maya was able to make sure Abigail was where she belonged—behind bars. She’d also learned that even though her father had helped save Maya’s life, he was a crooked cop and on the run. Despite this, reconnecting with him had satisfied a void in Maya’s life. She’d been hoping he’d turn himself in and believed that someday he would. But now, she wasn’t certain about anything. Abigail was in prison awaiting trial, but that holding center was here in Colorado and people had ways of breaking out.
“No way,” Maya muttered again. Juniper, hearing her talk to herself, stuck her head through the small compartment door. She tilted her head to the side with an inquisitive stare, asking what was going on. “You might be working more than I thought.”
Maya gave Juniper some loving strokes on her head and scratched absentmindedly under her chin. Juniper gave her a few slurps on the cheek in response and then nudged Maya’s nose with her own. “You’re right. I need to quit sitting here in shock and get to work. No matter what, there’s a kidnapped girl who needs our help.”
Juniper barked in agreement. Maya unlocked herphone screen again, knowing she had a list of calls to make. The first was to her boss. He didn’t answer, so she left a quick voicemail asking him to call her. Then she hung up and dialed Agent Kessler. He answered on the first ring.
“Heard there’s a fire taking off in your area,” he said, skipping the hellos.
“There is. It started in an area with some good fuel. No containment yet.”
“I’m sure you didn’t call to talk fires unless you suspect arson,” Kessler said.
“No, as of now, I think the thunderstorm a couple days ago started the fire. I’m calling about a possible kidnapped teenager in the area.”
“You know, Thompson, I figured this wouldn’t be anything normal. No offense, but it never is with you. Fill me in.”
“No offense taken,” Maya said with a small laugh as she told Kessler about her strange morning. She did have to agree with him. She’d had some crazy cases over the past year including a militia running drugs, Abigail coming after her and Josh being framed for murder. Maya finished with the detail that the missing girl’s uncle was a marshal by the name of Nick Torres. “Do you know him by any chance?”
“No, I don’t. But that’s not unusual. I’m not in his area and have only worked on one case where the marshals were helping us, but that’s because it had to do with threats against a federal judge. They were protecting the judge and we were investigating. What did you say his name was again?”
“Nick. Nick Torres.”
“As in the same last name as your father?” Kessler asked.
“Yeah, apparently so.”
“You think this marshal is your brother and this missing girl could be your niece?”
“Yes,” Maya said. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“Neither do I. Have you heard anything from your father?”
“No,” Maya answered. “How about you? Any leads on finding him?”
“No, it’s like he’s vanished.”
Maya stalled for a moment and then asked the other thought she’d had. “What about Abigail? She’s still in detention, right? She hasn’t escaped, has she?”
“Not that I know of, but I’ll call the prison later and make sure. We usually know pretty quick when someone gets out. She should still be in a higher security area, though.”
“I know, but she has her ways,” Maya said.
“She does. Let me find out more and double-check on her. I’ll get a couple agents to come with me so that we have more manpower to help find this missing girl. Especially since I’m sure other law enforcement is working the fire response. We can sort out if she’s by some chance related to you later when we arrive. I’m in the Denver office today so if traffic isn’t bad, I’ll be there in a couple hours.”
