Chapter Twenty-Four
The crime scene was bustling. Maya was no longer needed. Usually her friend Miranda, the lead crime scene tech from the sheriff’s office, was here and would give her updates and inside information as she worked. But Miranda was on vacation with Maya’s other friend from the CBI, Lucas. They’d been dating a while and decided to see how they did together on a getaway. They were probably enjoying mai tais on a beach.
She and Josh really needed a vacation too. Although he’d seemed so uptight about going camping. At some point, she needed to talk with him and see what was going on. Right now, they had to find Hope. Hope was their priority.
The FBI team was running prints on the deceased couple. With their resources it probably wouldn’t take long to get their identities and find out more about how they were connected to Abigail. Maya had called the chief of police over at Stone Creek Falls and alerted him. She’d sent him pictures of Hope and Abigail and let him know that there was a possibility Abigail would still be driving the vehicle belonging to the prison guard she murdered. But depending how muchher partner was able to help her out, she might have switched cars by now. If she hadn’t changed cars, then she would be at a disadvantage. A sedan would have a harder time with the mountain roads and limit some of Abigail’s routes.
The problem there was that there were several roads going in different directions from Stone Creek Falls. Abigail could easily get away. But Maya didn’t think that was the case. This was about Maya and her family. Abigail was so narcissistic and thought she didn’t deserve to be tried or kept in a federal court and prison. This was an elaborate plan to get back at Maya. That also didn’t surprise her with Abigail.
Abigail probably knew that if she only escaped, Maya would ignore her and let the FBI and marshals work on finding her. But Abigail had started the process a while ago to let Maya know she had family. First, she’d revealed that Eric was her father and from there that she had a brother, sister and niece. Eric had told her as well, but Maya had always wondered why Abigail wanted her to have this information.
Now she understood—Abigail could figure out people’s weak spots and exploit them. Abigail knew that Maya wanted to know more about her mother and didn’t know who her biological father was until Eric came along. Maya had kicked it all off when she had worked to solve her mother and grandmother’s cold case murders. Who knew that running some DNA would lead to all of this? But the one thing Maya did know for sure was that Abigail wanted revenge.
Maybe Abigail’s thirst for revenge was her weak spot and could be a way for Maya to exploit her back.
Most people with any brains who escaped prison would get as far away as possible. But not Abigail. She was arrogant and thought she was smarter than them. Maya had to think like her and then maybe they’d figure out what the goal was with Hope.
She went and checked Juniper in her compartment. The Mal was curled up in a content pooch ball, snoring away. The heat and the tracks had finally worn her out. Although, by the time they went home, whenever that was, Juniper would be ready to go again.
Her phone rang and Maya stepped away from her vehicle. The caller ID saidStone Creek Falls Police Department.Maybe they had some news.
“Officer Thompson,” Maya said, hoping she’d have enough service in this area to maintain the phone call. She’d been able to find a good spot earlier to call the chief. She headed back over to that area.
“Yeah, Officer Thompson, this is Sergeant Parker with Stone Creek Falls PD. I may have some information about your fugitive.”
“Have you spotted her?”
“I believe so,” Sergeant Parker said. “My younger brother works at the local motel. I drove by and saw a car there. Kind of unusual right now since it’s not hunting season and the Fourth of July is over. And the fire is keeping tourists away. But it’s a sedan and matches the description of the vehicle you believe the suspect has.”
“Did you run the plates?” Maya asked.
“I did and they came back to a different vehicle. I went around the back and asked my brother to come out and meet me. I didn’t want the person you’re looking for to see me. I showed my brother the picture you had sent us and he is certain that is who is in the room.”
“Did he see a girl with her?” Maya asked.
“He didn’t, but he wasn’t paying attention. I’d like to go get the VIN off the vehicle and run it. See who owns it.”
Maya paced back and forth. If Abigail saw him, it could be very dangerous for the officer. But it wasn’t Maya’s call to tell him what or what not to do. He didn’t become a sergeant without some experience. Even in a small-town police department, but he had no idea who he was dealing with. “Just be careful. If this lady sees you, she may try to shoot you and your brother and flee. She’s extremely dangerous, so approach with caution.”
“Got it. I’ll tell my brother to close and head home for the night. When he’s gone, I’ll get the VIN.”
“Okay,” Maya said. “Let me know what you find out.”
They both hung up and Maya texted Kessler to come out so she could update him. He was working with the FBI team in the crime scene and the less people in and out, the better. Everyone who went in, no matter how careful they were, could potentially damage critical evidence.
It took Kessler a few minutes, but he found Maya.She filled him in and finished with saying, “It has to be her.”
“I agree.”
“Let’s see if this officer can get a name from the VIN and if it’s the guard’s car Abigail stole,” Kessler said. “I’ll call the Denver Hostage Rescue Team and have them flown in by helicopter. And sorry, I’m going to have to let Ross and Bernardo know too.”
“I understand,” Maya said. She knew Kessler couldn’t keep his guys in the dark about everything although she wished he could. “I can go there too with Juniper if a K-9 would help.”
“Never hurts to have a dog.”
“And,” Maya added, “Juniper would love nothing more than to bite Abigail.”
“I’m sure,” Kessler said, cracking a smile. He turned in the direction of Bernardo and Ross and signaled for them to join them.
