Eric laughed. “She’s a good dog. Let her help you find Abigail and protect you.”
“You know it,” Maya said, heading out.
“Maya?”
“Yes?” She turned around.
“I know this is usually what you and your grandfather say to each other, but be careful, okay? Stay safe.”
Maya smiled. She decided to give him the answer she gave Pops. “Always.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Maya stopped by Pops’s office to say hi and then headed out. She climbed into the front seat of her vehicle. Juniper had an eyeball pressed up against the door that went between her compartment and the cab. Maya opened the door for Juniper, who immediately stuck her head through and nosed Maya on the cheek.
“No kisses, huh?” Maya asked. “That’s what I get for leaving you in the vehicle while I went inside. I know. You usually get to go with me.”
Juniper nudged Maya again and she scratched her ears. Then Maya grabbed her phone, intent on calling Kessler and seeing what had happened overnight. She knew Hope hadn’t been found and the fire was still burning with little containment, but she hated not knowing more.
Maya unlocked the screen in time for her phone to start ringing. Josh. He and Deputy Wilson had left early. Maybe they’d been able to locate Marcus’s girlfriend. She answered the call.
“Hey there,” Maya said. “Were you able to find her?”
“We were,” Josh said. “Took her a bit, but we finally convinced her to talk to us. She tried to deny everything at first. She said her name was Andrea. But when I mentioned that we were looking for a person by the name of Melissa, she was terrified, so I understand why she denied it. I promised her that we’d only share the information with those we trust and told her that Abigail was out of prison. I wanted to be honest with her. Took a bit to convince her to trust us, but she finally told us what she knew.”
“I knew you could get her to talk,” Maya said. “What did she tell you?”
“Quite the story. She said she made a lot of bad choices before she moved and changed her life for the better. One of them was dating Marcus O’Malley,” Josh relayed. “She wasn’t supposed to overhear the conversation, but she was at Marcus’s house the night Abigail came over and told him he was shooting a cop. Marcus didn’t tell Abigail that Melissa, or now Andrea, was upstairs. But when Abigail left, Andrea went downstairs and confronted Marcus.”
“And how did that go?” Maya asked.
“She said he was furious and told her that she was no longer safe. She claims that she tried to get him to tell someone, but he wouldn’t. Apparently, Marcus told her that it would be safer for him to kill this cop and go to prison for life than to not do it. Either way his life was over. If he didn’t do it, Abigail would have him killed. If he did and pled guilty there was a chance he could get parole.”
“Abigail is good at manipulation, isn’t she?” Maya said.
“She is. I guess Marcus told Andrea to leave town,change her name and forget everything. She kept trying to convince Marcus to not do this and go to the cops,” Josh said. “She claims that she even drove to the police station and was going to go tell someone before the shooting happened. Abigail came over and said hello to her and then insinuated that she needed to be careful, so Andrea left. When Andrea heard about the shooting, she felt horrible and very guilty. She left town and changed her name. She’s done a lot of volunteer work in this small town. I think she was trying to make up for not telling someone about who was really behind the shooting or trying to stop it.”
“I can understand why she did what she did,” Maya said. “In a perfect world she would have tried to stop it, but there’s so much corruption in this small-town police department that she really didn’t have anyone to trust. Do you think she’d be willing to testify against Abigail?”
“I think if we could guarantee her safety and no prosecution, she might,” Josh said.
“What about Abigail’s partner? She have any ideas who it might be?”
“She says there was a guy there that night with Abigail when she came to tell Marcus he had to kill this cop,” Josh answered. “But Andrea was upstairs in the bedroom. She didn’t come out because they didn’t know she was there. She’s certain that was probably Abigail’s partner. She doesn’t know a name and didn’t see him.”
Maya’s heart dropped. Dang it. If they could get a name that would help a lot.
“But,” Josh continued, “she heard through the grapevine that there was a marshal helping Abigail.”
“A marshal?” Maya asked.
“Yes. That’s what she said,” Josh answered.
“We need to find out more about Aaron,” Maya said. She’d filled in Josh about everything that had happened with him. This only made Maya more suspicious.
“I agree,” Josh said. “I’m going to get on the road so we can get back and help out more.”
“Okay, drive safe and let me know when you’re back.”
