With that, Maya prodded the girl on. If they weren’t in such a dangerous situation Maya would find the girl funny and even give her a hard time back. But right now, they needed to hide and rest. She didn’t know if they’d have to run again.
Juniper also seemed happy to have slowed the pace. She went over to the edge of the water. Maya gave her enough leash to wade in. The lake was ice-cold and would help Juniper cool off. She just needed to make sure she didn’t take a drink. Even though the water appeared pristine, glacial lakes often harbored parasites and bacteria that could be harmful to Juniper if she ingested it.
“Over there,” Maya said. She pointed to an area that was at some point probably cliffs surrounding the lake. Now the water was low enough that they could slip back into some of the crevasses. Maya used to love coming here as a girl and exploring withNana. They climbed back into one of the areas that had rounded rocks to sit on. Juniper found a spot to lie on the ground.
Maya tested her radio. She had a signal.
There was a good chance Abigail would have a radio too, and once Maya made her call, would know their location. Before calling into dispatch to ask for help, Maya peeked back out in the direction they came from. No one was there.
She could see smoke billowing close by. The fire had found good fuel and continued to burn out of control. If it was headed in this direction, the firefighters would probably let it burn. This entire area was wilderness and had rough terrain all around the lake. It was national forest land. No houses and no imminent threats. It could burn for acres and probably do the forest a favor in helping to restore it and keep it healthy.
The problem was the fire was trapping them in. If Abigail beat the fire, then she would be with them and that only left one option to get away which included wading or maybe even swimming in ice-cold water. If they walked the shore, they would be out in the open and easy to attack.
Maya kept peering around the rock, not seeing anyone. But the smoke continued to thicken. At this point, she felt Abigail posed a bigger threat. She’d take her chances with the fire.
Anger bubbled inside her again as she thought about the havoc Abigail had created in Maya’s life. She deserved prison time in solitary where Abigailcould think about Maya every day. Maya knew that would be a torture that would be difficult for Abigail to endure. Although if she hurt Josh, there’d be hell to pay. How exactly without crossing any of her moral lines, Maya didn’t know, but she’d figure it out.
Chapter Forty-One
Abigail had pursued Maya and Hope. She thought she could keep up with them, but she wasn’t prepared for the incline, the dense trees and smoky air that was making her cough and sputter. Or was it the gain in altitude affecting her?
Cursing Maya under her breath, she continued. This was her best chance to finish out her plan. To get revenge. She’d been slow coming after Maya and Josh when they’d entered. She’d seen them on the camera, but didn’t know the camera’s exact location. She had to guess how long it would take them to arrive and she’d mistimed her estimation. They’d somehow managed to slip in and she didn’t hear anything until they started whispering. Then she’d realized she had missed the best opportunity to ambush them.
Somehow Maya and Hope had escaped. She and Josh had shot things out for a while, but he wasn’t the one she wanted. She had fired several rounds to get him off her back while she went out the front door and pursued the two she really wanted. Josh had either backed off or been hit. She wasn’t certain and she didn’t care.
As she continued to hike the trail, almost straightuphill in her mind, her calves and side ached. Damn Maya Thompson for everything. And this fire. In some ways the fire had helped in that it meant people evacuated and left. It was hard for law enforcement to get to where they needed to go to pursue her. But it was also hard for her to get to where she wanted to go because you couldn’t argue with or manipulate fire. You had to respect it.
Just when she was about ready to take a break, Abigail came to the top of a ridge. The landscape flattened and there was a lake surrounded by rugged terrain. The lake was a deep green. Beautiful.
But at this point, Abigail didn’t care about the scenery. She cared about finishing what she started. It had all gone so smoothly at the beginning. It seemed like once she had the kid, everything went downhill. And now she didn’t even have her anymore.
Abigail stayed low and surveyed the area. Where would they have gone? Based on the smoke, the northeast mountain was on fire. The flames hadn’t made their way to this area. Yet. The trees were thick here and a mixture of pine beetle kill and large mature evergreens. Not that Abigail was an expert, but from what she understood, the dead trees provided a lot of fuel, but the live ones had extremely flammable sap. Those two factors together created the perfect storm for an intense inferno.
There were some cliffs on the fire side of the lake. They had interesting formations and could easily make for a good hiding place. The shoreline on the other side was wide open. If they were there, she would see them.The only other option would be to swim across the lake and that would be cold. This glacial lake wasn’t huge although it was plenty wide. It would be a long, frigid swim and she’d be able to see them in the water.
No, Maya knew these mountains better than anyone. She’d grown up here. She had battle experience. There would be a reason Maya would come to this location. Abigail figured the hike to get here was one of those reasons. But she’d made it. Maya was much younger than Abigail—enough to have it make a difference. And she probably ran every day with her dog.
They had to be over in the rough rock formations that were part cliff, part crevasse and part boulders. If Maya knew the landscape here, which she probably did, then that’s why she would have come here. Would she have a radio signal?
Luckily Abigail had brought the radio she’d found at the hotel with her. They probably kept it in case of an emergency. The radio would be more helpful than her partner’s updates. Especially since he was being kept out of the loop. She’d sent him a message telling him that. He’d written back that it wasn’t just him. Kessler was keeping to himself. They knew Abigail had a partner.
It had to be Eric who had tipped everyone off. He had always suspected she was working with someone. Sometimes, he’d ask her questions about her cases and who she was working with. She’d managed to elude him and give vague answers. He’d asked a lot about the stupid cop she’d had to kill. That cop might have been young and still training, but he had goodinstincts. He was a threat. Luckily for her, Marcus O’Malley owed her.
He did what he was told to, but then she found out his stupid girlfriend was banging him the night she and her partner came over and might have overheard their conversation from the bedroom. But nothing ever came of it and Abigail let it go. That was a mistake.
Her partner had thought Eric had found Marcus O’Malley’s girlfriend. At first, Abigail considered finding the girlfriend and killing her to tie up that loose end. But now Abigail had decided it wouldn’t matter. She was getting out of here once she finished her task at hand. Forget leaving Colorado. She was going to leave the country. The beach and drinks were sounding better every minute.
And how convenient that Maya was with Hope. That made her goal easier. But, Abigail reminded herself, she had to proceed with caution. Maya had her K-9 and that gave her an advantage. Abigail would have to figure out how to get rid of the dog first and then Maya and the snotty kid.
Maya and Hope huddled with Juniper back in the rocky area. It was a great hiding place, but not comfortable at all. As they sat there, catching their breath, embers started falling. The fire was close. Very close. She didn’t like that. Hope hadn’t said much since they hid back here. Maya figured she was doing okay. Especially after her sarcastic moment. That seemed more like a typical teenager.
Taking a few more glances toward the top of theshoreline and the area from where they’d accessed the lake, Maya didn’t see anyone. She would go ahead and use the radio, but she knew that Abigail might have one. Or at least she had to assume Abigail would. There were some at the lodge for emergencies. It’s what Maya would do if she was trying to find someone working in law enforcement. Tune to the right channel and wait. At some point an officer would make contact and tell dispatch where they were going. She could hear some chatter through her earpiece, but nothing about Josh. It was all fire response and the search for her and Hope. Her chest tightened as the thought of Josh bleeding out at the lodge crossed her mind.
Focus, Thompson. You need to get out of this. You’re upset at the thought of losing Josh, but I know he’d feel the same way if something happened to me, Juniper or Hope.
Maya took a deep breath and worked on focusing on the mission ahead of her.
Once you radio dispatch and ask for a chopper to get you out of here, she’ll know where you are. You have to be ready for her. Set up a plan. The best landing zone is on the other side of the lake where there are less rocks and the trees aren’t as thick. You’ll be right out in the open to get to that location, though. I need to get Hope there and set up Abigail to come to another spot. Abigail likes games. Time to play a game of my own.
