Chapter Seven
A small gust of wind kicked up and then died back down.
Maya and Juniper strode down the trail to the outhouses. On a whim, Maya took Juniper in and let her sniff the message in
blood. Juniper wasn’t trained to find human remains like Finn, but maybe it would help her with an odor. If it really was
blood and not a teenage prank.
They headed back out and to the trail that led to the tent camping area. Even though it was meant for people to backpack in,
there was also a road to access the area. If the family really was homeless like Jocelyn thought, then they could be living
out of a car. Maya had faith in Juniper to find them.
She took Juniper to the start of the trail and gave her the “seek” and “go find ’em” command to start a track. Thrilled to
be working, Juniper immediately put her nose to the ground as Maya cast her out in different directions.
It didn’t take long for Juniper to catch the odor.
Her tail was straight in the air and the change in tension with her body language told Maya that Juniper had a strong scent to follow.
That was a good thing. Hopefully they’d find the family soon and they could all get out of this area before the wind blew the fire their way.
Maya knew that the area of the forest where the fire had started was dense and hadn’t had any prescribed burns or tree cutting
done to help with fire mitigation. That meant the fire could crown and move quicker. As if sensing Maya’s urgency, Juniper,
nose still to the ground, picked up a trot, intent on the scent she’d located and was following. Maya jogged to keep up with
her dog.
Tail still poked up in the air, Juniper suddenly hit the brakes and stopped. Maya almost ran into her, but managed to avoid
a collision. She hadn’t been expecting the Mal to stop in this area. The campsite was farther down the road. Juniper worked
what appeared to be a scent cone back and forth. Had she caught the odor of evidence?
Juniper was trained to locate items new to the area. This came in handy when criminals tried to discard things like knives,
guns or other items that would link them to a crime. Maya hadn’t been expecting that. She was certain they were headed for
the camping area.
But Maya was curious about what Juniper might find in the bushes as the dog continued going back and forth. If it was tied
to the family and the parents were heavy drinkers, then maybe they’d discarded an empty alcohol bottle or something.
Juniper continued working the odor, going off the trail until she nosed at something tossed under a bush. Juniper lay down, her indication for evidence, and stared at an object.
“Atta girl. You did great,” Maya said, proud of her dog. She put on gloves out of habit, knelt and found the object that had
garnered Juniper’s attention. It was a smashed cell phone. She decided to handle the phone as evidence. Who knew if it really
was part of a crime, but she didn’t want to later regret not going through the proper process. Maya placed a pen next to the
phone to show the size. If there hadn’t been a fire heading their way, she would have gone back to her patrol vehicle to get
a ruler and evidence bags. She snapped a couple pictures. Then she picked up the phone and examined it. The screen had cracks,
but when Maya pushed a button on the side the phone lit up. There was a passcode.
Maya decided to try typing the simple password of 1–2–3–4. She could get lucky—based on the phone service, this could be a
prepaid phone or some type of burner phone and the person using it might not have a good PIN. Juniper nudged Maya’s leg and
then gently took a little nip of Maya’s pants in her front teeth, eyes full of mischief. Juniper was reminding her that while
Maya had verbally praised the dog, she hadn’t given her the full reward. Maya stood and pulled Juniper’s toy out of her BDU
pocket, tossing it away from the bush.
Juniper took off after it, happily squeaking her toy.
Maya hit enter, wondering if she could be so lucky.
She wasn’t. The password was wrong. Juniper was still running around, throwing the ball for herself and then chasing it.
As Maya was ready to try a couple other common passwords, her radio crackled again.
“FS 28,” the dispatcher called her.
“This is FS 28.”
“The fire in your location has gained speed. You need to leave the area soon.”
“I have a possible missing family. I will search for a few more minutes and then leave. I’ll let you know when I go,” Maya
answered.
“Roger that, FS 28, but be advised to keep an eye on your surroundings.”
“10–4,” Maya said.
Turning her attention back to the cell phone, Maya tried A-B-C-D. This time, she had better luck and the phone opened to the
main screen. Curious about this phone and why it was cracked and discarded, she started hitting some of the icons to see what
information she could find. Maybe the teenager who’d locked herself in the bathroom had tried calling a boyfriend or something.
Juniper, still full of energy, was leaping around making quick, staccato sounds with the squeaky toy now. The squeaker sounded
like it was on its way out, the sound becoming more and more dismal by the second. Maya figured she’d check the call log on
the phone and the text messages and then continue down the path to where she thought the family might be. That fire was moving
fast and she didn’t want to disregard dispatch’s message to her to be careful.
If the winds didn’t get any worse, she had time to get to the camping area and back out before the fire would get much closer.
Hitting the call log, Maya sucked in her breath.
There was a call to an unknown number and then 9-1-1.
Could the teen the lady saw be in more trouble than just mouthing off to parents? Neither call had connected.
Maya went to the text messages and as she read the text, chills swept over her despite the heat of the day.
Help me Uncle Nick. I didn’t run away. I was taken. I think I’m in Colorado.
Now Maya was thinking that the message in the bathroom wasn’t a hoax. This changed everything.