Chapter Nineteen
Maya paced around the front of the sheriff’s office, waiting for Hope’s family to arrive. Her family.
When Kessler had told Eric about his conflict of interest, she figured he’d pull her off too, but he hadn’t and for that she
was grateful. There wasn’t much she could do until she had a scent article for Juniper and Finn to use to track. The wind
had died down and air support was coming in. Juniper was good in her compartment and with the heat, she didn’t want to waste
time and energy searching for Hope without an exact odor for the dogs to work. Plus, the only place that they could start
tracking that might still have a hot scent was shut down due to the fire spreading into that area.
Josh had made some calls in regard to the fire response and was doing other tasks. Maya figured he was trying to keep busy
too. She was about ready to head to her office and do some paperwork along with calculating how long it would take to get
from Montana to Colorado when Kessler came to the lobby. He was by himself.
“I wanted to give you an update,” he said.
“What’s up?” Maya asked.
“The prison investigated more and they linked Abigail to a guard named Alexa, aka Lexie Reed. Officers went to her apartment
and when they entered, they found her strangled to death.”
Maya felt like someone had punched her in the gut, but she knew she shouldn’t be surprised. Knowing Abigail, the guard had
probably been manipulated and didn’t even realize who she was dealing with. When Maya had first met Abigail, she too had believed
what Abigail had told her. Eventually Maya discovered everything was a lie.
She finally said, “I guess that’s not a shock when it comes to Abigail.”
“No, it’s not.” Kessler took a deep breath. “Reed’s car is gone. So is her service weapon. Her family is being notified. I
guess now we know who Abigail used to help her out.”
“Thanks for letting me know.”
Kessler turned and left. Maya looked out the windows. Once again, Abigail had cost a family a loved one. She had to save Hope.
Even though Maya didn’t know Hope, she would never forgive herself if she was killed, but there was a good chance she was
still alive and Maya vowed to find Hope before that changed.
She glanced at her watch, thinking she’d called Nick about eight hours ago and they should be here soon. Peering back out,
she saw a rental car park in a visitor spot.
It had to be them.
Maya didn’t know what made her more nervous—wanting to get going so they could find Hope, or meeting her siblings.
Josh came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. She leaned back into him, feeling his strength,
and glad to have him by her side—even if he hadn’t been himself the last couple days.
“What if they hate me?” Maya asked him.
“Then they do and we’ll worry about that later. Right now, I think they’ll just want to find Hope.”
Maya took a deep breath as four people approached the door. She reminded herself that Josh was right and there was even a
chance that Nick and Isabelle would have no idea who she was. And right now, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was finding
Hope. Alive. And she didn’t know who the other two people were with Nick and Isabelle, but she would find out soon enough.
Josh gave her a quick kiss and then stood by her side as the front door opened. Hot air with the smell of smoke came into
the lobby as the four visitors stepped inside. The door shut with a whoosh and there was silence. Nick was a spitting image
of their dad. He stared at Maya and based on his look maybe he did know who she was.
Pops came out from the back and broke the silence. “Sheriff Wayne Thompson. You must be Hope Dawson’s family.”
Nick continued to take in Maya, staring up and down. She was starting to feel uncomfortable. Cripes, Thompson. You fought in Afghanistan. You’ve brought down major crime in the national forest and survived a serial killer. You can at least be brave enough to say hello to your
brother.
Deciding to be bold, Maya stepped forward and held her hand out. “You must be Marshal Torres. I’m Officer Thompson. We talked
this morning on the phone.”
Nick held out his hand and they gave each other a firm shake, neither breaking eye contact. The other three guests held back.
“It’s good to meet you,” Maya said, sounding more tentative than she would have liked.
“Call me Nick. You look just like her,” Nick said. “I swear, it’s like looking at a ghost.”
Isabelle came forward and stopped in front of her. They eyed each other, Maya wondering what thoughts were going through Isabelle’s
mind. Maybe she knew?
As if hearing what Maya just thought, Isabelle wrapped her arms around Maya in a tentative hug and said, “So you’re her. We
never knew if we’d meet you. Thank you for helping us find Hope.”
That answered one of Maya’s questions, they did know about her. Awkwardly returning Isabelle’s embrace, Maya said, “I’m glad
to meet you too.”
One of the men hanging back stepped forward and said, “I’m Officer Dawson. What is going on here? Time is of the essence.
We need to find my daughter.”
“This is my ex-husband and Hope’s father,” Isabelle said. “He’s an officer in Montana in the same department my father worked.”
“Speaking of good ol’ Dad,” Nick said. “Where is he?”
“In our holding area,” Pops said. “If you’d like to see him, you can go on back.”
“Maybe later,” Nick answered. “Right now, I’d like to get to work. This is my partner, Aaron Banks.”
An interesting answer about their father, Maya thought, turning her attention to Aaron. He wasn’t tall, but Aaron was strong
and she was glad he didn’t completely crush her fingers as they shook hands. Muscles bulged under his T-shirt and his right
arm had a tattoo sleeve. One in particular caught Maya’s attention. The design was a sniper scope with Semper Fi above it
and H.O.G. below it. H.O.G. stood for Hunter of Gunmen which meant that Aaron had completed scout sniper school. He probably
went from the marines to the marshals’ tactical unit as well as working with Nick. Aaron was the best of the best when it
came to tactical operations. He would be lethal behind a sniper rifle.
She was about ready to say something about her marine unit, when she noticed Nick was holding a sealed bag with clothing.
Perfect. Hope needed to come first right now and that was the best way to start the process of finding her.
“Thank you for bringing some of Hope’s clothing,” Maya said. “I’ll get gloves and another bag. We have two K-9s who can help
look for her.”
“Thank you,” Nick said.
Maya still didn’t know what to make of his reaction to her.
It almost seemed like Nick and Isabelle wanted to meet her.
Maybe they’d been as curious as Maya. She went and found a fresh Ziploc bag and some gloves.
When she came back to the lobby, Kessler was there talking with everyone.
Hope’s father was telling Kessler his name was John Dawson.
He was a little bit taller than Maya and was lean with angular features.
There was nothing warm or friendly about him. No wonder Eric didn’t like him.
“I’m the agent in charge of this investigation,” Kessler said after the introductions. “I can fill everyone in about where
we’re at in a few minutes.”
Maya took the opening, gloves now on, and added. “Before you go with Agent Kessler, I’d like to split the scent articles so
each handler has one.”
“I’d like to go with you when you run the track,” Nick said. “Aaron can join us too. The more officers, the better, right?”
“I won’t turn down help,” Maya said, knowing the marshals were good at their jobs. Aaron’s sniper skill could be an asset
and that they might have multiple criminals to catch. “But you do have a conflict of interest.”
“I know,” Nick said. “But I can’t sit around and do nothing. I’ll take direction from you. Based on what I know about Abigail
Harper, you might need assistance.”
“True,” Maya said. She was surprised again at his willingness to work together. On the other hand, it was their niece who
was kidnapped and, in that way, she also technically had a conflict of interest. “Let’s go then.”