Chapter Thirty-Five
The day continued to heat up. Sweat rolled down Maya’s back and her hair was plastered to her head. Concerned about Juniper,
she put the Mal in her air-conditioned compartment with plenty of water. Juniper didn’t seem to mind the heat. She tilted
her head, asking Maya why they weren’t continuing the track.
“Get some rest, girly. We’re going to need you. I can feel it,” Maya said. She joined Josh and they went to the visitor center,
which now had crime scene tape around it. They needed to find Kessler and talk to him. Alone. There had to be a plan that
kept everyone safe but didn’t alert Abigail’s partner.
They entered through a side door. Maya knew that Agent Bernardo would be covered with a sheet, but she didn’t want to see
him. He’d given his life trying to save Hope because he had a daughter the same age. Now his daughter was without a father.
That was hard to stomach. There was a chance he was Abigail’s partner and this was her way of getting him out of the picture.
Except Maya really didn’t believe that. If he was her partner, then Abigail still needed him. She wouldn’t have shot him.
Yet.
Candidates for her partner still included Agent Ross, Aaron and Nick himself.
Maya’s number one pick continued to be Aaron, but she didn’t want to have tunnel vision.
Hope’s dad had gone back to Pinecone Junction because his wife wanted to Zoom with him.
John could be Abigail’s partner, but Maya thought if that was the case, he wouldn’t have left.
He would have wanted to stay so he would know what was going on.
She also really didn’t think her brother was involved, but she didn’t know for sure. No one could be ruled out. When Maya
first returned from Afghanistan, relying on anyone else was hard for her. She’d worked to overcome that. She liked Agent Kessler,
respected him a lot, but if he hadn’t confided in his guys, Bernardo might still be alive. He was in charge and she needed
to remember that, but Maya was worried about losing more lives.
Josh gently placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze as they went down the hall to find Kessler, who was in the
break room where they had thought Hope was being held. He was staring at a dark red spot on the floor. Maya would guess it
was blood. She wondered how far out the evidence response team was. They could do a field test and find out if it came from
a human. Luckily, the amount of blood, if that’s what it was, wasn’t enough to be fatal. Was Hope injured? Or Abigail? Maya
wanted it to be Abigail. Anything to give them an advantage catching her.
Kessler had his hands on his hips and didn’t say anything.
“What are you thinking?” Maya asked, breaking the silence. She wanted to see what updates Kessler had first before she gave him her thoughts about Juniper’s tracks.
“I don’t know what to think at the moment,” Kessler answered. “She shot Bernardo quickly and was prepared, so you’re right,
someone fed her information.”
“What do you mean Abigail was prepared?” Josh asked.
“There were shell casings in an office upstairs. It was one of the only offices with a window that overlooked the visitor
center’s entrance. It was open and obvious where the casings were, Abigail was in position. Bernardo didn’t have a chance
. . . and my supervisor wants me to keep everyone on the team for now because the higher-ups think there’s no way Abigail’s
partner is one of our guys.”
Maya understood how Kessler felt. He was probably frustrated over his supervisor overriding his decision about the team and
he blamed himself. She wanted to tell him not to, but she also knew that wouldn’t help. Nor would he take her advice. Moments
like these haunted those in the military and law enforcement forever. The ghosts would never leave. She wished Kessler had
listened to her. Of course, she could have been wrong too and that might have cost Hope her life. Or someone else’s. Hindsight
was always twenty-twenty.
Maya did wonder about the supervisor’s response, though. Why not believe Kessler? He had proven himself as an agent. Unless
Kessler’s boss was Abigail’s partner. What were the odds? Maya didn’t trust anyone right now outside of Josh, Pops and Kessler.
“We’ll find her,” Maya finally said. She was ready to tell him more about the track when Ross, Nick and Aaron showed up.
“Just heard that you think we’ll find Abigail,” Agent Ross said. “Your dog give you any leads?”
Maya glanced at Josh. Kessler’s supervisor could tell him to keep the team intact, but she could make up her own mind about
what information she gave out to who. She couldn’t bring herself to answer the question truthfully. She’d tell Kessler more
later. “No, we couldn’t find a good track.”
“Thought I saw you heading down a trail with Juniper,” Nick said.
Maya worked to put on her best poker face. She was a terrible liar, especially to someone like Pops who knew her well. But
she couldn’t and wouldn’t tell anyone but Kessler what Juniper had really found and where she’d tracked. “We were heading
down a trail, but Juniper wasn’t in odor. The heat, wind and low humidity weren’t helping us.”
“It’s like they disappeared,” Agent Ross said.
“No,” Kessler spoke up. “No one disappears. And no one kills an agent and gets away with it. We need to get on this. Now.”
“Tell us how we can help,” Nick said.
“I agree,” Aaron said. “Tell us what we can do.” He was starting to sound more cooperative. Did he just want to find out information
for his own gain?
Kessler took a deep breath. Maya could tell he was focusing and thinking through their next steps. “Who’s good at math?” he
asked.
Aaron piped up again. “I am. Want me to get a map, calculate how fast they could be moving and come up with a search area?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I want,” Kessler said. “Nick, you were telling me you were trained to do man-tracking with the marshals,
right?”
“That’s right,” Nick said.
Maya hadn’t realized that, but it made sense. Especially when it came to finding fugitives in Montana. They would be more
likely to try to escape into the mountains.
“Good,” Kessler said. “Then you and Ross walk the perimeter of this building again and see if you can find any tracks in the
dirt. With the fire, there’s soot and ash. Maybe it’ll be easier to see tracks in that. That way when Aaron has an area for
us, maybe we can get a direction.
“I’m going to talk to the chopper pilot and see if he can do a search from the sky. I know there’s fire response aircraft
too, so I’m not sure what airspace he’ll be allowed to fly in,” Kessler said. “Everything clear? Any questions?”
The three guys shook their heads.
“Then let’s get to work. I want to find Abigail Harper. Now.”
Kessler sounded angry. That was good. Sometimes you had to get mad to stay focused on the task. When the three guys left,
Maya and Josh stepped in front of Kessler to make sure he couldn’t leave the room yet.
“We need to talk to you. Privately,” Maya said.
“Juniper did find a track, didn’t she?”
“Yes,” Maya answered. “Sorry to lie, but I didn’t want to say anything in front of those guys. I truly believe one of them is Abigail’s partner.”
“So do I,” Kessler said. “So where did Juniper track?”
“The trail Nick saw us on. It leads to the Old Stone Lodge. It would be a perfect place to hole up since it’s empty right
now and the fire is near, but not threatening it yet.”
“Okay, maybe I can send the HRT guys,” Kessler said.
“Well, yes and no,” Maya answered, telling him about the cameras. “It could be suicide for your guys if Abigail sees them.
She knows their tactical maneuvers. We don’t know if she has a handgun or long gun or both. If she somehow gets a rifle, then
she could easily pick the guys off.”
“What are you suggesting?” Kessler asked.
“Let Josh and me drive closer and do some recon work. I can try to see if we can spot her and I’ll call my boss to see if
he can help us figure out the cameras. Someone has to be able to shut them down remotely. That way no one we suspect of working
with Abigail knows what’s going on.”
“Okay, that works for me,” Kessler said. “I’ll come up with something to tell everyone else about what you’re doing so there’s
no questions asked. Texting is unreliable up here.”
“I know, although if the fire hasn’t taken it out, there’s a cell tower near the lodge. They put it in last year so guests
could have reception,” Maya said. “I can get a text out to you.”
“What if the tower is down?”
“Then I’ll radio. If we spot Abigail and Hope, I’ll say that Josh and I have been called back to Pinecone Junction for additional
fire response.”
“Okay,” Kessler said. “It’s as good a plan as any. Get going and let me know what you find.”
“You got it,” Maya said. She was happy that this was all between them. Maybe they would finally have a shot at being one step
ahead of Abigail rather than the other way around.