Chapter Twenty
When they all arrived back at what had become the main operational center of the crime scene and now a missing person case, Maya saw Pops’ vehicle parked with all of theirs. She was glad to see him and relieved he could help. He would have answers to the questions she didn’t want to face.
While Josh was putting Finn into his vehicle and making sure the dog was comfortable after doing such a great track, Maya peeked into Juniper’s compartment.
Juniper raised her head, saw it was Maya, and then went back to sleep.
The blanket so far appeared to have made it, although she kept extras in the back both for Juniper and in case she was ever forced to stay the night out in the wilderness.
In fact, Maya had more than blankets. She had a whole survival pack to keep her going through the night if need be. Who knew what the missing person had. Based on the tracks, she was wearing tennis shoes, which were far from ideal to travel the backcountry this time of year.
As Maya approached Pops, she saw Rory’s cruiser parking next to their vehicles. Hopefully Rory had found some information.
“Hey, Pops,” she said to her grandfather as she gave him a hug.
When they parted, Pops put his hands on her shoulders. “You okay? I will never turn down a hug from my favorite granddaughter, but you don’t usually do that when we’re working.”
“I know,” Maya said. “I’m all right, but I’m worried about what we found and who the victim might be. I’m scared, and you know me, I don’t like to admit it. Plus, I am your favorite granddaughter…and your only one.”
Pops laughed and then turned serious again. “Lucas filled me in and so did Rory when I ran into her at the sheriff’s office. Between the two of them, I think I have a pretty good idea that our victim might be Amber and that a prosecutor named Elena Pierce might be our missing person.”
Maya noticed that Pops had left out the part about Josh being the main suspect. He knew it, though. She was certain of that. He was just being careful with her. She filled him in about the tracks and the area the dogs took them along with the broken window.
“I know who owns that home,” Pops said. “I’ll call them and fill them in. Not only do I want to get a piece of wood covering the broken window, but I also need to have a deputy tape it off since it’s part of our crime scene. The owners are good people and will cooperate.”
By the time Pops finished, Josh had come and joined them.
Staring down at the ground, Maya could tell the gravity of the situation was settling in.
Sometimes when you were working your dog, you could forget other things going on, but as soon as your dog was off duty and comfortable, things would hit a person again. Maya found they often hit hard.
“I think I need to step down off this case,” Josh said to Pops.
“I agree. I had Lucas make some calls and the CBI is going to take the lead. None of us should touch this case until we have the remains ID’d.
If the victim isn’t Amber, then we can all step back in and figure things out.
I called Agent Kessler and he asked if the CBI would take the lead on the case.
He has a full caseload right now and thought the Forest Service would be okay if he wasn’t the lead.
But he said to call anytime if needed. He’s happy to provide FBI resources. ”
Maya liked Agent Kessler and trusted him. “I’ll call my boss and fill him in, but I’m sure he won’t mind the CBI being in charge.”
“I did tell Lucas that I would call in the local SAR team,” Pops continued, using the acronym for search and rescue.
“They will be here in about an hour. I want a deputy out with them because we don’t know if our missing person is really the prosecutor or one of the homicide suspects.
I don’t want to put anyone else in danger.
Their team leader told me, and I agreed, that if they thought this should be turned back over to law enforcement, they would pull out.
This isn’t a normal missing person. As far as who it is out there, I do suspect it is Elena Pierce, in which case she needs to be found before something bad happens to her—either from Mother Nature or whoever killed our other victim here. Hopefully she’s still alive.”
“Maybe our dogs can rest about an hour and then go back out,” Maya suggested.
“No,” Pops said. “They’ve worked hard today and we don’t want tired dogs and handlers. Plus, like I mentioned, we need to stay away from this until we find out more.”
“I might be able to help with that,” Rory said. She’d been patiently waiting, holding some papers.
“What did you find?” Maya asked.
Rory handed Pops the papers and Maya peered at them. Josh, being the tallest, stood behind them, also taking in what Rory had given them.
“I found her Facebook account, which was active until she became a prosecutor,” Rory said. “Lucky for us, she forgot to change the settings to private. Not that there’s anything scandalous, I was just able to get pictures and more information.”
“Great job,” Maya said. The pictures showed a petite but fit young woman. A couple of the posts that Rory had printed out discussed running and fitness.
“I tried to copy and paste important information,” Rory said. “From what I could tell, before law school she was a Team USA cross-country hopeful. I think she missed the team by only a tenth of a second.”
“That’s good,” Maya said. “That means she’s fit and can maybe navigate terrain that other people wouldn’t be able to.”
“I found a picture with her in a doorway to a restaurant in Chicago. I’m estimating her size to be small—about five foot two or three,” Rory said, quickly adding, “but math isn’t my strong suit.”
“I understand,” Maya said. “But I’m thinking you’re correct on her size.”
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, trying to keep her mind from racing to conclusions. But the tennis shoe prints they’d found matched a runner with a small foot size.
And the remains were too tall to be Elena. Even if Rory’s math was off.