Chapter Thirty-One
Maya finally stepped back from Josh and peered up at him. Was she staring into the face of a murderer? No. Not at all. Did he have any idea of what was going on? Had Lucas interviewed him yet?
“What did I do to deserve that?” Josh asked, quickly adding, “Not that I’m complaining.”
“I missed you,” Maya answered. Juniper came up and pushed her nose between them, wanting more attention. Josh obliged and started petting her. “We need to talk somewhere private. Has Lucas asked you any questions?”
“Not yet. I know he’s going to, though. Let’s go to my office while I wait for him.”
“No,” Maya said, suddenly feeling paranoid.
Someone had known Josh was meeting Amber.
They had to. Which meant that things could be tapped.
Phones, who knew what else. Technology made things easier and easier.
If the senator was involved and had his men—former law enforcement—doing his dirty work, who knew what they had access to?
They had the knowledge. The senator had the money.
“I think we should leave our phones in your office, but then go talk somewhere else. Somewhere no one else would go.”
Josh gave her a quizzical look but agreed. They headed down the hall, Juniper between them, and left their phones. Then they headed to the supply closet. Juniper pushed her way in with them.
“This feels like we’re going in here to make out,” Josh teased.
“I wish it were that simple,” Maya said.
Then she filled him in about the knife, along with Lucas confirming it was Josh’s gun.
She added in all the details, including that Lucas had already started to question Maya about where Josh was when the murder happened.
When she finished, she said, “I love you like I’ve never loved anyone else.
I trust you. You’re the only person I want to spend my life with. ”
“You have no idea how happy I am to hear that,” Josh said, leaning in to kiss her. Juniper gave a little whine and Maya stopped him.
“I need to ask you something, though,” Maya said. “Is there anything else I should know? Anything at all? Just between us?”
“No. Nothing. I swear.”
“You’re being framed and Lucas is going to arrest you. Do you realize that?” Maya asked.
Josh sighed. “And here I was hoping we were going to make out. Let Lucas arrest me then. We’ll figure this out and prove my innocence, because I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Will you be serious for a moment? Stop blowing this off and making jokes. Innocent people go to prison. It happens.”
“Okay, okay,” Josh said. “I know this is serious, but I don’t know why someone would want to frame me for these murders.”
“I think it’s the evidence. These pictures,” Maya said, showing Josh the envelope.
“I made copies and I’ve been stashing them everywhere.
This one is for Lucas. He might be arresting you, but at least he’s still listening to me and trying to believe that you’re innocent.
I have the originals in a safe place. I won’t tell you so no one can torture it out of you. ”
“Don’t you think you’re overreacting?” Josh asked.
“No. We’ve had two homicides in a short amount of time. It all started when Amber called you about this case. I am not overreacting. I’m being logical.”
“Fair enough,” Josh said.
“We need to find this missing prosecutor—Elena. If she’s still alive, I think she can fill in the missing pieces and make some sense out of all of this.
Right now, though, all we know is that the senator came to town at a suspect time along with two cops you worked with in Chicago that you don’t like.
Do you think they are capable of murder? ”
“I don’t know. All I know is that once my partner was killed, they were some of the cops that made my life miserable. They helped make sure no one would work with me again. But that doesn’t make them killers.”
“Okay. I need to figure out how this ties back to the senator, other than the obvious fact that his daughter was the first victim. I’ll work on that, because I’d love nothing more than to arrest him right now and stop this, but we have nothing but ideas,” Maya said, wishing she had room to pace in the closet.
Juniper leaned against her leg, helping to keep her grounded.
“I’ll take Juniper out when the wind dies down and we can keep tracking. We have to find our missing person. I don’t care at this point if we should be working on this case or not. Everyone involved in it seems to be disappearing or dead.”
“I agree,” Josh said. “We’ll find Elena and sort this out. I promise you, I had nothing to do with it other than what I’ve already told you.”
“I believe you.” Maya gave him a quick kiss and then asked her next burning question. “How did the trial go today?”
“I had to testify in the other case, but it was only jury selection and opening statements. I think there’s a strong case because no one witnessed Pops and Doug Leyton talking.”
Doug had been Maya’s best friend and the officer who was like a son to Pops. “That’s good, right?” she asked.
“I think so,” Josh said. “If there’s no evidence, then how will the prosecutor prove his case?”
“Unless Pops takes the stand. He’d never lie under oath.”
“I guess we’ll see. I don’t know what strategy my dad has or if he’ll let Pops testify. But I think it was a good first day and the jury seems solid.”
“We never know, do we?” Maya asked, not expecting an answer. “Let’s get out of here and go find Pops. We have a missing person to locate.”
“Okay, but one thing first. If we’re going to hide in a storage closet, I at least want one kiss,” Josh said, pulling her close.
* * *
Leaving the storage closet breathless, Maya was glad to have had a moment alone with Josh so they could talk. She felt better, but she did wish he would stop joking around. There was a long road ahead when it came to proving his innocence.
They saw Lucas had arrived and joined Pops in the conference room. Maya put a leash on Juniper. She knew everyone here, but even so, if someone made a move toward Maya that Juniper deemed threatening, it wouldn’t matter how well Juniper knew anyone. She would take a bite. Even Josh.
Pops and Lucas stared at them as they entered, and Maya felt like they were teenagers caught making out.
Pops spoke up. “We’ve been looking for you two. Where were you?”
“I needed to talk to Josh first,” Maya said, feeling her face warm and probably turn red. She hated it when it did that.
“Sorry you were looking for us,” Josh said. “We’re here now. What’s up?”
Pops crossed his arms and went red from his neck up. “Undersheriff Colten, I need to put you on administrative leave. I need your badge and your department-issued gun.”
Shock hit Maya and she sucked in a deep breath. Her vision narrowed for a moment. This was really happening.
Josh didn’t say anything. He took off his badge and unholstered his gun, taking out the magazine and pulling the slide back so that it showed the weapon was clear. One bullet had come out when he racked the slide back, and he placed that on the table next to his badge and service weapon.
“Am I under arrest?” he asked Pops.
“Yes,” Pops answered.
Lucas stepped forward and asked Josh to turn around and put his hands behind his back. Josh complied and Maya fought tears. She’d known this was going to happen, but somehow seeing it was harder than she thought it was going to be.
Lucas finished securing the handcuffs and said, “I would like to ask you some questions. Would you be willing to sit down with me?”
Josh glanced back over his shoulder at Lucas. Maya stood near Lucas and mouthed I love you.
“Are you going to read me my rights?” Josh asked.
“Yes,” Lucas said.
“Then read them, but know that I’m not going to sit down with you right now. I want my attorney.”
“Okay,” Lucas said. “Then come with me. I need to take you back to the holding area and get you ready to transport to the main jail.”
Maya took a deep breath. Josh being unwilling to talk made him seem guilty, but as law enforcement officers they all knew the drill.
Once someone was read their rights, everything was admissible in court.
Some suspects would chatter away and give them all the information.
Others would clam up and not talk. But once someone asked for their attorney, all questioning was done.
Josh was smart to do this for now. It would give Maya time to continue to investigate the senator and his men.
She didn’t know when Lucas would officially indict Josh.
He could be held for about forty-eight hours before charges had to be filed.
Pops came over to Maya and put his arm around her. “Nothing will make me happier than giving Josh back his badge and service weapon after he’s cleared. This is hard on all of us.”
“I know,” Maya said in almost a whisper. Then in a stronger voice, she added, “I know this is hard on you too, Pops. Especially right now with everything you have going on. We’ll figure this out. Together.”
“Maya,” Josh said, before Lucas took him back to the holding area. “Lucas is doing his job. It’s okay. My dad will help with this. He’s around here somewhere and I won’t speak to anyone without him. Let Lucas do his job and let the system work. You worry about finding Elena Pierce. Got it?”
Maya stared back at him. She didn’t like this at all, but she knew Josh was right.
If there was a warrant out for him, he needed to be arrested, and the more he complied, the better it would be for everyone.
They could fight it in court and the best way to clear Josh was to find the missing prosecutor. Hopefully alive.
“Okay,” she finally said. “As soon as there’s bail set, I’ll figure out a way to get you out. But I’ll also work on finding Elena. Just be careful and stay aware. I don’t want to lose you.”