Chapter Thirteen
The room was silent as they waited for Eric to start talking. After he’d agreed to tell them about what he’d been investigating,
Eric had stared at the table and laid his palms flat. Maya had seen him upset over her mother’s death, but in some ways, Eric
appeared even more torn up about what he needed to tell them. Part of her wanted to start firing off questions. But she held
back. Pops and Josh were staying quiet too, although Josh was bouncing his knee. He caught Maya watching him and stopped.
Maya mouthed, Are you okay?
Josh nodded.
What was up with him? Maya was starting to lose patience with all of this. If Eric didn’t speak up soon, she’d say something.
Eric took a deep breath and finally said, “I need to face my demons and pay for my crimes. Abigail technically killed this
young man, a good officer and a great person, but I’m just as guilty by not saying anything.”
“Start at the beginning,” Pops said. “What officer? I assume he was in your department?”
“Yes. I was his FTO.”
Maya never knew her father was a field training officer. Part of her figured he was a good mentor, but she also knew he had
done things like take bribes. Had he put this officer in danger because of that? But if Abigail was involved then it had to
be much worse. Maya had seen some of the evidence her mother had gathered.
Eric rubbed his temples and then stared up at the ceiling. “His name was Drew Levinson and he was a hell of a cop. He was
going into the profession for all the right reasons like wanting to help others and keep the community he grew up in safe.
He came from a family of law enforcement. He was excited to follow in their footsteps.
“By the time he was out of training, Drew had met Abigail. He was smart and noticed things. He figured out that Abigail was
doing dirty things like extortion and running drugs. I think she even did some human trafficking or at least was paid off
to make sure certain traffickers were never investigated. Drew didn’t like it. He came to me and talked about it and I . .
. I told him to leave it alone. That someday even he’d do something he regretted as a cop. It was part of the job.”
“He didn’t listen, did he?” Maya said.
“No. I wish I could go back in time to that moment. Help him out. I’m not any better than Abigail.
I took bribes and wasn’t on the up-and-up either.
I think a part of me was worried that if he had Abigail investigated someone would find out what I was doing,” Eric said.
“But Drew was still young enough to be idealistic and think he could make a change. And, maybe if I had helped him, he could have.”
“Don’t compare yourself to Abigail,” Maya said.
“Why not? I’ve made poor choices. Am I any different?”
“You haven’t killed anyone.”
“I feel like I did with Drew,” Eric said. His eyes reddened and there were some tears in them. He cleared his throat and composed
himself and then continued. “Drew decided to pursue Abigail. I think he really thought he could take her down and she would
go to prison, but as you all know, Abigail has people on her payroll. Everywhere. Even judges and prosecutors. In some ways,
she’s built an empire in our town. I kept hoping Drew had dropped it, but then on one of his days off, he was out washing
his car and was gunned down. There was no saving him. All I can hope is that he didn’t suffer long. I’ve never forgiven myself
for his death and I vowed that when the time was right, I would work on adding his murder to Abigail’s rap sheet.”
“She didn’t pull the trigger, though, did she?” Maya said.
“No. We all know how she is. She likes others to do the dirty work for her. I’ve been working on trying to prove this was
a murder for hire.”
“This is the case that’s been keeping you from turning yourself in?” Maya asked.
“Yes. I can handle facing time for my crimes, but I feel like I killed Drew myself by not listening to him or helping him.”
Maya took a deep breath. She understood. She had the same guilt about marines who hadn’t come home. The “if I could only go back in time” thoughts. “Even if you’d helped him, it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have died. You might have even been killed too.”
“I know,” Eric said. “But maybe I could live with myself better.”
“Have you found any proof that there was a murder for hire?” Josh spoke up. Maya had noticed that not only was he twitchy,
but he wasn’t asking questions like he normally did. At least this was more like him.
“Unfortunately I didn’t find exactly what I wanted, but I do have some leads. I’d like to talk with Agent Kessler, but only
Agent Kessler and see if he can help put the final pieces together,” Eric said.
“He should be here soon,” Maya said. “Although I’m sure his first priority will be finding Hope.”
“And I want that to be his first priority, but I think Abigail knew I was looking into this.”
“How?” Josh asked.
Maya saw his foot start tapping again. She shook her head and focused on Eric. She had to prioritize finding her niece and
making sure Abigail hadn’t escaped. Then, she’d figure out why Josh was nervous. His tension was making her jittery.
“Abigail has people everywhere. I believe though that she has one special person that feeds her information. A partner.”
“Who?” Maya asked.
“I don’t know. I’m hoping Kessler can pull up the FBI files about Drew. I believe he had agreed to be an informant for them. But I don’t know for sure. Do you trust Kessler?”
Maya nodded and Josh and Pops were doing the same.
“Agent Kessler helped save my life along with Josh,” Maya said. “If it hadn’t been for him and Josh, I might be dead from
the serial killer who took me. I trust him with my life. He’s an honest, hardworking agent. Much like you described Drew,
I feel like he’s doing this job for all the right reasons.”
“Then I trust him too. And I’ll talk to him, but no one else, got it?”
“How many people do you think are on Abigail’s payroll?” Pops asked.
“I don’t know for sure. I would say a lot.”
“That narrows it down,” Maya said with a tinge of sarcasm. She glanced at her watch. “Kessler and his team should be here
any minute. I need to check on Juniper.”
Without waiting for anyone to answer, Maya stood and left the room. She strode down the hall, glad that no one was following
her. After everything Eric had discussed, Maya needed some fresh air and a moment to herself. But as she stepped outside,
the reminder of the fire was everywhere. Thick smoke blocked out the sun in a way that made it look like it was from another
planet. It was still a couple hours to darkness, but it seemed later in the day from the lack of light.
Juniper was sitting in her compartment, but seemed content and happy. Maya opened the door and rubbed her ears. Her partnership with Juniper was special and the Mal helped her through hard times. They needed to find Hope. Now. But how?
Think, Maya. You and Juniper can do this. The kidnappers have a vehicle so they need to stick to roads. Is there a possibility
they’re waiting for Abigail? No, she’s locked up. There’s no way she could be out. But it’s Abigail . . . she’s proven she’s
smart, she knows the system and getting out could be easy for her.
“Okay, girly,” Maya said to Juniper. “I need to go back in and do some research. But don’t worry. You might get to work again
today. I wish the wind would change direction, though, so the smoke would go a different way and you wouldn’t be working in
such bad air quality.”
Juniper nudged Maya with her nose and kissed her on the cheek. Maya smiled and checked the compartment temperature again.
The afternoon was stifling hot. There wasn’t even a breeze to help and, based on the forecast, it would remain that way for
the next few days. It made it hard to work Juniper because Maya had to be careful not only with the temperature in the vehicle,
but also with things like Juniper overheating from wearing her Kevlar vest. Dogs only sweated through their paws and were
very susceptible to heat. Especially working dogs who would give it their all and work to their death.
She headed back inside. Josh was waiting for her in the lobby.
She knew he was concerned, but right now, Maya had to shove her emotions aside.
There was work to be done and it didn’t matter how she felt about her father.
She could work that out later. Her first priority was finding a kidnap victim.
Not any kidnap victim, but her niece. A niece she didn’t know, but that didn’t matter.
Even if the missing girl weren’t a blood relative, Maya would still feel the same way.
But the fact siblings she had never met would be showing up soon rattled her.
It doesn’t matter what they think. Blood doesn’t mean they’ll like you. It might not mean they hate you either. Maya sighed. Why did things always seem so complicated?
“Juniper doing okay?” Josh asked.
Maya figured that was also his way of asking about her. “She is. How about Finn?”
“He’s in my office and doing well. I think he really likes the bed I got him.”
“Wait until he rips it up. And he’s a Lab, that means he won’t just destroy his bed, he’ll eat it too.”
“I know,” Josh said. “I just allow short amounts of time lying on it and only after I’ve exercised him.”
“Good luck with that,” Maya said with a laugh. She remembered how her military K-9 Zinger had lulled her into a false sense
of security. Once they were deployed, he was with her all the time. She thought the way he’d curl up on her bed on base was
cute until she found everything shredded including her clothes. Luckily, he hadn’t eaten anything. After that, she’d been
better with the working dog rules. Josh would learn, or maybe Finn was an outlier. She was about ready to say they should
find Pops and figure out a plan when her phone rang. Kessler.
“Is Abigail still locked up?” Maya asked, skipping the pleasantries and going straight to what she wanted to know.
There was a moment of silence and then Kessler answered, “We have a problem.”
Abigail strolled around the apartment, peering at pictures of Lexie with people who were probably family. Maybe a sister?
Mother? Hard to tell. Lexie was in her room digging out some clothes for Abigail while she pretended to have an interest in
Lexie’s life. And she’d promised Lexie money once she could access her ATM account. Abigail had made up a big story about
how she’d borrow cash and then not only pay Lexie back but give her more.
As if she had access to normal bank accounts. But she did have access to cash. Her partner had stashed that money in a safe
location. She wouldn’t get it until her goal was accomplished. To meet that goal, Lexie had to go. She knew too much.
Normally, Abigail would hire someone to take care of this “issue.” Over the years, she’d done her best to never get her hands
dirty, so to speak. She did when she needed to. And this was one of those times. She’d have to make sure Lexie was quiet.
Permanently.
A gun would be too loud in the apartment complex.
Abigail had noticed a bat by the door and made note of it.
She’d take both the bat and Lexie’s gun with her.
It didn’t hurt to have options. The apartment was small, but at least Lexie was in her room.
The kitchen had a knife block. No, too messy.
There would be a ton of blood. Slice and dice crime scenes were nothing like what Hollywood portrayed.
Often the person doing the stabbing also slipped and cut themselves in the process.
She didn’t need to deal with any injuries.
Abigail tiptoed around the kitchen, quietly opening drawers and double-checking that Lexie was still busy in her bedroom.
There really weren’t any great murder weapons. Then she spied a small toolbox. Inside was a pair of cable cutters. Perfect.
Abigail took them out and went over to a lamp. It was off so the good thing was that she could cut the cord and Lexie wouldn’t
see a light go out.
As she worked to cut through the electrical cord, Abigail liked her idea more and more. Strangulation was quiet if done right.
Efficient although not easy, but Abigail would do what she needed to do. She was stronger than Lexie. Or at least she was
pretty sure she was. The only nice thing about prison was that she was allowed to work out every day and with that, she’d
become fit. Probably the best she’d been in years. Figured she’d get that way in prison.
Abigail wound the cord around her hands and tiptoed to Lexie’s room where she saw her pawing through some drawers. Lexie probably
didn’t want to get rid of any clothes she liked. She was distracted, which was perfect.
Leaping forward, Abigail struck from behind, wrapping the cord around Lexie’s neck. Surprised, Lexie clawed at the cord and fell backward, but Abigail was ready. She hung in there until the job was done. Then she stepped over Lexie and found a T-shirt, sweatshirt and some jeans.
Abigail changed clothes and then found almost new boots in Lexie’s closet. She’d be in the mountains and needed good footwear.
Stepping back over Lexie’s body she muttered, “Don’t trust anyone in a federal prison. We’re all there for a reason.”
There was no time to waste. Abigail found Lexie’s gun and took the bat along with the car keys. She’d have maybe a day or
two before Lexie was reported missing, assuming her family or a friend didn’t stop by. She’d planned her timing to leave carefully.
Lexie was off for the next two days. If Abigail was lucky and no one stopped by, then she’d have some time to finish what
she’d started with Maya Thompson and Eric Torres and leave town. She could be gone before anyone knew it.
Abigail found a holster for the gun and then headed out. She trotted down the stairs to the parking lot and found Lexie’s
vehicle. Opening the driver door, Abigail tossed the bat inside to the passenger seat and then slid into the driver’s side.
It felt good to be the one in charge again. There were no handcuffs. No chains or jumpsuits. She was in normal clothing and
could go wherever she wanted.
The thought of just driving south crossed her mind again, but then she thought about her partner.
Abigail had fallen in love. He was helping her and she couldn’t leave him behind.
And Maya and Eric wouldn’t let things go.
They would hunt her down. She could feel it.
Taking care of them might mean she would still be hunted, but at least she’d be able to sleep better at night.
Abigail turned the car on, put it in Drive and headed out of the parking lot. She found her way to the interstate and then
headed west toward the mountains.