Chapter Twenty-Four
The crime scene was bustling. Maya was no longer needed. Usually her friend Miranda, the lead crime scene tech from the sheriff’s
office, was here and would give her updates and inside information as she worked. But Miranda was on vacation with Maya’s
other friend from the CBI, Lucas. They’d been dating a while and decided to see how they did together on a getaway. They were
probably enjoying mai tais on a beach.
She and Josh really needed a vacation too. Although he’d seemed so uptight about going camping. At some point, she needed
to talk with him and see what was going on. Right now, they had to find Hope. Hope was their priority.
The FBI team was running prints on the deceased couple.
With their resources it probably wouldn’t take long to get their identities and find out more about how they were connected to Abigail.
Maya had called the chief of police over at Stone Creek Falls and alerted him.
She’d sent him pictures of Hope and Abigail and let him know that there was a possibility Abigail would still be driving the vehicle belonging to the prison guard she murdered.
But depending how much her partner was able to help her out, she might have switched cars by now.
If she hadn’t changed cars, then she would be at a disadvantage.
A sedan would have a harder time with the mountain roads and limit some of Abigail’s routes.
The problem there was that there were several roads going in different directions from Stone Creek Falls. Abigail could easily
get away. But Maya didn’t think that was the case. This was about Maya and her family. Abigail was so narcissistic and thought
she didn’t deserve to be tried or kept in a federal court and prison. This was an elaborate plan to get back at Maya. That
also didn’t surprise her with Abigail.
Abigail probably knew that if she only escaped, Maya would ignore her and let the FBI and marshals work on finding her. But
Abigail had started the process a while ago to let Maya know she had family. First, she’d revealed that Eric was her father
and from there that she had a brother, sister and niece. Eric had told her as well, but Maya had always wondered why Abigail
wanted her to have this information.
Now she understood—Abigail could figure out people’s weak spots and exploit them. Abigail knew that Maya wanted to know more
about her mother and didn’t know who her biological father was until Eric came along. Maya had kicked it all off when she
had worked to solve her mother and grandmother’s cold case murders. Who knew that running some DNA would lead to all of this?
But the one thing Maya did know for sure was that Abigail wanted revenge.
Maybe Abigail’s thirst for revenge was her weak spot and could be a way for Maya to exploit her back.
Most people with any brains who escaped prison would get as far away as possible. But not Abigail. She was arrogant and thought
she was smarter than them. Maya had to think like her and then maybe they’d figure out what the goal was with Hope.
She went and checked Juniper in her compartment. The Mal was curled up in a content pooch ball, snoring away. The heat and
the tracks had finally worn her out. Although, by the time they went home, whenever that was, Juniper would be ready to go
again.
Her phone rang and Maya stepped away from her vehicle. The caller ID said Stone Creek Falls Police Department. Maybe they had some news.
“Officer Thompson,” Maya said, hoping she’d have enough service in this area to maintain the phone call. She’d been able to
find a good spot earlier to call the chief. She headed back over to that area.
“Yeah, Officer Thompson, this is Sergeant Parker with Stone Creek Falls PD. I may have some information about your fugitive.”
“Have you spotted her?”
“I believe so,” Sergeant Parker said. “My younger brother works at the local motel. I drove by and saw a car there. Kind of
unusual right now since it’s not hunting season and the Fourth of July is over. And the fire is keeping tourists away. But
it’s a sedan and matches the description of the vehicle you believe the suspect has.”
“Did you run the plates?” Maya asked.
“I did and they came back to a different vehicle. I went around the back and asked my brother to come out and meet me. I didn’t
want the person you’re looking for to see me. I showed my brother the picture you had sent us and he is certain that is who
is in the room.”
“Did he see a girl with her?” Maya asked.
“He didn’t, but he wasn’t paying attention. I’d like to go get the VIN off the vehicle and run it. See who owns it.”
Maya paced back and forth. If Abigail saw him, it could be very dangerous for the officer. But it wasn’t Maya’s call to tell
him what or what not to do. He didn’t become a sergeant without some experience. Even in a small-town police department, but
he had no idea who he was dealing with. “Just be careful. If this lady sees you, she may try to shoot you and your brother
and flee. She’s extremely dangerous, so approach with caution.”
“Got it. I’ll tell my brother to close and head home for the night. When he’s gone, I’ll get the VIN.”
“Okay,” Maya said. “Let me know what you find out.”
They both hung up and Maya texted Kessler to come out so she could update him. He was working with the FBI team in the crime
scene and the less people in and out, the better. Everyone who went in, no matter how careful they were, could potentially
damage critical evidence.
It took Kessler a few minutes, but he found Maya. She filled him in and finished with saying, “It has to be her.”
“I agree.”
“Let’s see if this officer can get a name from the VIN and if it’s the guard’s car Abigail stole,” Kessler said. “I’ll call
the Denver Hostage Rescue Team and have them flown in by helicopter. And sorry, I’m going to have to let Ross and Bernardo
know too.”
“I understand,” Maya said. She knew Kessler couldn’t keep his guys in the dark about everything although she wished he could.
“I can go there too with Juniper if a K-9 would help.”
“Never hurts to have a dog.”
“And,” Maya added, “Juniper would love nothing more than to bite Abigail.”
“I’m sure,” Kessler said, cracking a smile. He turned in the direction of Bernardo and Ross and signaled for them to join
them.
Bernardo and Ross came over to Maya and Kessler. Maya saw them glare, but ignored them. She knew she wouldn’t be happy either
if she was cut out of this investigation, so she tried to cut them some slack. Nick and Aaron were also coming. Maya wished
there was a way to keep Aaron out of the huddle without making a big scene.
“We found IDs in the van,” Bernardo said. “The victims are definitely Jake Dunn and Vicki Rollins. We’ll do whatever we can,
but having more information would help.”
“I’ll give you all an update,” Kessler said.
This wasn’t good. Aaron was still on her radar as far as working with Abigail, but she also agreed with Eric, she didn’t trust anyone.
Looping everyone in wouldn’t help pinpoint Abigail’s partner if it was one of these guys.
At some point, though, Kessler needed the help from more than Maya, Josh, Pops and Eric, so she understood that too.
Kessler gave them a quick briefing, including the fact they suspected Abigail had someone helping, and finished with his decision
to call in the HRT.
“No ideas then who might be helping her?” Ross asked.
“None,” Kessler said. He turned to Bernardo. “You worked with her on that bank robbery case. Anyone come to mind?”
“No,” Bernardo said. “But I’ll think through everyone who helped on that investigation.”
“Her partner could be anyone,” Ross said.
“True,” Kessler answered. “I would suspect that the person may also be in the area. Keep your eyes open and watch your backs.
Anyone working with Abigail has as much to lose as her.”
Maya’s phone rang again. It was Sergeant Parker. She stepped away from the agents to answer. “Thompson.”
“I was able to get the VIN and get back out. The vehicle belongs to an Alexa Reed.”
“Great,” Maya said. “That’s our stolen vehicle. The FBI is going to deploy their HRT. I’ll let the lead agent tell you more
so your department is prepared for what’s happening.”
Maya handed her phone over to Kessler, who started to fill in the officer about their strategy. Could they be this lucky? Would they be able to get Abigail and save Hope? Although Maya knew, somehow, when it came to Abigail, things never worked out as planned.