Chapter Forty-One
Abigail had pursued Maya and Hope. She thought she could keep up with them, but she wasn’t prepared for the incline, the dense
trees and smoky air that was making her cough and sputter. Or was it the gain in altitude affecting her?
Cursing Maya under her breath, she continued. This was her best chance to finish out her plan. To get revenge. She’d been
slow coming after Maya and Josh when they’d entered. She’d seen them on the camera, but didn’t know the camera’s exact location.
She had to guess how long it would take them to arrive and she’d mistimed her estimation. They’d somehow managed to slip in
and she didn’t hear anything until they started whispering. Then she’d realized she had missed the best opportunity to ambush
them.
Somehow Maya and Hope had escaped. She and Josh had shot things out for a while, but he wasn’t the one she wanted. She had
fired several rounds to get him off her back while she went out the front door and pursued the two she really wanted. Josh
had either backed off or been hit. She wasn’t certain and she didn’t care.
As she continued to hike the trail, almost straight uphill in her mind, her calves and side ached.
Damn Maya Thompson for everything. And this fire.
In some ways the fire had helped in that it meant people evacuated and left.
It was hard for law enforcement to get to where they needed to go to pursue her.
But it was also hard for her to get to where she wanted to go because you couldn’t argue with or manipulate fire. You had to respect it.
Just when she was about ready to take a break, Abigail came to the top of a ridge. The landscape flattened and there was a
lake surrounded by rugged terrain. The lake was a deep green. Beautiful.
But at this point, Abigail didn’t care about the scenery. She cared about finishing what she started. It had all gone so smoothly
at the beginning. It seemed like once she had the kid, everything went downhill. And now she didn’t even have her anymore.
Abigail stayed low and surveyed the area. Where would they have gone? Based on the smoke, the northeast mountain was on fire.
The flames hadn’t made their way to this area. Yet. The trees were thick here and a mixture of pine beetle kill and large
mature evergreens. Not that Abigail was an expert, but from what she understood, the dead trees provided a lot of fuel, but
the live ones had extremely flammable sap. Those two factors together created the perfect storm for an intense inferno.
There were some cliffs on the fire side of the lake.
They had interesting formations and could easily make for a good hiding place.
The shoreline on the other side was wide open.
If they were there, she would see them. The only other option would be to swim across the lake and that would be cold.
This glacial lake wasn’t huge although it was plenty wide.
It would be a long, frigid swim and she’d be able to see them in the water.
No, Maya knew these mountains better than anyone. She’d grown up here. She had battle experience. There would be a reason
Maya would come to this location. Abigail figured the hike to get here was one of those reasons. But she’d made it. Maya was
much younger than Abigail—enough to have it make a difference. And she probably ran every day with her dog.
They had to be over in the rough rock formations that were part cliff, part crevasse and part boulders. If Maya knew the landscape
here, which she probably did, then that’s why she would have come here. Would she have a radio signal?
Luckily Abigail had brought the radio she’d found at the hotel with her. They probably kept it in case of an emergency. The
radio would be more helpful than her partner’s updates. Especially since he was being kept out of the loop. She’d sent him
a message telling him that. He’d written back that it wasn’t just him. Kessler was keeping to himself. They knew Abigail had
a partner.
It had to be Eric who had tipped everyone off.
He had always suspected she was working with someone.
Sometimes, he’d ask her questions about her cases and who she was working with.
She’d managed to elude him and give vague answers.
He’d asked a lot about the stupid cop she’d had to kill.
That cop might have been young and still training, but he had good instincts.
He was a threat. Luckily for her, Marcus O’Malley owed her.
He did what he was told to, but then she found out his stupid girlfriend was banging him the night she and her partner came
over and might have overheard their conversation from the bedroom. But nothing ever came of it and Abigail let it go. That
was a mistake.
Her partner had thought Eric had found Marcus O’Malley’s girlfriend. At first, Abigail considered finding the girlfriend and
killing her to tie up that loose end. But now Abigail had decided it wouldn’t matter. She was getting out of here once she
finished her task at hand. Forget leaving Colorado. She was going to leave the country. The beach and drinks were sounding
better every minute.
And how convenient that Maya was with Hope. That made her goal easier. But, Abigail reminded herself, she had to proceed with
caution. Maya had her K-9 and that gave her an advantage. Abigail would have to figure out how to get rid of the dog first
and then Maya and the snotty kid.
Maya and Hope huddled with Juniper back in the rocky area. It was a great hiding place, but not comfortable at all. As they
sat there, catching their breath, embers started falling. The fire was close. Very close. She didn’t like that. Hope hadn’t
said much since they hid back here. Maya figured she was doing okay. Especially after her sarcastic moment. That seemed more
like a typical teenager.
Taking a few more glances toward the top of the shoreline and the area from where they’d accessed the lake, Maya didn’t see anyone.
She would go ahead and use the radio, but she knew that Abigail might have one.
Or at least she had to assume Abigail would.
There were some at the lodge for emergencies.
It’s what Maya would do if she was trying to find someone working in law enforcement.
Tune to the right channel and wait. At some point an officer would make contact and tell dispatch where they were going.
She could hear some chatter through her earpiece, but nothing about Josh.
It was all fire response and the search for her and Hope.
Her chest tightened as the thought of Josh bleeding out at the lodge crossed her mind.
Focus, Thompson. You need to get out of this. You’re upset at the thought of losing Josh, but I know he’d feel the same way
if something happened to me, Juniper or Hope.
Maya took a deep breath and worked on focusing on the mission ahead of her.
Once you radio dispatch and ask for a chopper to get you out of here, she’ll know where you are. You have to be ready for
her. Set up a plan. The best landing zone is on the other side of the lake where there are less rocks and the trees aren’t
as thick. You’ll be right out in the open to get to that location, though. I need to get Hope there and set up Abigail to
come to another spot. Abigail likes games. Time to play a game of my own.
Maya peered around again, looking at the rock formations around the lake. There was a spot that led to a trailhead. Not the way they had come up, but rather an easier trail, relatively speaking, that most visitors would hike. Maya kept thinking. What was the best way to ambush Abigail?
Hope was petting Juniper and the dog was happily leaning up against her leg. It pleased Maya that Juniper could bring Hope
some comfort, but she needed Juniper. There was an area where the rocks formed almost a mini canyon. It was the last part
of the easier hike. If she put Juniper on a down stay on one side and Maya stood on the other, she might be able to lure Abigail
through that area.
If she did it right, Abigail would be walking through the canyon away from the lake. That would give Hope a chance to get
to where the helicopter would land. Maya and Juniper could then take on Abigail and hopefully arrest her. Feeling better about
her plan, Maya pushed the button on her shoulder mic. “FS 28.”
They waited and then Maya heard the dispatcher answer her. She breathed a sigh of relief. She thought she’d have a radio signal
here, but wasn’t one hundred percent sure until now.
“I have Hope Dawson. I repeat, I have our missing girl. We are safe. But we’re going to need a ride out of here.”
“Copy that, FS 28,” the dispatcher said. “What’s your location?”
“Clear Lake, but heading east.”
“Negative, FS 28. No way to get you a ride there with the fire.”
“We need to go east. I’ll radio a new location soon. Please get the bird headed in the direction.”
“Copy that, FS 28. We’ll wait to hear from you.”
Maya hesitated. She wanted to know about Josh and yet, if the news was bad, she didn’t think she could keep going. She couldn’t
do that to Hope. Instead, Maya signed off.
Hope stared at her with wide eyes that reminded Maya of a skittish horse. “We’re going to hike into the fire?”
“No,” Maya said. “Juniper and I are headed that way. You’re not.”
“What do you mean? I don’t want to leave you.”
“I know,” Maya said, in a calm soothing voice. “But I need to keep you safe and to do that, we need to go opposite directions.
I am going to draw Abigail away from you.”
Tears started streaming down Hope’s face.
“You’ll be fine,” Maya said. “I promise.”
But she had to admit, Maya wasn’t certain that was a promise she could keep.