Page 20 of Deadly Revenge
“I don’t know. I’m hoping Kessler can pull up the FBI files about Drew. I believe he had agreed to bean 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 wasspecial 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 prioritywas 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, skippingthe 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 aton 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. Thenshe stepped over Lexie and found a T-shirt, sweatshirt and some jeans.
