“Hunting the Truth” pits a K-9 crimefighting team against a brutal killer

The novel “Hunting the Truth” was a 2024 Colorado Authors League finalist for mystery.

(From Chapter 10)

Juniper put her nose to the ground and at first seemed to have a hard time catching a scent. Maya took her toward the area where she thought she heard the twig snap and started casting her out. Juniper followed her direction, making a louder noise, sniffing and sucking in air. Maya could see she hadn’t caught a scent yet and continued to cast the dog out in different directions, looking for any signs of a human being in the area recently. If Maya saw a footprint or a snapped branch, she could help her dog pick up the track. They could also place a piece of sterile gauze over the shoeprint to not only help preserve it for Miranda to get a cast of it later, but the cloth could become a scent article to use with Juniper. Maya kept packages of sterile gauze in her BDU pockets just in case.

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She and Juniper continued to work the area. Maya was concerned that they were tracking at a difficult point in the day because as it warmed up, the scent would dissipate.

Just as Maya was worried that they wouldn’t find a solid trail, Juniper’s body tensed. Her tail poked straight up in the air and her body language switched to an intensity that Maya knew well. Her dog was in odor.

Maya let Juniper work out the scent and then followed her as the dog took off, putting slack in the leash so Juniper didn’t yank her off her feet. Maya scrambled to keep up, slipping on some of the loose rocks in the area. She and Juniper headed off in the opposite direction of the trail they had used to come down to the crime scene.

“This is Deputy A1. I need immediate response to Big Gulch including medical, coroner and crime scene,” Josh said.

Hearing Josh’s call, Maya knew it wouldn’t be long before there were more deputies, firefighters, search and rescue volunteers and the coroner. They really needed to have someone secure the scene, but with Juniper in hot pursuit, the priority had changed to finding the suspect.

Josh was behind Maya as her backup officer. He would cover her so she could watch and work her dog without worrying about the suspect ambushing them. They’d been practicing some scenarios like this since Maya returned from certification, so they were all a better team. Josh fell into place behind them and followed her and Juniper off toward a stand of pine trees.

 Juniper came into a small area in the middle of the trees and Maya pulled her up.

“Footprints,” she said to Josh.

“Got it,” he said, placing a marker.

Maya stopped Juniper for a second and took the gauze out of her pocket and handed it to Josh. “Let’s put this gauze over these shoeprints and see if they can be used for a scent article later on.”

This area would now be part of the crime scene and hopefully Miranda could get a good shoe imprint to use for when they caught this killer. She gave Juniper the command to keep tracking. Juniper took off on another trail in the opposite direction of the trailhead parking area.

“Where does this trail go?” Josh asked.

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“It wraps back around to Little Gulch Meadow. There’s a parking area there too, but it’s a lot smaller so most people drive to Big Gulch.”

“How far?”

“About a half mile.”

 Maya continued jogging to keep up with her dog. Juniper had a solid scent and her nose stayed on the ground. Maya was always amazed at what the dogs could do when it came to tracking. Juniper was following the “hottest” scent, or last scent left along with any ground disturbance. For this type of work, she didn’t need a scent article.

They continued on the trail that wove around and started an uphill ascent. Juniper didn’t seem tired at all, but Maya’s lungs burned as her respiration increased. Josh was huffing and puffing behind her. Maybe their morning coffee and doughnut habit was catching up with them. They continued climbing uphill. At least this part of the trail wasn’t as rough as the previous one.

She could hear someone ahead of them running. Another branch snapped, and Maya heard a person swear.

We’re getting close. We can catch this suspect.

Adrenaline fueled Maya as she and Juniper continued on the trail. Tree branches smacked Maya in the face, and she tried to warn Josh, but words were hard to get out as her breathing elevated. Juniper picked up her pace even more while her body language showed that her full attention was on this one track.

We’re going to catch this killer. We’re going to get justice for Kendra.

Juniper followed her nose, tail staying straight up in the air. When she was on an odor, she often kept her tail up even when she was tired. When she was sniffing the scent of another animal or distracted, her tail would droop. 

As they approached the top of the trail, a vehicle started and pulled away. 

Damn it. That’s probably our suspect escaping. 

They arrived at the small parking area, if you could even call it that. It was more of a pull-off with maybe room for one or two vehicles at the most. 

The area was empty. Maya pulled up Juniper. 

They’d lost Josh behind them. Maya doubled over, a stitch starting in her side, and fought to catch her breath. Juniper put her nose under Maya’s face and stared at her, asking if she was okay. 

“I’m good, girly,” Maya said, still trying to catch her breath. 

Josh came up behind her and placed his hand on her back. “You okay?” he asked. 

“Yeah.” Maya gulped in more air. “Just need to start jogging on trails so I can get in better shape. You good?” 

“I am,” Josh said, also breathing hard. “I think I should join you jogging.” 

“Let me see if she can find the scent trail here again,” Maya said. She caught Juniper’s attention and started casting the dog out in the area where she last had the scent. 

Juniper tracked over to the front part of the pull-off and her tail dropped a bit. She began working back and forth, sucking in air and at times putting her nose up to try to catch the odor by air scenting. 

“I think she’s lost the track,” Maya said, watching her dog weave back and forth searching for the scent. “I bet the person had a car stashed here.” 

“I heard it leave when we approached this area. I think Juniper has lost the scent for now.” 

“I’ll look around and see if there’s any good tire tracks or shoe prints that we can match to the other ones,” Josh said, examining the area. 

“Sounds good,” Maya said. “I need to get Juniper some water, so once you mark anything you find, we can head back to the vehicles. If we walk along the road, it’s not that far.”

“Okay.” Josh slowly walked around, careful where he stepped so he didn’t contaminate anything. “I have some good tire tread marks here and there’s an oil leak that looks fresh. I’ll put some markers down and I’ll have a deputy mark this area off with crime scene tape. Hopefully by now the cavalry has arrived at the other parking area and our main crime scene is being secured. I’m going to call for another deputy to come and stay at this scene.” 

“I hope so too,” Maya said. “Once Juniper has some water and a break, I want to go back to the crime scene and do an evidence search with her. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

After Maya got Juniper comfortable in her compartment, she grabbed crime scene tape and checked her phone to see if Lucas had called. Nothing. Maya walked back to the pull-off where Josh waited. Together they strung the yellow tape around a large area. She knew that when it came to a crime scene it was better to tape off more area than you might think you’d need. It was better to discover evidence within the crime scene rather than taping off a small area and realizing important evidence could be outside the crime scene. Defense lawyers could have a field day with that. 

“By the time we get done stringing this up, Juniper should be rested, and we can do an evidence search in the area,” Maya said.

A sheriff’s patrol car pulled up and a young deputy stepped out of the patrol vehicle. 

“Hey there, Deputy Wilson,” Josh said, then nodded toward Maya. “Have you two met yet?” 

“We haven’t,” Maya said, holding out her hand. 

“Taylor Wilson, ma’am,” the deputy said. 

“Nice to meet you. I’m Officer Maya Thompson. You don’t have to call me ma’am. Makes me feel old.” 

“Sure thing.” 

Maya thought the deputy looked like a kid. Did that mean she was getting older? Or maybe Pops was hiring younger? 

Josh spoke up. “We just need you to stay here and watch the scene. You know the protocol. No one in unless it’s Miranda, our crime scene investigator, or one of us.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Thanks. Radio us if you need anything,” Josh said. He and Maya started back down the road to the Big Gulch parking area. She glanced at her watch. It wasn’t even noon yet and they had multiple crime scenes. But… someone had killed Kendra. Was it random? Maybe someone asked for her help and then ambushed her? Or was it someone Kendra knew? She’d never mentioned that she had any boyfriends or even friends. In fact, as Maya thought more about it, Kendra was always just focused on her. 

“You look like your brain is going a million miles per hour,” Josh said. 

“It is.” Maya glanced up at the mountainside. Large fir trees were silhouetted against the baby-blue sky. The trees blocked some of the sun. A small stream gurgled in the distance. “You ever wonder how we can live somewhere so beautiful and yet have so much ugliness around us?” 

Josh shrugged. “To be honest, I haven’t thought about it. After being in Chicago, one murder here and there seems pretty laid-back, although this is a bad one.” 

“I guess it’s all perspective,” Maya said. “My mom’s homicide was the first one in twenty years in this town. Kind of crazy. And I guess we’ve had our fair share with Nana and everything that happened last summer with Doug. But now Kendra too? I don’t understand it. Who would do this to her and why?” 

“I don’t know,” Josh said as they approached the trailhead parking area. “But we’ll investigate this and figure it out.” 

“I know we will. Let’s start by getting Juniper out and doing an evidence search. Then we can tape off the scene depending on whether or not we find anything.” 

“Sounds good to me,” Josh said. 

Juniper started barking in the vehicle. Maya knew that meant that she was also turning circles and dancing up and down with her front paws. 

“Guess she’s ready to work again,” Maya said. “She did well on the track and didn’t test me at all.” 

“Has she been testing you?” Josh asked. 

“Let’s just say I think we’re out of the honeymoon period. Zinger and I went through times like this too. We teach these dogs to be independent and think on their own. We want them to follow their nose and we follow them for the most part, so it’s not unusual for a dog to test a handler. I just hope I’m up for it,” Maya said, thinking about her military K-9. Zinger had also been a Malinois but was a brindle color. She had loved working him, but he had lost his life to an IED. She had never forgiven herself for that. 

“You’re a good handler, Maya. You got this.” 

“Thanks,” Maya said, wishing she felt the same confidence. Juniper had been working well for the most part—it was more at home that she was testing Maya by jumping at windows and barking. Maybe Maya had relaxed too much on the at-home dog rules. She’d have to think about that, but having Juniper helped her feel better. Juniper wasn’t a service dog, though. She had a job, and when a dog cost around $50,000, Maya had to make sure she didn’t ruin that asset. 

Approaching the vehicle, she opened the door and made Juniper wait to come out. When Juniper settled, Maya stepped back and allowed the fur missile to launch. Juniper flew out, landed gracefully and then started jumping up and down. 

“Sit,” Maya said. 

Juniper sat, but her tail kept going back and forth, scattering rocks from the gravel. Maya smiled. She did love her dog. 

She waited for Josh to grab more tape and evidence markers and then the trio started together back toward the crime scene. Maya’s stomach churned, and for a moment she thought she might throw up, but she willed it back down.

She’d seen death. Smelled death and flouted death herself. Maya had learned to compartmentalize except when the nightmares came, and the flashbacks. But seeing a person she personally knew become a victim of such a brutal crime brought up different emotions. Ones she hadn’t been expecting.

Kathleen Donnelly is a retired K-9 handler and award-winning author. Her debut novel, “Chasing Justice,” won a Best Book Award from the American Book Fest, a PenCraft Award and was a 2023 Silver Falchion finalist in the Suspense category and Readers’ Choice Award. Her second book, “Hunting The Truth,” was a Colorado Authors League finalist and a Silver Falchion finalist for the Readers’ Choice Award. She lives near the Colorado foothills with her husband and four-legged friends. For more, visit www.kathleendonnelly.com.