Page 85 of Never Give Up

It doesn’t matter who drives.

It doesn’t matter who’s leading this shit.

Nothing matters but Maya being safe and sound and where she belongs.

With me.

The fucker lives in a trailer park five minutes from me. Jake gets there in three.

I hop out of the truck and jog to the door, pounding on it until a mousy woman who looks a lot like Maya answers in her pajamas. Her hair is a mess, and I can tell she’d been sleeping. “I-I’m sorry, can I help you?” she asks.

“Does Andrew Weiss live here?”

“Yes, that’s my husband,” she answers, her voice quivering. “Who are you?”

“Sorry, ma’am. I’m with the Birch County Sheriff’s Office.” I show her my credentials.

“How can I help you, Deputy?”

“Ma’am, do you know where your husband would be at this time?”

“Yes, he’s headed out of town on a scouting trip near Millinocket for this fall. He got drawn for a moose permit.” She doesn’t look me in the eyes, and my fear and anger go up a few notches as she fondles the necklace she’s wearing.

Jake approaches behind me. “Ma’am, do you mind if we come in and look around? We’re looking for someone that your husband may know something about.”

“I don’t know about that. Don’t you need a warrant or something? My husband wouldn’t be very happy.” Her voice shakes some more, and I look into her eyes. She’s about thirty-five and has brown eyes like Maya. The more I look at her, the more I realize that she resembles Maya.

“You were a victim of his. Weren’t you?” I say without thinking.

She stares at me with wide eyes. “What are you talking about?” Her hands go to her neck in a defensive move, and I’m quick to pull them away. There’s a faint scar there, where some sort of a cord or rope had torn into her flesh a long time ago.

“You heard me. You were one of his victims, but he let you live,” I push. “You’re going to let us in because he’s got someone I care about. And I need to find her.”

“No. No, that’s not true. It was an accident, and he didn’t mean it.” She moves to close the door, but I stick my foot in the way. It hurts when she slams it on my foot—but I use my palm and push the door open.

“Ma’am, you’re going to help us. Because if you don’t, I’m going to make sure that you’re charged as an accessory to attempted murder and anything else he’s done to our friend.”

“Ma’am?” Jake asks.

She sighs and lets us in, Jake conducting the search while I question the woman.

“Brian, you have to look at this.” Jake holds a black box. “I found it under their bed. There are at least a hundred pictures of Maya in here and this.”

He has a piece of tissue in his hand and lifts something out of the box.

It is a bloody hunting knife.

Jake’s phone starts ringing, and I grab it from his hip since his hands are still full. I listen before hanging up, my heart thumping like a beast as dread and hope race through me. And I look at Jake with hope in my eyes.

“They aren’t in Millinocket. Maya’s phone’s pinging to the outskirts of Bangor. They’re gonna link us up with GPS coordinates. Let’s go.”

Jake looks at the wife. “You’re coming with us. We’ll have some more questions for you before all of this is through, I’m sure.”

I step aside while Travis enters the trailer and takes her by the arm. He escorts her out while Jake holds on to the box of paraphernalia.

“Travis will take her to the station.”

I don’t want to see what’s in the box. I don’t want to see the things he’s stolen from Maya or the way he’s invaded our lives.

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