Page 58 of Shielding Maya

Maya stopped in front of her. "The other day when I came to your house and asked you if you'd seen anyone else, you seemed to hesitate before answering. If you were afraid to say something in front of your mom, you can tell me now. I won't say anything to your mom, but it sure might help me. And Jasiah."

Marni shook her head. "My dad doesn't like Jasiah."

"I know. Do you know why?"

Marni shrugged. "Something to do with my mom and Craig."

"Okay."

Marni looked around the woods as if to see if someone was listening. "I didn't tell the truth."

"About what honey?"

She took a deep breath. "I did see someone."

"Okay. Who did you see?"

"That man. Before he killed the senator, I saw him in the woods."

"Can you show me where you saw him?"

Marni turned and made her way across the uneven floor of the woods. She easily jumped over downed logs and brush. She stopped before a small copse of trees. "He was hiding in here."

Maya stepped to the copse of trees and peered inside. "Did you see what he was doing?"

"Sleeping."

"Okay." Maya stepped into the copse and felt around the ground for anything that might be of use.

Marni then said, "Why do you care?"

Maya sat back on her haunches. "It's my job to bring the man who killed the senator to justice. In actuality, the man who shot him, killed him. But, in the bigger picture, someone hired him to do that and we want to get that man. So anything you saw, picked up, or have that might lead me to that bad man, will really help us. It'll help a lot of people too. Because he's bad and needs to be in jail for all the bad things he's done."

"Okay." Marni toed the ground and tucked her hands in her pockets. Maya waited her out, hoping she had something to offer. Anything.

After a long silence, Maya began sweeping her hands over the ground once more, then sat back when she found nothing. "Okay. I appreciate you telling me Marni. I've got to get up to Jasiah. I'll see you later tonight, okay?"

"Okay." Maya fought her way back to her Jeep and climbed in. She turned to her right to see if she could still see Marni in the woods, but she couldn't. She should have offered her a ride, but that girl spent a ton of time in the woods, so she'd likely not have taken it anyway. But, she should have offered. Pushing away the guilt, she took a deep breath and started her Jeep.

Navigating three more corners before reaching the last parking area, Maya turned her Jeep off and jumped out. Opening the back door, she pulled her bags from inside and lugged them to Jasiah's cabin. She knocked on the door but he didn't answer. Twisting the knob, the door opened so she stepped inside and dragged her bags in. She had one more bag to bring in.

She trudged across the side of the common area, reached her Jeep and pulled the last bag and her duffle bag from inside. She closed the door to Jasiah's cabin and started unpacking her bags.

She smiled from ear to ear as she unboxed and placed things around the cabin. She had never been a domestic type of gal. It was laughable even now that she was doing this. Her mom would get a huge kick out of this. She was getting a huge kick out of this.

The door opened and Jasiah stood in the door with a grin on his face. "What's all this?"

She turned and plopped her hands on her hips. "Honey, I need coffee in the morning. So, I bought you a coffee maker. Then I bought creamer for said coffee, and several kinds of coffee since you liked the one I brought you. Then, I thought, wouldn't it be nice to have some of Lara's cookies with our coffee, so I bought some of those. Then..."

Jasiah crossed the room and laughed. "Stop." He kissed her lips. She held onto his shoulders then slid her arms around his waist and pulled his body close. "I love that we'll have coffee in the morning."

"And cookies."

He laughed. "And cookies."

She kissed him again and enjoyed the feel of his lips on hers. She mumbled around their kisses. "I hate shopping, so this is big Jasiah. I must really love you."

He chuckled. "I'm happy to hear that."

---