Page 12 of Scent of Death (Sullivan K9 Search and Rescue #5)

“Sue? I’m calling about some evidence that should be arriving at any moment.

” He paused, smiled, and said, “Great. Yes, Logan is amazing. Listen, I really need those shell casings dusted for prints first thing. This is our only lead to a man who has brutally murdered two young women and likely has kidnapped a third victim.” After another pause, he said, “Thank you. I owe you a favor. Call me as soon as you have something.”

“That’s great that Logan got the evidence there so fast.” She bent to stroke Denali who had stretched out at the ground at her feet.

“Yeah, Sue was impressed.” He flashed a grin. “Claimed she’d have liked to marry Logan herself if your sister hadn’t snatched him first.”

“Oh yeah?” She arched a brow. “I’m sure Jess didn’t like hearing that.”

“Sue Schuman is fifty-three, so I’m sure Jess didn’t mind.” Griff sat beside her. “So now we sit here and wait for the hardware store to open.”

“Yep.” She felt bad, but she didn’t have a magic wand to make that happen sooner. She dug out her phone. “Let’s see if we can find Brent Wilson on social media.”

He nodded. “While you do that, I’ll get his address from his DMV records.”

She listened as he called the office to request the information.

She had to go through several Brent Wilsons to find the one who appeared to be roughly the same age as the guy she’d gone to high school with.

Unfortunately, his profile picture was him fishing, and there were no recent posts.

Nothing for almost two years, she realized with a frown.

Had Brent stopped posting because he’d wanted to stay off-grid so he could hunt, kidnap, and strangle young women?

“Thanks.” Griff ended his call. “The last known address for Brent is Cody, but he’s due to have his license renewed next year.” He shrugged. “He could have moved without bothering to update his driver’s license. A lot of people don’t make that a priority.”

“Especially not if you’re breaking the law.” Suddenly she was leaning toward Brent Wilson being their guy. “I guess we’ll find out once you get news on the fingerprints.”

“Yeah.” Griff glanced at his phone. “Here’s a picture of his DL. Does he look the way you remember?”

She peered at Brent’s face. Truthfully, the photo did not do him justice. It looked like a mug shot, yet she recognized him as the same kid she remembered. “Yes.” She handed the phone back. “That’s him.”

Five minutes later, his phone rang. He quickly answered. “Sue? I hope you have good news for me.” As he listened, his face fell. “You’re absolutely sure? Yeah, okay. Thanks.”

“No prints?”

“Oh, they got a couple of prints, but there’s nothing in the system.” He sighed. “And they’re not a match to Brent Wilson. His fingerprints are on file.”

Her stomach knotted. “So we’re back to square one.”

“Yeah.” Griff shook his head. “I should have known it wouldn’t be this easy.”

Alexis tried to keep a positive attitude. Yet as she gazed out toward the town of Greybull, it was disturbing to realize the killer was still out there.

Ready to strike again.

Griff swallowed his keen disappointment. The good news was that Sue’s tech had lifted several prints. Once they had another suspect, the evidence would help prove his case.

But they still had no idea who this guy was. Or where he was staying.

It was tempting to call back to ask for information on Alexis’s former boyfriends, but he refrained. Not liking two men because they’d cheated on a woman he admired and cared about wasn’t probable cause.

And he needed to stay focused on who could do something this heinous.

“I’m going to take Denali for a short walk.” Alexis jumped up from the bench seat of the picnic table. “She hasn’t had much exercise yet today.”

“Sounds good.” Griff’s knee had been stiff that morning but was already feeling better. The ibuprofen she’d given him had helped. He made a note to ask for more prior to their trek back to the burial site.

Watching Alexis with Denali made him smile. At first, they strolled across the grassy area, but then Alexis returned to get the pink piggy from her backpack.

Intrigued, he watched as she told the dog to sit. Then she walked into the woods. It didn’t take long for Alexis to be hidden from view.

“Search!” Alexis called.

Without hesitation, Denali ran straight into the woods, finding Alexis within a matter of seconds. Alexis laughed and threw the piggy back toward the campground. Denali whirled and ran back to get it.

“That’s not much of a challenge,” he said. “She clearly watched you go into the woods.”

“I know. But we’ll try again. You’re going to help me this time.” After she played with Denali for a few minutes, she held out her hand. “Drop.”

Denali obeyed, then backed off, as if anticipating another throw. Instead, Alexis crossed over to him. She made Denali turn around so that the K9’s back was to the wooded area. “Stay.”

Griff was amazed that Denali stayed in place without turning her head. This was an exercise they’d done before. After a long few minutes, Alexis called, “Search!”

Denali wheeled around, lifted her nose to the air, then to the ground. She flawlessly followed Alexis’s scent trail until she found her in the woods.

“Good girl.” Alexis threw the piggy again.

As much as he enjoyed watching the pair, Griff was anxious to get to work.

He needed to follow up with the ME’s office regarding the autopsies of Josie Allen and Megan Riley.

The killer had used a ligature, so he didn’t know if they’d find fingerprints embedded in their skin.

Still, the techs could find and isolate hair fibers, skin cells, and other sources of DNA.

Especially if either victim was sexually assaulted.

Too bad Brent Wilson wasn’t their guy.

In the middle of their playtime, Denali abruptly turned and stared toward the woods. It was so jarring he found himself searching for what had caught the dog’s attention.

“What is it, girl?” Alexis knelt on the grass beside her dog. “What’s wrong?”

Denali didn’t growl or bark the way she had earlier that morning upon catching a whiff of their bad guy. But her ears were pricked forward, and her gaze seemed to be focused intensely on something he couldn’t see.

Griff crossed over to join them. “What caught her attention?”

“I have no idea.” Alexis frowned as she straightened. “But I think we’d better find out.”

“Okay.” He rested his hand on the butt of his weapon. “Stay close in case this guy is hiding nearby.”

Alexis nodded. “The wind is coming from the west, so it could be that Denali hasn’t scented him yet.” She turned to look at him. “Or she could be alerting us to a wild animal threat, like an elk, moose, or some other animal.”

He understood. There were plenty of potential threats in the wilderness, and they weren’t all walking on two legs. He pulled his weapon from its holster and held it down at his side. “Let’s check it out.”

Alexis scowled. “You can’t go around shooting wildlife with a handgun.”

“Only if they attack and our lives are in danger,” he agreed. “Trust me, I’d rather not shoot anything.”

After a brief hesitation, Alexis nodded and threw her arm toward the woods. “Go, Denali. Search.”

Denali glanced up at her as if to make sure, then trotted forward, her nose close to the ground. When they reached the edge of the brush, Denali seemed to quicken her pace. Clearly, she was focused on something.

He just wished he could see what it was. In the distance, he could hear the rumble of voices from other campers, so it didn’t seem likely that a bear or some other large animal would be lurking nearby.

Denali pressed forward. Only when they were in the middle of the thicket did the K9 slow down and turn away from the area where the voices were coming from.

“What is it?” Alexis asked again. “What did you find?”

Denali stuck her nose beneath a bush, then began to growl. Griff stopped, lifted his weapon, and swept the area. He didn’t see anyone, but could his killer be hiding nearby?

Denali backed away from the bush, her hackles rising as her growls grew louder.

“What is it, girl? Did you find a snake under there?” Alexis appeared puzzled by her K9’s behavior.

Denali sat and barked. Holding his weapon up, he stepped in front of Alexis. “Get down. That’s her alert, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Alexis dropped down to place a protective arm around Denali. “I don’t understand. How did this guy get here? And why didn’t we see him?”

“I don’t know.” Griff trusted the dog’s keen sense of smell and hearing more than he trusted his eyesight.

But if Denali was alarmed, he was too. He tipped his head to look upward, searching the trees.

He knew the guy had climbed a tree back near their SUVs.

Maybe he liked being high in a perch, looking down at those he wanted to kill.

“We need to back away from here.” He kept his tone low.

“You and Denali go first. I’ll cover you. ”

“Hold on, I’d like to know what’s under that bush.” Alexis looked up at him. “If there’s not a snake living there, maybe our killer left something behind.”

Every instinct in Griff’s body told him they needed to get far away from the campground. It had been a bad idea to leave the restaurant. He should have suggested they sit in the SUV at the hardware store to wait for it to open.

Was he overreacting? It didn’t make sense that the perp had found them there.

He hadn’t noticed anyone following them.

And if his suspect was hiding and watching them, he likely would have taken a shot by now.

He’d done that several times before, including the first time Alexis and Denali had gotten close to his burial ground.

Would Denali alert on a snake? He had no idea. He didn’t lower his weapon but nodded toward the bush. “Okay, but be careful. It could be a trap. And stay low, don’t make yourself an easy target.”

“Understood.” Alexis eased up just enough to make her way to the bush. She moved to the side and cautiously shoved the branches out of the way with her arm. Then she frowned. “I don’t believe it.”

“What?” He couldn’t imagine what was under there.

Alexis turned; a grim expression etched on her features. “Do you have another evidence bag?”

“Yes, but tell me what you found.” He lowered the weapon and took a few steps toward her. “What did he leave behind?”

“Dog food.” Her answer was so unexpected he thought he’d misunderstood.

“Dog food? Why would he bother to do something like that?” Griff lowered the muzzle of his weapon toward the ground as he peered over her shoulder to see what she meant. There was a small pile of dog food beneath the bush.

“I need an evidence bag,” Alexis said impatiently. “And we have to call my brothers to have them turn around to come back. I want this dog food tested in a lab ASAP.”

“Tested for what?” He pulled a clean evidence bag from the small pouch on his belt and passed it to her. He still didn’t understand. “Do you want to know if it’s the same brand you use back at the ranch?”

“No, it’s not the same brand, the kibble looks different. The brand of dog food doesn’t matter.” She used the bag as a glove and put a fistful of the dog food into the bag. Then she stood, eyeing him somberly. “I want this tested for poison.”

“Poison?” He glanced over to where Denali sat, watching them with her brown eyes. “How do you know some camper with a dog didn’t leave this here? Or dump it because they didn’t want to haul it home?”

“I don’t think that’s what happened.” Alexis examined the food inside the evidence bag. “I see what appears to be some moisture on the food. Not enough to make it soggy, but enough to indicate it wasn’t sitting under there for a long time.”

“Poison,” he repeated. “You think the killer purposefully hid dog food hoping Denali would eat it.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I think he did.” She crossed over to pet her dog. “And this is why we teach our dogs not to eat anything that we don’t give them. He must not have realized how well trained our dogs are and how he tipped his hand.”

Griff shook his head as the close call sank deep. Not only had this guy somehow figured out where they were, he went a step further to try to kill Denali.

No doubt to get the dog out of the way so he’d have an easier time going after Alexis.

Griff was convinced this serial killer wanted Alexis as his next victim.