Page 22 of Scent of Death (Sullivan K9 Search and Rescue #5)

“I know. That’s why I asked you to drive here to Greybull.” Griff stared out the window for a moment. “My gut is telling me he’s nearby. We’re following up on some other leads that may help us pinpoint his location.”

“I understand. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Cheri said.

“Sounds good. I have to go, but we’ll chat later.” Without saying anything more, Griff punched the end-call button. He scowled and rubbed his hands over the stubble on his cheeks. “I knew she’d be useless.”

“Maybe she’ll be more help once she gets here.” Alexis tried to be diplomatic. “If she has time to examine the victims more closely, she might find a connection between them that we’ve missed. The scent idea was a good one. We can certainly ask Maureen’s parents what perfume she wore.”

“Yeah. I’ll text her parents.” His thumbs flew across the phone screen, then he pocketed the phone.

“We’ll see if Cheri has anything else to add.

” He turned to look at the green clapboard house.

“No sign of the truck. Let’s see if Denali alerts anywhere along the driveway before I peer into the garage. ”

She opened the back hatch, then slid out of the car to meet Denali. “Are you ready to search?” She offered the K9 water, since she hadn’t done that recently. After taking a quick drink, Denali looked up at her with steady brown eyes, clearly anticipating the job at hand. “Search bad guy!”

Her K9 went to work. But as before, Denali didn’t alert anywhere on the driveway or near the garage or the front door. She called the dog back to the SUV as Griff went up to the garage to look inside. Personally, she wasn’t sure the garage door even worked.

After a minute, he shook his head. “Nothing in the garage, so we may want to keep this guy on the list until we know for sure who lives here. Maybe the homeowner is a parent and drives something other than the truck. I guess we move on to the next one.”

She nodded, glancing at her dog. “I agree. I feel bad, though. It’s hard to keep asking Denali to search without being able to reward her. When we work disaster sites, she pretty much always finds something.” She bent to scratch the dog behind the ears. “You know you’re good at your job, right?”

Denali wagged her tail.

Griff sighed and glanced around. “I wish she would alert. I’m starting to wonder if we’re on the wrong track. Time is ticking by, and Maureen is still missing. I really thought the Ram truck would be our best lead.”

He looked so dejected, and she knew Maureen’s fate weighed heavily on his shoulders. She slipped her arm around his waist to give him a quick hug. “The truck is a good lead. I’m sure it will pan out.”

He surprised her by pulling her close. “You and Denali are amazing,” he whispered against her hair.

Her pulse skittered. It was hard to think when she was in his arms. “You said that already.”

“I can’t say it enough.” He tightened his hold before releasing her. “I feel blessed to be working with you.”

Then, without warning, he abruptly hauled her into his arms again and kissed her.

She melted against him, kissing him back, barely noticing a large truck pass them and pull into the driveway of the green house. Not until Griff broke off their kiss to whisper, “Can you see the driver? He’s behind me.”

She belatedly realized he’d kissed her as a distraction. Willing her erratic pulse to settle, she peered over his shoulder in time to see an older man slide out from the truck. “Yes. He’s too old to be our guy. But we can still check him out.”

Griff stepped back from their embrace and turned casually to see for himself. “You’re right about that. Give me a minute to talk to him.”

She turned to Denali. “Search! Search bad guy!”

Her K9 sniffed the area but didn’t alert. When Griff came back toward her, his resigned expression indicated he’d struck out. “Time to move on to the next truck.”

She nodded and opened the back for Denali. She shouldn’t have been hurt that he’d kissed her to make it look as if they weren’t staking out the house.

But deep down, she wished Griff had kissed her for real.

Griff knew he shouldn’t have kissed Alexis again. Her unique scent was imprinted in his mind, and he wanted nothing more than to kiss her again.

Especially since she’d kissed him back, sending his pulse skyrocketing. He’d even forgotten about the truck until it turned into the driveway.

Should he apologize? He glanced over, noting she didn’t look upset or angry. Still, women were good at hiding their feelings.

At least, that’s how Grace had been.

He momentarily looked up at the sky. If heaven was real, Grace was up there now finally at peace. Somehow, he knew Grace wouldn’t mind that he’d kissed Alexis. She’d been clear from the moment they’d learned her diagnosis that she’d wanted him to move on after she was gone.

He was the one who’d resisted doing so.

“What’s the next address?” Alexis asked, interrupting his thoughts. He focused on the case before them with an effort.

The moment to apologize had passed, so he let it go. He looked down at his phone. “The next address is 8 th and Railroad Street.”

“That’s behind the Attwell Restaurant.” Alexis drove there without hesitation. “I bet that’s our house. There’s a white Ram truck in the driveway.”

“That’s the one.” He thought the car looked as if it had been recently washed. To remove blood stains? Maybe.

But Denali didn’t alert, and all too soon they were back in the SUV.

“Two more properties to go.” He consulted the map app on his phone. “Let’s head to the one on Rimrock Road.”

“Okay. I’ll have to go back to Highway 14 to get there,” Alexis said. “That’s the best route to cross the river.”

He nodded, scanning the traffic around them. Their search so far was disheartening, especially considering the fact that Cheri Artez’s contribution hadn’t provided any useful information. In his opinion, her analysis of their unknown subject wasn’t worth the price of the airfare.

Not a good use of the taxpayer dollars, but he had bigger issues to worry about. They’d checked four trucks without success. And time was running out.

He needed something to go on, and soon.

They rode in silence for a few minutes. Griff straightened in his seat when he noticed the houses on the other side of the river were spaced farther apart. Something that would work in the killer’s favor.

If their perp had killed the girls at his home. Griff frowned, thinking that through. Had this guy brought Josie Allen and Morgan Riley all the way across the state to kill them here?

Or had he strangled the girls in the back of his Ram truck and simply transported their bodies here?

Then again, if the guy was a trucker, he had a work vehicle that could have been used for his abductions and murders. He knew the perp used the Ram truck to tow the four-wheeler to the campground parking lot, but the actual killings may have taken place in a different vehicle.

The inconsistencies were driving him crazy. What if they were wrong about him being a trucker? Or about the Ram truck?

His thoughts whirled, and he abruptly stopped and opened his heart to prayer.

Please, Lord Jesus, grant me the wisdom to find Maureen before it’s too late!

The prayer helped calm his fears. When he realized Alexis had turned onto Rimrock Road, he looked at his phone to verify the house number.

“It’s the large dark-brown house set back from the road.

I don’t see a truck in the driveway, though.

” His pulse kicked up a beat. “But there is a big outbuilding. See how the driveway is formed in a Y? One branch leads to the house and garage, the other to the outbuilding. Maybe that’s where he keeps the four-wheeler and trailer! ”

“Or a boat.” Alexis gestured to the water. “See how the back of the house is situated up against the river? The owner of this house may have a fishing boat and trailer back there.”

“Spoilsport,” he groused, although she had a point.

It was hard to imagine a serial killer living in a nice house like this one.

He just wanted something tangible to help find this guy.

“We’ll check it out the same way as before.

You take Denali around the driveway. Since there’s an outbuilding here, I’m going up to the door to see if anyone is home.

” What he really wanted was to look inside the outbuilding, but he knew it was likely locked.

Most people didn’t lock the doors to their homes out here, but something that held boats, ATVs, and other large recreational vehicles was an exception to the rule.

“Works for me.” Alexis opened the back and paused, glancing at him.

“I need to feed Denali dinner shortly. I gave her one of Anna’s cookie bones earlier, but it’s still been a long time since breakfast.” She grimaced as she slid out of the car.

“And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m getting hungry too. ”

“Me too. We’ll take a break soon.” He winced as he eyed his watch. It had taken them an hour to check the first three properties. Granted, that included the call with Cheri Artez, but still. “This shouldn’t take long.”

“Okay. Hey, girl, are you ready? Huh?”

Griff let Alexis and Denali do their thing. Resting his hand on the butt of his weapon, he approached the house. Up close, he noted the property had been well maintained. He knocked on the door sharply.

Nobody answered.

His pulse kicked up with anticipation. Was the killer hiding inside? He turned to watch Denali for a moment, then knocked again.

Still nothing.

He moved to the side to peer into the window. Unable to discern any movement, he turned and headed back to the driveway.

Denali sniffed intently along the edge of the garage door but hadn’t alerted. He hurried to the outbuilding and tried the door.

As he feared, it was locked.

Denali trotted toward him. Still no alert. His shoulders slumped as he realized this was another dead end.

“The garage and outbuilding don’t have windows,” Alexis observed. “That’s rather odd, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but maybe the owners don’t want kids peering in to see their stuff.” He managed a smile, despite feeling depressed that the Ram truck lead hadn’t produced a perp. “Only one more house to check.”

“I think you should keep this one on the list,” Alexis said, as they got settled back in the SUV. “We haven’t seen the truck, and maybe the killer had removed the SUV and trailer a while ago. He may be staying somewhere else, instead of coming back here.”

“I will. Although I’m starting to worry that our guy isn’t living in Greybull after all.” He consulted his phone. “The next house is up off Horseshoe Lane. That’s not far from here.”

“I passed the road on the way here,” Alexis said. “It circles around the subdivision.”

When they reached Horseshoe Lane, he found the property in question.

This one was the complete opposite of the previous home.

The house was a double-wide trailer without a garage.

The gravel driveway was rutted. It was exactly the place he’d imagined a serial killer would live, except for the fact that their perp had access to an ATV and trailer.

Not to mention a Ram truck. Even used, they weren’t cheap.

“I’m staying close to you while Denali sweeps the area,” he said.

“No argument here.” She grimaced. “I can just imagine somebody inside with a rifle aimed at anyone who dares trespass.”

He didn’t like putting Alexis in danger, but skipping it wasn’t an option. The owner of this double-wide had a Ram truck registered to this address. He forced himself to get out of the car. “I’ll stay between you and the house.”

He kept a wary eye on the front door and main window as Alexis revved up Denali to search. Then he made sure he was ahead of the pair as they went to work.

Denali didn’t alert, and nobody came out of the trailer.

“Last one,” he said as they once again climbed back into the SUV. “If that’s not our guy, then we’ll need to go back to the list of trucks to see if there’s a way to narrow our search.” He sighed. “Maybe I should go by age. At least for starters.”

“Let’s pick up a pizza on the way back to the hotel,” Alexis suggested. “I’ll feed Denali, then we’ll examine that list of vehicles.”

“I like pizza.” He managed a grin despite his despair. “The works?”

“Of course!” She shot him an amused glance as she cranked the wheel into a turn. “I grew up with six brothers. I can handle?—”

Her voice was cut off by the crack of gunfire. The SUV jerked, and he wondered if they’d been hit. But there wasn’t any broken glass that he could see.

Alexis stomped on the gas, aiming the car toward Highway 14. He spun in his seat to see where the shot had come from.

Had someone come out of the last two properties they’d just investigated? And if so, which one?