Page 33 of Scent of Death (Sullivan K9 Search and Rescue #5)
As if sensing his tension, Royal pressed his nose against the wire mesh of the crate. Joel glanced at the dog in the rearview mirror. “Soon, boy. We’ll be there soon.”
Royal’s tail thumped against the bottom of the crate in response.
Trina’s home was a small ranch with light-green siding that looked as if it may have been there for decades.
The yard was neatly tended. Flowery bushes framed the front door, a water hose lying on the ground nearby.
He pulled into the driveway and killed the engine.
The front door opened as he slid out from behind the wheel, hitting the button to release the back hatch.
“Hi, Joel, it’s good to see you again.” Trina’s expression was strained as she approached. She held a plastic bag in one hand. She stepped forward to envelop him in a friendly embrace. “Thank you for getting here so quickly.”
“Of course.” He hugged her back, then stepped to the side so Royal could jump down. He turned to face her. “Trina, will you please come closer?”
“Sure.” She eyed him warily as she did so.
He knelt beside Royal and took Trina’s hand. “Friend, Royal. Trina is a friend.”
Royal sniffed her hand, then his tail wagged from side to side. Trina’s expression softened as she stroked the lab’s soft, glossy black fur with her free hand. “You’re a good boy, huh?”
“Yep.” He smiled and rose to his feet. “As I said, Royal is very good at finding lost people. Is that Ben’s clothing?”
“Yes.” She handed the bag to him. “Dirty socks and T-shirts.”
“Perfect. Give me a minute to get Royal ready.” He pulled a fluorescent vest from the compartment beneath the crate and slipped it over Royal’s torso. Then he filled a bowl with water and offered it to his K9.
Royal lapped the water, then lifted his head to stare up at him with large expectant brown eyes.
“Are you ready? Huh, boy?” He injected enthusiasm into his tone to excite his dog.
Searches were viewed as a game. The higher the play-and-prey drive in a K9, the better they performed.
Shoving the collapsible bowl into the backpack, he shouldered the pack and opened the scent bag. “This is Ben. Ben! Search Ben!”
Royal buried his snout in the clothing, his tail wagging from side to side with anticipation. Then the lab whirled and began sniffing along the sidewalk.
“Ben’s been living here with me since June,” Trina said. “My sister passed away.” Her brown eyes filled with grief. “I’m going through the process of formally adopting Ben, but he’s not exactly thrilled to be here with me.”
He nodded, his heart going out to her. It couldn’t be easy to have a young boy dropped into your lap. “If he’s not familiar with the area, he probably took a walk and got himself lost along the way.”
“Maybe.” She chewed her lower lip. “But I think he may have run away. He took his new backpack with him. When I was gathering his dirty clothes, I noticed some other things were missing, like his favorite handheld video game. The cabinet door was open, too, so he may have grabbed a snack.”
“I see.” He gestured toward Royal who sat at the front door and barked. “That’s Royal’s first alert. I need to reward him before we keep going.”
Trina glanced at her watch, gnawing on her lip again. “Okay. But Ben’s been gone now for ninety minutes.”
“We’ll find him.” Joel empathized with her concern.
He and his twin had run wild when they were eight, but that was because their parents had too many kids to watch them like hawks.
And growing up on the dude ranch had given them free rein to do what they wanted.
Yet he knew that wasn’t how parents handled their kids these days.
He was sure Ben had rarely been out of Trina’s sight.
He hurried over to reward Royal with his stuffed beaver. The dog leaped into the air to catch the beaver and ran around with the toy in his mouth. After a moment, he called the dog back and held out his palm. “Hand.”
Royal regurgitated the stuffed beaver into his palm. Then he stared up at Joel, waiting for the next command.
“Search! Search Ben!”
Anxious to please, Royal turned and began sniffing around the yard. When the dog trotted around back, he quickly followed. Trina caught up, her gaze hopeful as she watched Royal work.
It didn’t take long for Royal to head for the gap between the trees along the back of the yard. He glanced questioningly at Trina, who nodded.
“Yes, this is the shortcut to the hiking trail.” She swallowed hard. “I checked both directions, calling out to Ben, but he didn’t respond.”
“Royal is on the scent.” He wanted to reassure her they’d find Ben alive and unhurt, but he couldn’t. He’d done too many of these search and rescue missions to know that the outcome wasn’t always positive.
Not that he had any intention of telling her that. Best to stay positive. Even if the eight-year-old had decided to run away, by now he was probably tired, hungry, and more than ready to return home.
Royal turned north on the trail, his tail waving back and forth as the lab followed the scent. The trail went up a steep incline but eventually leveled off. He glanced at Trina. “Have you and Ben come this way before?”
“Never.” She wrinkled her nose. “I suggested hiking, but Ben looked at me as if I had two heads. His mother died from a mountain biking accident, which might be part of the reason he turned me down. He’s still grieving over his loss.”
“Of course, he is,” Joel agreed. “It wasn’t easy losing our parents when we were adults. It must be ten times harder for a child.”
“I have him in counseling, but he tries to weasel out of attending his sessions.” She sighed. “He makes me feel bad for insisting he go. I know it’s for his own good, but he gets so angry with me.”
“Yeah, well, anger is part of the grief process too.” He looped his arm around her shoulders. “He’ll come around.”
“Will he?” She frowned and leaned against him for a moment, then she ran her fingers through her straight bright-red hair. “Sorry, it’s just hard to know if I’m doing the right thing for him.”
“You are.” He squeezed her again, then released her. He watched as Royal continued on the path, then abruptly turned to the right. His K9 sniffed near a park bench, sat, and let out a sharp bark. “That’s his alert!”
Trina broke away and ran toward Royal. “Ben? Where are you?”
Joel examined the park bench area, noticing there were blue and white sprinkle crumbs embedded in the dirt. “Do you think Ben took cookies of some kind?”
Trina frowned, spotting the sprinkles. Then her expression cleared.
“Blueberry Pop-Tarts. He wanted them from the store, and while they’re not exactly healthy, I gave in.
The cupboard door was open this morning.
I hadn’t taken the time to see what he’d grabbed.
” She rubbed her eyes. “I’m glad he ate something. ”
“I agree, finding sprinkles is reassuring. Good boy, Royal! Good boy!” He tossed the stuffed beaver again. Royal sprinted after it.
“Your dog really can track his scent,” she murmured. “I honestly wasn’t convinced.”
“A lot of people say that.” He was used to the skeptics. “But our K9s are the real deal.”
A faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Thanks. I owe you big time.”
He waved that off. “The fee is a bag of dog food, if you can afford it. If not, don’t worry, we tend to let the dog food fee slide when kids are involved.”
“I can afford it.” She raked her fingers through her hair again. “I write books, which surprisingly do pretty well.”
“Really?” He hadn’t known that. He opened his mouth to ask more, but she held up her hand to stop him.
“Before you ask, no, I’m sure you haven’t read any of them.
I write cozy mystery books set in a small Montana town.
My readers are mostly women, although I do have some male fans.
But I’m sure they’re not your type of story.
” She sighed, and added, “I was so glad I had a job that enabled me to work from home so I could be around for Ben, but that obviously hasn’t worked. Ben still took off without telling me.”
“It’s not your fault.” He could tell she believed it was.
She was right that he wasn’t a big reader, but he filed the information away for later.
He didn’t mind a good mystery. But now it was time to get back to work.
“Here, Royal.” He called his dog over and held out his hand for the beaver. “Search. Search Ben!”
Royal lowered his nose to the ground, but this time, rather than following the path, he trotted into the woods. Joel glanced at Trina, then followed his K9.
“This is why he got lost,” Trina muttered. “Why didn’t he stay on the path?”
“Maybe he saw an elk or deer.” They weren’t that far from the Absaroka Mountains, home to all sorts of wildlife. “Kids that age are curious.”
“Maybe.” Trina didn’t look convinced.
Royal continued moving along a curvy path through the woods. He could easily imagine an eight-year-old taking this route, around trees and over fallen logs. His K9 didn’t hesitate or backtrack, so he knew Royal was still on the scent.
The longer they walked, the deeper the worry lines became etched in Trina’s face. She gestured to a break in the trees. “The river isn’t far from here. What if he fell in the water? I don’t even know if Ben can swim! He has swim trunks, but that doesn’t mean he can survive falling in the river!”
“Easy,” he cautioned. “Royal will help us find him. Trust the process, okay?”
“I can’t lose him,” Trina whispered in a low, agonizing tone. “I just can’t.”
“Have faith in God,” he encouraged. When she frowned, he realized she wasn’t a believer. “I have faith, Trina. I believe God will watch over him.”
“The way He watched over my sister, Evie?” Her tone reeked of bitterness. “Yeah, no thanks.”
He decided to let it go. This wasn’t the time to have this conversation.
He kept his gaze focused on Royal’s progress.
He understood how difficult it was to get past anger and grief after losing a loved one.
He and his eight siblings had struggled after losing their parents five and a half years ago.
It was only after his parents had died in a plane crash that the siblings had gotten together and turned the former luxury dude ranch into a search and rescue operation.
They all lived on the ranch now, taking over the ten guest cabins. They had their own space, but their siblings were also close at hand if needed. And their faith had grown stronger over the years.
Royal made another abrupt turn, this time heading away from the river. Joel reached over to grab Trina’s hand when she stumbled while trying to keep up. “Are you okay?”
“Fine. I didn’t expect that.” She waved at the dog. “I was convinced he was heading to the river.”
“This is why we stay back and let our K9 take the lead.” He held her hand for a long moment before releasing it. “We don’t do anything to influence the dog one way or the other. Royal is following Ben’s scent.”
“I believe you, Joel, but where is he?” Trina sounded frustrated. “I don’t see Ben anywhere.”
He wasn’t sure what to say because she was right. The hour was still early enough that there were no kids in the area. He saw a female jogger and an older man wearing a cowboy hat and using a walking stick, but even with the tourist season in full swing, the trail wasn’t busy.
Then he saw a car driving past. There was too much foliage to see much, but he had to assume there was a road up ahead.
His spirits sank when Royal headed straight through the brush. When they came out on the other side, he saw the road. It appeared to lead to another subdivision.
Royal trotted faster now, sniffing along the side of the road.
“Auntie Trina!” The young voice came from around the corner of the street.
“Ben?” Trina increased her pace. “Ben! I’m here!”
A young kid appeared around the corner, running toward them. Royal lifted his head and sniffed the air. Joel was about to call off the dog when a sharp crack of gunfire echoed through the area.
“Ben!” Trina pulled Ben close, curling her body over the boy, half carrying him to the shelter of the trees. Royal let out a sharp bark, either in warning to the gunman or to alert on his find.
Joel leaned over to grab Royal’s vest, pulling the dog to the woods too. He crouched in front of Royal, Trina, and Ben and scanned the area. Long seconds turned into a full minute. Had that been a random gunshot?