Page 9 of Scent of Death (Sullivan K9 Search and Rescue #5)

D enali’s barking pulled Alexis from a sound sleep, but her senses immediately went on high alert. She shoved her feet into her shoes and reached for the Glock she’d removed from her backpack and set on the bedside table. She would not hesitate to protect herself and Denali.

She didn’t hear anything from the main room. Was it possible Griff hadn’t heard Denali? She opened the door, then quickly darted through the opening. Denali was her shadow at her side.

“Griff?” Sweeping her gaze over the room, her chest tightened when she realized it was empty. The main door was shut, but the chain lock and deadbolt had been disengaged.

He’d gone out after this guy!

Without thinking it through, she opened the door to follow. Squinting against the glare, she hurried down the hall to the side exit they’d used earlier to take Denali out to get busy.

The door was made of glass, giving her pause. With the bright overhead lights, she couldn’t see through the darkness beyond the door. She moved to the left side of the hallway, keeping the weapon down at her side.

Denali was on alert too. When she finally reached the door, she was grateful there was nobody lurking immediately outside the door. Beyond that? She swallowed hard and pushed the door open to step out.

“Stop! FBI!” Griff’s curt demand rang through the silence of the night.

Her pulse shot into triple digits. Bringing her weapon up and holding it in both hands, she inched along the side of the building, trying to see where Griff and the killer were located.

Pop! Pop!

No! Griff! Alexis was about to send Denali out to search for the bad guy as a distraction, when she spotted Griff crouching near a tree that appeared to be directly across from their room.

She didn’t see anyone else. Where was the shooter?

She hesitated, unwilling to distract Griff by announcing her presence. She couldn’t see anyone and wondered if Griff had lost sight of him too.

After a long minute, she finally called, “Griff? Can you see him?”

“No.” He sounded disgusted. Then he turned to glance at her. “Can Denali find him?”

“I think so.” Swallowing against a lump of fear, she crouched near her dog. “Search! Search bad guy.”

If Denali was confused by the new command, her K9 didn’t show it. Denali quickly darted toward the grove of trees where Griff was located. She sniffed along the ground and then spent a long moment at the base of a tree barely ten feet from where Griff was.

Her dog sat and looked up at her. Denali didn’t bark, maybe because she wasn’t searching for napoo.

“Good girl,” she praised in a hushed tone. “Search. Search bad guy.”

Denali turned and lowered her snout to the ground. Her K9 moved silently through the trees, sniffing with interest. Alexis stayed close, feeling Griff coming up behind her.

“Be careful,” he warned.

“We will.” She still carried her weapon in both hands. Watching the woods and her dog at the same time made her worry she wouldn’t see the threat until it was too late.

Lord Jesus, keep us safe in Your care!

Denali broke through the trees. Alexis realized they were on a dead-end road. There were a lot of those in these small towns, she knew. Only the state highways connected one town to the next.

Catching a glimpse of red taillights rounding a corner, she knew they were too late. In the darkness, she couldn’t tell what the make or model of the car was, other than it looked to be an SUV, not uncommon for Wyoming. Driving anything without four-wheel drive was foolish.

Denali trotted a few yards down the road, then stopped to sniff with interest. Then she sat and stared up at Alexis.

“Good girl!” She didn’t bother to whisper now that the threat was gone. Running her fingers over Denali’s fur, she lavished praise on her dog. “Good girl. You knew just what to do! I’m so proud of you!”

“He shot at me long enough to escape.” Griff scowled. “The bigger question is how he knew we were here? Even if he had memorized my SUV license plate, how did he know which room we were staying in?”

“I’m not sure.” She stood and tucked her weapon into her waist band. “Maybe he was making his way around the building when Denali caught his scent. I had the window open, and the wind is coming from the east.”

“I’m grateful we had your dog to alert us.” Griff scowled. “I need a replacement SUV and something more to go on to find this guy.”

She understood his frustration. It was concerning that this guy had tracked them down here at all.

“Let’s head back.” Griff turned to walk back through the trees.

She waited a moment for Denali to get busy before they followed.

He shook his head. “This is not typical behavior from a serial killer. Only in very rare cases have they turned their attention to the agent trying to find them. Honestly? I’d have expected him to go underground.

To lie low until the heat was off and he could continue hunting his next victim. ”

A chill snaked down her spine. “He’s not fixated on you as the federal agent, but on me.” Alexis swallowed hard. “I’m his target.”

His scowl deepened as he opened the side exit using his key. Good thing he had his, as hers was inside. “I need to get you in protective custody.”

“No.” She urged Denali to go in first, then followed. “There’s no reason to take drastic action. If he really tracked your SUV, then swapping the car should work. Besides, I want to help you find him.”

He didn’t look happy as he unlocked the door to their room. Then Denali brushed past him, and his expression softened. “I can’t believe she tracked him to the road.”

“I guess I should have agreed to cross-train her to track humans too.” Alexis found the pink piggy and threw it up for Denali.

The reward was a little late, but she figured her dog was smart enough to make the connection.

“I was in California searching for wildfire victims when Maya had the trainer come back to give tips on cross-training. Since Denali is our only cadaver dog, I didn’t think it was a good idea at the time. ”

“I understand.” He stood off to the side to give them room. “You wanted Denali focused on finding your parents.”

“Yes. And to work disaster scenes.” She scooted around the open sofa sleeper to reach the small kitchenette. It was going on four in the morning now, and she needed coffee. “I had hoped we’d have answers on what happened to our parents by now.”

As she made coffee, Griff folded the sofa bed away. Then he moved to the window to peer outside. “It’s too early to get a rental car, but we should get out of here.”

“Most cafés aren’t open for breakfast yet.

” When the coffee finished brewing, she poured two cups, handing one to Griff.

“As far as the rental car, we have a spare SUV at the ranch. I can ask a couple of my siblings to bring it. We won’t meet here at the hotel,” she added. “We’ll find a neutral location.”

He considered that for a moment, then nodded. “I feel bad your family is footing the bill for all of this. I’ll work with my boss to reimburse your expenses.”

“Don’t worry about that.” She sipped her coffee. “You could always add a second bag of dog food as payment.”

As she’d hoped, that made him smile. “At least two bags. I want you to know how much I appreciate you and Denali finding our victims.”

“I’m glad we were able to do that.” Her expression turned somber. “Who will tell their families?”

“I should be the one to handle the notification,” Griff admitted.

“Unfortunately, Josie Allen doesn’t have family.

And Megan only has a brother who lives in Arizona.

I don’t want to leave the state, so I’ll send the local law enforcement officials to make that notification. He can call me with questions.”

She nodded, thinking of how she’d camp out at the FBI office building in Cheyenne if anything happened to one of her siblings. “Has he been interviewed?”

“Not by me, yet. The locals spoke to him after the grocery store staff notified the police that Megan hadn’t been to work or at home.

Her phone has been off since she finished her shift at the store.

I need to speak with him, too, but ended up focusing on the most recent missing girl.

” He shrugged, then added, “Megan’s brother Tom wasn’t here in town, and according to the police report, he didn’t know if she was seeing anyone.

I figured that interview could wait until I spoke to Wendy Evers’s grandmother. ”

“That makes sense.” She didn’t blame him for focusing on Wendy’s case. Every hour that passed made it less likely they’d find the young woman in time to save her.

If it wasn’t already too late. Considering how the killer had stayed in the area to come after her, she felt certain he’d either tied Wendy up in a cellar somewhere or had already killed her.

Most likely the latter.

Still, she wouldn’t give up hope. “Maybe Tom Riley will drive up from Arizona to speak to you in person.”

“That’s the goal.” He scrubbed his face with his hands. “I need to find this guy, and soon.”

She empathized with his despair and set her empty coffee mug aside. “I’m going to take a quick shower. I have a spare shirt in my backpack.” She grimaced, then added, “I’ll ask my brothers to bring a change of clothes for you too.”

“I have an extra shirt in my car, but thanks for the offer.” He flashed a lopsided smile. “I’ll use the shower when you’re finished. By then, we should be able to find a place to have breakfast.”

“Okay.” She headed to the bedroom. Denali followed and stretched out in front of the door as if to protect her.

It felt good to change into a clean shirt after sleeping in her clothes. While Griff took his turn, she fed Denali. It was early, but she had some of Anna’s homemade sweet potato dog biscuits in her pack that she could give Denali later.

“Did you call your family yet?” Griff asked when he emerged from the bedroom. He wore a clean dark-green shirt that emphasized his eyes. He looked so handsome she had to tear her gaze away.