Page 17 of Scent of Evil (Sullivan K9 Search and Rescue #7)

E ven though the cabin appeared empty and Stone hadn’t alerted, Raine tried the front door. It wasn’t locked. She opened it and stepped over the threshold.

“We should get to the next cabin,” Justin said. “Decker hasn’t been here.”

“I know.” She truly trusted Stone’s nose and tracking ability, but her instinct was to verify for herself that her quarry hadn’t been there. The cabin was plain but serviceable. She remembered this was the property owned by Cliff and Hilda Munroe but didn’t see any signs of a woman’s touch.

Likely Cliff used the place for hunting and fishing.

Glancing over her shoulder at Justin’s expectant expression, she nodded. “You’re right. We need to move on.”

The horses waited patiently as they approached. Stone was stretched out on the ground nearby. When Justin laced his fingers together, she stepped into his palm and swung onto Timber’s broad back.

Her sore muscles protested, but if she were honest, it wasn’t as bad as it had been yesterday. Maybe her butt was numb, she thought with an inward sigh.

“We’ll ride back to the SUV and trailer,” Justin said. “From there, we’ll drive to the next cabin.”

“Sounds good to me.” The mixture of driving and riding helped. The early morning sun flickered through the leaves, providing some warmth. Once Justin took the lead, she clucked at Timber, encouraging her gelding to follow.

She wondered about Decker and hoped they weren’t on the wrong track. Maybe the guy had gotten himself lost, although the way he’d grabbed Ginny and escaped with the four-wheeler seemed to indicate he’d had a plan to meet up with someone.

Jim Kluck, the owner of the next cabin they were heading to? Maybe. She wished she knew how Decker had managed to communicate with those guys. Had his lawyer played a role? Or had Decker somehow been able to access the dark web through the prison computers?

The latter option didn’t seem likely, but she knew her boss was following up on that possibility. Whatever Mike can do from behind a desk , she thought wryly.

It didn’t take them long to reach Justin’s SUV. She slid off Timber, glad that once again her legs cooperated by holding her upright. By the time they had Decker in custody, she’d be a pro at horseback riding.

“Give me a minute to load them into the trailer.” Justin took the reins from her hand. “I’m glad we didn’t come too far down this two-track as I’ll have to back up to get out of here.”

She lifted a brow in surprise. “You can do that?”

“Yep.” He grinned. “My oldest brother, Chase, made me practice over and over again at the ranch.”

She couldn’t help but smile back. Knowing Ginny was safe eased some of the tension she’d been feeling since Decker escaped from prison. She hoped he was lost in the woods, but she suspected he wasn’t. Evil men like Decker always seemed to find a way out of predicaments.

The devil protects his own.

As the thought flashed in her mind, she glanced up at the sunny sky. She wanted to ask Justin his thoughts, but he was talking in a low, soothing tone to the horses.

“I know you don’t like the trailer,” Justin said. “But it’s only for a short while, then I’ll get you both out and back into the woods. You’ll like that.”

From where she stood, she noticed Blaze shook his head, as if disagreeing with Justin. But then the horse obediently walked into the trailer. Once Blaze was inside, Timber easily followed.

When that was finished and Stone was in his crate, Justin slid in behind the wheel. From her position in the passenger seat, she watched with amazement as he backed the trailer out of the two-track, maneuvering back and forth several times when one of the wheels appeared to get stuck in the mud.

“Does your girlfriend like to ride as much as you do?” The moment the inane question left her lips, she wished she could call it back.

“No girlfriend. Last one dumped me.” Justin grinned. “Ironically, I didn’t miss her that much.”

“Her loss.” She kept her tone light, wishing again she hadn’t brought the subject up. What was wrong with her? She stared down at the topographical map on her lap. “Looks like we just go another five miles on this road to another two-track.”

“Got it.” Justin nodded. “We’ll approach this next cabin the same way. I’ll drive in a short distance, but then we’ll take the horses the rest of the way.”

“Fine with me.” She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ears. “I’m getting used to riding. The shorter distances aren’t bad at all.”

“Good.” He slowed to take a hairpin curve, then slammed hard on the brake. She gasped when she saw an entire herd of pronghorn antelope blocking the road. Justin lowered his window, stuck his head out, and yelled, “Go on, move out of the way.”

The noise was enough to make the antelope leap away, their grace amazing to watch. Compared to her close encounter with the bull moose, this was nothing. It seemed as if the antelope were afraid of them, rather than the other way around.

“Do they often stand in the road like that?” She put a hand to her racing heart. “If you’d been going any faster, you’d have hit one.”

“There isn’t much traffic out here, as you can see. Not like on the main highways.” Justin gestured to the now empty road. “No reason for them to worry about being hit by cars when they rarely see one.”

He had a point. She blew out a breath and turned her attention to the map. “Okay, we should reach the two-track in a couple of miles.”

Less than five minutes later, she grasped his arm. “Wait, I think you missed it.”

“I did?” He slowed to a stop and proceeded to back up.

She craned her neck and gestured to the high grass. “I’m pretty sure that’s the two-track.”

“Wow, it’s really overgrown,” Justin frowned. “I don’t think anyone has been down this lane in weeks.”

She frowned. “Does that mean Decker isn’t staying there?”

“Not necessarily.” Justin cranked the wheel hard to make the turn. As before, he didn’t go too far. After the way he’d had to back up and got stuck in the mud twice, she couldn’t blame him. “I think Decker could be there. If the owner is an accomplice, he hasn’t shown up yet.”

“I hope you’re right.” It would be easier for them to take Decker if he was alone. Griff had made them promise to call for backup once they found him, and she intended to follow through.

But if Decker attempted to escape, she wouldn’t hesitate to take him down.

The overgrown two-track was deeply rutted beneath the tall grass and weeds. Justin stopped the SUV and killed the engine. “Let’s go.”

She felt bad for Stone, who had to push through the foliage. Not that the K9 seemed to mind. The horses didn’t care either, and soon Justin had both geldings out of the trailer and ready to go.

As before, Justin helped her up onto Timber’s back. If she could find a large rock, she could probably do it herself. The curse of being short , she thought wearily.

“Here, Stone.” Justin knelt and offered his K9 water. “Are you ready to go, huh, boy? Search! Search for Decker.”

Stone went to work, sniffing the air more so than the ground.

She wondered if the high grass and weeds interfered with his ability to track Decker’s scent.

Within minutes, though, the K9 began to move forward.

Justin and Blaze quickly followed. She lost sight of Stone, his yellow coat blending too well with the foliage.

“Let’s go, Timber.” She tapped her gelding with her heels. Her mount obliged by falling into step behind Blaze. Keeping focused on Justin’s broad back wasn’t difficult, but she wished she could see Stone. At least she should be able to hear him if he alerted on Decker’s scent.

And if the K9 didn’t find him? She tried not to think about the possibility that Decker was still lost in the woods and that they’d have to ride for miles, like yesterday, to find him.

Timber tried to nibble on the tall grass along the way. She tightened her grip on the reins, knowing Justin and his brother had fed the horses earlier. The equine lagged behind, so she clucked her tongue and gave him a nudge with her heels.

Timber picked up the pace, trotting to catch up to Justin and Blaze. She narrowed her eyes, wondering if Timber had done that on purpose because he knew she didn’t like to trot.

No, horses didn’t have rational thoughts like that, did they?

Giving herself a mental shake, she kept her gaze on Justin and strained to listen. She didn’t hear anything but the birds and rustling of the wind.

Justin pulled back on the reins, turning Blaze to look back at her. He gestured up ahead, and she could just barely see a thin ribbon of smoke rising into the sky.

Someone, maybe Decker, was at the cabin!

She nodded when Justin put his finger to his lips indicating they needed to be quiet.

They couldn’t afford to let whoever was in the cabin hear them approaching.

When he dismounted Blaze, she followed suit, sliding off Timber.

Stone was up ahead, looking back at them as if waiting for them to catch up.

The K9 hadn’t alerted, but they were far enough from the cabin that she wasn’t surprised.

Her heart thumped in her chest as she pulled her weapon.

For a moment, she considered texting Griff as promised.

Then she decided against it. For all they knew, Decker wasn’t the guy inside the cabin with a fire going, Jim Kluck was.

Maybe Kluck lived there year-round, which was why the two-track road was so overgrown.

She moved closer to Justin. He bent his head so that his lips were near her ear. “Stay close behind me; Stone will take the lead.”

She frowned. “He’ll bark.”

“No, he’ll just sit and look at me. I’ve given him the signal to be quiet.” The corner of his mouth lifted into a half smile. “Trust me, we’ve trained our dogs well.”

“Okay.” Who was she to argue? “Let’s go.”

Justin threw out his hand in a sweeping motion. Stone wheeled and lowered his head to sniff the ground. Seconds later, the K9 was on the move.