Page 19 of Scent of Evil (Sullivan K9 Search and Rescue #7)

H ead throbbing, Raine pushed herself to her feet, mentally evaluating herself for injuries.

Thankfully, nothing appeared to be broken.

Her head hurt but, then again, so did her entire body.

She vaguely remembered opening the front door of the cabin, staying back, and waiting a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to the dark interior before calling out to Decker.

Then the explosion knocked her backward, sending her flying so that she’d landed flat on her back with enough force to knock the breath from her lungs.

An experience she didn’t want to repeat anytime soon.

Yet she knew she was lucky to be alive. If she’d had gone inside, she doubted she’d have survived the explosion. She glanced up at the sky, wondering if God had been watching over her. If so, she was grateful. That had been a close call.

Which begged the question as to why the bomb had been set up inside the cabin, as well as being triggered to blow at that specific moment.

Jim Kluck must have had the bomb there for this type of emergency, which made her realize the guy was very much involved in Decker’s escape plan.

And there must have been hidden trail cameras to alert Decker to their approach.

She winced as she rubbed the lump on the back of her head, wishing she’d thought to look for cameras.

Stone pushed his nose against her leg, staring up at her with intense brown eyes. Too bad he couldn’t talk; she wasn’t good at reading his mind.

“What’s wrong, boy?” She bent to stroke his velvet soft ears. Stone looked from her to the location Justin had taken. “I get it, you’re worried about Justin, aren’t you?”

At hearing Justin’s name, the dog thumped his tail.

She narrowed her gaze, trying to think of a way she could help Justin. Hard to do without her weapon. She didn’t even have a knife and hated feeling vulnerable.

Did Justin have a backup handgun in his saddle bag?

He wasn’t a cop, so she doubted it, but she considered going back to where they’d left the horses to check.

She could also grab the satellite phone to let Griff know about the recent events.

A quick glance at the sky indicated more rain was on the way.

It was reassuring, although not close enough to be of much help.

Hopefully the sat phone would find a signal.

Decker was likely gone, and that meant they had to push forward with the search.

There was no point in searching the cabin for evidence.

Not when she could see from there that the place was on fire.

Another reason to get the phone, they needed a fire truck to respond to this address as soon as possible.

Was the owner, Jim Kluck, currently on the run with Decker? Did he care that his cabin was burning to the ground? She needed the local cops to issue a BOLO for the guy.

Just as she was about to head back to where they’d left the horses, she heard the faint rumble of an engine. She paused, glancing around. The engine sounded just like the four-wheeler Decker had taken from her sister’s home.

The more she thought about it, the more she believed Kluck had been waiting nearby for Decker on a four-wheeler.

Before she could head back down the two-track, Justin emerged from the woods, running toward her. Stone wagged his tail with excitement at Justin’s presence. Justin’s expression was grim as he joined her. “Did you hear that?”

“Yes.” She suppressed the irrational urge to throw herself into his arms. She wasn’t a wimp who couldn’t handle a few bruises. “We need to get the horses and follow.”

“Are you sure you’re up to riding?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Letting Decker go wasn’t an option. “We need to call Griff and then head out to find him.”

Justin hesitated, then nodded. “Okay, that’s fine. But I hope you’re being honest with me. I need to know you’re physically up to this.”

She swallowed hard under his keen gaze. “I promise I’m not badly injured.

My head hurts a little, and my muscles are sore from landing on the hard ground.

But I can’t just sit here and wait for others to come to help search.

We know he’s in the area, and I don’t want to lose him.

” She frowned. “And we need to assume Decker is with his accomplice. Kluck had to be the one to rig the bomb in his cabin. Decker couldn’t have done that. ”

“I agree. Although it’s possible Decker had been here with Kluck before now.” Justin held her gaze for a long moment. “I’ll trust your judgment that you’re okay to push forward. But first we should find your weapon.”

As badly as she wanted it, she shook her head. “No time. We need to hurry if we’re going to catch up to Decker.”

“This won’t take long. Stone will find it.” He knelt beside his yellow lab. “Are you ready, boy? Search! Search for gold!”

“My weapon isn’t a shell casing,” she protested. “Searching for brass won’t help.”

“Stone alerts on gun oil too.” As if to prove his point, Stone lowered his nose and trotted in the general direction of the clearing where she’d landed.

Raine expected the K9 to alert near the blown-away front door of the cabin; after all, the explosion would have left remnants of gunpowder behind, but Stone turned toward the brush instead.

Maybe the fire burned the gunpowder away.

The K9 disappeared into the foliage. Justin followed but didn’t interfere with Stone’s searching. Less than five minutes later, Stone let out a sharp bark.

“He’s got it,” Justin called.

She crossed over to join them, surprised and grateful to see that Stone had indeed found her weapon. If she’d had to rely on her own search, it would have taken hours to examine the area around the cabin. Stone had found the weapon in minutes.

“He’s amazing.” She took the handgun from Justin, double-checking it before tucking it into her holster.

“True.” Justin bent to praise the dog, rubbing his hands along the K9’s fur. “You’re such a good boy! Good boy, Stone!”

The K9 wiggled with excitement at winning the search game.

She managed a smile, then backed out of the brush to the clearing around the cabin.

The fire seemed to be gaining momentum, tongues of flames traveling along the horizontal logs.

She imagined the wood would burn easily and quickly.

Too quickly. Her stomach knotted as she realized Decker had done this on purpose to slow them down.

What if the fire spread to the trees and brush around them?

It could get bad enough that they’d have to call off the search.

The situation wasn’t good, and she could only hope the firefighters would be able to get the blaze under control. “We need to get moving. The firefighters need to get here while we track Decker.”

“Agree.” Justin took the lead in heading back to where they’d left the horses, jogging through the brush to get there sooner. Running made her head pound, but she refused to let that stop her.

The horses were calmly grazing on the tall grass when they returned. Justin immediately went to Blaze’s saddle bags to find the sat phone. Glancing up at the sky, he picked a spot in the middle of the clearing where there weren’t many trees and set about making the call to Griff.

A moment later, the connection went through.

“Hey, Griff. Decker was here at the Kluck cabin, but he set off a bomb and escaped via a four-wheeler. We need a fire response and air support. I’m worried the blaze will spread into a full-blown forest fire.

” He paused to listen. “Yes, we’re planning to use Stone to track him from here, but Decker obviously has a head start.

We’ll ride as fast as we can to make up the time, but having an eye in the sky would help. ”

“Tell him to issue a BOLO for Kluck,” she said. “If by chance he’s not with Decker, we need him arrested.”

Justin nodded to indicate he understood.

“Raine was thrown off her feet by the blast but seems okay aside from sore muscles and a headache. Thankfully, she wasn’t all the way inside the cabin when the bomb detonated.

She’s insisting we go after Decker and wants you to issue a BOLO for Kluck.

We know he’s involved; otherwise, how did the cabin get rigged to explode in the first place? ”

She crossed over to Timber, anticipating they’d be on the trail soon.

Getting her foot in the stirrup, though, was impossible.

She looked for a rock to use as a stepping stool but didn’t see one nearby.

With a suppressed sigh, she waited for Justin to finish.

Requiring his help to mount the horse made her feel like a little kid Ginny’s age, but there wasn’t anything she could do to change it. Growing taller wasn’t going to happen.

“Good, get Logan the coordinates and put a rush on those firefighters. You know the location of the cabin, right? Okay, we’re heading out now. Thanks, Griff.” Justin shoved the sat phone back into the saddle bag. Then he crossed over to give her a hand.

“Thanks.” She stepped into his laced fingers and swung onto Timber.

“Logan will be flying overhead soon.” Justin nodded toward the billows of black smoke rising into the sky. “I know there are limits as to how low he can fly, but I’m hoping he’ll be able to help us find Decker. If the smoke from the fire doesn’t interfere with his ability to see him.”

“Stone will do his part, I’m sure.” She gathered the reins. “Thanks, Justin. I appreciate what you’re doing for me.”

“Hey, I want this scumbag caught as badly as you do.” His blue eyes darkened for a moment, then he turned away. Once again, he rummaged in the saddle bag. “Here, Stone.”

The K9 drank from the dish Justin offered. When the dog was finished, Justin tucked the bowl away and handed her the bottle that was less than half full. “Thanks.” She gratefully drank what was left.

“Are you ready to go, boy?” Justin injected enthusiasm into his tone. “Search! Search Decker!”