Page 29 of Scent of Evil (Sullivan K9 Search and Rescue #7)

W ith her back pressed against the wall, Raine drew a deep breath and quickly peeked around the broken glass of the patio door to see Decker.

He was slumped against the edge of the sofa, a hand to his chest. He wasn’t dead, but he appeared to be critically wounded.

She was about to rush inside to provide medical assistance when the front door of the cabin burst open, and another man ran into the room.

She gasped when she recognized her boss, Mike Rowe. Seeing him gave her pause. Had he come to back her up after all?

Sensing something was off, she didn’t call out or announce her presence. Hanging back, she watched with growing horror as Rowe crossed over to Decker, scowled with annoyance, and pointed his gun at Decker’s head. Then he pulled the trigger, planting a bullet in Decker’s brain at point-blank range.

What in the world? Raine eased back from the shattered patio door, her heart hammering against her ribs.

Her boss was involved! Griff had been right about Decker having an accomplice.

The reason Decker had remained one step ahead of them this entire time was because Rowe had helped the convict escape.

And he’d now silenced the guy permanently to prevent him from talking.

She drew a deep breath and quickly turned and peered into the cabin, hoping to catch Rowe off guard. “Mike, drop your weapon!”

Her boss’s head snapped toward her. Instead of dropping his gun, he shifted to fire at her.

She beat him by a nanosecond, firing off two quick shots in rapid succession before ducking back around the corner of the cabin.

Rowe let out a muffled grunt, indicating he’d been hit. Unless he was feigning injury? There was only one way to know for sure. She waited several long seconds before risking a glance around the corner.

Her boss was on the floor, leaning against the sofa, his hand pressed to the wound on his chest. When he saw her, he grimaced. “You shot me.”

“Drop your weapon,” she repeated.

Behind Rowe, she caught a glimpse of Justin coming in through the front door, his weapon held at the ready. He gave her a nod, indicating he’d gotten Amanda out of there, and she was grateful for his help.

“You’re surrounded,” Justin said. “Drop the weapon.”

After a long moment, Rowe weakly tossed the gun aside. He scowled again. “You shot me, you idiot. I’ll have your badge for this, Whitman.”

She ignored the threat, swiftly entering through the broken door and getting close enough to kick the gun away from her boss. “Mike Rowe, you’re under arrest for aiding and abetting a convicted felon and for shooting and killing Decker.”

Despite the blood coagulating on his chest, her boss didn’t back down. “I was here to help you, Whitman. I took out Decker to save you. You shot the wrong perp.”

“I don’t think so.” She glanced at Justin as he joined her, before turning her attention back to her boss.

“I never told you the location of this cabin. Oh, and here’s FBI Agent Griff Flannery now.

I bet he didn’t tell you about this location either.

That means the only way you could possibly know about it is if you had arranged to meet Decker here all along. ”

“Rowe?” Griff had come inside behind Justin, gaping in surprise at the scene splayed before him. “What in the world is going on?”

“I watched him plant a slug in Decker’s forehead, killing him. He’s been a part of this all along.” She holstered her weapon and gestured to the kitchen. “Get me a towel, will you? As much as I don’t like it, I need to help stop the bleeding.”

“Get me an ambulance.” Rowe’s voice was weak now, and he looked pale and shaky. No doubt going into shock from blood loss. And from knowing his career and his life as a free man were over.

She couldn’t drudge up any sympathy for the man. Just the thought of him helping an escaped pedophile made her stomach churn.

“There’s already an ambulance on the way.” Griff shook his head. “I did not expect you to be Decker’s accomplice.”

Rowe groaned in pain when Raine pressed the kitchen towel against his wound. “I’m... not.. . involve—” Rowe couldn’t finish. His eyes slid shut, and he slumped all the way down to the floor.

“He’s involved. That’s the only explanation that makes sense.” She shook her head in disgust. Not only was Rowe nothing like Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive , he was apparently exactly like Robert Downey Jr.’s character.

Dirty to the core.

There were only two reasons Rowe would help an evil predator like Decker. Either Rowe was as evil and twisted as Decker or he’d done it for money.

Possibly both.

She forced herself not to dwell on her boss’s actions. The immediate threat was over, and neither Rowe nor Decker would hurt anyone ever again. That reminded her of the young girl he’d recently abducted. She looked over at Justin. “Amanda?”

“She’s safe. I left her with Stone guarding her, but now Trevor and Archie have gotten there to help watch over her.” He held up his phone. “Believe it or not, there’s cell service. Trev texted me a moment ago.”

“Did Decker...” She couldn’t finish.

“I don’t think so.” Justin stepped forward to rest his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about that now. Amanda seems to be doing fine.”

She prayed he was right about that. Leaning her weight on Rowe’s chest to slow the bleeding, she tried to get that image of her boss killing Decker out of her mind. Just like Griff, she had not seen that coming.

Never in her wildest imagination had she considered Rowe to be a part of this. Lazy and preferring his desk job over real work, yeah.

But not this.

“We need to search Rowe’s vehicle and confiscate his phone.

” In her mind, she was already building a case against him.

If he survived long enough to face a jury of his peers.

“I’m sure he has a burner he’s been using to communicate with Decker.

We’ll need to see if we can find other evidence of their communications, like on the dark web. ”

There was a commotion outside indicating more people had arrived.

“The ambulance is here,” Griff announced. “Don’t worry, Raine. I’ll take over the investigation.”

“What do you mean?” She scowled. “This is my case.”

“It was your case, but not anymore.” His expression was sympathetic. “You shot him in self-defense, and I’m okay with that. But it also means you can’t be a part of this moving forward.”

Realization dawned. Griff was right. Being forced to shoot her own boss meant she was as involved as he was. There’s no way she could participate in the investigation.

And maybe that was okay. A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her. It seemed as if they’d been on the move forever.

She lived in Cheyenne, but she couldn’t face the idea of traveling all that way. Her sister, Cami, probably wouldn’t mind a houseguest.

Although she was tempted to just check into the closest hotel so she could be alone.

Within seconds, the EMTs and local cops swarmed the cabin, quickly taking charge. Raine stepped back, giving the medical team room to work. She crossed to the sink to wash Rowe’s blood off her hands.

When she finished, Justin reached out to pull her into his arms. For a moment, she resisted, but then she melted against him. Too young for her or not, he’d been with her every step of the way during the past twenty-four hours.

And knew he understood her tumultuous emotions better than anyone else.

“You’re amazing,” he whispered in her ear. “I was so scared I’d find you injured or worse...”

“I was just doing my job.” His concern was sweet. She lifted her head to look up at him. “Thank you for getting Amanda out of here.”

He stared at her for a long moment. Then his gaze shifted to her mouth. She didn’t back away, choosing to go up on her tiptoes to kiss him. One last kiss goodbye.

Justin responded by hauling her close and deepening their kiss. His passion caught her off guard, and she couldn’t help responding in kind. His embrace was everything she’d always wanted, but it was cut short when Griff interrupted.

“Um, sorry, Raine, but I need your statement and Justin’s before you can get out of here.” Despite his apologetic tone, Griff’s eyes twinkled with a knowing smile. “I’m sure you’d like to leave sooner than later.”

She stepped back out of Justin’s embrace, her face growing hot. What was she thinking to kiss Justin like that? Especially in the middle of a crime scene?

It wasn’t as if this—whatever it was between them—could go anywhere.

“Of course.” Her voice was husky, so she cleared her throat. “I’m happy to give a statement. When that’s finished, we’ll take Amanda home.”

“Actually, Trevor is already on that.” Justin tucked his hands into his front pockets. “He doesn’t have much to add to the investigation, so he decided to reunite the girl with her parents right away. We’ll meet him when we’re finished here.”

“Ah, okay.” She didn’t like feeling so discombobulated. Normally, she was the take-charge type of person. But suddenly she was on the defensive. Not that Griff had made her feel like a criminal. He hadn’t. She knew she’d only done what she had to.

Yet when she glanced over at the EMTs, she was shocked to realize they were standing and shaking their heads over Rowe’s body. They weren’t putting IVs in or performing chest compressions.

“He’s gone,” one of the EMTs said. “We’re calling it.”

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. A deputy approached Griff. “Do you want us to leave him here or take him to the morgue?”

“Let’s get photos of the crime scene first, then you can haul them both out of here.” Griff sighed. “No reason to wait for the ME to show up. It’s not like the cause of death is a mystery.”

Raine swallowed hard at the grim realization she’d killed her boss. In self-defense, but still, it was the first time she’d killed a man, and she didn’t much like it.

Closing her eyes, she turned away, fighting back nausea. Rowe hadn’t given her a choice. She’d ordered him to drop his weapon, but he’d fired at her instead.