Page 8 of Scent of Evil (Sullivan K9 Search and Rescue #7)

“Yeah, okay. I understand. I’m glad he was able to get eyes on them.” Justin’s gaze locked on hers for a moment, and her stomach sank when she saw the disappointment there. “I’m glad to hear Trevor and Archie are out here with the police too.”

There was a pause. Then Justin frowned. “Griff? I didn’t hear that. What did you say?” More silence followed, then Justin lowered the handset. “We lost the connection.”

“I heard the part about your brother Trevor and the cops, but what did I miss?”

“Logan had eyes on Decker and Ginny and radioed those coordinates to Griff.” He stood and opened his protein bar. “Unfortunately, Logan had to turn back as he was running low on fuel.”

“Turn back?” She looked up at the sky again. “What about other planes and choppers?”

“Griff was working on it. He’s been in touch with your boss too.

Griff is on his way to Buffalo.” Justin ate his protein bar, then carried the wrapper and the sat phone back to stuff them into the saddle bag.

After securing the strap, he turned back to face her.

“All we can do is keep pushing forward. We’re on the right path, Raine. That’s what counts.”

Did it really? A wave of disappointment crashed over her. What if their best wasn’t good enough?

What if they didn’t catch up to Ginny and Decker in time?

Justin surprised her by grasping her hand. “Let’s pray.” She was so surprised she didn’t protest. “Dear Lord Jesus, we thank You for guiding us this far. We ask that You continue to give us the strength and wisdom to find Ginny. Please keep her in Your loving arms. Amen.”

“Amen.” Raine blinked back sudden tears. A strange sense of peace had cut through her disappointment. Maybe God was listening.

If so, she desperately needed Him to protect Ginny.

* * *

Justin could tell his decision to pray for them had caught Raine off guard. Yet rather than pull away, she’d joined him in prayer.

He wanted her to know Ginny wasn’t alone. That no matter what the little girl endured, God was there to help her through it.

“Time to go.” He glanced down at Stone, who was sleeping. His K9 had put a lot of miles on already, and he debated carrying him for a while or letting him lead the way. “What do you think, Stone? Are you ready to go?”

At the sound of his name, the yellow lab lifted his head and thumped his tail. Justin noticed the dogs often took advantage of rest breaks by falling instantly to sleep. He and his siblings had marveled at their ability, wishing they could do the same.

Stone rose and stretched, then trotted toward him. Since his K9 appeared eager to go, he filled a collapsible bowl with water and offered it to the dog. “Search! Search Decker and Ginny!”

The lab slurped the water, then lifted his nose to the air. The recent rain had likely helped to enhance his ability to capture Decker’s scent. Stone wheeled and headed across the rocks toward an opening in the trees.

He turned to help Raine up on Timber. He wanted to reassure her everything would be fine.

As if reading his mind, she reached up to give him a brief hug. “Thanks, Justin. For everything.” Then before he could respond, she placed her foot in his linked hands and vaulted onto Timber’s back.

A low groan escaped as her butt hit the saddle, but she managed a grim smile. “Let’s do this.”

Justin quickly mounted Blaze and urged the horse forward to follow his K9. He’d put hours of riding in, but even his muscles were growing sore from the ride. He glanced back at Raine. She was hunched forward, the rain poncho billowing out behind her.

That’s when he realized the wind had shifted again so that it was coming toward them now. He frowned, listening intently. With the wind in their face, the sound of the ATV should be easy to hear.

But there was nothing but silence.

His gut clenched in a mixture of fear and dread. Had Decker stopped? Scanning the mountainside, he searched for a location where Decker might have pulled off intending to fire at them again. The guy hadn’t proven himself to be an expert marksman, but at some point, he was likely to hit one of them.

Hopefully not one of his horses.

Justin reined Blaze toward the cover of trees, knowing Timber would follow. The more cover, the better.

The good news was that Stone was still hot on the trail.

His K9 was an excellent tracker, as were most of the other K9s on the Sullivan ranch.

His sister Alexis, who was married to Griff, had a K9 by the name of Denali who was trained to search for human remains.

Denali was the only cadaver dog in the state of Wyoming, and he found himself praying they wouldn’t need Denali’s services anytime soon.

Not for Ginny , he silently prayed. Please, Lord Jesus, not Ginny.

Decker was another story. Searching for his dead body wouldn’t bother him at all.

Wincing at the uncharitable thought, he reminded himself to stay focused. There was no point in imagining something that might never happen. For now, he trusted Stone would lead them to Decker. Although the lack of hearing an ATV engine was concerning.

Stone loped up a steep ravine, sniffing along the top. Justin urged Blaze forward, sensing the horses were getting tired too. Riding in the mountains was hard work, and they’d pushed the pace to keep up with the four-wheeler.

Where was Decker now? He didn’t like not knowing.

“Justin!” Raine’s voice was a cry, and when he reached the top of the hill, he glanced back to see Raine had fallen off Timber.

Alarmed, he called Stone back from the search as he swung down from the saddle. “Come, Stone. Heel!”

His yellow lab didn’t hesitate to wheel around to trot back to his side.

Justin slipped and slid down the ravine to reach Raine. Timber had stopped and was grazing on tall grass nearby. Reassured the horse was fine, he knelt beside Raine.

“Where does it hurt?” He ran his hands along her arms and legs, instinctively searching for broken bones. He hadn’t fallen off a horse since he was a kid and wasn’t sure what had caused Raine to hit the dirt.

“Everywhere.” Her voice was little more than a harsh whisper, and he realized she’d had the wind knocked out of her. He was loath to move her until he knew for sure she wasn’t badly hurt.

“I know your muscles are sore, but what about your neck, head, and spine? Any new pain I need to know about?”

“No.” She struggled to breathe, so he slid his arm around her shoulders and lifted her into a sitting position. The change helped, and she drew in a ragged breath. “Thanks.”

“What happened?” He searched her gaze. “Did something spook Timber?”

She shook her head. “My fault. I wasn’t paying close attention. I was caught off guard when Timber ran up the hill.”

Remembering how she was hunched in the saddle, he wasn’t too surprised. Timber was cool and calm in a crisis, such as being targeted by gunfire, but a rider still needed to be alert for potential problems.

“I’m sorry.” Her voice was contrite. “I know we need to keep moving.”

Was he pushing her too hard? The image of Decker’s mug shot flashed in his mind, and he knew there was nothing he could do except to keep going.

“Can you stand?” Holding her was no hardship, but he knew they couldn’t just sit there. “I’ll help you.”

“I can stand.” Despite her attempt to sound confident, Justin had to pretty much lift her upright. She rested against him for a moment. “I’m not usually such a wimp.”

“You’re not. This wouldn’t be easy for anyone who isn’t used to riding for hours.” Three and a half hours to be exact. “Take a moment to get your breath.”

“I feel like an idiot for falling off your horse.” She finally pushed away from him, standing on her own two feet. “I’m fine now, thanks.”

He admired her grit and determination. “Good. I’ll give you a leg up, okay?”

“Yeah.” She suddenly frowned and gripped his arm tightly. “Wait, why can’t we hear the four-wheeler?”

“I’m not sure.” When her eyes filled with distress, he hastily added, “Maybe they ran out of gas.”

“Then we have to hurry to catch up.” She moved toward Timber, gathering the reins in one hand and reaching for the saddle horn. She glanced back at him impatiently.

Without complaint, he gave her a leg up into the saddle, eyeing her for a moment. Could she do this? While on a search and rescue mission in Yellowstone, he’d been forced to tie the rider to the saddle because the young woman had no experience with horseback riding at all and kept falling off.

If necessary, he’d tie Raine in place too.

“I’m fine.” She straightened in the saddle as if reading his concern. “I won’t fall off again. Let’s do this.”

With a nod, he turned and headed back up the ridge to Blaze. Stone had stretched out, watching them. The dog’s yellow fur was stained with mud. When Justin approached, Stone rose to his feet and wagged his tail, waiting for the command.

“Good boy.” He swung up on Blaze’s back. “Search! Search Decker and Ginny.”

Stone went back to work, sniffing along the ridge picking up where he left off. Justin didn’t see tire tracks here and wondered if Stone had taken a short cut.

Sure enough, after a few minutes of riding, he saw a tire imprint in the mud. Stone had kept them on track, and he was glad to have his K9 leading the way.

Clucking his tongue, he urged Blaze into a trot. It was a risk, considering how Raine had just fallen, but Stone was moving faster now. He didn’t want to lose sight of the K9.

A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed Raine was keeping pace. Her expression was pained as Timber broke into a trot, but she was sitting tall and seemed to be handling the pace better than he’d expected.

At least, for now.

They rode for ten minutes taking the incline in a downward direction.

He slowed the horse to a walk, imagining Raine was grateful for the reprieve.

After another ten minutes, the path leveled off.

Still, he was confident they were on target, as there were several spots where he’d glimpsed tire tracks the ATV had left behind.

Stone abruptly stopped, sniffing the ground intently. He frowned, closing the distance. “What is it, boy? What did you find?”

Stone didn’t look over, his nose still sniffing the ground. Justin hoped his K9 hadn’t gotten distracted by an animal, a large elk or even a bear, but the dog turned and trotted to the right.

Then Stone whirled and went back to the spot where he’d been a few minutes ago, then headed to the left.

With a frown, Justin stopped Blaze and swung down. “Hey, boy, what’s wrong?”

Stone looked at him, then ran back and forth, sniffing along the ground in one direction, then backtracking to go the other.

Finally, Stone sat and alerted. The way his lab stared up at him, with intense brown eyes, Justin knew the dog was trying to tell him something.

It took a moment for realization to sink in. The reason Stone was confused was because the two people involved in the search had gone off in different directions.

Yet that didn’t make any sense. Where was the four-wheeler? Had Ginny fallen off without Decker noticing? That didn’t seem likely.

“What’s wrong?” Raine asked.

“I’m not sure.” He took a few steps in both directions, searching the foliage around them. When he didn’t find anything useful, he jogged a little farther. Stone was at his side, as if grateful his unspoken message had been understood.

“Where is it, boy?” He scanned the ground but didn’t see any tire tracks.

Then he spotted it. The green ATV was buried in a thicket about a hundred yards to the right. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he ran toward it, hoping, praying Ginny wasn’t lying beneath it.

She wasn’t, but neither was Decker.

He turned to look around. Where had they gone? Were they together, or had Ginny managed to escape?