Page 5

5

L ibby hopped off the four-wheeler to join Shane near the two-track road, her stomach tight with fear and dread. She’d been convinced that Bryce and the other K9s would be able to find her grandfather.

But seeing the truck tires on the ground was disheartening.

The rest of the team got off their machines as well, crossing over to examine the area. She noticed Joel and Alexis spread out with their dogs to expand the search of their surroundings. Bryce knew his job was done, as he shook his head from side to side with the rubber ducky in his mouth.

“Can we follow the road?” Libby asked.

“We can take the four-wheelers down the two-track, but does anyone know where it leads?” Shane glanced at Deputy Paul Holland. “Do you know if this goes all the way to the highway?”

Paul shrugged. “I believe so. Can’t say that I’ve been in this exact location before, though. I can say that Highway 14 is to the south of us. If this road doesn’t lead to the highway, it could be connected to another parcel of land.”

The possibility of finding her grandfather at some cabin lifted her spirits. “Shane? Can we check it out?”

He exchanged glances with his siblings who had joined them after their fruitless search of the clearing. “Sure.”

“Thank you.” She couldn’t tell if Shane was just being his usual grumpy self or if there was a reason he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of pushing forward. She told herself it didn’t matter as long as he and Bryce got the job done.

“Come, Bryce.” Shane waited for the dog to bring the ducky back. He put the toy in his pocket, then gestured to the ATV. “Up, boy.”

The dog gracefully jumped up onto the bench seat. She took a step back, wondering if he expected her to jump on a different ATV. But no, Shane looked at her. “He’ll sit between us; you’ll need to hold on to him.”

“Me?” Her voice came out in a squeak.

“He won’t bite.” Shane looked exasperated. “He’s a sweetheart.”

“Yeah, with huge teeth,” she muttered under her breath. She stepped up and onto the four- wheeler, sliding in next to Bryce. The dog sniffed her curiously, but as promised, he didn’t try to bite. She slipped her arm around the back of the dog. His fur was softer than she’d anticipated. “Good boy.”

Shane jumped behind the wheel and started the machine. Minutes later, they were back on their four-wheelers and heading mostly downhill on the two-track road.

She held on to Bryce with one hand and the roll bar in front of her with the other. It wasn’t easygoing. The two other dogs were running alongside the machines, seemingly full of energy. She understood why Shane wanted to rest Bryce. The dog had worked hard searching the mountainside all day.

Libby didn’t begrudge Bryce a break. She just wished his strong jaw full of sharp teeth wasn’t so close to her face.

Turning away from the dog, she scanned the area. The thick foliage made it difficult to see any dwellings. She thought there would have to be a driveway of sorts leading to the property, so she concentrated on looking at both sides of the dirt road.

But after a long twenty-minute ride, she could see the highway up ahead. Her spirits plummeted to the soles of her feet.

Whoever had taken her grandfather was long gone.

Shane stopped the four-wheeler, lifting his hand so the others behind him took note and did the same. Doing her best to hide her depression, she was about to slide out of her seat when Bryce turned his head and licked her cheek.

She couldn’t help but smile, even as she wiped the moisture away. The big, scary-looking dog was clearly a softy at heart.

“That’s Highway 14.” Shane jumped down and examined the two-track road. “I see the tire tracks, but it’s hard to tell if the poacher was hauling a trailer.”

“He must have a trailer, or he wouldn’t be able to get the four-wheeler and Marvin Tolliver out of here,” Joel said.

Libby noticed Alexis was bent over her dog, Denali, speaking in low tones. Then Alexis threw out her arm. “Search napoo!”

“Napoo?” Libby frowned and glanced at Shane. “Why doesn’t Denali search for missing people’s names?”

Shane shrugged, his glance moving toward the border collie. “Different training techniques.”

Alexis walked into the woods behind Denali as the dog explored the area with her nose. The pair worked for a solid fifteen minutes while Joel and Shane refilled the gas tanks with the containers that were strapped to the back of each machine.

When Alexis and Denali returned, Alexis gave Shane a slight shake of her head. Libby wasn’t surprised her grandfather wasn’t sitting in the woods nearby and didn’t understand why Alexis and Denali had even bothered to search. Did they think the poacher tossed her grandfather out of the truck?

Then realization dawned. Alexis and Denali were searching for her grandfather’s dead body.

She turned to ask Shane if that’s why he’d asked his sister to come along, but he was peering down at something in his hand.

“Based on my compass coordinates, we should probably drive alongside the highway back to Marvin’s cabin,” Shane said. “It’s a shorter and more direct route than retracing our route back up the two-track and through the woods.”

“Works for me,” Paul said. Libby could tell the deputy was ready to get back to his regular duties. “I need to check in with our dispatch.”

Her disappointment at giving up the search was just as keen as her horror at realizing Denali had been searching this whole time for her grandpa’s dead body. But what could she do? Ask Shane and his siblings to drive around the highway looking for a truck pulling four-wheelers?

Why not?

“Libby, are you ready?” Shane looked at her expectantly. She belatedly realized everyone else was back on their respective machines.

“Yes.” She stepped back up into the seat next to Bryce. The dog’s mouth was open, his tongue lolling to the side. She slid her arm around the dog’s torso and gripped the roll bar. Shane put the four-wheeler in gear and continued down the dirt road until they reached the highway.

He was right about the trip being shorter and quicker. Shane turned right into her grandfather’s driveway, pulling to a stop near the trailer Joel had brought from the Sullivan K9 Search and Rescue Ranch.

She slid off the machine, waiting for the others to do the same. Then she stepped closer to Deputy Paul Holland. “Can you put out an alert to look for a truck or SUV pulling a trailer with a four-wheeler on it?”

Paul hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah, I can do that.”

She was glad to have that much. She turned to Shane. “I’d like to drive around to look for a four-wheeler trailer too.”

Shane glanced at his siblings, then rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t think that’s the best use of our time, Libby.”

“What do you suggest?” She wasn’t going to sit around doing nothing. She pulled out her phone, but of course, there was nothing from the hospital. Frustrated, she stuffed it back into her pocket. “You know what? Never mind. I’ll drive the area myself. If I see something suspicious, I’ll let the sheriff’s department know.”

She turned to head toward her pickup truck, but Shane grasped her hand, holding her back.

“Please wait. I’ll go with you.” He tugged her back toward him. “We’ll take my SUV, though, because it’s specially equipped for Bryce.”

She glanced at the dog playing in the yard with Denali and Royal. The three dogs clearly enjoyed their time together, and she wondered what it was like to live on the ranch with nine dogs all together. Or was it ten now? Hadn’t he mentioned something about a puppy?

After being bitten by a neighbor’s dog when she was young, Libby had never wanted one of her own. Then she found out the hard way that she was allergic to cats. She hadn’t minded not having a pet.

Yet there was no denying that having a dog around added a certain enrichment to life. Just watching the dogs play made her smile.

“Libby?” She glanced over at Deputy Paul. “I need to head back. I’ve already called in the BOLO related to any vehicles pulling a four-wheeler trailer. I also need a recent picture of your grandfather.”

“Good idea.” She pulled out her phone, scrolled through the pictures, and found a close-up of her grandpa smiling at her. Seeing his wide grin brought a lump to her throat. “What’s your number?”

Paul recited it, and she quickly sent the deputy the photo.

“Send that to us too,” Shane suggested. “We’ll have the family keep their eyes open for him as well.”

As she already had Shane’s number, it only took a second to send the picture. Soon Joel’s and Alexis’s phones dinged with incoming messages.

Knowing the police would be looking for her grandfather helped a little, but she also knew the state of Wyoming was vast, and the poachers could have taken him just about anywhere. She tried to remain positive as Paul turned to leave.

“We’ll get these back on the trailer,” Joel said as Alexis jumped up onto the closest ATV. “You and Libby can take off.”

Shane hesitated. “Yeah, okay. I’ll call you later.”

“Sure thing.” Joel smiled at her. “It was nice meeting you, Libby. We’ll head back if you find any leads on your grandfather’s location.”

“Thanks.” She felt helpless as she watched the Sullivan siblings put the four-wheelers back on the trailer. They were leaving, too, just like Deputy Paul Holland.

She swallowed hard, knowing her plan to drive around the state searching for a four-wheeler trailer was probably useless. Yet she didn’t know what else to do. She was losing hope of ever finding her grandfather.

And this time, praying did nothing to ease the hollowness in her chest.

* * *

It bothered Shane that Libby looked so defeated. Her normal sunny disposition had taken a beating, and there wasn’t anything he could say or do to bring it back. That was the only reason he’d agreed to her idea of driving around looking for a car pulling a four-wheeler. He gestured toward the cabin. “Let’s take a quick bathroom break before heading out.”

“Okay.” Libby led the way inside. Shane left Bryce sleeping outside, knowing they wouldn’t be long. Besides, having Bryce on guard duty wasn’t the worst idea. The dog would let them know if anyone came close to the cabin.

Deep down, he was convinced the pair of poachers were long gone. Why would they stick around the scene of the crime? Although he still couldn’t figure out why the one guy had come back to search the cellar.

He finished first and waited for Libby in the living area. He moved around the room but didn’t see anything unusual. Then his gaze landed on a file folder tucked beside the seat cushion in the overstuffed chair.

Shane glanced over his shoulder to make sure Libby was still in the bathroom before pulling the folder out and opening it. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but a DNA ancestry report was not at the top of his list.

With a frown, he scanned the results. There was the usual breakdown of ethnicity; 45% German wasn’t exactly a surprise. But then he noticed there was another page that displayed the DNA holder had a female sibling. Was that something Marvin hadn’t known?

He was tucking the folder back where he’d found it when Libby returned. “What are you doing?”

He flushed, caught in the act. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude on your grandfather’s privacy. I just wondered if the file folder was what the guy was searching for in the cellar.”

“Why on earth would anyone look for a file folder in the cellar?” Libby crossed the room to take the folder from his fingers. “Besides, this isn’t exactly a big secret. Anyone on the DNA site can probably find the information if they know where to look.”

He wouldn’t, but then again, he’d never bothered with any DNA testing. As far as he knew, none of his siblings had either. He gestured to the file. “Your grandfather didn’t know he has a sister?”

“Not until I told him.” Libby tucked the folder under her arm. “Let’s go. We need to search while we have daylight left.”

“Sure.” He dropped the DNA issue and led the way back outside. Bryce jumped to his feet when they headed toward his SUV. Using his key fob, he opened the back hatch. “Up, Bryce. Get up!”

His K9 gracefully leaped into the back crate area. He closed the hatch, then headed around to open the door for Libby, before jogging around the vehicle to get in behind the wheel.

“Your ranch is to the west, so maybe we should go farther east,” Libby suggested once they were settled. “I’m sure Joel and Alexis will keep an eye out for another four-wheeler trailer as they head home.”

“They will. And the deputies will be looking for it too.” He glanced at her as he took the driveway to the highway. “I’m happy to go anywhere you like.”

She sighed. “I know this is a long shot. But what else can we do?”

He understood her frustration. He and his siblings had been searching for their parents’ wrecked plane and their remains for the past five and a half years without success. There was nothing worse than not knowing what had happened.

Along with not being able to give them a proper burial.

When they reached the highway, he turned left, heading farther east toward the Bighorn Mountains.

“Why didn’t you tell me Denali is a cadaver dog?” Libby asked.

He shot her a surprised glance. “How did you know?”

She rolled her eyes. “Napoo? What kind of search command is that? To search napoo? That sounds ridiculous.”

He shrugged. “Napoo means finished, done, dead. I guess all cadaver handlers use that term rather than instructing the dog to search for dead bodies, as that’s rather grim.” He paused, then added, “I didn’t want to upset you more than you already were.”

“I feel like an idiot for not realizing what Alexis and Denali were up to until I heard her tell the K9 to search for napoo.” She turned in her seat to face him. “But I’ve decided to look on the positive side. Denali didn’t alert on anything out on the mountainside, which means it’s likely my grandfather is alive.”

She was right in that Denali didn’t alert during their trip through the woods. Since Marvin had been alive as of that morning, the scent of death would be fresh enough to be picked up at a distance. Unlike searching old sites, like when they’d scoured the mountainside searching for their parents’ remains.

“I think you’re right about that,” he agreed.

Libby relaxed a bit. “I appreciate you trying to spare me the truth about what Denali was searching for, but from here on, you need to be honest with me, Shane.” When he didn’t immediately respond, she added, “I mean it. I understand search and rescue is your area of expertise, not mine. That makes it even more important for you to let me know what you’re thinking.”

He glanced at her and slowly nodded “Okay. I’ll keep you in the loop moving forward. But you need to help me understand why anyone would have targeted your grandfather in the first place.”

She sighed. “I’ve been trying to figure that out for myself too. I just can’t imagine anyone being upset with Grandpa. He’s the sweetest man without a single enemy that I’m aware of. He worked construction for years and minds his own business. Why would anyone want to hurt him?”

Having never met the man, he couldn’t answer that. Libby obviously loved the guy, but there had to be something more going on here than they both realized. He thought about that file folder he’d found stuck inside the recliner cushions. “How long ago did you do that DNA test on your grandfather?”

“Three months ago, why?” She frowned, then added, “Grandpa doesn’t have any other family besides me. He told me he was adopted as a baby and that his adopted parents died when he was in his early twenties. He married my grandmother later in life, around the age of twenty-eight, and they had only one daughter, who was my mom. She in turn had only one daughter, me.” She tapped the file folder. “I was thrilled to find out that my grandfather had a sister. I thought he’d be happy, too, but he seemed more shocked than excited.”

“Shocked?”

“Yes, I think he convinced himself he was an only child when he was given up for adoption,” Libby said with a shrug. “I surprised Grandpa with the results last month when the results finally came in. He told me that it was the best birthday present ever.” Her smile faded. “I hope we find him, Shane. I can’t bear the thought of losing him.”

“We’ll do everything we can to find him.” The rash promise tumbled from his lips before he could stop them.

“Thank you, Shane.” She reached over and squeezed his arm. “I’m so glad I called you.”

He tried to look reassuring, but deep down, he feared he’d end up disappointing her. He highly doubted they’d stumble across a truck pulling a four-wheeler trailer with her grandfather sitting in the back seat safe and sound.

Then Alexis’s words came back to him. Have faith, Shane. In this search, God’s will shall be done.

Was his sister right about that? He wasn’t convinced. Then again, Shane hadn’t really prayed in a long time.

Libby continued to hold on to his arm, the warmth of her fingers radiating through him. And for the first time in years, he found himself wanting to pray for her. And for her grandfather’s safety.

“Is that a trailer up ahead?” Libby’s fingers tightened on his arm. “Get closer, Shane. Hurry!”

He obliged by punching the accelerator. The SUV surged forward, closing the gap. He had to admit her eyesight was sharper than his because he hadn’t noticed the trailer up ahead.

But as they grew closer, the side-by-side long hairy tails swinging over the edge of the trailer had him slowing down. “Sorry, Libby, but that’s a horse trailer.”

“I guess you’re right.” She sighed and released his arm. Oddly, he missed her touch. “From back there, it looked like something that could be carrying four-wheelers not horses.”

Horse trailers were more common around these parts, but he kept that thought to himself as her keen disappointment radiated off her in waves.

“Keep in mind there are several sheriff’s deputies out here patrolling the area.” He managed a wan smile. “If there’s a guy pulling a four-wheeler out here, they’ll find him.”

“And if they don’t?” She winced, then quickly added, “Never mind. I’m just tired and crabby.”

“I think you’re holding up remarkably well.” He reached for her hand. “We’ll keep searching.”

They drove in silence for a few minutes. The horse trailer turned off the main highway and took a smaller side road. It occurred to him that if the poachers were smart, they’d stay off the main highways too.

He eyed Bryce in the rearview mirror. The K9 was curled in a ball on the cushion lining of the crate area, fast asleep. The dog deserved to rest; he’d put in a lot of miles since heading out at ten thirty in the morning.

Now the hour was going on five in the afternoon without any hint to where Marvin Tolliver might be. He figured he’d drive until Libby called a halt to the search or until darkness fell.

Whichever came first.

“You mentioned the SUV is specifically designed for Bryce,” Libby said, breaking into his thoughts. “Is that mostly the crate area in the back?”

“Yes, the crate area houses a water system that comes in handy when we’re doing searches in the wilderness. The SUV itself also has a temperature control setting that will cause the engine to start if the interior gets too hot or too cold for the dog. We try not to leave our K9s inside, but sometimes, it can’t be avoided.”

“Wow, I had no idea these cars were capable of that sort of thing.” Libby looked impressed.

He decided not to point out that with money, anything was possible. Maya had been the one to insist that their K9 vehicles be outfitted with all the bells and whistles, much like the K9 vehicles the police department used. His oldest sister had been a K9 cop in Cheyenne until her K9 had been shot and killed. Then they’d lost their parents, forcing Maya to return to the ranch.

What had started from their tragedy had blossomed into a full-fledged labor of love. Each of the Sullivan siblings had taken their calling to do search and rescue to heart. Even Alexis who, in his opinion, had the most difficult job of all.

Shane slowed as they took a hairpin curve. After yet another turn, he instinctively hit the brake when he saw a black truck and covered trailer parked at one of the lookout areas. He couldn’t help but wonder if the driver had pulled over because the truck engine was overheating. He knew from personal experience that sometimes happened while pulling a trailer.

“Stop! That could be them!” Libby cried.

He gripped the steering wheel tightly and slowed even further to turn into the lookout. There were several diagonal parking spots, and he pulled into the very first one, leaving plenty of room between his SUV and the parked truck and trailer.

Libby pushed open her door, but he reached over to grab her arm. “No, Libby. Stay back.”

“I need to see if Grandpa is there.” She tried to shake off his grip. “Please, Shane.”

“I’ll go.” He reached behind his seat to pull his backpack out. “I have a weapon, you don’t. What if the driver starts shooting? What good will you be to your grandfather then?”

Libby seemed to consider that as he pulled his weapon from the backpack. From this angle, he couldn’t see the face of the driver. And really, the covered trailer could have anything inside.

Or nothing at all.

“If this goes sideways, call 911 and get out of here, understand?” He pinned Libby with a hard look. “I mean it.”

“Okay.” She pulled her phone out and set it in her lap. “Be careful.”

He nodded, letting the engine idle as he slid out of the driver’s seat. Then he leaned in and released the back hatch to let Bryce out. Bryce trotted over to his side, looking up at Shane expectantly. “Search Marvin,” he said softly. “Search.”

Bryce went to work, sniffing the area. Shane held his weapon at his side as he approached the truck. For the first time in years, Shane opened his heart to prayer.

Lord Jesus, keep us safe in Your care!