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C urling her body over Teddy’s, Jessica’s heart thundered in her chest. Teddy had caught the scent of the gunman!

Chaos erupted around them. She lifted her head, hoping to see the gunman, but all she saw were people running around, screaming in fear and panic.

Teddy stopped growling and barking, which made her think the gunman must have left the scene. No surprise he wouldn’t stick around.

“Are you hurt?” Logan asked in a low voice.

“I don’t think so.” She took a moment to run her hands over Teddy’s fur. His black coat would make it difficult to see an injury. Thankfully, her K9 appeared unharmed. “We’re okay. You?”

“Fine.” His clipped tone said otherwise. “Let’s get closer to the playground equipment to wait for the police to arrive.”

She turned her head to look up at him. Logan’s green eyes were far too close. “It might be better to head back to the hotel.”

“Not yet.” He eased upright, giving her a little room to breathe. “I’m not sure we can stay at the Elk Lodge after this.”

That made her frown. “There’s no reason to think the hotel is compromised. Teddy didn’t alert on the gunman’s scent right away. We were in the park for several minutes before he began to growl.”

A flicker of uncertainty darkened his gaze. “I don’t know. I’m concerned the gunman may have been watching us.”

“How?” She managed to stand. “Come, Teddy. This way.” She led the dog toward the playground. There was a platform over a slide that offered some protection. But she was convinced the gunman was long gone.

As if to prove her point, the wail of police sirens filled the air. She briefly considered asking Teddy to find the gunman but quickly decided against it. She couldn’t put her K9 in harm’s way.

She wasn’t a cop. She just happened to have a dog smart enough to alert them to danger.

“We need to call Chase to let him know about this,” Logan said as the squad arrived. Two officers emerged from the vehicle and stood, glancing around. She recognized the older of them as Burt Jones. The younger guy must have been the new rookie they’d been hearing about.

A replacement for the dirty cop who’d been arrested back in January.

“Over here!” She waved her arm to get Burt’s attention. She would have stepped forward, but Logan grabbed her arm.

“Let them come to us,” he said.

Logan was being a bit overprotective, yet they had been targeted by this gunman far too often over the past twenty-four hours. Burt gave her a nod of recognition as he approached.

“Jessica. Do you know something about the report of gunfire that was called in?”

“Yeah, we do.” She glanced at Logan who didn’t seem to recognize the officers. “Do you know Logan Fletcher? He owns Fletcher’s Flying.”

“I’m not sure we’ve been formally introduced.” Logan offered his hand, and both Burt and the rookie shook it.

“I’m Officer Jones, and this is Officer Jeff Riley.” Burt looked from Logan back to her. “Don’t tell me you were the target of this nutjob?”

“More likely I was,” Logan said. “But I’m sure he wouldn’t have held back from killing Jess either. It’s a long story.”

Burt hiked a brow. “Can’t wait to hear it.”

Another squad pulled up next to the first. Jess recognized Officer Rotterdam and the newly promoted Sergeant Wayne Carter. They rushed over to join them.

“What happened?” Wayne demanded.

“Look, do you think we could talk about this at the police station?” Logan asked. “I’d like Jessica and Teddy to be safe.”

She could speak for herself, but Wayne quickly nodded. “I’ll take you to the station to get your statements.” Wayne turned to his officers. “You three spread out and search for the gunman and/or shell casings. The calls that came in through dispatch were rather vague. Guy wearing black was all they agreed on.”

“Wait, I’ve been cross-training Teddy to find shell casings,” she said. “I can ask him to search for gold.”

“Not until we know the place is secure,” Logan said, before Wayne could respond. He shot her an exasperated look. “That guy may not have gone very far.”

“Even with four cops here?” She shook her head. “I don’t think he’s stupid enough to stick around. And really, Teddy’s nose will work better than trying to scan the ground looking for the casing.”

“She’s right,” Wayne agreed. “Let’s have her dog do his thing, then we’ll head down to the police station.”

Logan didn’t look happy as he threw up his hands. “Fine. Let’s just hope this guy isn’t hiding nearby.”

“Teddy would have alerted us to that if he was.” She turned to her dog, who was looking up at her with his dark-brown eyes. “Are you ready to work?” she asked with enthusiasm. The trick with training K9s was to make every search effort a game. “Search for gold. Gold, Teddy. Search for gold!”

Her K9 lifted his head and began to test the air with his nose. Then he lowered his snout to the ground and began to cross the park. She quickly followed.

Logan and Wayne came along as well. Despite her confidence in Teddy’s ability to scent the gunman, Jess swept a cautious gaze over the area. It was disconcerting to realize the gunman had been here just a few minutes earlier.

And how was it that he’d come across them? Cody wasn’t a big city, but the town wasn’t that small either. As the fifth largest city in the state, Cody had about ten thousand residents. The fact that the gunman happened to be there in the park at the same time she’d taken Teddy for a walk couldn’t have been a coincidence.

But how had he found them? By locating one of their phones in some way?

She shivered and tried to focus on Teddy. Her K9 was trotting faster now, his nose along the ground as he headed toward a small, wooded area.

“Hold on, Jess,” Wayne called. “Stay back. I don’t want you to mess up a potential crime scene.”

She eased to a stop but didn’t take her gaze off Teddy. The dog slowed to sniff with interest near a large tree. Then he pawed at something in the snow.

“Find gold,” she said encouragingly.

Teddy sat and let out a sharp bark. Ignoring Wayne’s order to stay back, she moved forward, careful not to get too close to the crisscrossing of boot prints in the snow. She circled around to approach from the side.

That’s when she spotted it. A shell casing embedded in the snow.

“Good boy, Teddy!” She praised her dog and reached into her pocket for the small brown stuffed moose. Each of the Sullivans had chosen a different toy to use as a reward for a job well done. She turned and tossed the moose up into the air, away from the crime scene.

Teddy nimbly darted forward to grab the toy before it hit the ground. Then he shook his head and ran around with the moose in his mouth.

“That dog is amazing,” Wayne praised. “He found the shell casing faster than we would have.”

She nodded. Logan still didn’t look happy as he surveyed the area. “So the shooter was standing here when he fired at us.” He turned to look beyond the playground area. “It’s a straight shot, but too far to be accurate with a handgun.”

“How do you know he used a handgun?” she asked.

“The sound was different from the rifle.” Logan waved a hand. “I also think that using a long gun in town like this would have attracted too much attention.”

“Logan’s right, this is definitely a nine-millimeter shell casing.” Wayne used his gloved hand to place it in an evidence bag. Then he pulled out his phone. “I don’t see any clear footprints here, but he left a path from where he entered and exited the park.”

Jess noticed the double sets of footprints Wayne had noted. The cop moved forward to take several pictures, before turning back to her. “This will help, although having an eyewitness who can describe this guy would be even better.”

“I have a possible suspect,” Logan said. “He gave me the name Craig Benton, but I’m sure that’s an alias.”

“Let’s get you two, and the dog of course, back to the station,” Wayne said. “I think it’s better if I hear this story from the beginning.”

“My brothers Chase and Shane may have already spoken to the police chief,” she said as she held out her hand for the stuffed moose. Teddy regurgitated the toy into her palm, his tail wagging as if he wanted to play the search game again.

“Well, if they did, the boss hasn’t clued the rest of us in yet,” Wayne said. “And I still need your statements for the record.”

“Of course.” She glanced at Logan, who nodded. “We’re ready.”

Wayne gave instructions to the three officers who would stay behind, then turned to head back to the squad. Logan sat up front, leaving her and Teddy to sit in the back. As she sat behind the partition, Jess realized this was the first time she’d ever been inside the back of a police car. At least she wasn’t under arrest.

Stroking Teddy’s fur, she tried to think about where they’d go once this interview was over. If her theory about the cell phone being tracked was correct, then Logan was right about the Elk Lodge being compromised.

And that meant the only way to be safe was to go completely off-grid. Maybe even to the point of leaving her family out of their plans moving forward.

Logan was relieved to head into the police station located near the center of town. The footprints leading away from the shell casing indicated the shooter had fled, but that didn’t mean the guy had gone far.

With a good set of binoculars, the gunman could have easily taken up a position in a car parked nearby, watching them the entire time.

Waiting for another opportunity to strike.

“Please, have a seat.” Sergeant Wayne Carter gestured to a pair of chairs positioned across a desk in the tiny office.

He and Jess did as he asked, and Teddy stretched out at Jessica’s feet. Logan noticed the dog was never far from her side, offering another layer of protection.

But even a dog as protective as Teddy couldn’t stop a bullet. This shooting, on the heels of the others, concerned him.

“If you don’t mind starting at the beginning?” Wayne suggested.

He nodded and gave the background information as succinctly as possible. Craig Benton chartering the plane, seeing the piece of tail fin while he was leaving the area, then heading to the Sullivan ranch to pick up Jess. Wayne looked surprised to learn that Teddy had alerted to the scent of drugs on his plane.

“Drugs, huh?” Wayne sat back in his chair. “We’ve seen an increase in drug overdoses recently. The hospital has put out an alert and have supplied multiple doses of Narcan for our officers.”

“Which drug specifically?” Jessica asked. “Meth? Heroin? Cocaine? Fentanyl?”

“Fentanyl has been the biggest concern,” Wayne said. “Will your dog alert on any type of drug?”

“Yes, he’s been trained to find them all.” She reached down to stroke Teddy’s fur. “We’ve even included the chemicals that are used to make synthetic drugs like fentanyl. When we go out on a search, I use the term peppers. That way nobody else knows what we’re searching for.”

“I see.” Wayne nodded thoughtfully. “Okay, so back to your story. Teddy alerted on the scent of drugs that you believe were transported to the Bighorn Mountains by this Craig Benton guy.”

“Yes. Benton lost a glove on the plane. Teddy found it. The drug scent may have been on that article of clothing.” He shrugged, then continued the story. “We hiked out to where the plane part was located when someone fired shots at us using a rifle.” He explained his theory that Benton might have assumed they’d returned to the area to find him, rather than picking up a piece of tail fin. It was ironic how his attempt to help the Sullivan family with information on their parents’ plane crash had ended up putting Jessica in the middle of danger. “We returned to the plane to fly out, but he fired again, damaging the plane so that I had to make a crash landing.”

He had Sergeant Carter’s full attention now. “You’re both lucky to be alive.”

“Yep.” He glanced at Jessica, knowing she wouldn’t believe in luck so much as having faith in God watching over them. “Anyway, we hiked through the woods away from the plane, heading southwest. We camped in my tent overnight, and Teddy woke us the following morning growling and barking. We found a pair of tracks in the snow within sixty yards of our campsite.”

“But the perp didn’t shoot at you?” Wayne asked.

“No. The tent was covered in a layer of snow.” He glanced at Jess again, then shrugged. “All I can figure is that he must not have realized we were camping there until Teddy created a ruckus.”

“Go on,” Wayne encouraged.

He finished the story, explaining about the gunfire at his home, and then this final attempt here in Cody. As he finished, it occurred to Logan that these incidents had crossed several jurisdictions. The mountains, which was probably federal land, the town of Greybull, and now Cody.

“I can see why the chief hasn’t said much to us,” Wayne muttered. “Everything up until this recent incident isn’t our responsibility.”

“Except now it does impact your department.” Jessica’s tone was sharp. “This guy followed us from the mountains, through Greybull, and here to Cody. We’re going to need help from law enforcement to find and arrest this guy. Your cops and others will need to work together on this.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Wayne raked his hand over his hair. “But let’s be honest, this is more of a federal case than a local one. I need to call the FBI offices in Cheyenne to see what they think.”

Logan didn’t like the way Wayne sounded as if he were passing the buck. “And how long will that take?”

The sergeant shrugged. “Can you describe Benton for me?”

He grimaced. “I hate to say it, but he was rather average. White guy, about five ten, maybe weighed one eighty pounds. He wore a hat, but I could tell he had dark hair. Brown, not black. Brown eyes too.”

Wayne made notes, but Logan could tell the description was far from helpful.

“I would know him if I saw him again,” he said. “Unfortunately, this guy has been smart enough not to get too close.”

“Teddy will also recognize him,” Jess said. “He alerted us to the gunman just before he fired at us.”

“Okay, is there anything else you can think of that will help us find him?” Wayne asked.

“He had a lot of cash on him when he paid me,” Logan said. “I figured he was rich, not that he was a drug dealer.”

Wayne made another note. “I’ll discuss our next steps with the chief. Oh, and I need your contact information.”

“We won’t be using our phones from this point forward,” Jessica said. “They’re in the Elk Lodge. I’d like your officers to get our gear out, though. I have a lot of Teddy’s things in there that I need back.”

“That’s no problem, but why are you getting rid of your phones?” Wayne scowled. “I can’t imagine Benton can track them.”

“I don’t know of any other way he could have found us.” Logan reached out to take Jessica’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. They were totally in sync on this. “We’ll pick up some burners. We’ll let you know those numbers once we have them.”

After a brief hesitation, Wayne nodded. “Okay.”

“I would like to know when you and the feds plan to head back up to the mountain.” When Jess rose to her feet, Teddy jumped up too. “We’ll need to go with you, or you’ll never find the place. And Teddy is your best chance at finding Benton and the drugs.”

“I’ll let FBI agent Griff Flannery know.” Wayne stood. “And as soon as I have your contact information, I’ll pass that along to him.”

“We’ll need a ride to a new location. And it would be nice if you’d stop at a store along the way so we can get those phones.” Logan tried to remember what places, if any, they’d passed on the way to the Elk Lodge.

“And don’t forget to send someone to get our stuff from the Lodge too,” Jessica added. Then she frowned. “We also need one of the officers to drive Shane’s SUV to our new location as well.”

“What if the gunman recognizes the SUV?” Logan asked.

“I need the supplies from the back for Teddy.” She grimaced, then added, “I guess I can ask the officer to bring that stuff to us, while leaving the SUV behind. It makes me nervous, though, not to have a K9 SUV at our disposal.”

He turned toward Wayne. “Can your guys do that?”

Wayne didn’t look thrilled with their list of requests, but he didn’t balk. Logan knew that was likely because nobody, especially the local police, wanted to get on the bad side of the Sullivan family.

Not when they’d done so much for the community.

“Wait here a minute.” Wayne gestured to an empty desk. “I need to follow up with my officers and make the arrangements.”

He gestured for Jess to take the chair. “Where do you think we should go next?”

“I’ve been thinking about that.” She stared down at Teddy. “I feel bad Chase paid for a suite we can’t even use. But I think it would be better to keep him out of this for now.”

He frowned. “I don’t think your brother will appreciate being out of the loop.”

“I know, but he’ll just feel like he has to come back here to babysit me, rather than sticking close to his wife and son.” She shook her head. “This isn’t his problem, it’s ours. Let’s wait until we’re settled and have our new phones. I’ll have to give him the new number. He’ll go nuts if I don’t answer his calls.”

That made him feel slightly better. “Okay. I have the cash Benton paid me. We can use that for the room.”

“I can’t deny I like the idea of using his money to hide from him.” Her smile faded. “But my family will reimburse you, Logan. For this and the damage to your plane.”

“It’s fine.” He shrugged off the offer. “I feel like this is my fault anyway. And like you said, there’s some satisfaction in using his own cash against him.”

Sergeant Wayne Carter returned a few minutes later. “Okay, who has the keys to the SUV?”

Jess pulled them from her pocket and handed them to him.

“Burt Jones will pick up the supplies from your hotel room and the SUV. Where do you want to go after we pick up the phones?”

“The Great Frontier should have rooms available.” Logan knew the place was more reasonably priced as compared to the Elk Lodge.

“I’ll let him know on the way.” Wayne gestured toward the door. “Let’s go.”

The ride to the store to pick up disposable phones didn’t take long. Logan went inside to grab them, returning ten minutes later. A few people stared in surprise as he slid into the squad, but he ignored them.

“Did you hear if anyone saw the shooter?” He glanced at Wayne as he left the parking lot. “I assume the officers who stayed behind asked around.”

“They’re still working on that,” Wayne said. “People around here generally cooperate. If someone saw the gunman, they’ll call and provide the information.”

Logan didn’t argue. Normally, big crimes like murder and shootouts didn’t happen in small-town Cody or Greybull. And the residents would absolutely band together against outsiders trying to take over.

Which might be why Benton and whoever he was working with had set up a place in the mountains to use as a home base. He also wondered if the items he’d assumed were hunting and fishing gear were really the chemical components needed to make synthetic drugs.

Upon reaching the Great Frontier, he saw another squad waiting in the parking lot. Two squads, both outside a hotel, were much like a neon sign screaming Look here, look here to anyone paying attention.

“Hold on, I’ve changed my mind.” Logan twisted in his seat to address Jessica. “This is too obvious. Let’s load up our gear and head off on foot.”

She took one glance at the hotel and nodded. “Okay, but I’m not staying at the Wild Bill.”

“I promise we won’t go there.” The Wild Bill was known to rent rooms by the hour. Granted, the local police had cracked down on the illegal stuff going on there, but he had no interest in staying in a place like that.

“Hold on. Why the sudden change in plan?” Wayne demanded. “You don’t think this place is safe?”

“I’m saying two squads outside one hotel is too many.” He pushed open his door. “Thanks for the ride, though.”

Wayne muttered something under his breath, got out and opened the back door for Jess and Teddy. The dog stretched, then looked around and sniffed with interest. Reminding himself that Teddy would alert them if the gunman was nearby, he headed over to the second squad to grab their stuff.

It didn’t take too long to repack their backpacks. He felt bad for handing Jess her extra-heavy pack, but he hoped it would be fine for a walk through town.

“Don’t forget to stay in touch,” Wayne called as they headed out.

Logan nodded. With the two squads still parked out front, he headed along the side of the hotel until they were in the back. Then they cut through the opening leading to the next block. It wasn’t easy to blend in while carrying large packs with Teddy trotting between them, but he figured this was better than being in a police car.

They walked in silence for long moments, taking every shortcut possible through gas station and store parking lots.

He turned to make sure no one was following. After a solid twenty minutes of walking, they reached a place called the Lumberjack Inn. They had come upon the place from the back of the building.

“How about here?” He eyed Jess. “Not fancy, but better than the Wild Bill.”

“I like it.” Jess smiled wearily. “And I’ll be glad to be done hiking for a while.”

“I know.” He stared down at her for a long moment, gripped by the insane urge to kiss her. As if reading his mind, she stepped toward him, her blue gaze locked on his. Time seemed to hold still.

Without taking the time to think it through, he pulled her close and kissed her.