Page 24 of Smoky Mountain K-9

Red paint stained his porch and door.

“What the hell?” He groaned. Their neighborhood troublemaker had struck again.

Not wanting to traipse through the evidence, Carter closed the door. “Maverick,hier.Fuss.” He spun on his heel, the dog following in step as he made his way to the garage.

Carter flung open the interior door and smacked the button on the wall to raise the overhead door. At a steady clip, he advanced and ducked under it to hurry out to the street. Glancing both ways, nothing stirred. He paused, listening, but only silence greeted him.

Muttering a curse, he turned around and ran back to the house to call it in. He wanted to send Maverick out to track, but he needed better clothes and backup first.

After finding his phone and calling dispatch, Carter changed. He was pulling on his vest when Maverick’s sharp bark told him his backup had arrived. Adjusting the vest straps, he jogged down the hall, calling Maverick to heel, and went out the garage door to greet his colleague. To his surprise, Ben walked up the drive.

“This was too weird for me to stay home. First Mara’s car, now your door—” He shook his head. “I know it’s probably just a kid causing mischief, but I’ve got a weird feeling.”

“Same. Did you see if any other houses were hit when you drove in?”

Ben shook his head. “Everything looked normal.”

The sinking feeling in Carter’s stomach grew worse. Someone was targeting him. Sure, it could be a kid, trying to get his jollies by vandalizing the cop’s house, but he couldn’t remember seeing any teenagers in his immediate neighborhood. It was possible there was one a street or two over who knew where he lived. He jogged around the area with Maverick all the time when the weather permitted. But that meant the kid had to go out of his way to target Carter’s house. This wasn’t a spontaneous act. It was deliberate.

“I want to run with Maverick. See if he can pick up a trail.”

“Sounds good. I’ll stay here and maintain the scene until another unit gets here to take some pictures and samples.”

Carter’s head bobbed once before he turned and walked through the grass to his front porch, Maverick still glued to his side. He looked down at the dog, whose eyes were on Carter’s face, ready for his next task. Carter didn’t make him wait. He attached a long leash to the dog. “Maverick,such.” He pointed at the ground in front of the steps.

Immediately, the dog turned away, nose to the ground by the stairs for several seconds before he took off through the yard. At the road, he turned left, on the scent of someone.

They ran about two blocks before the dog paused and stuck his nose in the air. Carter cursed. He’d lost the scent, which meant whoever vandalized his house probably got into a car here. He took note of where they were, then turned them around to go home. In a little while, he’d go knock on doors and ask if anyone heard or saw anything. Maybe he’d get lucky and someone would have a doorbell camera that caught something.

He ground his molars, hoping they found some clue to lead them to the perpetrator. Carter wanted to know why someone had it out for him.

Twelve

Silence enveloped Mara as she pulled into Carter’s driveway and shut the engine off. Gemma called her this morning and told her Ben rushed out of the house before dawn at the report of an incident at Carter’s. She said he told her later that someone poured paint all over his front porch. Mara tried calling him when she had breaks in her schedule, but all she got was voicemail. He left one on hers, saying he’d try her this evening. She said screw that, stopped at Jester’s for some barbecue to go and drove to his house. If he already had food, well, she’d eat, and he could put his in the fridge for tomorrow.

Opening her door, she snagged the handles of the food bag and her purse and got out. As she neared the front door, the dark stain on the porch floor and door—as well as the splatters on the surrounding brick—became visible. Her eyes widened as she took in the extent of the damage. It looked like someone dumped an entire paint can.

Mara reached out and rang the bell. It pealed inside, then a moment later the door opened.

“Mara.” A smile erupted on Carter’s face. “This is a surprise. Come in.” He stepped back, and Mara entered.

Maverick stood from his spot on the rug by the fireplace and trotted over, nose working a mile a minute as he sniffed her and the bags she carried.

“You had your dinner.” Carter shook a finger at the dog as he took the bag from her.

Mara giggled. “But ours smells better.” She scratched Maverick’s head.

“For sure.” He turned and led her toward the kitchen. The dog retreated to his spot on the rug. “You didn’t have to bring me dinner. I was just getting ready to heat up some stew.”

“Well, now you can save it for tomorrow.” She set her purse on the floor in the corner, then walked over to help him dish out the food. “So, what do you know about what happened out there?” She hooked a thumb toward the front of the house.

His mouth twisted. “Not much. Maverick tracked the scent a couple of blocks, then abruptly lost it. Whoever did it likely got into a car there. We canvassed the area for doorbell and security camera footage, but the only house with cameras is the one that caught the rock-throwing figure, and it’s the other way down the street.”

“Why would someone throw paint on your house?”

“Maybe because I’m a cop. Maybe because they’re bored and played eeny, meeny, miny, moe.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I do know, I’m installing my own security cameras. I ordered them this afternoon.” A fierce scowl screwed up his face. “I don’t know why I never put them in. As a cop and former Marine, I should know better.”

“Well, it’s not like Foggy Mountain is a hotbed of criminal activity.” She frowned. “Usually, anyway.”