Page 23 of So Wicked

“Damn it. Okay.”

Reminding her about the weapon made Faith worry for Turk. Turk was adept at handling suspects with weapons, but in the forest, he wouldn’t have as much room to maneuver. Neither would Slade, but if he knew where he was going, he could be trying to lead Turk into a trap.

She heard barking and then a cry and increased her pace. “Jack Thompson! Stop!”

A yelp followed that command, and a thrill of fear coursed through her spine. “Don’t you dare hurt my dog!”

That brought a disturbing feeling of guilt. After all, they suspected Jack of murdering someone for hurting his dog.

The chase continued deeper into the forest. Here, the tall trees thinned out, and the young trees stifled the forest floor with their branches, making it difficult for the two investigators to know where they were going.

Turk began to bark again, and Faith breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t sound hurt. Faith guessed that he had cornered the suspect and been shaken off but not injured.

“Jack! We’re going to find you. Give it up now! You’re only making things worse for yourself!” Another yelp followed that, and she swore. “Damn it, Jack, if you injure my K9, you’ll be charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.”

“Does that really matter if he’s up for multiple murder?” Slade asked.

Faith glared at him, and he looked away. “Jack! Turk!”

Turk replied by whining. She wouldn’t have heard that if she wasn’t close. “Turk! Come here, boy! Can you come to me?”

A second later, Turk walked through some low-hanging branches and trotted to Faith. He was shaking his head and rubbing his nose with his paws, but he didn't look like he was bleeding.

“What happened, boy?” Faith asked. “Did he spray you with something?”

“Bear spray, I’m guessing,” Slade said. “Everyone carries that out here. Poor guy. That’s tough.”

Turk whined plaintively, and Faith saw his eyes were bloodshot. He sneezed and shook his head again.

Faith sighed in exasperation. Not only was she upset to see her dog hurt—even in a minor way like this—but their suspect had defeated their K9 and was now probably undetectable.

“Put an APB out,” she told Slade.

“You’re calling the chase?”

“Hell no. But I’m also being realistic.”

Slade nodded. “Good point.”

Faith pulled her water bottle from her best pocket and poured it over Turk’s face. Turk groaned with relief as the water washed away most of the bear spray. That wouldn’t help his sense of smell, though. It would be hours before that recovered.

Still, maybe they could pick up a trail. The woods thinned out up ahead. If they were lucky, maybe they would thin out enough for them to see footprints or snapped branches that might tell them where Jack Thompson had gone.

"Take us to him, boy," she told Turk. Turk gave her an injured expression, and she clarified, "Take us to where you saw him last."

Turk sneezed, then trotted off the way he had come. The two human agents followed, keeping quiet so they could hear any movements that might indicate the presence of their suspect.

Turk led them a couple hundred feet through the forest. For a moment, the trees actually grew thicker, and Faith had a sinking feeling that Jack would have lost them after all. After another hundred feet or so, however, Turk led them into a clearing. He trotted to the middle, where a rough circle of disturbed ground confirmed that he had tussled briefly with their suspect. He lowered his nose to the ground, but after a moment, he released a glum moan and sat, putting his head in between his hands.

“It’s all right, boy,” Faith said. “Come on. I see his footprints.”

Faith followed the tracks into the forest, but after another thirty yards, the trees thickened again. The three agents had to move slowly so Faith could catch the snapped branches and disturbed leaf litter that were now her only indication of where Thompson might have gone.

“I didn’t see any blood,” Slade said. “Would’ve been nice if Turk had gotten a bite in so we could track the blood.”

“Shh,” Faith said. “Stay quiet. He might make noise.”

“You think he’s close?”

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