Page 10 of Scent of Peril

She hiked up the duffel, realizing it was too big to lug through the woods. She carried it around the nose of the plane to where Logan was rearranging items in the backpack. “Wait. I have supplies for Teddy that we need to take with us.”

He paused, then nodded. “Okay. How much room do you need?”

She dropped the duffel, then knelt beside him. “How long do you think we’ll be gone? I’d like to take at least enough dog food for twenty-four to forty-eight hours.” That was probably overkill, but she would not shortchange her K9.

“Sounds good. Hopefully, we won’t be gone that long.”

She pulled out the gallon-sized plastic bag of dog food and stuffed it into the backpack, then added several water bottles. Lastly, she took the booties from the duffel and placed them over Teddy’s paws. The dog didn’t love wearing them, but he didn’t try to take them off either, the way Chase’s K9 did.

Once they set off through the terrain, Teddy would forget he was wearing them.

“This is going to be heavy for you,” Logan warned as he lifted the backpack. “Mine is bigger, so you’ll need to take this one.”

“I can manage.” She slid one arm through the strap, stifling a groan as she bent forward to get her other arm through. He was right. It was heavy.

“Let’s go.” Logan took a moment to toss the now half-empty duffel back into the plane, along with the section of tail they’d come all this way to retrieve. She hated leaving it behind but understood they couldn’t carry it along with their supplies. They needed to prepare for the likely scenario that they might be out there all night.

She planned to call her family for help, but it would take her siblings time to get there. Especially if they needed to charter a plane from someone other than Logan. And even then, she worried that bringing them to this location would place them in the crosshairs of danger.

It would be better for her and Logan to hike to a new location. Maybe someplace where her family could drive instead of fly?

What was the gunman up to anyway? Why try to take them down?

“Take the lead,” Logan said, keeping his voice low. “I’ll cover your back.”

She swallowed hard. “Okay, but I’m not sure where we’re headed.”

“Just go southwest for now.” He shrugged. “But we’re going to stay in the woods as much as possible.”

“Southwest through the woods. Got it.” She drew in a steadying breath, then gave Teddy the hand signal to come. Thankfully, her K9 was a high-energy dog. He gracefully leaped over some low brush to reach her side.

They didn’t talk as they walked. Logan didn’t tell her to hurry, but she sensed his urgency to put distance between them and the shooter.

She wanted that, too, so she walked as fast as she could while carrying the heavy pack. Every so often, she pulled her cell phone out to check for a signal.

No bars. With a sense of trepidation, she stopped checking. There was no point in asking Logan if he had service. If she didn’t have any, he wouldn’t either. There weren’t cell towers in the mountains.

Was that the reason the shooter had chosen this location for whatever illegal business he was involved in? She had to assume those illegal activities were the reason he’d taken shots at them.

Not just shots, she silently amended. This guy had attempted to kill them by shooting down their plane.

She shivered at their near miss. If not for Logan’s expertise in landing the damaged plane, they’d have died.

Just like her parents had.

She and Logan hiked for thirty minutes straight before she stopped near a thick oak tree. Teddy took advantage of the moment by dropping down beside her. She shrugged out of the overstuffed backpack to give her K9 some water. Logan joined her. “I haven’t heard anyone following so far.”

She nodded. “I guess that’s good. Do you think anyone heard your call for help via the radio? Before we made that crash landing?”

“Doubtful.” He scanned their surroundings. “I brought the radio with me. We’ll try again later. For now, it’s more important to get away from the gunman.”

“True.” She sighed. “I was just hoping . . .”

“I know your family will worry,” he finished for her. “Hopefully, we’ll get through on the radio to reassure them that we’re not hurt.”

“It’s fine.” She forced a smile. “They’ll have faith in God, in our ability to be prepared enough to survive this.”

He nodded. “At some point, we’ll get into cell tower range.”

---