Page 18 of Scent of Peril

Jess only rested for five minutes. He was surprised when she rose. “Let’s go. We’re almost at the campground, right?”

“Yes.” He glanced at Teddy, who seemed to be good to go. He double-checked their coordinates, then continued walking. It didn’t take long for them to reach the outer edge of the campground.

“I don’t see a car, do you?” Jess craned her neck as they walked along a rustic road past several empty campsites. “I can’t imagine we beat Chase and Shane here.”

He frowned, scanning the area. “The campground is large. I’m sure they’re waiting in the main parking area.”

She sighed. Teddy sniffed the campsites with interest. They walked for another half a mile when Teddy abruptly lifted his nose to the air and began to growl.

Logan’s instincts went on full alert. He turned to scan the woods behind them, wondering if he’d been wrong about the gunman following them.

“What is it, Teddy?” Jess sounded nervous. “What caught your attention?”

Teddy stared intently into the woods to their right, then began to bark. The same sharp barks that had woken him from a sound sleep.

“Let’s find cover.” He reached for Jess’s arm to pull her back.

“Jessica? Are you out there?” a male voice shouted above Teddy’s barking. “We’re here! We’re coming!”

Logan continued pulling Jess toward a cluster of trees. Teddy continued to bark for a solid minute before suddenly stopping.

Chase and Shane came running up the trail toward them accompanied by their respective dogs, Chase’s Norwegian Elkhound, Rocky, and Shane’s German shepherd, Bryce. Heshouldn’t have been surprised to see that both men were armed with handguns. “What’s going on?” Chase asked. “What caught Teddy’s attention?”

“I’m not sure,” Jess responded. “I don’t see anyone.”

Logan didn’t see anyone either but wasn’t reassured. The threat could have backed off when the cavalry had arrived.

Was it possible the same man who’d nearly stumbled into their campsite had been following them the entire time? And if so, why?

5

Teddy’s growling was so unlike him that Jess turned to scan their surroundings. Rocky and Bryce were excited to see Teddy, and within seconds, the three dogs were playing.

Whatever had caught Teddy’s attention must have moved on. Had Teddy alerted on a wild animal? Or had he caught the scent of a human threat?

Her K9 had sniffed the footprints near their camp beside the hunting shanty with interest, so she knew he’d remember the intruder. Yet it seemed improbable that the bad guy had followed them all this way. What would be the point? If he was armed, he could have taken them out of the picture at any time.

“Hey, Logan.” Chase held out his hand. Logan took it. “Thanks for keeping Jess safe.”

“Of course.” Logan turned to greet her younger brother Shane too. “I feel bad about putting her in danger.”

“I’m fine, thanks,” she said curtly. “In fact, Teddy was the real hero. He scared the intruder away.”

Chase arched a brow. “Let’s head back to the SUVs. I’d like to understand exactly what happened.”

She sighed. “Sure thing. Although if you don’t mind, we’d love to stop for breakfast on the way home. All we’ve had so far is a couple of granola and protein bars, and after a five-mile hike, I’m famished.”

“I wouldn’t mind a second breakfast,” Shane said with a grin. “We burned a lot of calories worrying about you.”

“Yeah, that works,” Chase agreed. “Anna would be upset if we didn’t feed you both.” Chase raised his voice. “Rocky, here!” His K9 ignored him.

Hiding a smile, Jess called to her dog. “Teddy, heel!” Her dog loped to her side.

“Come, Bryce,” Shane added. The large shepherd obeyed his command too.

Rocky finally trotted to Chase’s side, but only because his playmates had stopped playing with him. It was an ongoing source of entertainment for the siblings how Chase’s K9 was so stubborn.

“If you don’t behave, I’m trading you in for a new model,” Chase threatened, reaching over to scratch Rocky’s ears.

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