Page 19 of Scent of Peril

The K9 wagged his tail as if knowing an empty promise when he heard one.

Jess knew Chase would never give up Rocky, especially now that his son, Elijah, and his new wife, Wynona, had settled in at the ranch. Eli loved that dog and had established a bond with the animal her brother would never break.

“We brought two SUVs.” Shane gestured to her backpack as they headed up the trail to the parking lot. “We knew you’d have a lot of gear with you.”

“Logan was prepared.” She glanced at Logan, who hadn’t said much since her brothers had joined them. “He had camping gear in the back of his plane. Oh, that reminds me.” She frowned. “We need to get back to his plane soon. Not only did some idiotdamage it, but we found a piece of a tail fin that could belong to our parents’ plane.”

“Wait, run that by me again?” Chase interrupted. “Why did someone shoot at the plane?”

“It’s a long story.” She sighed. “It might be better if we started at the beginning.”

“I want to hear this,” Shane protested. “Wait until we stop to get breakfast before you spill the details.”

She knew Chase would drill them the moment they hit the road. As she stopped beside the SUVs, she noticed that her brothers had brought the two freshly painted ones, so there was no K9 Sullivan logo etched along the side. With a sense of relief, she shrugged off the backpack, dropping it to the ground. “Look, it’s not a long story. Chase dropped a charter off at the base of Cedar Mountain. While circling back toward home, he spied a piece of plane debris. He came to the ranch and asked me if I wanted to go with him to pick it up.”

“Without telling anyone your plan,” Chase said with a narrow gaze.

“Yes, as I said, it was supposed to be a short trip. A couple of hours at most.” She held Logan’s green gaze for a moment, then continued. “We found the piece of debris. Logan landed in an open area nearby, and we hiked out to grab it. That’s when the first shots were fired.”

“Rifle shots,” Logan said, filling in some details. “They sounded as if they came from a distance not a close range handgun.”

“We ducked for cover.” She picked up the story. “Logan ran out to get the plane part, and we headed into the woods. It was slow going without being on a trail, but we eventually got back to the plane. Logan took us up, and then the plane engine misfired. We believe because more shots were fired. If not for Logan’s expertise, we may have crashed. He managed to land the plane,driving it into the brush. We grabbed our gear and disappeared back into the woods to avoid the gunman.”

“A bullet struck the right wing,” Logan added. “Took off a big enough chunk that made it difficult to keep the bird level.”

“Had to have been another rifle shot,” Shane said.

“Exactly our thought,” she agreed. “And like I said, Logan had a bunch of camping gear on his plane. We spent the night near an old hunting shanty. Teddy barked like crazy early this morning. When we climbed out of the tent, we found a set of footprints about sixty yards or so from our camp.”

“The tent was covered with snow, so I believe Teddy caught the guy off guard.” Logan shrugged. “That’s the only thing that makes sense. If he’d seen the tent and known we were inside...”

She winced at Shane’s and Chase’s grim expressions. “We don’t know for sure he was armed. But yeah, Teddy’s barking absolutely saved the day.”

“Good boy,” Shane murmured. “I’m glad you had Teddy with you.”

“Oh yeah, one more thing.” She glanced at Logan who gave her a tiny nod. “I almost forgot that Teddy alerted on a glove that was left behind by Logan’s client.”

Chase scowled. “Are you saying the guy who chartered the plane is dealing drugs?”

“That’s our working theory, yes,” Logan said somberly. “If I had known, I wouldn’t have flown him to the Bighorns. But obviously, once someone started firing shots at us, we assumed Craig Benton is up to no good.”

“If that’s his real name,” she added. “He paid Logan in cash, so we suspect he provided an alias.”

“Well, that’s not good,” Shane muttered.

“We’re fine, and that’s all that matters.” She didn’t need Shane’s doom and gloom. “Now that we suspect drugs are involved, Teddy can help locate them.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Logan looked over her shoulder toward Chase. “It’s too dangerous. Law enforcement needs to take the lead on this moving forward.”

She was annoyed at Logan’s interference. “When exactly will Doug and Maya arrive home? Today, right? I know Doug’s expertise as a former DEA agent would be helpful in uncovering the truth.”

“Doug and Maya had a slight delay. They won’t get to the ranch until later tonight,” Chase said. “We can wait until tomorrow.”

She didn’t like the thought of waiting. “And what about Logan’s plane? We can’t just leave it there.”

“It’s fine,” Logan said. “Thankfully, I have two other birds to use in the meantime. And who knows if I’ll even get any charters in that time frame.”

“We still need to get that piece of tail fin that we were forced to leave behind.” She narrowed her gaze, willing Logan to support her on this. “I think we should head back tomorrow to repair the plane and to get the tail fin.”

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