Page 23 of Scent of Peril

Dazed, he shook his head. He belatedly realized Teddy was sitting up in the passenger seat beside Chase. Surprised, heglanced at Jess. “No. I only heard the shot and felt the bullet strike the backpack.”

“What?” Jessica’s blue eyes widened in horror. “He just missed hitting you?”

He nodded and bent over to examine the backpack. There was a round hole on one side where the bullet had clearly struck and a larger frayed open area on the other side. An exit wound, so to speak.

“That was too close,” Jess muttered. “Way too close.”

“Yeah.” He sat back, his thoughts whirling. They hadn’t rushed their trip back from the mountain. They’d stopped to talk, then had stopped for breakfast at the Della’s Diner.

Meanwhile, the gunman had lain in wait for him to get home. This was the third attempt to kill him, if the first shooting hadn’t been a simple warning.

Three shootings within twenty-four hours.

Craig Benton had to be the man responsible.

6

Jess leaned forward and tapped her brother’s shoulder to get Chase’s attention. “We need to take Logan someplace safe.”

“Not the ranch,” Logan quickly interjected. “I don’t want to bring danger to the rest of your family.”

Chase’s grim expression revealed his internal debate about their next steps. She didn’t blame him for being concerned about his wife and young son. Putting Eli in harm’s way was not an option. She nodded. “I agree, not the ranch. Maybe a hotel in Cody?”

“I don’t like this,” Chase muttered. “What in the world is going on?”

She didn’t much like it either. Seeing the path of the bullet going through Logan’s backpack was sobering. If the shot had been a few inches in the other direction, it would have torn through Logan’s torso.

Killing him.

“I wish I knew. A hotel works.” Logan scowled. “But I think Jess is in danger too.”

She wanted to discount that possibility but couldn’t. For one thing, she’d been with Logan on the mountain when the idiothad fired at them. And she’d been on the plane, too, when they’d nearly crashed. This most recent attempt may have been aimed at Logan, but she had no doubt the killer had planned to turn his attention on her next.

Why, she wasn’t sure. Was she a target only because she’d been with Logan?

“Fine.” She tried not to sigh. “Teddy and I can stay with you at the hotel for a while. But this shooting only adds credence to our theory of Craig Benton being involved with drugs. Obviously, Benton was able to figure out where you live.”

“What about you, Jess?” Chase met her gaze in the rearview. “Do you think the shooter knows who you are?”

She shrugged and glanced at Logan. “If he’s new to the area, probably not. Teddy was wearing his SAR vest, but this guy may not realize he’s part of the Sullivan K9 crew. Good thing you used the two SUVs without our family logo embossed along the sides.”

“I never should have done that in the first place,” Chase groused. “Considering you had Teddy with you, he may know about the ranch.”

“I picked Benton up from Cheyenne to fly him to his requested destination within the Bighorns.” Logan grimaced. “He gave me the coordinates and looked around with interest as we flew. If I had to guess, he’s been to the location before. Everyone knows the Sullivans, so I think we have to assume he does too.”

Chase sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, okay. I’ll go along with using a hotel in Cody for now and then figure out our next steps.”

A phone rang. Not hers, and when she glanced at Logan, he shook his head. Then she saw Shane’s name on the dashboard media screen. Chase pressed a button on his steering wheel to answer. “Hey, Shane. New plan.”

“Ya think?” Shane’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “What happened back there?”

“Someone took a shot at Logan. Probably the same guy who tried to shoot down his plane,” Chase said. “We’re heading to Cody. If you want to peel off to return to the ranch, that’s fine.”

“Not happening,” Shane said bluntly. “If anyone should peel off, it’s you. You have a wife and son to take care of.”

“I’m aware,” Chase said dryly.

“You’ll have to leave one of these SUVs at the hotel for us,” she said. “In case we need to go on the move.”

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