Page 28 of Scent of Peril

Teddy stopped growling and barking, which made her think the gunman must have left the scene. No surprise he wouldn’t stick around.

“Are you hurt?” Logan asked in a low voice.

“I don’t think so.” She took a moment to run her hands over Teddy’s fur. His black coat would make it difficult to see an injury. Thankfully, her K9 appeared unharmed. “We’re okay. You?”

“Fine.” His clipped tone said otherwise. “Let’s get closer to the playground equipment to wait for the police to arrive.”

She turned her head to look up at him. Logan’s green eyes were far too close. “It might be better to head back to the hotel.”

“Not yet.” He eased upright, giving her a little room to breathe. “I’m not sure we can stay at the Elk Lodge after this.”

That made her frown. “There’s no reason to think the hotel is compromised. Teddy didn’t alert on the gunman’s scent right away. We were in the park for several minutes before he began to growl.”

A flicker of uncertainty darkened his gaze. “I don’t know. I’m concerned the gunman may have been watching us.”

“How?” She managed to stand. “Come, Teddy. This way.” She led the dog toward the playground. There was a platform over a slide that offered some protection. But she was convinced the gunman was long gone.

As if to prove her point, the wail of police sirens filled the air. She briefly considered asking Teddy to find the gunman but quickly decided against it. She couldn’t put her K9 in harm’s way.

She wasn’t a cop. She just happened to have a dog smart enough to alert them to danger.

“We need to call Chase to let him know about this,” Logan said as the squad arrived. Two officers emerged from the vehicle and stood, glancing around. She recognized the older of them as Burt Jones. The younger guy must have been the new rookie they’d been hearing about.

A replacement for the dirty cop who’d been arrested back in January.

“Over here!” She waved her arm to get Burt’s attention. She would have stepped forward, but Logan grabbed her arm.

“Let them come to us,” he said.

Logan was being a bit overprotective, yet they had been targeted by this gunman far too often over the past twenty-four hours. Burt gave her a nod of recognition as he approached.

“Jessica. Do you know something about the report of gunfire that was called in?”

“Yeah, we do.” She glanced at Logan who didn’t seem to recognize the officers. “Do you know Logan Fletcher? He owns Fletcher’s Flying.”

“I’m not sure we’ve been formally introduced.” Logan offered his hand, and both Burt and the rookie shook it.

“I’m Officer Jones, and this is Officer Jeff Riley.” Burt looked from Logan back to her. “Don’t tell me you were the target of this nutjob?”

“More likely I was,” Logan said. “But I’m sure he wouldn’t have held back from killing Jess either. It’s a long story.”

Burt hiked a brow. “Can’t wait to hear it.”

Another squad pulled up next to the first. Jess recognized Officer Rotterdam and the newly promoted Sergeant Wayne Carter. They rushed over to join them.

“What happened?” Wayne demanded.

“Look, do you think we could talk about this at the police station?” Logan asked. “I’d like Jessica and Teddy to be safe.”

She could speak for herself, but Wayne quickly nodded. “I’ll take you to the station to get your statements.” Wayne turned to his officers. “You three spread out and search for the gunman and/or shell casings. The calls that came in through dispatch were rather vague. Guy wearing black was all they agreed on.”

“Wait, I’ve been cross-training Teddy to find shell casings,” she said. “I can ask him to search for gold.”

“Not until we know the place is secure,” Logan said, before Wayne could respond. He shot her an exasperated look. “That guy may not have gone very far.”

“Even with four cops here?” She shook her head. “I don’t think he’s stupid enough to stick around. And really, Teddy’s nose will work better than trying to scan the ground looking for the casing.”

“She’s right,” Wayne agreed. “Let’s have her dog do his thing, then we’ll head down to the police station.”

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